Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 1 playbook
Breakdown
Inside Smash out of Shotgun Trio lines up with three receivers to the closed side and a lone receiver into the boundary who runs a deep corner route as the vertical stretch. The three-receiver side stacks a corner route from the outside man over top of two inside receivers running quick pivot/hitch routes underneath, while the tight end at the point of attack releases on a deep out that clears the middle, and the backside receiver's corner route completes the classic smash concept with high low leverage on the flat defender. This is a man and zone beater built on the smash concept, and the primary read starts with the two underside quick breaking routes before working to the corner routes if the cornerback sits low or a safety rotates late.
Defensive Reads
Presnap check safety depth and spacing, since two deep safeties split evenly signals Cover 2 or Cover 4 which this smash concept is designed to attack with the corner over flat combination. Watch the cornerback on the trips side at the snap, if he sinks under the corner route and ignores the underneath pivot you have an easy completion for positive yardage. Key the flat or curl defender's depth, if he sits shallow to take away the quick pivot routes the corner route behind him should be wide open for the explosive gain. User lurk threats sitting in the middle of the field can undercut the tight end's deep out, so avoid staring down that route if you see a defender crashing that window. Man coverage with press alignment on the outside corner routes signals trouble, since tight coverage on both verticals forces you to rely entirely on winning underneath against Cover 0 or Cover 1 blitz packages.
Usage Tips
Presnap identify whether the corner over the three receiver side is playing hard outside leverage, since that opens the underneath pivot routes immediately against man coverage.
Against Cover 2 or Cover 4 shells, work the corner route on the backside first because a single high or split safety alignment usually leaves the boundary corner isolated on the vertical.
Hot route the inside slot receiver into a quick option or slant if you see a linebacker blitzing off the edge, this gives you a fast outlet against pressure looks.
Use this in third and short or third and medium situations since the quick game underneath routes give you a high floor while the corner routes provide explosive play upside.
Pair this call with Snag Slot Out or Curl Flat from the same formation to keep the defense guessing between smash concepts and quick game underneath combos, forcing linebackers to hesitate on their zone drops.
