Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
WR Fork out of Shotgun Trips Y-Flex is a five man route concept built to attack Cover 3 and man coverage with a high low flood on the backside and a fork stem on the trips side. The backside X runs a go route up the boundary while the TE runs an out breaking underneath, creating a two level stretch on that corner. On the trips side, the outside receiver runs a shallow drag across the formation, the slot fork route splits into a corner route off the top, and the inside trips receiver runs a deep crossing route that clears underneath, with no visible pass protection shown since this is a five wide route concept with the backfield left empty in the diagram. The primary read starts with the fork route corner against the deep half or deep third defender, then works down to the trips drag as the man beater checkdown if the corner route is capped.
Defensive Reads
Watch the pre-snap alignment of the deep safety over the trips bunch, if he is shaded to the numbers he can undercut the fork route's corner break. Man coverage defenders who bail hard off the line struggle to carry the fork route's split, so look for user controlled defenders sitting on the corner stem to jump the route. Cover 3 with a flat foot corner squatting on the boundary go route can shut down the backside vertical shot, forcing the quarterback to work back to the trips concept. Zone lurk defenders sitting in the middle of the field can undercut the deep crossing route from the trips side, so identify if the mike or a dropping backer is spying that lane. Blitz packages that bring extra rushers off the edge remove the backside deep threat quickly since there is no protection shown, so recognize overload pressure and get the ball out on the shallow drag as a hot answer.
Usage Tips
Presnap, identify whether the safety over the trips side is shaded outside or inside because that dictates whether the fork route corner or the deep cross will be open first.
Against man coverage, the fork route's built in split (corner versus deep in) creates natural rub leverage, so trust the receiver who gets the favorable matchup off the break.
Use this play on second or third and medium when you have time to let the corner route develop, since it takes longer to clear the underneath traffic than a quick game concept.
If you see Cover 3 with a hard flat corner, hot route the backside TE out route into a quicker option or check down to the trips drag versus a zone drop off underneath.
Pair this play with Curls or Stick from the same set to keep the defense honest on shorter routes before coming back to WR Fork to attack the same look with double moves.
