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Quick Reference
In 1 playbook
Breakdown
Corner Strike is a man beating pass concept out of Shotgun Trips Y-Flex that attacks the boundary and the trips side with a corner route as the primary weapon. The trips side works a combination designed to clear underneath zones and occupy safeties, while the corner breaks toward the sideline to win one on one leverage against man coverage or sit in the honey hole against zone drops. Primary progression starts with the corner route off the top of the trips or from the Y-Flex tight end, then works down to the underneath option and finally to the backside for a checkdown against pressure.
Defensive Reads
Read the cornerback's press alignment presnap, if he is playing off with outside leverage the corner route has a clean win versus man coverage. Post snap, key the safety to that side, if he stays home in the deep third or quarter the corner route window shrinks and you need to work the underneath progression. Watch for user controlled lurk defenders sitting in the flat or hook zone, they can jump the underneath option route and bait you into a turnover. Cover 3 with a hard flat defender and a deep third safety is the toughest shell for this play, the corner route gets squeezed between two defenders. Blitz packages that bring pressure off the edge force a quicker read, so identify Mike linebacker depth and overload blitz looks presnap and be ready to check into a quick hot route or throw the checkdown immediately.
Usage Tips
Use pre-snap motion or a formation check to confirm if the corner is a shot outside cornerback or if a safety is rotating over the top before the snap.
This play thrives against man coverage, especially Man Under looks where the corner route can stack and separate against a trailing defender.
If you diagnose two high safeties presnap, hot route the underneath route into a quick out or speed out to beat off coverage before the safety can rotate down.
Best called on second and medium to second and long or on first down to keep the defense honest, since the corner route needs time to develop against soft zone drops.
Pair this with Stick or Curls from the same set to keep the defense guessing between quick game and vertical shots, then come back to Corner Strike once you bait a cornerback into jumping underneath routes.
