What is the Spot concept in 7v7 flag football?
In 7v7 flag football, Spot runs the bunch triangle of corner at twelve, spot at five and flat underneath, with a backside go route clearing the deep defender and the centre blocking. That backside go is the difference: it stops a single deep defender cheating toward the bunch, which is exactly what limits the concept at five players.
Why Spot works in 7v7
The backside go keeps the safety honest
A receiver running vertically away from the bunch occupies the deep defender who would otherwise slide over the top of the corner route. At five players there is no body to spare for that, so the corner route there is genuinely contested and here it often is not.
The centre blocks, so the triangle has time to form
The spot route sits at five and the corner needs twelve to develop. A blocking centre is what lets both arrive, where the emptier formats are throwing the spot route almost immediately whether or not the corner has cleared.
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 7v7
The backside go keeps the safety honest
A receiver running vertically away from the bunch occupies the deep defender who would otherwise slide over the top of the corner route. At five players there is no body to spare for that, so the corner route there is genuinely contested and here it often is not.
The centre blocks, so the triangle has time to form
The spot route sits at five and the corner needs twelve to develop. A blocking centre is what lets both arrive, where the emptier formats are throwing the spot route almost immediately whether or not the corner has cleared.
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 7v7 diagram. Move anybody, change the depths, then save it to your playbook.
Open this play in the designerRelated questions
How do you beat man coverage in 7v7 flag football?
What is the difference between Spot and 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.