Playbooks
Corner Strike out of the Split Backs Pro Slot set is a vertical shot play built around corner routes that attack the deep outside quarters and hi-lo the cornerback on the boundary. The route combo pairs corner breaks with an underneath crosser or flat route to hold linebackers and clear the zone underneath, making this primarily a man beater against press and off man coverage while still giving zone answers if the corner sits soft. The primary read progression starts with the outside corner route to the single receiver or slot side (whichever the play call favors), then works down to the underneath crosser as a checkdown if the corner route is capped by a deep safety rotating over the top.
Pre-snap, identify press man corners on the outside, this is the ideal coverage shell for Corner Strike since the corner route can win with a hard release and speed to the sideline Watch for a single high safety rotation after the snap, that indicates Cover 1 or Cover 3 and means the corner route will have help over the top, so be ready to bail to the underneath crosser If the defense shows two deep safeties presnap but rotates down into a robber or Cover 6 look, the underneath crosser becomes the primary answer since the corner route will run into the deep half defender Beware disguised Cover 4 quarters shells where the corner backpedals and reads the corner route from depth, this coverage is one of the toughest shells for this play since the deep quarter defender has clean eyes on the route the whole way On the defensive side, sitting a user controlled defender in a lurk or robber zone underneath the corner route can bait the quarterback into an errant throw, and disciplined deep safeties who stay square instead of peeking the run action will shut down the vertical shot entirely
Check the safety alignment before the snap, if you see two deep safeties split wide this corner route has room to work against man coverage underneath, if you see a single high safety expect help over the top and be ready to go through your progression to the underneath crosser instead of forcing the corner throw into double coverage
Use your hot routes to convert the underneath route into a quick out or option route if you are facing zone heavy tendencies from your opponent, this gives you a built in answer against Cover 3 and Cover 4 shells without changing the whole play call
This play hits best on second and long or third and medium to long when defenses are more willing to sit in zone or bring pressure, since the deep corner route punishes both press man leverage and zone defenders who bail late
Combine Corner Strike with Slants or Mesh from the same Pro Slot set to set up quick game tendencies first, then hit the defense with this shot play once they start jumping underneath routes and leaving the corner exposed
User the deep safety yourself if you call this play knowing your opponent likes to sit zone shells, taking manual control lets you bait a throw elsewhere then recover to the corner route once you feel the quarterback commit