Playbooks

Verticals X Shallow

Shotgun·Trey Open·11
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This play belongs to no NFL team or scheme playbook, so it may not appear in the in-game builder.

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

In 1 playbook

Air Raid Classic OffenseOffense

Breakdown

Verticals X Shallow is a man beater built off the Trey Open bunch look in Shotgun 11 personnel, sending three receivers vertically up the field while the X receiver runs a shallow crosser underneath to clear out linebackers and hi-lo any cover 3 or cover 1 defenders. The vertical stems stress deep safeties and isolate corners in man coverage, while the shallow route gives the quarterback a built-in checkdown against pressure. Primary read progression starts with the deep verticals to see if a safety bites or a corner gets beat over the top, then works down to the shallow crosser if the coverage stays deep or the pocket collapses.

Defensive Reads

Look for single high safety alignment pre-snap, this signals man coverage and tells you the verticals have a strong chance to win deep Watch for two deep safeties rotating post-snap, this usually means cover 2 or cover 4 and you should progress quickly to the shallow crosser instead of forcing the vertical Key the flow of linebackers at the snap, if they sink deep into zone drops the shallow route should sit in the void underneath Identify blitz packages by checking for stacked or walked up linebackers pre-snap, since the shallow route serves as the hot route answer against pressure Beware of cover 1 with a rat linebacker or lurking defender in the shallow area, that defender can jump the crossing route if the quarterback stares it down too long

Usage Tips

Check the middle of the field pre-snap to see if there is one deep safety or two, since a single high safety often means man coverage underneath that verticals can exploit

Use the shallow route as your answer against zone blitzes and disguised pressure, it is a quick outlet that keeps you ahead of the sticks on early downs

Motion or shift the Trey bunch pre-snap to force the defense to declare man or zone before the snap

Pair this play with Curls or Stick from the same set so the defense cannot sit on the vertical shell without opening up underneath windows

Hot route the shallow receiver to a drag or spot if you face heavy underneath zone coverage, this keeps the route alive longer for the quarterback to find

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