Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Spacing out of Shotgun Wing HB Wk Close is a horizontal stretch concept built to attack zone coverage with five underneath stems spread sideline to sideline. The diagram shows the backside receiver running an out to the boundary, the slot working a quick hitch, the TE at the point of attack sitting in the shallow curl/flat area, the inline TE releasing on a short crossing route, and the frontside receiver stemming vertically before breaking into a deep out at the sideline. This is a classic Cover 3 and Cover 4 beater that stretches zone defenders horizontally, and the primary read progression starts with the shallow hitch/curl combo underneath before working outside to the deep out if the flat defender widens.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify if the corners are aligned soft off the line, that cushion signals zone and tells you the hitches will sit in open grass. Watch the linebacker depth at the snap, shallow drops from Mike or Will mean they are keying the shallow crossers and will jump underneath throws. Post-snap, track the flat defender's width, if he widens to the deep out the underneath hitch and curl will be uncontested. This concept struggles against man coverage with underneath help since the sit routes have nowhere to hide from trailing defenders. Watch for a user-controlled defender sitting in the shallow zone or lurking the crosser, that is the biggest threat to disrupt the first read on this Cover 3 and Cover 4 beater.
Usage Tips
Use Spacing on second and short or third and short since the sit routes settle in soft spots under six yards.
Check the flat defenders pre-snap, if corners are playing off in Cover 3 or Cover 4 the underneath hitches will come open almost instantly.
Hot route the backside out to a slant if you see man coverage since the natural spacing concept relies on zone defenders vacating throwing lanes.
Pair this with PA Cross or Dash Flood from the same set to keep linebackers honest after they start jumping the short hitches on tape.
Throw with anticipation to the curl/flat sitter before the underneath zone defender can sink and undercut the route.
