Transcription
Smash. This concept is really good to beat in man and Zone coverages. The slot's going to have a 12-yard corner, and the outside's going to have a 5-yard hitch.
First, we'll talk about Zone. Zone's pretty good because this corner is going to have to make a decision. If the corner steps up to guard the hitch, the quarterback can drill this big money over the top, get the huge completion. But if the corner sinks back and guards the deeper route, the quarterback can take the easy one. This is called a high-low read. We're going to see a lot of these today.
This is the choice route. The slot is literally just going to read where is the open grass and then get to that spot. If the defense is playing heavy inside, he's going to take this route and break it out. If the defense is playing on top, he might be able to stop, give him a hard outside fake, and jet across his face.
But this is the most key part to this route concept. This X receiver has a mandatory outside release. So whoever's guarding this receiver, you want to turn his eyes away from whatever this choice route is. So that way, if the route actually does break outside, this defender isn't able to turn and jump the route for an interception. Especially in the NFL, this concept's a lot more common than you would think. You can tell it's a choice concept instead of a called route because usually the slot receiver will tempo off the ball, skip a little bit, just so that way they have time to read it and see where they can break into the open spot. So look at how Devonte Adams climbs up, gets to the top of his route, and holds still for a second, just so we can make sure to feel the leverage on who is guarding. And then he snaps off, breaks off, gets the catch. That's an easy reception. Come on, man. That's too easy.
Mesh is really good against man and Zone coverages. Mesh is all about stretching the field horizontally. Versus man, this rubbing action makes it really hard to track with the other guy across the field. There's so many linebackers and stuff in the middle of the field, you're going to get open by the time the receiver makes it to the other half. But in zone coverages, receivers are taught to stop in the hole in between these backers. This forces the defense to expand with them, which opens a huge lane for this tight end who's running this over-the-ball route, an easy throw from the quarterback.
Well, Caleb, how do they know if it's man or zone defense? Let me explain. When the receiver turns his head to run this way, he's looking to see, is somebody following my other tight end? 'Cause your eyes are already going to be looking this way. If somebody's guarding him, somebody's going to be guarding you. Then you also don't have to look back and see, is anybody following me? You can just run full speed away from the guy and recognize man or zone that way. Let's watch Odell run this route. He slides, cuts through, rubs off his teammates, finds his zone. Quarterback gives the ball quick. Get up, 10 yards, just like that. Hey, but run that back though. Peep how the running back released outside of that flat defender, which forced him out, giving Odell even more space to make that catch.
Verts. This is your favorite playoff Madden, designed to push the defense as deep as possible. The first thing we have to decipher is how many deep zones are being played on the field. So let's start with three deep. A lot of teams play Cover 3 by running these four vertical routes evenly spaced across the field. This middle safety is put in a bind. Is he going to guard this receiver on the left or the receiver on the right? And then from here, the quarterback just has to deliver the ball according to how the safety plays it. But if we were to get two deep safeties, now our read progression is a little bit different. Instead of the Y running all the way across the field into the zone of the other deep half, he's going to climb up the middle of the field and target that zone right in between the two safeties. The F receiver will make sure to hold this deep safety while the Z receiver runs into this honey alignment, and the quarterback can drill the ball right there. Let's watch Odell going and be great. Odell on the slot climbs up the middle of the field, splits the two high safeties. Boom. Bingo.
Levels. This concept is designed to give the quarterback as easy of a read as possible from left to right. Normally, there's some kind of money route on the front side that the quarterback can decide if he wants to throw pre-snap. This is based off if the corner is pressing him and he thinks he has a good 50/50 matchup, he can throw it out there. If not, it's easy for him to reset to his read progression, one to two to three. With both of these two routes from the slot moving this way, all the linebackers are shifting this way with the coverage. The job of the F is to pull everybody this way. The Z is trying to find a window to sit in between. And the X, because he's on the last read of the progression, he can take his time and just make sure he wins. Because if the quarterback looks this way to throw you the ball, you have to be open, or he's going to take a sack or throw the ball away. Let's tap in with Jamar. So right now, quarterback doesn't like the yes-no read, looks to Jamar Chase at the end, completes the ball because he knows that if Jamar Chase has that much time to get open, he will get open.
