Playbooks

Sprint Smash

Shotgun·U Off Trips Wk·12

Quick Reference

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Breakdown

Sprint Smash is a classic Smash concept run out of Shotgun with 12 personnel from the U Off Trips Wk set, pairing a hitch or flat route underneath with a corner route from the outside receiver on the same side to attack cornerbacks with a high low stretch. The trips side gives you three receivers working short to deep, while the backside typically features a TE or single receiver to hold safety help away from the boundary. The blocking scheme is pass protection with the HB releasing late or chipping before checking out into the route tree, and the primary read progression starts with the corner route against man coverage before working down to the underneath hitch or flat route as the zone beater against Cover 3 or Cover 2 shells.

Defensive Reads

Read the cornerback depth at the snap, if he sinks deep into a zone drop the underneath route is open immediately for an easy conversion. Watch for the safety rotation on the trips side, if the safety cheats toward the corner route pre-snap you should check into the flat or hitch as your first read. Identify Cover 3 shells by looking for a single high safety, this coverage leaves the corner route as a prime target against a cornerback who has to defend deep thirds. Beware of user-controlled defenders sitting in the flat or lurking underneath the corner route, as skilled opponents will jump the shorter route to bait a mistake. Man coverage with no safety help over the top is when the corner route wins most consistently, so trust the timing and throw before the corner can undercut the route break.

Usage Tips

Pre-snap, identify whether the corner is playing off man or bailing into a zone drop because that determines whether you attack the corner route immediately or work the smash concept from underneath up.

Against Cover 2 shells, target the flat route first to hold the corner and then look to the corner route sitting in the void between the cornerback and the rotating safety.

Use hot routes to convert the underneath route into a quick out or speed out if you are facing aggressive man coverage on the flat defender, giving you a faster completion against nano blitz pressure.

This play works best on 2nd and medium or 3rd and short to medium situations where the defense is more likely to sit in zone rather than bring exotic pressure.

Sequence Sprint Smash with Mtn Fade Smash or Smash from the same set to keep defenders guessing on whether you are attacking with a true smash concept or a fade variant, forcing safeties to hesitate on their rotation.

Other Plays in U Off Trips Wk