Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Stick out of Shotgun Trips is a classic three level zone beater built off the trips side, with the outside receiver working an out route, the middle stick man sitting down in the flat to seam area, and the inside slot receiver climbing vertically up the seam. The backside receiver runs a quick out to give the quarterback a hot answer against man coverage or blitz looks. Blocking is a standard five man pass protection, so the primary read progression starts with the seam route up top, works down to the stick sitting man in the underneath zone window, and finishes with the flat/out route as the checkdown against soft coverage.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check linebacker depth and safety rotation, since Stick is designed to attack Cover 3 and Cover 2 zone shells where the underneath defenders have conflicting run/pass or flat/curl responsibilities. Post-snap, key the flat defender first, if he sinks with the seam route the stick man sitting down will be wide open in the void behind him. Watch for a user-controlled linebacker sitting directly on the stick route, this is the biggest lurk threat and forces the quarterback to work the outside out route instead. Against man coverage, look for a blitzing linebacker or nickel defender crashing the backside out route, which signals a nano blitz look that needs a quick hot route or slide protection adjustment. If the defense shows two deep safeties with press corners, expect the seam route to get squeezed, so bait the underneath defenders with pump fakes to open the stick or flat route.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify whether the defense shows two deep safeties or a single high shell because Stick punishes zone defenses that leave a soft spot between the flat and the hook area.
If you see man coverage with no help over the top, hot route the backside out into a fade or slot to attack single coverage before the rush arrives.
Use this on second and medium or third and short since the stick route and flat combo give you a built in high percentage checkdown if the seam is covered.
Pair Stick with Four Verticals in your play-calling sequence so the defense has to respect the seam threat, which opens up the stick sitting route in the middle of the field on subsequent snaps.
Against Cover 3, throw off the middle sitting man quickly since the flat defender and curl defender both have conflicting responsibilities that the stick route exploits.
