Playbooks
PA Copo Cross Dig is a play-action man beater out of Shotgun Y Off Trips Pats that uses a play fake to freeze linebackers before attacking the middle of the field with a crosser and a dig working through the intermediate zones, while a corner post stretches the safety vertically on the backside. The trips side creates natural traffic for the crosser to rub off man coverage, and the dig sits down in the void behind that pick. Primary progression starts with the corner post as a shot check against single high safety looks, then works to the dig sitting in the hole, and finally to the crosser working underneath as the checkdown against tight man coverage.
Identify pre-snap whether the safety is rotating toward the trips or staying backside, since a rotated safety opens the corner post window immediately off the play fake. Watch linebacker depth at the snap, if they bite hard on the run fake you get a clean throwing lane to the dig sitting in the middle of the field. Man coverage with underneath help struggles against the crosser because the natural rub from trips traffic forces defenders to fight through picks, so look for hesitation from the trailing corner or nickel defender. Cover 3 with a hard flat defender can undercut the crosser if the user jumps the route early, so be ready to climb to the dig or corner post instead of forcing the shorter throw. Blitz packages that bring extra rushers off the edge can be exploited by the quick play-action timing, but disciplined zone blitzes that drop a defensive lineman into the shallow crosser lane will take away that first read and force you to the dig or post.
Use this out of Shotgun Y Off Trips Pats on early downs when you want to sell run action off your established HB Power or Inside Zone tendencies from this same set. Check the safety depth pre-snap, if you see a single high safety rotate to the trips side, take the corner post shot immediately off the play fake. Against man coverage looks, trust the crosser to work through traffic and pick off trailing defenders, especially against Cover 1 or Cover 3 match with man principles underneath. If the defense shows two high safeties and soft zone drops, work your dig route since it will settle into the throwing window between the underneath zone and deep zone. Pair this play with Pats Cross or PA Pats Cross earlier in a series to set up the same play-action look, then hit this dig or corner post once the defense starts jumping the shorter crossing routes.