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With the 2025 NFL Draft behind us and the doldrums of the offseason upon us, I thought this would be a good time to get into some scheme and play breakdowns. I will go over some of the more popular offensive and defensive schemes and plays that you will hear this fall either during games or breaking them down afterward. Consider this Summer School of Football 101.
What is a Dagger Concept?
The Dagger concept is popular because it does not have much flexibility and only involves two primary routes. The inside receiver will be running a vertical route and the outside receiver to the same side running a dig or in cut typically anywhere from 9-15 yards downfield. This route combination works in tandem to put the middle of the field defenders, especially the safeties, in conflict. It is designed to create an easy read from the two routes depending on how the defense reacts. The other routes on the opposite side of the formation can be any combination of shallow crosses or flat routes so that the middle of the field can be the focus of the QB for the dagger routes and creates a high low progression or it can even be another vertical to pull as many defenders deep to be able to access the dig route underneath.
How is it successful vs Man Coverage?
A typical Dagger concept would look something like this:
This concept can be especially effective against man coverage because the clear out from the vertical creates space and traffic over the middle of the field leaving the dig route room to operate in space. If the safety decided to jump the dig, there is an easy opportunity over the top for any of the verticals and the underneath routes would be the last read in the progression.
Can this be used against Zone?
Yes. However, at the snap the vertical WR must decipher the coverage to determine if it is a two high look like cover 2 or cover 4 and he must bend his vertical to attempt to split the safeties. Hopefully, the play side safety follows him to allow the clear out, but the bend inside could also affect the other safety which could open up the other side WR for a play, or a TE working the seam.
Is the progression always the same?
Yes. This play is designed to get the ball to the dig route working off the vertical, so the progression will always be the frontside dig and vertical with the other routes working high to low.
Are there coverages it doesn’t work against?
Tampa 2 is a tough coverage to work this concept against because of the depth the MLB get into the center of the defense. Against this coverage you could look to have 2 vertical routes that offer a 50/50 ball downfield or you could pivot to your underneath routes that are lower in the progression.
Are there variations of this concept?
Yes. As long as the route concept includes an inside vertical clearing out for the dig route, there can be a myriad of other types of routes run by other receivers, and it can be run from a myriad of different formations. Here are a few more examples of plays run with different routes and formations. You will see the one constant is always vertical route paired with a dig.
Is this concept good for the Chargers?
This is a simple route concept that can work with the right WR working in tandem. However, this concept is not a good one for Ladd McConkey and he would need to be used as a decoy on the slot vertical or placed at the Z WR as a second read. This concept would fare favorable for QJ or Tre as the dig WR paired with the vertical speed of either KLS or Davis. I do like the variation routes using the inline Y TE to work the backside seam or flat, so maybe Conklin or Gadsden can have some success operating there? This is a fairly rudimentary scheme and any WR should be able to run a successful dig through the clear out, but the vertical WR must have enough speed to threaten the deep defenders on his side of the field and enough awareness to bend the route between the safeties in a zone look. Overall, the simplicity of this concept should be available to every team’s personnel, including the Chargers.
Great work, Eric.
The Dagger Concept is fascinating to me from a Defensive perspective:
- It is the most dangerous throw for a QB. See this great 20 minute exploring all the reasons for INTs last year. Attempting to throw the Dagger was the biggest contributor to turnovers of all concepts:
Tarheeb Still jumped the Dig for a pick (against the Bucs, I think)
- The reward though when the QB hits it is high! For the Chargers, defending this route has been a big challenge not only for Staley, but also for Minter. That soft space in Quarters or Cover-2 is exploitable and some bigger receivers like Mike Evans have had a field day against us with this route (particularly where many of our CBs these past few seasons have been on the smaller side).
I hold my breath every time our Defense faces an elite receiver, largely because of the Dagger Concept. I look forward to seeing how Minter tries to combat it this season.
Google AI’s response to how to defend the Dagger concept:
@alisterlloyd These AI notes offer some great takes on defending this concept. I have always been a big fan of robber coverages since it is a well disguised post snap adjustment that can easily fool young QB or ones who have not prepared for the coverage through tape study. I do think Tampa 2 can be effective to muddy up the intermediate middle of the field occupying the zone that the dig is looking to exploit or at the very least forcing the QB to attempt a layered throw between defenders. The caveat to this coverage is that while you are trying to take away the dig, you are conceding the short area of the field 5-8 yards deep and relying on your defenders to drive and tackle to limit the gains any further. I think varying zone/robber coverages is the best way to defend this concept as it is designed to be a man coverage beater with the clear out.
As an offense, after running this concept a few times and seeing how the safeties react, especially in robber coverages, I would try to pump fake the dig to hopefully pull the safety or have him hesitate enough to take the vertical. If you could toggle these routes successfully through defender manipulation, it can just be a repeating nightmare for the defenders, who might just have to resort to a Cover 4 quarters essentially gift wrapping the short to intermediate routes. Great stuff Alister. Thanks for the info.
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