Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Z-Close Corner comes out of Singleback Doubles 11 personnel with two receivers stacked to the left, a close TE/Z receiver in the slot right, and an outlet receiver split wide right. The two left receivers run an out and a corner combo to clear the sideline, the close Z runs a corner route breaking outside off a vertical stem, and the outlet receiver runs a flat route underneath to hold the linebacker or nickel defender. This is a man beater built to win on the corner route against tight coverage, with the flat route acting as a check down and the outside out route occupying the boundary defender.
Defensive Reads
Read the corner over the close Z receiver first, if he opens his hips early to the flat or sits in a zone drop the corner route is covered and you should check down immediately Watch the safety rotation post snap, a two high shell that rotates down to the corner route side takes away the primary throw and forces you to the flat or the backside out route Identify if the defense is playing man or zone by checking linebacker depth before the snap, shallow linebackers signal underneath zone drops that can jump the flat route Look for a user controlled defender sitting in a shallow lurk technique, this is the biggest threat to the flat route and will bait quarterbacks into a pick six if thrown without full read Blitz packages that bring extra rushers off the edge or through the A gap force a quicker decision, so recognize five or six man pressure pre-snap and be ready to get the ball out to the flat route in rhythm
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, look at the cornerback over the close Z receiver, if he is playing tight man with no safety help over the top the corner route wins immediately on the break
Use motion or a hard count to bait the linebacker into showing blitz before the snap, since the flat route from the outlet receiver only works if that defender bites on run action or gets picked off in traffic
Hot route the outside receiver's out route into a quicker breaking route on third and short if the corner is sitting underneath, this keeps the sideline read alive without needing the full route to develop
Best used on second and medium to third and long when defenses respect the run and play single high shells, since the corner route needs a clean vertical stem to beat off man coverage
Pair this play with Curl Flats or Flanker Drag from the same set to keep the defense honest on flat and shallow reads, then come back to Z-Close Corner once the defense starts jumping underneath routes