Flat. We're getting into the quick game now. This X receiver has a mandatory outside release. This is the same from the choice concept. You want to take the eyes of this defender guarding so that he's not able to jump this route and make a play. Now, all the slot F receiver has to do is beat the coverage man that's in front of him and race him to the sideline. But here's where it gets interesting though. If we saw the defense playing a Cover 2, the quarterback should read this high safety and see if he's going to be able to make this run to guard this vertical route. If, for whatever reason, the high safety's eyes aren't in the right spot, the quarterback can drill this ball into the hole-shot area of the field for a huge play. At the top of the screen, we see Jamar Chase lined up, releases outside of the corner. They recognize Cover 2, and Joe Burrow is able to deliver that ball to the back shoulder of Jamar Chase so that way he's protected from the big hit versus a safety.
The over concept is designed to stretch the field vertically once again, but essentially, all you're doing is reading that high-low on whatever defender is over here. Is he going to carry with the post, which most of the time he has to because this route is immediately running through his zone? And then once this post accesses a clear out, this over route is going to fill right into the area where he left. So in zone coverage, it's obvious this play is going to get open, and all this Z has to do is get over the top of whatever flat this area is guarding. Because this route concept's going to take a little bit longer, usually this Y will stay for protection down here, play-action kind of deal, you feel me, bro? But in man defenses, this is just as effective, just because this crossing route is so hard for one person to guard because of how they can straighten up and snap it back off. Jetta runs this route really good. Let me show you all real quick. Jetta starts this route, notices the man-to-man coverage, takes that one rocker step to the middle, and that's enough to influence the corner to get off of his path, and now we got the defense running into each other, looking stupid, wide open. Couldn't be an easier throw for the quarterback. I'm not going to lie, that route is crazy.
Mills concept is one of the best Cover 4 beaters in the game of football. This is one of the best Cover 4 routes because this dig route is designed to attract the attention of this defense right here. If everyone's responsible for a deep quarter, if this safety bites on the first thing he sees on this dig route, then the X receiver is going to have an easy post route with no post help from the middle of the field. When on paper, this corner is expecting post help right here. All right. But Caleb, but what if it's not Cover 4, bro? Then he just wasted a play, right? Wrong. That's why we got two more receivers. A lot of the time, you'll see these two receivers doing a rub concept, just something to beat man-to-man coverage in case the deep shot doesn't end up working how you want it to.
Slot fade. This is primarily a man-beating route. If the defense chooses to play man, the quarterback has all this space outside to deliver the football. But if the defense were to play some kind of zone coverage, this slot would still take off and clear out, and this hitch route would burst into the middle of the field, hoping that any zone defender was influenced by this vertical route in the slot. But you got to make sure to run this hitch first, or else the corner is going to be in the passing window for the slot fade. Here, we're going to see Jetta on the slot fade. Look at how Jetta gets on his toes, splits, get out, get out. Give me those. Give me those.
This concept can lead to some really big yardage. This F has the same crossing pattern that we saw in the over concept versus man coverages. He can add that little stutter step in there. But in zone coverages, this route has to find its way over the top of the flat defender and underneath the deep defender. But he's not even going to see him coming because he's from the other side of the field. But the most important role of the F is to clear out anything else that is in this immediate area right here, so that way the X's dig route can run into the space that was immediately vacated by the F. Super easy read progression. A lot of the time, coaches will put something quick on this side for the quarterback to read because this concept will take a little bit longer in the progression. I to read this one to two to three to four.
Simple route concepts are all about how you pair them up together, man. I'm telling you, you have two deep shot concepts, you're not really going to get anything out of that because what if they blitz? Now you have no routes that can be an adjustment to all the pressure that you're facing. Everybody knows a slant route, but not everybody knows how to read it. Let me show you all what is commonly misunderstood about the slant concept is that the job of the Y is to make sure that he protects the F, whoever is standing over the top of him. If this man were to go and blow up the F on a huge hit stick play, it's the Y's fault, not the quarterback. His sole purpose is to attract this defender to guard him so that way the window opens up for the F to catch the ball. And then if, for some reason, both of these two are clamped up man-to-man, the Z is a last resort, tempo win off the line of scrimmage, lead. But just to reiterate, the only way the Y gets the ball is if this man were to blitz right now, then the Y could replace into the zone right where he left, get the ball quick, easy completion, and he's probably going to be able to turn up the field a little bit too because there's nobody left in that area of the field.
