Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Inside Cross out of Singleback Y Off Trio (11 personnel) is a man beating dropback concept built around a deep crosser working from the strong side all the way across the field. The backside X runs a corner route to stretch the deep third, the Y (TE) releases into a deep dig that sits behind the crosser, the outside slot receiver runs a shallow drag underneath, and the inside slot works a short out to the flat while the running back checks down into the middle of the field. Protection is a standard five man slide with the RB scanning for blitzers before releasing, so the primary read progression starts with the deep crosser working man coverage leverage, then bounces to the dig behind it, then settles into the shallow drag and flat route if the crosser gets picked up.
Defensive Reads
Check the corner route matchup pre-snap, if the outside cornerback is playing tight man press with no deep safety help over the top this play can get there fast on a blown coverage. Watch the middle linebacker depth at the snap, a linebacker who sits shallow to jump the shallow drag opens up a throwing window for the deep crosser working behind him. Identify Cover 3 or Cover 4 zone shells before the snap since the deep crosser and dig can both settle into soft spots between zone defenders if the underneath defenders do not sink quickly enough. Beware of a user controlled lurk defender sitting in the middle of the field, this route concept sends multiple receivers through the intermediate middle and a smart user rat can jump the dig or crosser. Against man coverage with a deep half safety rotated to the strong side, the corner route gets taken away and the quarterback progression should shift immediately to the crosser and shallow drag combo underneath.
Usage Tips
Take a pre-snap look at the safety alignment before the snap, if you see two high safeties sitting deep this concept struggles to hit the corner route so lean on the crosser and dig combo instead.
Hot route the flat route into a flat sit or spot route against zone shells to give yourself a quick underneath answer if the deep crosser is not open by your third step.
Use the deep crosser as your primary read against man coverage since it naturally picks up rub leverage off the formation traffic near the line of scrimmage.
Pair this play with Y Shallow Cross or Mesh from the same set to condition the defense into expecting shallow crossing routes, then hit Inside Cross to attack the same picture with a deeper answer.
Run this on second and medium or third and long when you need a defined progression that can hit at three levels, the corner route also punishes aggressive man press corners who bite on the underneath traffic.
