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Breakdown
Sticks out of Shotgun Trio HB Wk (11 personnel) shows a four man route concept built to attack zone and man coverage underneath while stretching the field vertically on one side. The X receiver runs a deep comeback/dig breaking back to the sideline, the inside slot fires a vertical seam straight up the numbers, the next receiver runs a stick route breaking outside at the sticks, and the flanker to the boundary runs an out route to the flat. This is a classic zone beating stick concept with built in man beater elements, and the primary read progression starts with the stick route, then works to the flat route underneath, before checking back to the seam and comeback on the backside if the middle of the field opens up.
Defensive Reads
Read the flat defender first, since a squatting corner or linebacker on the flat route tells you to work the stick route immediately for the sit down conversion. Check the middle linebacker depth at the snap, if he sinks to cover the seam threat you know the defense is playing some form of zone drop and the comeback route on the backside becomes the outlet. Watch for a user controlled defender lurking in the shallow zone near the stick and flat combo, since aggressive user play here is the biggest threat to this concept and can jump the intermediate throws. Against Cover 3, the seam route is the biggest hole shot since the deep third defender has to respect the comeback route, creating natural separation up the middle. If the defense shows blitz with a nickel or dime look and safeties rotating down pre-snap, get the ball out on the stick or flat route quickly since those routes have the fastest developing timing against pressure.
Usage Tips
Use this on third and medium to third and long situations since the stick route is designed to settle right at the sticks for an easy conversion.
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing two high safeties or single high, since the seam route becomes a much bigger threat against single high man coverage.
If you see Cover 2 or Cover 3 zone shells, hot route the stick runner to sit down quickly and throw with anticipation before the underneath zone defenders can close the window.
Against man coverage, trust the seam route on the vertical release and look to layer the ball over linebackers who cannot match speed with the slot receiver.
Pair this play with Verticals or PA Y Cross earlier in a drive to condition defenders to bite on shorter routes, then come back to Sticks to hit the seam or comeback route once safeties start creeping down.
