Playbooks
Se Curl out of Singleback Y Off Trips is a curl-flat concept built to attack zone coverage with the trips side while giving you a quick isolation route to the backside. The trips receivers work curl, flat, and a deeper breaking route to stretch zone defenders horizontally and vertically, forcing linebackers and safeties to choose between the underneath flat and the sitting curl route. Primary read starts with the curl route from the inside trips receiver, then works to the flat route underneath if a zone defender sinks, with the backside single receiver as a late-window man beater alternative.
Look for two deep safeties pre-snap, which signals Cover 2 and tells you the curl route will have a soft window between the corner and safety. Watch the flat defender post-snap, since if he sinks with the curl route you have an easy throw to the flat route underneath him. Identify Cover 3 by a single high safety and three deep defenders, which invites you to sit the curl route just past the underneath zone drop. Beware user-controlled linebackers dropping into the curl window, as a smart user will sit in the passing lane and bait a mid-range interception. Man coverage with press alignment on the outside receivers is the toughest matchup for this concept, so key defender leverage at the line before committing to the curl read. Watch for blitz packages that pull a linebacker out of the underneath zone, since that creates an open throwing lane to the flat or curl route before the pocket collapses.
Check the safety alignment pre-snap to identify Cover 2 or Cover 3 shells since this play is built to sit down in the soft spots of those zones.
Hot route the flat route to a quick out or slant if you see man coverage press at the line, since the curl concept loses value against tight man coverage without a rub.
Use this on second and medium or third and short situations where the sit-and-settle nature of the curl route matches the down and distance.
Pair this with HB Draw or HB Dive out of the same set to keep linebackers honest, then come back to Se Curl once you have shown run tendencies from the same personnel and formation.
Combine with Slants or Stick from this set to give defenses conflicting quick game reads, then mix in Se Curl to punish defenders who jump the short stuff too aggressively.