Four Verticals out of Shotgun Trips HB Wk sends three vertical stems from the trips side while the HB releases from the backfield on a flat to seam route, flashing to the sideline before working upfield behind the shallow crosser. The lone backside X runs a deep dig that breaks across the middle, giving the quarterback a natural high low read against zone drops if the verts get clogged. This is a certified Cover 2 and Cover 3 beater built to attack the seams and hash defenders, with the primary progression starting outside to the widest vertical, working inside to the next seam, then checking down to the HB flat route if the safeties squeeze the middle of the field.

Defensive Reads

Watch for two deep safeties at the snap, that presnap look signals Cover 2 or Cover 4 and tells you the numbers seams will be the easiest throw If you see one high safety sitting in the middle of the field, that is Cover 3 or Cover 1, key the flow of that deep defender to see which vertical route he is leaning toward and throw away from him Check linebacker depth before the snap, shallow linebackers who do not get depth on their zone drops will open up easy throwing lanes underneath the verts to the HB seam conversion User controlled defenders sitting in a deep half or deep third will bait quarterbacks into forcing throws, if you see the user lurking near the trips side, work the backside dig or check down to the HB instead This concept struggles against disciplined Cover 4 quarters shells with safeties who stay on top of the verticals, and it gets shut down hard by well timed man blitzes that beat the pass protection before routes fully develop

Usage Tips

Take a pre-snap look at the safeties before the snap, if both safeties are deep and split wide you are looking at Cover 2 or Cover 4 and the seams between the numbers and hash will be soft

Use the HB route as your built-in checkdown against Cover 3 sink drops, if the middle linebacker or safety bails deep the flat to seam conversion is money on 3rd and short

Hot route the backside X into a deeper crossing route or bender if you see man coverage across the board, this creates natural rub traffic against man beaters like Cover 1 and Cover 0

Sequence this play after running Curls or Slot Hitch from the same Trips HB Wk set to get defenders sitting on shorter routes, then hit them over the top once they bite

Save Four Verticals for 2nd or 3rd and long situations where defenses are more likely to sit in zone shells, and pair it with Deep Flood or 60 Go from the same formation to keep the defense guessing between vertical stress and flood concepts

Four Verticals

Quick Reference

In 5 playbooks

Receiver routes

Read progression

Breakdown

Defensive Reads

Usage Tips

Other Plays in Trips HB Wk