Breaking Down The Air Raid Shallow Cross

11/13/2020 Breaking Down the Air Raid Shallow Cross – Wesley Ross Football
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Wesley Ross Football
Breaking Down the Air Raid Shallow Cross
By Wesley Ross
The shallow cross has long been one of the most popular routes in football. It is an easy
way to get the ball to a playmaker in space and provides the potential for big yards
after the catch. It can also put the defense in a bind when paired with an intermediate
route like a dig. In the early days of the air raid, the shallow developed into a
companion play with 4 verticals or what is referred to as “6” in air raid nomenclature.
In order to stop the 4 verticals play, the defense would have to commit it’s inside
linebackers
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and dig route start on opposite sides:
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The primary reason for running the dig/shallow combo this way is that because
the shallow is run in front of the linebackers and the dig behind, it strains the middle of
the field and puts the defender aligned over the dig route runner (in this case the Will
linebacker) in a high low stretch. If the Will turns to wall off the dig, the shallow route
will come open in the space he just vacated:
If he hangs for the shallow route, a throwing window should open up for the dig:
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While the Will is being placed in a vertical stretch, the shoot route by the running back
puts a horizontal strain on the underneath coverage that can open up throwing lanes
over the middle. The combination of the shallow and shoot route breaking in opposite
directions underneath, with the intermediate dig route over the top, results in a
triangle read:
The receivers running the outside vertical routes are typically taught to take an outside
release to force the cornerback to turn his back to the concept. The verticals routes
take the top off the defense and prevent the safeties from getting involved in helping
with the dig. If a safety starts trying to rob the dig, a post route can be tagged behind
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the safety, which is similar to the mills concept that Steve Spurrier made famous during
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his days at Florida. (Click here to read Chris Brown’s article on the mills play).
At Washington State the shallow cross is a staple concept of their air raid offense. If
the ball is on the hash, Mike Leach typically uses one of the outside receivers from the
boundary to run the shallow route because of the natural pick/rub it creates. If the ball
is in the middle of the field he will have one of his slots run the shallow because they
can get across the field faster than an outside receiver who would now have more
ground to cover. When an outside receiver is running the shallow the slot receiver to
that side will clear out the corner for the back coming to him. He will set a pick for the
shallow and also try to get the safety to go with him on his vertical route, which can
help open a throwing window for the dig:
Leach also has the back align opposite the shallow, then work across the quarterback’s
face
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with the back starting from the opposite side often results in the defense losing track of
him.
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The shallow runner will take one jab step and then run his route down the line of
scrimmage no deeper than the heels of the defensive line. His route needs to be
extremely fast and flat. This works well with the deep pass drop of the offensive line
and the aggressive pass rush of the defensive line. The defensive line will rush forward
on the snap, so the shallow runner should be able to literally run his route down the
heel line. Staying flat is a key point with the shallow route for two reasons. One, it
allows the receiver to get across the field more quickly than if he were to start drifting
upfield. Two, it creates more space between the dig and the shallow, which amounts to
a greater vertical stretch on the hole player. If the shallow starts to work upfield,
there is less area between the dig and the shallow that the hole player now has to
cover. It is important to stress to the shallow runner that once he catches this ball his
thought process should be to immediately try to get north and south to the numbers
and up the sideline.
The alignment of the dig route runner is important. He should align 8-10 yards from
the tackle. This creates space for the shallow pre-snap. It also opens a larger potential
throwing window between the mike and the outside linebacker. From a tight alignment
the window is smaller:
If the slot takes an 8-10 yard split the outside linebacker is forced to widen, creating a
larger pre-snap window:
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The dig runner must take an outside release in order to get the hole player (in this case
the Sam linebacker) to turn his back to allow room for the shallow. Once he clears the
Sam he needs to read the Mike linebacker. If the Mike takes an angle to run with him
and wall him off, then he needs to continue his dig route flat across the field in an
effort to try and gain separation:
If however the Mike sinks, then the route needs to turn more into a curl and settle up
into open grass in between the Mike and the Sam linebacker:
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The route has the ability to morph based on the reaction of the Mike. This is why many
coaches will even refer to it as a “hunt” route because the player running it is
essentially given the freedom to “hunt” for open grass. If the Mike gets depth he can
settle up in that first window, but he is not allowed to settle past the Mike. The rule for
the route is that if he clears the Mike he does not have the ability to settle up and must
continue across the field. If the Sam were to sink with the dig route then obviously this
should open up plenty of space to get the ball to the shallow. If the safety happens to
come up to take the dig, the receiver should be able to feel him on his hip and keep
running flat.
The premise behind the play is really to get the ball to the shallow. If the defense
decides to take away the shallow, they should be left vulnerable elsewhere. The
quarterback’s eyes will always start in the grass opposite the shallow route. His read is
simple. If the hole player turns and runs with the outside release of the dig, throw the
shallow. If the hole player sits on the shallow, it should open space for the dig. If for
whatever reason the read is muddy and the quarterback doesn’t like the dig, he will
now look at the back, who is often wide open at this point after getting lost by the
defense. His read is shallow, dig, shoot.
Below is a clip of Washington State running shallow from the 2014 season. Here you
will see the hole player opening his hips to run with the dig, creating open grass for the
shallow and an easy throw for the quarterback. It also seems that Leach gives his
outside receivers the freedom to take an inside release and bend their vertical routes
toward the safeties to try and run them off out of the play:
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WSU shallow cross #1
In the next clip, the hole player again turns his hips to wall the dig route, opening up
space for the shallow:
WSU shallow #2
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WSU shallow back
If the safety starts to jump the dig, they can now tag the post behind him. Leach
typically only tags a post on the same side as the dig. The quarterback’s progression
will now be post, dig, shallow, shoot. He will take 3 steps on his drop and hold for the
post. If the safety bites down, the quarterback will look to throw the receiver open in
the open grass behind the safety:
WSU shallow post
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