Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
All Curl out of Shotgun Trips HB Wk sends four receivers vertical before breaking down into curl routes at roughly ten to twelve yards, while the halfback releases out of the backfield on a curl to the flat from the left side. The trips side has two receivers hitting curls with the outside trips receiver on a wheel route stacked up the sideline, giving the quarterback layered zone windows to attack against Cover 3. This is a zone beater designed to sit routes down in the soft spots between the underneath zone defenders and the deep third safeties, with the primary read starting to the single receiver side (red route) before working back to the trips curls and finally to the HB check down if the pocket collapses.
Defensive Reads
Watch linebacker depth at the snap since shallow zone drops signal the defense is selling out to jump the curl routes underneath. Key the flat defender and the curl to flat defender on the halfback route side, as a wide zone drop opens a throwing lane to the sideline curl route. Look for the deep third safety rotation post snap, because if the safety cheats toward the trips side the backside single receiver curl becomes a favorable one on one window. Man coverage with no underneath help can shut this down quickly since curl routes have no natural separation move built into the design against tight man technique. Beware of a user controlled linebacker sitting in the throwing lane to the trips curls, as this is the most common way defenders take away the primary progression against All Curl.
Usage Tips
Identify Cover 3 or Cover 4 shells pre-snap since this play is specifically built to exploit the soft spot underneath deep zone drops.
Start your primary read on the backside single receiver curl (red route) because it isolates against one defender with no help over the top in most zone shells.
Use the halfback curl to the flat as a built in check down against blitz heavy looks or when the underneath zone linebackers sink too deep.
Pair this play with Four Verticals or Zona Fade from the same set to punish defenses that start jumping the curl routes after seeing this concept on tape.
Run this on second and medium to long yardage situations where the defense is more likely to sit back in zone coverage rather than bring pressure.
