Playbooks
All Curl from the Shotgun Wide 5wr set sends all five eligible receivers on curl routes at staggered depths, creating a five man curl concept designed to sit down in the soft spots of zone coverage. This is a Cover 3 beater at its core, attacking the flat and hook defenders by settling receivers in the windows between underneath zone drops and the deep third safeties. Protection is a five man slide with no backfield help, so the primary read progression starts with the boundary curl to the field before working to the middle curls, reading outside in based on which defender sits shortest.
Check for a single high safety shell pre-snap, which signals Cover 3 or Cover 1 and tells you the curls will have soft zone windows to settle into against zone drops. Watch linebacker depth at the snap, if they sink quickly into their hook zones the middle curls will be contested so shift your primary read to the outside curls. Look for user controlled defenders lurking underneath, since a smart defender will bait the quarterback into the middle curl and drive on the route for a pick six. Man coverage with press corners shuts this play down fast since curls need separation at the top of the route, so check corner alignment before the snap and audible out if you see press man with no deep safety help over the top. Watch for a blitz off the edge with only four in coverage, since the five man curl concept combined with no hot route protection can leave the quarterback exposed if the protection breaks down against an overload blitz.
Identify the coverage shell pre-snap by checking safety depth, if you see two deep safeties or a single high safety with linebackers sitting at ten to twelve yards, expect zone drops that this concept exploits. Hot route one outside receiver to a corner or fade if the defense shows Cover 3 with aggressive flat corners jumping the curl route. Use this play on second and medium to third and medium situations where the sit down routes give the quarterback a high percentage completion against zone drops. Pair All Curl with Four Verticals or Deep Divide from this same set to keep defenders honest, since both plays start with similar release patterns before diverging into vertical stems that punish safeties creeping up to jump the curls. Against man coverage, sequence this play with Fake Bubble Slant or Quick Slants to give the defense conflicting run and pass keys off similar receiver splits.