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Quick Reference
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Breakdown
Flood Pylon Shot lines up out of Shotgun Trio HB Wk with 11 personnel and floods one side of the field with three levels while running a deep dig/post on the backside. To the flood side the outside receiver clears out on a deep out toward the sideline, the slot runs a shallow drag underneath, and the inside receiver sits in the flat as the low-read checkdown, giving you a true three level flood against Cover 3. On the backside the lone receiver runs a deep crossing route (the red line) that attacks the middle of the field vacated by a rotating single high safety. The primary read progression starts deep to short on the flood side (deep out to drag to flat) and comes back to the backside dig/cross versus zone rotation.
Defensive Reads
Watch the flat defender and corner on the flood side pre-snap: if the corner sits at a soft angle and the flat defender is a linebacker with poor range, the deep out and drag will consistently win. Key the single high safety after the snap. If he stays flat footed reading the quarterback's eyes, the backside crosser will settle into a soft spot underneath him. Look for a hard rotating Cover 3 shell, since this play is built specifically to stress the curl-flat and deep third defenders on the flood side with three stacked levels. This concept can be shut down by disciplined zone drops from linebackers who sink under the drag while a corner stays deep over the out route, or by a user controlled defender jumping the shallow drag route since it is the shortest and most obvious throw. Man coverage with a physical corner pressing the deep out receiver at the line can disrupt the timing of the entire flood concept, so check for man alignment and be ready to work the backside route instead.
Usage Tips
Use this play on second and long or third and medium when defenses are more likely to sit in zone shells like Cover 3 or Cover 4. Pre-snap, identify single high versus two high safeties: if you see one deep safety rotating late, expect Cover 3 and lean on the flood concept to attack the flat defender. If the defense shows two high safeties, be ready to work the backside crosser since the middle of the field is more open. Hot route the checkdown receiver into a quick flat or shallow drag if the defense brings extra pressure off the edge, giving your quarterback a fast outlet against blitzes. Pair this play with RPO Alert Buck or RPO Alert Bubble earlier in a series to get linebackers flowing downhill, then dial up Flood Pylon Shot to hit the same flood side once safeties start cheating toward the run fits. Sequence this with Reload PA Flood or PA Y Cross so the defense has to respect both a standard drop back flood and a play-action shot off similar formation and personnel look.
