Coaching Football NFL & College Pass concepts #4 - 4 verticals, 4 vert

 

4 vertical concept is very popular in both the pro game and college game. 

The route conepts are as follows:

The outside routes are simple. The  outside wr releases outside and if the cb is trying to fight outside and maintain leverage its cover 2 and the wr will run a go route. Any other type of coverage (c 3, ,press bail, man to man, he will run a stop route) Some teams will allow the outside wr to run go routes if they think the wr has beaten the cb but I dont like that option as it leads to many interceptions.

The inside wr will run a seam route unless they read cover 2/4 or as it is explained to the wr the safety is off/outside  then they will run the bender concept. They will flatten out and bend the route in vs 2/4.  

If the safety is middle of the field or  the wr is not capped, the slot or te will run a vertical down the seam. This is the other option for the inside route.

Lastly, the rb runs a balloon route which is a 3 way go. He can stop, break in or break out depending on leverage and whether he gets zone or man coverage.

The Rb runs a balloon route concept where the rb can sit it down or break it in or out. 

Now that we discussed the routes, lets talk about the qb reads

cover 1/3 carry-stop route (best leverage and matchup favoring the boundary, not open look for the rb on the balloon route

cover 2- work the 2 on 1 fast break at the safety, bender to the go route off of the free safety. Work off the mike to the bender opposite,  reset to the balloon route

cover 3- seams off the free safety to the balloon route

cover 4-stop route to the rb on the balloon route

cover 6/8 -work your cover 4/2 rules  and work the cover 4 side, stop route to the balloon by the rb

cover 2 man- run the stop route best leverage matchup(preferably the boundary) to the balloon route by the rb

Here is some film and then there are more examples below:

Below gives some examples of the reads discussed above:

vs cover 1 or 3 carry 

ccover 2 

As you can see below the qb reads the bender off the drop of the mike lb.

nice completion

Here's another cover 2 bender concept

Cover 2 go route

In the next example the safety jumps the #2 wr and leaves the cb on an island. WR always runs a go when he reads cover 2. The cb works outside and zone turns which makes it an easy read.

safety out of position easy read for qb

Here the Eagles run it vs the Titans. They get cover 2 and you can see the qb Hurts read the mike and throw the bender.

Watch the mike open to the top of the screen so Hurts throws the bender to #2 below.

You can see the mike open to the top of the screen so they throw the bender to #2 on the bottom of the screen. 

 

cover 4

The wr read bail and they run stop routes, the qb makes the proper read and throws the stop to the boundary

These are some examples of the cover 4 vertical route concepts with some simple route adjustments that are easy to teach.