Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Cheat Ohio TE Attack lines up out of Shotgun Wing Slot Offset with 12 personnel and shows a route concept built to attack the middle and boundary at the same time. The backside receiver runs a deep vertical while a shorter option breaks underneath into the flat crossing route, the inline TE releases up the seam and turns it into a deep out toward the sideline, and the flat route on the strong side clears out low while the running back checks down on a shallow drag out of the backfield. This is a man beater at its core, using the seam-to-out breaking route from the TE to create separation against man coverage and the shallow drag underneath as a built-in hot outlet, with the primary read progression starting at the TE seam-out, then working to the crossing route in the middle of the field, and finishing with the check down to the running back.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth and alignment, a single high safety indicates man coverage or Cover 3 which plays into the TE seam-out winning its route. Watch the flat defender and outside linebacker at the snap, if they crash hard on the shallow drag or flat route this opens up the TE breaking route behind them. User the deep half or deep third defender if playing zone coverage, since the TE out route and vertical route on the backside are designed to stretch that defender horizontally and vertically at once. Cover 2 shells with two deep safeties can shut this down if the corner sinks under the TE out route, so be ready to reset to the shallow drag or check down against that look. Watch for disguised blitzes off the edge since the protection is not screen based, a fast defensive end or blitzing linebacker off the weak side can collapse the pocket before the TE route develops.
Usage Tips
Look for single high safety shells pre-snap since the TE seam-out route is designed to win against Cover 1 and Cover 3 when the corner or safety has to respect the vertical stem before the break.
Use motion pre-snap to identify if the defense is playing man or zone based on how the defender reacts to the shift, this confirms whether you should stay with the TE attack or check down early.
Hot route the shallow drag runner to a quicker option against aggressive blitz looks since this play has a built-in outlet but does not have a true screen protection scheme.
Pair this play with Dbl Mtn PA Slot Corner or PA Cheat Comeback in the same set to keep defenses guessing between play action shots and quick TE breaking routes out of the same personnel and formation.
Best used on second and medium or third and short situations where the TE out route and drag combo can consistently pick up eight to twelve yards against zone defenses that sit short.
