Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Drive out of Singleback Wing 12 personnel sends the two outside receivers on deep breaking routes while the inline TE and slot work an underneath crossing concept. The backside X runs a deep in cut, the flanker on the line pushes a deep corner route to clear the sideline, and the TE from the wing runs a shallow drag under a slot out route that settles at the sticks, with the HB releasing to the flat as a checkdown. This is a classic man beater built off natural rub and pick action, and the primary read starts with the shallow drag versus man leverage before working up to the deep in and finally the HB flat.
Defensive Reads
Watch for two high safeties pre-snap, which signals zone coverage and makes the deep corner and deep in routes vulnerable to being passed off late. If linebackers show blitz depth or crowd the line, expect the HB flat route to be the quarterback's answer versus pressure, so spy or user that flat defender. Identify if the slot cornerback is playing off coverage, since that alignment invites the shallow drag to be thrown quickly before the defense can react. Watch the deep safety rotation after the snap, a late rotation to the corner route side usually means the defense is running a form of Cover 3 or Cover 4 designed to take away the deep out. This concept struggles against tight bracket coverage on the outside receivers combined with an underneath zone defender sitting in the drag lane, so disguised Cover 6 or a robber look can shut down both levels.
Usage Tips
Check the middle of the field pre-snap because a single high safety usually means the deep corner and deep in routes have one on one leverage outside.
Against man coverage, key the shallow drag first since it works underneath and creates natural traffic for defenders trying to trail in man.
Use motion or a quick glance to identify if the slot corner is playing tight man, if so the underneath crossers will pick him off almost immediately.
Pair this with Curl Combo or TE Stick in your play calling sequence so the defense has to respect both shallow crossing concepts and standard curl flat reads.
Call this on second and medium to long when defenses are more likely to sit in man match concepts, since the natural rub helps beat physical man coverage at the line.
