Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
PA Verts out of Shotgun Trey Y-Flex Str is a play-action shot play built to attack deep coverage with four vertical stems. Off the play-action fake, both outside receivers push straight up the numbers while the Y-Flex tight end runs a quick out to the flat and the inside slot receiver angles across the middle before working vertical up the seam, giving the quarterback a true four verticals look with a built in flat/checkdown outlet underneath. The line and backfield sell the run fake first, and the progression reads outside-in: work the boundary go route first, then the seam runner, then come down to the flat route if both verticals are covered. This is a classic Cover 2 and Cover 3 beater designed to exploit deep safeties who bite on the run action or linebackers who fail to get depth on the seam.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth and count the box. Two safeties deep with a light box suggests Cover 2 or Cover 4, which softens the verticals but opens the flat and seam window. One deep safety with linebackers stacked tight is a Cover 3 or Cover 1 look, which is where this play does the most damage against slow-rotating corners and cheating linebackers. Post-snap, watch for a robber or lurk defender sitting in the shallow middle zone, since that defender can undercut the seam route if the quarterback stares it down too long. Blitz-heavy man coverage looks (Cover 0 or Cover 1 with extra rushers) can beat this if the protection cannot hold up long enough for the verticals to uncover, so check the pass protection numbers before calling it into known blitz downs. If the defense shows a two-high shell that rotates down to single-high after the snap, that late rotation is a strong indicator they are disguising Cover 3, and the backside vertical away from the rotation becomes the money throw.
Usage Tips
Use this on early downs or in play-action heavy sequences when the defense has shown run support or single-high shells on tape, since the fake needs to hold linebackers and safeties for a beat.
Pre-snap, identify two deep safeties versus one deep safety. Against Cover 2 attack the seam route before the safety can rotate over the top. Against Cover 3 the deep middle void between the corners and the free safety is where the seam and backside vert both work.
Hot route the underneath flat runner into a shallow drag or spot route if you expect heavy underneath zone coverage, since that gives you a faster ball out option against a hard Cover 2 shell.
Pair this call with RPO Peek Slant or RPO Zone Peek earlier in a series to get defenders keying run action, then hit PA Verts once linebackers start creeping into the box on early downs.
Best used on 1st and 10 or 2nd and short to medium, since the play-action fake needs a run-friendly count to be believable to the defense.
Take the shot on the boundary vertical if the corner shows outside leverage pre-snap, since that route wins immediately against off coverage with no safety help rotated over.
