Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
FL Dig is a five man route concept out of Shotgun Trey Open Offset that isolates the backside flanker on a deep dig while stacking three routes to the trey side. The backside X runs a deep vertical clear out with the flanker (FL) breaking hard on the dig underneath him and a shallow drag crossing the field beneath both, while the trey side stacks a corner route, a vertical seam breaking to a stick/hook, and a flat route working the boundary. This is primarily a man beater, the deep clear route occupies the safety and corner while the dig sits down in the void, and the underneath drag and flat give you answers versus man leverage. Primary read progresses from the FL dig on the backside to the trey side seam/hook, then down to the flat and drag as checkdowns if the middle is clogged.
Defensive Reads
Key the single high safety pre snap, if he stays true middle he can rob the dig route so bait him with a hard look to the trey side corner route first. Watch the flat defender to the trey side, if he widens with the flat route he opens the seam for the hook/vertical read. Against man coverage look for a linebacker or slot corner trailing the dig, since the route breaks flat across the field a defender with tight man technique can undercut it if he does not respect the vertical stem. Zone defenses that roll to trey side coverage leave the backside dig in a soft window, but a Tampa 2 or split safety shell can still get a linebacker into that throwing lane late so read his drop depth before pulling the trigger. Blitz heavy fronts with a nano blitz off the edge will collapse the pocket before the dig has time to develop, so identify pressure pre snap and be ready to get the ball out early to the flat or drag as a blitz beater.
Usage Tips
Use this on second and medium to second and long when you need a chain mover over the middle without exposing yourself to a big hit if the dig gets undercut. Check the pre snap alignment of the single high safety, if he cheats late to the trey side the backside dig window opens up big off the vertical clear route. Against man coverage put your eyes on the FL dig first since the vertical route to the backside will pull the corner and safety attention away from the middle of the field. If you see a linebacker sitting in the shallow zone where the dig has to break, hot route the drag to a deeper crosser or check down to the flat instead of forcing the throw. Pair this play with Y Cross Flood or Curls Dig from the same set to keep the defense guessing between backside dig concepts and flood concepts to the trey side, this keeps linebackers from jumping the dig route on tendency.
