Playbooks
Deep In
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Deep In out of Shotgun Y Off Trio Wk sends the trio side receivers on a combination of deep in breaking routes designed to sit down over the middle behind linebackers and in front of deep safeties, while a backside route stretches the field vertically to hold the corner honest. This is primarily a zone beater, exploiting soft spots between the underneath zone drops and the deep half safeties in Cover 2 and Cover 3 shells. The primary read progression starts with the deep in breaking route from the trio side, working back to the backside vertical route if the middle of the field is clogged by a robber or hook defender.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth and spacing since a two high shell with deep half responsibilities is the most vulnerable to the in breaking routes settling underneath. Watch for a middle linebacker or nickel defender walking up into a robber technique, which signals a defense keying the deep in route and jumping the throw. Post-snap, identify if the defense is playing a Tampa 2 look with the middle linebacker dropping deep into the throwing lane, since this can shut down the primary read and force the check down. Man coverage with press corners on the trio side receivers is a strong indicator the deep in route will be tightly covered, so look to attack with a hot route adjustment or take the checkdown instead. Blitz packages that send extra defenders will remove a zone defender from the underneath area, so identify the free rusher assignment and get the ball out quickly to the deep in route before the pocket collapses.
Usage Tips
Attack Cover 3 and Cover 2 shells where the deep in route can settle into the soft void behind the linebackers and in front of the safeties.
Use pre-snap motion or a quick glance at the middle linebacker depth to confirm if this is a zone shell before the snap, since man coverage will bracket the in breaking routes and take away the primary window.
Hot route the backside receiver into a deeper crossing route against Cover 4 shells to add a second in breaking option and force the safety to choose a leverage point.
This play works best on second and long or third and medium situations where the defense is more likely to sit in zone drops and give up the underneath to intermediate window.
Pair this play with Slot Cross or Curls Combo earlier in a drive to condition the defense into expecting quick underneath throws, then hit Deep In to attack the same area with more explosive yardage after the catch potential.
