What is the Spot concept in 11v11 flag football?
In 11v11 football this triangle is usually called Snag: a corner route at thirteen, the spot sitting at five, and the back in the flat at four, with a go route at eighteen and a backside drag at five. The vocabulary is the main thing that changes at this level, and the routes and the read are the same as the Spot every flag install runs.
Why Spot works in 11v11
It is filed as Snag, not Spot
Eleven-man playbooks almost always call this Snag. Worth knowing if you coach both, because a coach who learned Spot in flag and Snag in tackle has usually been taught they are two concepts, and they are one triangle with two names.
The back runs the flat, freeing a fifth route
With the back taking the underneath level, an extra receiver runs the backside drag at five. That gives the concept something on the other half of the field, which the flag versions do not have and cannot have.
The triangle covers every answer a defender has
Three receivers at three depths in one area is not a horizontal stretch or a vertical one, it is both at once. A defender who widens opens the middle of the triangle, one who sinks opens the flat, and one who jumps the sitting route opens the corner behind him.
Condensed splits break man coverage without a rub
Receivers lined up close together create traffic on the release simply by running their own routes. Defenders in man have to navigate around each other before they can cover anybody, and the concept gets its separation from that congestion rather than from anybody being faster.
The sitting route is the safety valve and the primary
The receiver at five is the first read and also the answer when nothing else is there. That is unusual and it is why the concept produces so few negative plays: the fallback is the same throw as the first choice, so there is no moment where the quarterback has to change his mind under pressure.
How to read it
- 1
Find the sitting route first
Look at the receiver at five yards before anything else. If he is uncovered, throw it. Most of this concept's completions are exactly that throw and there is no reason to work past it.
- 2
Then read the flat defender
If he jumps the flat route, the sitting receiver behind him is free. If he widens with nobody, look up: the corner route is the throw.
- 3
Take the corner against a defense playing everything short
When both underneath routes are covered it is because the defense has committed bodies to the short area, which is precisely when the route over the top has nobody deep in that quarter of the field.
What changes in 11v11
It is filed as Snag, not Spot
Eleven-man playbooks almost always call this Snag. Worth knowing if you coach both, because a coach who learned Spot in flag and Snag in tackle has usually been taught they are two concepts, and they are one triangle with two names.
The back runs the flat, freeing a fifth route
With the back taking the underneath level, an extra receiver runs the backside drag at five. That gives the concept something on the other half of the field, which the flag versions do not have and cannot have.
When not to call Spot
It needs a condensed set to be worth calling
Spread the same three receivers out and the release traffic disappears, which is where most of the concept's advantage against man coverage comes from. Run out of wide splits it becomes three ordinary routes in the same area.
It concedes the deep middle
Everything happens in one quarter of the field and nothing threatens the middle of the coverage. A defense can play a single deep defender against this concept all day without ever being punished for it.
Open Spot in the designer
Opens this exact 11v11 diagram. Move anybody, change the depths, then save it to your playbook.
Open this play in the designerRelated questions
What is the Snag concept in football?
Is Snag the same as Spot?
When should you call Snag?
Related guides
Coach Ray Carroll
Twelve seasons coaching youth and rec flag football, and the builder of RC Football. Every play on this site has been run by a real team on a real Saturday.