Now, this concept's going to hit a little bit deeper down the field. If the defense plays zone, the F's job is just to clear out, take whoever this high safety is and just run them off for infinity, bro. This makes it super easy for the Z to come through and hit this hole right here that the quarterback can just deliver the ball straight to. If they play man, the same thing applies. F is clearing out the space, and the Z is just one-on-one, go make a play, get open. Quarterback for the ball. Now, ignore this number three receiver. He's in a concept with the tight end at the top of the screen. We see Devonte release outside, give a heart. Now all of a sudden, he's open. That's a game-changing play.
Thick concept. This is designed to stretch the field horizontally in a quick fashion. I know you've seen this play on Madden. So with this Z receiver, if the corner is playing any kind of off coverage, it should be super easy for this quarterback to just drill the ball. The timing between quarterbacks and their receivers is so good now, nobody's stopping that from being an incompletion. Definitely not if you're playing off. He then gets to read his Y. His job is to read man or zone. If there's a defender sitting inside of him, he's going to break out and run away from him. Whereas if this corner were to be playing a hard flat like in Cover 2, would just stop, sit right in between the middle of them. Quarterback can drill the ball right in there. These are quick game throws. The quarterback's just trying to get the ball into the hands of the playmakers and let them work from there. Odell runs up four steps, cuts it off, and because the quarter wanted to play so far off, it makes it just such an easy throw and catch. He's able to turn up to get 10 yards total on the play. First down.
Scissors. If a coach calls scissors, he's trying to score a touchdown. This is because we got a really deep corner from the slot and a really deep post from the outside. When the offensive receivers switch really late in the pass concept, it makes it really hard for the defense to pass off and adjust who's guarding what, man. Because sort of like our mesh concept earlier where we had these crossing routes with the rub concept, that same action is happening all the way down the field up here, except the Z and the X receiver are at a way higher top speed. This often can mean that these guys will get picked into each other when they try to cross through. But if we get a zone covered into this, high safety wants to flow this way with the corner, it just opens up the window for the post over the top.
Spacing. Spacing is a quick game concept that is designed to destroy zone coverage. So as we can see, if this is a Cover 2 shell, the job of the F and X receiver is to get onto their landmark. The F's job is to sit on the hash, and the X's job is to sit somewhere out by the number. When you put this in combination with the back running out to the flat, it forces the zone defenders to declare who they're going to guard. And if not, it should be an uncontested throw straight in between them. But the thing with spacing is, if they play man, you're cooked. Because this looks all fine and dandy, just sit in between the routes. But if they play man and guard you straight up like this, this is the easiest route to smother in the world. So what a lot of teams will do is they'll call basing on this half of the field and they'll call thick over here, just so that way if it's man, they can play on the left side. If it's zone, they can play on the right side. Then, as long as the quarterback identifies the defense correctly, he's going to have a completion. Let's look at Devonte Adams on this. There he is in the slot, bottom of the screen, and you see him get to his landmark, stop, turn around. Now Devonte Adams got strapped, but he's supposed to because it's man coverage. And if you look at the top of the screen, the man-beating route actually beat his man. I'm not trying to hate on the Raiders, but quarterback, you got to do a better job pre-snap identifying man or zone. See if they're running man, don't call spacing. You're done for that.
You're mostly going to see this concept in the Red Zone. Once you get inside the seven-yard line, it gets really hard to play zone on defense. That's why goal-line fades are so popular. When it comes to this China route, this is basically the goal-line fade for slot receivers. The quarterback's literally just going to read the break of this F and see if he can beat his man one-on-one. Because if he beats this safety guarding him right here, the F receiver is going to have all this room up here to work with and catch the ball, and then the quarterback can put this over the top for him. The only way that these slants are really getting the ball is if some kind of blitz action happens right now and you need someone to replace and catch the ball right now, get in the end zone. And blitzes are really common in this area of the field because they're trying to stop the run. See, when we see Odell line up in this formation, you can see the safety lines up with crazy outside leverage because he knows that's where the weakness of the defense is. But Odell's still able to slide up, capture his leverage. But bad ball from the quarterback.
