Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 1 playbook
Breakdown
Slot Drive out of Shotgun Y Trips Wk lines up three receivers to the trips side with a tight end and single receiver split weak. The backside X runs a deep vertical release up the sideline, the inside slot receiver runs a drive route crossing the field underneath at a shallow depth, and the trips receiver closest to the formation runs a corner breaking route to the flat. The tight end releases into a deep dig that crosses back over the middle of the field, while the running back checks down out of the backfield to the weak side flat as the outlet. This is a Cover 4 beater built around the crossing drive concept, so the primary read starts with the drive route working underneath into open grass created by the vertical stretch, then progresses to the deep dig from the tight end if the shallow crosser gets picked up.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify two deep safeties splitting the field evenly, which signals Cover 4 or Cover 2 and tells you the drive route underneath and the dig from the tight end will have room to operate. Watch linebacker depth at the snap, if they drop quickly into zone drops on the drive route's landing spot, work the progression immediately to the deep dig crossing behind them. Man coverage shows corners aligned tight on the trips receivers with no safety help over the top, which favors the backside vertical route and the corner route breaking to the flat. Beware of a user controlled linebacker or safety sitting in the shallow crossing lane looking to jump the drive route, that lurk threat is the biggest risk to this concept and requires a full progression read rather than a lock-on throw. Blitz packages that bring extra rushers off the edge or through the A gap will speed up your clock, so identify pressure pre-snap and be ready to get the ball out quickly to the running back's checkdown or the shallow drive route as a hot throw.
Usage Tips
Use this play on second or third and medium when you expect a quarters or Cover 4 shell since the drive concept is designed to sit underneath the deep safeties and exploit the seams they vacate. Check the depth of the linebackers before the snap, if they are sitting shallow to jump the drive route, hot route the tight ended dig into a quicker in-cut or check to the running back's flat route as your immediate outlet. Against man coverage, look to the backside X on the deep vertical since trips formations often force a matchup against a slower linebacker or safety in man situations. Pair this play with Curls X Go or Four Verticals from the same Y Trips Wk set to keep the defense honest on vertical shots after you have shown them the underneath drive concept a few times. Sequence this behind Levels Y Out or Curls Combo so the defense has to respect multiple crossing patterns at different depths, which opens up explosive plays on the dig route once linebackers start biting on shallow crossers.
