What is the Four Verticals concept in 7v7 flag football?
In 7v7 flag football, Four Verts runs two outside go routes and two seams at eighteen against a defense that usually has three deep, while the centre blocks and the back swings underneath as the release valve. Having a genuine checkdown is what separates this from the five-player version, where all four eligibles are committed downfield.
Why Four Verticals works in 7v7
There is a release valve, so the call is survivable
The back swings out rather than running the fourth vertical. That means an honest coverage produces a short completion instead of a throwaway, which makes this callable on second down in a way the five-player version is not.
Three deep is the normal picture, not two
Seven players usually means three defenders back, so the pre-snap count is four verticals against three. Somebody is still one-on-one, but the margin is thinner and identifying which one before the snap matters more here than at five.
It is decided by counting, not by reading
Two deep defenders against four vertical routes means two receivers are uncovered deep. One deep defender means three are. The quarterback does the arithmetic before the snap and throws to the answer, which removes almost all of the in-play decision-making that gets young quarterbacks into trouble.
Nobody covers a vertical route forever
A defender running stride for stride with a receiver has to turn and find the ball at some point, and the moment he turns he stops running. Even a coverage that is technically correct produces a throwing window if the route is run at full speed.
Staggered depths stop the routes from sharing defenders
If four receivers arrive at the same depth at the same time they occupy one horizontal band and a single defender can influence two of them. Breaking the depths apart, which every version of this concept does, means each route arrives in its own window.
How to read it
- 1
Count the deep defenders before the snap
One deep defender, two, or none. That number tells you how many of your four are uncovered and roughly where they are. Do this every snap, not only when you have called this concept.
- 2
Look at the deepest defender's first step
Whichever way he leans, the vertical on the other side is the throw. Against a single deep defender this is the whole play and it happens in the first second and a half.
- 3
Throw it before the rush arrives
Vertical routes take time, which is the concept's only real cost. Decide early and let it go rather than waiting for a receiver to get further open.
- 4
Take the checkdown without regret
If the coverage is genuinely correct, somebody underneath is uncovered because everyone else went deep. Taking that is not a failure of the call, it is the call working as designed.
What changes in 7v7
There is a release valve, so the call is survivable
The back swings out rather than running the fourth vertical. That means an honest coverage produces a short completion instead of a throwaway, which makes this callable on second down in a way the five-player version is not.
Three deep is the normal picture, not two
Seven players usually means three defenders back, so the pre-snap count is four verticals against three. Somebody is still one-on-one, but the margin is thinner and identifying which one before the snap matters more here than at five.
When not to call Four Verticals
It is a shot, not a base call
Four Verticals asks for time and produces an incompletion more often than a short concept does. It belongs on first down and on downs where an incompletion is survivable, not on third and short where you need the chains moved.
Two capable deep defenders can take it away
Against a defense that genuinely plays two deep and whose safeties are disciplined, the honest read is often the checkdown. If that happens twice in a row, the concept has told you something and the next call should be underneath.
Open Four Verticals in the designer
Opens this exact 7v7 diagram. Move anybody, change the depths, then save it to your playbook.
Open this play in the designerRelated questions
How many deep defenders does 7v7 usually play?
What do you do if Four Verts is covered in 7v7?
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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.