Now, the dropout route concept is super interesting because it functions sort of like a choice route. Now, you might ask me, why are these lines dotted up the field? It's all about reading how the defense plays you. So if this corner is pressed up on top of you on the outside, you're reading if you can beat the corner by the time your route depth comes up. This is usually at about 16 yards. So if the corner is pressed up and you think that you can run past him and you think that you can release on him and run past him, get out of there, go on ahead. You know what they say, if he's even, he's leaving. The world is yours, go score a touchdown. But if this corner were to bail out late into a deep third zone, and it doesn't make sense for you to keep running deep, just fall out of this route and catch the comeback route right here. And a lot of offenses, this fallout concept has taken the spot of the comeback route because think about it this way, if the receiver had a locked comeback route, but if he were to beat this corner so bad off the line of scrimmage, by the time he gets to this break point, the corner is underneath chasing, trying to catch up. When this receiver turns around, this quarterback is going to throw the ball straight to the corner for being in bad position. So this dropout concept allows for the receiver to keep going and the quarterback to put this ball over the top.
The flood concept is designed to flood this outside portion of the field with routes hitting at different depths. When teams run this, it just forces the question, how many guys is the defense going to commit to guarding the sideline? Because if they play this man-to-man and play one defender here, one defender here, and one defender over the top, that leaves a lot of opportunity for somebody on this back side to come across and fill into the spot where they just vacated from. If they decide to play zone, they have to have somebody guarding this top route or else he's going to run wide open. I guess you could have a defender midpoint two and three, but that puts a lot of stress on this guy, and it's just the same high-low read as before. The QB is going to read this guy's dance and he's going to deliver the ball accordingly. Let's watch Devonte Adams win this. Now, it's still the same flood concept, but he just came from the other half of the field to fit that low piece. And when we see the defense lift this much to guard the deeper routes on the field, it's just an easy throw and catch, and now he's able to turn up the field, get seven, eight yards.
Everything I just showed you accounts for 90% of the route concepts that exist in football today. Hey, but Caleb, what's the other 10%? Like, bro, you said he was going to show us every concept. The other 10% of route concepts can be broken up into one of three categories, but the last one's going to blow your mind, so make sure you stay till the end of this video.
First one is double moves. Say we run the same stick concept from before. If we were to run this play multiple times against the defense, after a certain point, they would be able to start to guess and anticipate the routes based off of our formation. What are we going to do to counter that? All we got to do is boom, cut back across the middle. Boom, run a double move. Stop and go. Now all of a sudden, you got one, two, three double moves that you can choose from, and somebody's going to get open on their man. But you could see this out of a bunch of different formations. Say if we ran smash on this side, all you have to do is call the same smash play with a double move tag, and now this guy can run a corner post.
Number two, ISO ball. So if we have three receivers over here, you'll see this X over here isolated on an island by himself. This is where coaches get fancy. They'll say, if the corner is up pressed, then you have permission to take off, run a go ball, go make a play. But if the corner is backed up playing off, this receiver would either have some kind of timing route or they might get fancy and decide to run a double move on them.
And number three, the most important one of all, these different presentations. So let's take our smash concept again. Outside receiver has a 5-yard hitch, inside has a 12-yard corner. Now, instead of running these two routes specifically, now what if we move this X inside? The F not on a motion, but just preset, and we told him that he had to run a route to get to the same spot. All of a sudden, it creates a brand new route concept that we never seen before. When in reality, the quarterback and the receivers are reading it the same way. What if on our flat concept, we decided to throw another guy in there and just run the same, just to make it look like a 3x1 look instead of a 2x2? What if on this over concept, we told the Z to get to the same spot, but from the left half of the field? All of a sudden, we invented a K route. See, when you really put your mind to it, there's an infinite amount of ways that you could tell receivers to run different routes, but it really just comes down to the timing of how they relate to the quarterback, and are you going to pop up in this vision at the same time as if you were running a regular route?
But hey, man, that's it for this video. Like and sub if you like this one. Shout out to Jesus Christ. Shout out the king. I love y'all. Be easy.