Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Stick out of Shotgun Trey Open lines up three receivers to the trips side and a single receiver isolated to the closed side with a running back in the backfield. The trips side runs the classic Stick concept: the outside receiver clears vertically up the sideline, the inside slot runs an out breaking flag route toward the boundary, and the third receiver settles into a stick route in the flat area underneath. On the backside, the single receiver runs a quick out toward the sideline while the running back releases on a check release into a shallow drag underneath the formation. This is a man beater and zone beater combo play, with the stick and flag combination stressing outside linebackers and nickel corners in man coverage while the layered flat to corner read punishes zone defenders who sink too deep. The primary read progression starts with the stick route in the flat, works up to the flag route if the underneath defender widens, and comes back to the backside out or the running back drag as a checkdown against pressure.
Defensive Reads
Watch the flat defender on the trips side immediately after the snap, since his depth and width determine whether the stick route or the flag route behind him is open. Against Cover 2 or Cover 4 shells, the stick route sitting underneath the cornerback's zone drop is the easiest access throw since the safety over the top eliminates the flag route. If you see a nickel or outside linebacker blitzing off the edge on the trips side, get the ball out quickly to the stick route since it serves as your built in hot route against pressure. Man coverage with no safety help over the trips side is the biggest green light for the flag route, since the receiver's break to the corner creates immediate separation from trailing defenders. Be wary of a Cover 3 sky or buzz look where a linebacker or safety rotates down to jump the stick route, since a smart defender can sit on that route and bait a turnover if the quarterback stares it down too long.
Usage Tips
Use this play on third and short to medium situations where the stick route underneath gives you a reliable conversion target against both man and zone. Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing two high safeties or single high, since a two high shell often signals zone drops that you can exploit with the stick to flag combination. If you see man coverage with a linebacker on the stick route, expect an easy completion since backers rarely have the lateral quickness to stay with the option route out of the break. Hot route the backside single receiver into a slant if you are facing a Cover 3 shell, since this gives you a faster underneath option against the deep third defenders. Pair this play with Curls or Y Stick HB Angle in your play calling sequence to keep the defense guessing between different levels of the stick concept family.
