Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Y Shallow Cross out of Singleback Y Trips is a man beater built around a shallow drive route that crosses the entire formation underneath. The backside X runs a quick out into a corner route, the trips side gives you a deep dig sitting at the sticks off a comeback breakpoint, a wheel route climbing the sideline vertically, and the checkdown running back sneaks a flare underneath. Primary progression starts with the shallow crosser working from the closed side to the trips side, then climbs to the deep dig, and finally to the wheel route if the crosser gets picked up by trailing linebackers.
Defensive Reads
Watch for man coverage indicators like corners lined up tight on the trips receivers, this tells you the shallow crosser will win versus trail technique. If linebackers show blitz depth or crash the A gap at the snap, get the ball out fast to the shallow route before pressure arrives. Zone drops from linebackers sitting in the shallow crosser's lane signal a Cover 2 or Cover 3 zone shell, which means you should climb the progression to the deep dig sitting in the seam. User-controlled defenders lurking underneath in the middle of the field can jump the shallow crosser, so read their leverage before committing to that first read. Cover 4 or quarters shells with safeties rotating late can take away the wheel route, so respect deep help before throwing outside the numbers on the trips side.
Usage Tips
Use the shallow crosser as your rhythm throw against man coverage since it creates natural rub traffic through the trips bunch and forces linebackers to fight through picks.
Check pre-snap for Cover 3 or Cover 4 shells, if the safeties show two high, prioritize the deep dig sitting down in the void between underneath zones and the deep safety.
Hot route the running back into a flat route or keep him on the flare against blitz-heavy fronts to give yourself a built-in checkdown versus nano blitzes and edge pressure.
This play works best on second and medium to second and long since the shallow crosser and dig combo need a full read progression to develop.
Pair this play with Mesh or Curls Combo from the same set to condition the defense on shallow crossing routes, then hit them with Y Trail or Sluggo Seam off similar formation motion to counter their over-the-top help.
