Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Verticals out of Singleback Bunch X Nasty sends four receivers vertically to stretch the defense from sideline to sideline, with the bunch receivers running a seam and a corner-cut route to occupy the middle of the field while the outside X and the flexed slot climb straight up the numbers. The HB releases on a check release into the flat, giving you a fifth option underneath if the safeties bail deep. This is a true Cover 2 and Cover 3 beater built to overload the deep zones, and the primary read progression starts with the seam route in the bunch, works to the outside vertical, then comes down to the HB in the flat if the top of the defense is covered.
Defensive Reads
Identify two deep safeties pre-snap, if they are stacked at depth this is a Cover 2 shell and the seam route will split them before the corner or safety can rally over. Watch for a single high safety rotating late, that usually signals Cover 3 or Cover 1, and you want to bail the seam runner deep to force the corner to make a solo play on the sideline vertical. Key the linebackers at the snap, if they sink hard into their zone drops without respecting the HB release, jump the flat route with a user defender for an easy pick six opportunity. Look for a Cover 4 or Cover 6 shell with corners playing outside leverage, this coverage is death for four verticals since it has extra help over the top on every vertical stem. Bring a nano blitz or user blitz off the edge on early downs, since Verticals has no max protect answer built in and the quarterback needs time to hit any route past the intermediate zone.
Usage Tips
Take a pre-snap look at safety depth before the snap, if both safeties are sitting deep at 12 to 15 yards you are likely staring at Cover 2 or Cover 3, both of which this play is designed to attack down the seams.
Use the seam route from the bunch as your first read against Cover 2, it splits the two deep safeties before they can get over the top.
Against single high looks like Cover 3, work the outside vertical on the boundary since the corner is often manned up in press or soft depending on the call, and a big bodied receiver can win on a straight line release.
Check the HB release out of the backfield as your checkdown against heavy pressure or when both safeties roll to double the seam, this keeps the play alive on third and medium.
Pair this with PA Post Dig or Mtn X Whip in the same set to keep the defense honest, since both plays start with similar bunch action but attack different levels, forcing linebackers to hesitate on their zone drops.
