Playbooks

Deep Stick

Shotgun·Trips HB Wk·10
StickStick ConceptPass Play
Play diagram for Deep Stick from Shotgun Trips HB Wk in Madden 27

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

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Breakdown

Deep Stick out of Trips HB Wk (Shotgun, 10 personnel) shows a five man route concept built off the stick combo. From the trips side, the inside slot runs a corner route up the seam while the two outside receivers work a stick to flat combo, with the nearest trips receiver sitting down on the stick route and the outside trips receiver clearing to the flat. The backside X on the far left runs a deep dig that breaks across the middle after pushing vertically, giving you a true field stretch. This is a zone beater at its core, using the stick combo to hold underneath defenders while the corner and dig attack the intermediate and deep zones, with the primary read progressing from the stick route to the deep dig based on the leverage of the flat defender and the middle linebacker's drop.

Defensive Reads

Presnap, check safety depth: two high safeties suggest Cover 2 or Cover 4, which invites the stick route into the void underneath while the corner route challenges the deep half. Watch the slot corner and nickel defender's initial jump; if they sink hard to cover the corner route, the stick sits open in the flat/curl window. Post snap, key the middle linebacker's drop depth since a shallow drop can jump the stick route, so be ready to progress to the deep dig crossing the field. Cover 3 with an aggressive Sam or Will linebacker blitzing off the edge can disrupt timing on the dig, so account for a lurking underneath defender before committing to that route late in the progression. Man coverage with press corners on the trips side can jam the stick route at the line, so watch for user blitzers crashing the A gap that would force a quick checkdown read instead of working through the full progression.

Usage Tips

Presnap, identify whether the defense is showing zone or man match by checking linebacker depth and slot corner alignment over the trips side.

Against zone shells like Cover 3 or Cover 4, work the stick to corner combo first since the stick route sits in the hole created by flat and curl defenders.

Against man coverage, hot route the backside dig into a shallow drag or bench it for a quicker option since the dig takes time to develop and man defenders can trail it.

Use this on second and medium or third and short situations where the stick route's quick separation gives you a high percentage completion, then pair it with Curls or Slot Hitch from the same set to keep defenders honest on similar route depths.

Sequence this with Four Verticals or 60 Go later in a series once the defense starts jumping the stick route, since the vertical shell will hit deep off the same trips alignment.

Other Plays in Trips HB Wk