Playbooks
HB Dive out of Shotgun Wide Slot Left is a straight downhill run play that sends the running back through the A gap immediately after the snap. The offensive line fires out with a man or gap blocking scheme to seal the interior defensive linemen, prioritizing the nose tackle and both guards to create a vertical crease. This is a pure run play with no play-action or RPO element, and the primary read progression is a one-cut decision at the line: the back presses the initial hole and reads the block from the center and playside guard, bouncing outside off the double team if the A gap is clogged.
Check the depth of the middle linebacker before the snap, if he is sitting at five yards or deeper the A gap will be wide open for the dive. Look for a nose tackle shaded hard to one side, this tells you which gap the blocking scheme is naturally sealing and where the back should press first. Watch for a six or seven man box with the safety creeping down, that alignment signals a run blitz or gap exchange that can blow up the dive if you do not counter with a hot route. Man coverage shells with linebackers biting on receiver motion are ideal since the interior run lanes stay uncontested. This play struggles against a stacked eight man box or when the defense shows a heavy 4-3 under front with a user-controlled linebacker crashing downhill immediately at the snap, since there is no misdirection to hold the second level.
Use HB Dive on early downs when you need a quick, low-risk gain to stay ahead of the chains, especially on first and ten or second and short. Snap the ball fast against defenses showing six or seven in the box to catch linebackers still adjusting to your formation. Hot route the fullback or extra blocker only if you have one, otherwise trust the interior line and avoid pulling blockers away from the dive lane. Pair this play with Read Option and PA All Curl from the same set so defenses cannot key on run versus pass just from your formation tendency. Mix in HB Dive after showing PA Deep Choice or Levels a few times to punish linebackers who start sitting deep in coverage drops instead of filling run gaps.