Playbooks
RPO Walk Alert Curls is a run pass option out of the Shotgun Wide Y Off Trips 11 personnel package that gives the quarterback a give-or-throw decision based on the numbers in the box. The pass concept features curl routes as the alert read against the trips side, designed to sit down in front of zone defenders or work an out and up leverage on man corners, while the backside works as a hitch or quick breaking route for the quarterback's secondary progression. This is a zone beater at heart since the curls settle into soft spots against cover 2 and cover 3, but it also punishes man coverage if the receiver stacks the defender before breaking, and the primary read progression is box count first, then curl to backside breaking route if the throw window on the alert side is not there.
Pre-snap, identify the box count and safety depth, since a light box with two deep safeties tells you to trust the run while a stacked box signals the throw Watch for the strong safety or slot corner sitting on the curl route, which is the classic sign of a match zone or cover 4 shell designed to take away the alert read Man coverage with the corner playing outside leverage on the trips receivers is a green light to trust the curl breaking open at the top of its stem Cover 3 with a hard flat defender squeezing the curl window shuts down the quick throw, so check the backside breaking route or trust the run fake instead Look for a linebacker crashing downhill immediately after the snap, which indicates a run blitz or nano blitz package designed to blow up the give read before the RPO conflict can develop
Count the defenders in the box before the snap and let that dictate whether you pull the ball or hand it off, since this is the core mechanic of the RPO
If the strong safety cheats down into the box pre-snap, key on the pass option because the numbers advantage flips to your favor through the air
Hot route the backside receiver into a quick out or slant if you are facing a hard match zone defense that squats on curls, giving you a faster underneath answer
Use this play on early downs in the 1st and 2nd down range to stay ahead of the chains, since the built in run option protects you against bad blitz timing
Pair this with RPO Walk Alert Slant and RPO Walk Glance in the same set to keep the defense guessing on which route concept is live, forcing linebackers to hesitate on their run fits