Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Curls out of Shotgun Y Trips Wk lines up three receivers to the trips side with a single receiver (marked in red as your primary hot key) split to the boundary. The backside X runs a vertical release up the sideline while the trips side stacks a flat route, a deep curl breaking back to the quarterback, and an inside receiver working a curl toward the middle of the field, creating a natural high low curl flat combo. Protection is a standard five man slide, so this is a timing based zone beater designed to attack the soft spots underneath and in front of zone drops, with the primary read starting on the deep curl before working down to the flat and backside vertical.
Defensive Reads
Watch for zone defenders sinking too deep on the snap, which opens a throwing window in front of them for both curl routes to settle into. Identify Cover 3 cloud or Cover 2 sink shells before the snap, since curls exploit the seam between the flat defender and the deep corner or safety. Post snap read the flat defender, if he widens hard to take away the flat route the inside curl will have more space to sit down against a hesitant linebacker. Look for a user controlled defender lurking near the trips side curl, since this route stem is predictable enough that competitive opponents will spy or squat it looking for a jump. Man coverage with inside leverage on the trips receivers or a blitz that leaves the curl uncovered will shut this concept down quickly, so check protection and consider hot routing the inside receiver to a quick option route if you see man pressure.
Usage Tips
Presnap identify if the defense is showing two deep shells or single high, since curls settle into the soft spot of Cover 2 and Cover 3 zone drops especially between the flat defender and deep third corner.
Key the middle linebacker depth before the snap, if he sits shallow the inside curl will be sat down early so be ready to hitch it up or check to the flat route underneath.
Use the backside vertical as a hot route answer against man coverage by motioning or simply reading it first if the corner shows press alignment presnap.
Combine this call with Curls X Go or Curls Combo in the same set to keep defenders honest, since both plays start with the identical trips look but manipulate coverage into biting on the curl before hitting a deeper shot.
Best used on second and medium to second and long where the sit down routes create manageable completions, and pair it with Y Stick HB Angle to give the defense a quicker underneath answer if they start jumping the curls.
