Throwing 4 verts is an aggressive approach to attacking the defense in the air. 4 vertical concepts are designed to overload the amount of defenders that are responsible for deep zones.
The QB can push the ball downfield while getting it out of his hands quickly. Just because these routes are intended to get on top of the defenses coverage, it doesn’t mean that every ball needs to be thrown 30-40 yards down the field.
A 4 vertical pass concept will open up your offense to more explosive plays, get your speedy and athletic WRs on top of coverage and in open space, and will loosen up the defense by putting the secondary on their heels. If the defense has to worry about an effective four vertical pass game, it will then open up more intermediate to short passing opportunities for higher percentage throws.
An offense will also have an improved run game because secondary defenders will be hesitant to enter the box and support the run in fear of getting beat over the top.
Here’s a quick break down of the open space to attack with 4 verts vs Middle of Field Closed (MOFC) and Middle of Field Open (MOFO).
Four Verts vs MOFC
The diagram above shows the 5 different vertical zones that the secondary has to account for. In the look above, the defense has a safety in the middle of the field (MOFC) with both Corners that are above 7 yards. If we get this pre-snap read, then our QB will anticipate throwing one of the slot seam routes.
Above we still have MOFC but now the CBs are below 7 yards which (for us) tells our QB that he has the green light to throw the vertical route to his outside WR’s. Against this pre-snap look, all four WR’s are options to get the football in the 4 vertical passing attack.
Four Verts vs MOFO
Now the defense is showing MOFO with CB’s pressed. The verticals by the #1 WR’s will attack the open space on top of them, and one of the slot will have to make an adjustment to attack the space in the middle of the field. This will be shown later in the article. Against this MOFO look, we have 4 vertical routes that need to attack the three open spaces that are available.
With this MOFO look and CB’s playing above 7 yards, the only space that is available pre-snap is in the middle of the field. 4 verts is not great against defenses that put 4 defenders in deep zones because the vertical routes will end up running right into their coverage.
The best time for 4 verts is when you can overload the defense’s deep zone responsibilities as shown in the first, second and third diagram.
Landmarks for 4 Verts
When talking about landmarks its best to do it out of 2×2 formation and the ball in the middle of the field. This is the ideal spacing to have out of this formation and on the field for running 4 verticals.
Landmarks will change depending on where the ball is on the field, safety alignment, and formation that you run 4 verts out of, but this is the best way to teach the relationship each WR has with one another in the 4 vertical concept
Below is landmarks for 4 verticals against MOFC
When the middle of the field is closed, the seams up the hashmarks is where the offense will want to attack. The responsibility is on the QB to be able to move the FS with his hips, shoulders and eyes in order to get the FS to move left or right to open up one of the slot seams.
This changes when the defense presents a MOFO look as shown below.
Now that the defense has 2 high safeties, the open space moves to the middle of the field. It does the offense no good to run the inside verticals straight up the hash because they will eventually run right into the safeties over the top of them. One of the inside seams will need to adjust their vertical into a post/bender that attacks the middle of the field.
You can either coach it at a specific yardage for the WR to break on the post/bender, or you can teach it as when the WR clears the 2nd level defenders to bend it inside to open grass.
The decision for which slot WR to attack the middle depends on a variety of things; positioning on the field, leverage on safeties, OLB alignment, matchups etc.
Now that you have an understanding of the space you are trying to attack in the 4 verts passing concept, let’s take a look at the different variations of 4 verts
Variations of 4 Verts
4 Verts Switch
Switch is probably my favorite variation of 4 verticals. It’s really difficult for a free safety in Cover 3 to split the seams when the vertical routes are now coming from the outside. The switch concept is most successful when the ball is thrown about 15-20 yards down the field. The outside WR’s must get their eyes back as soon as they get vertical up the seam.
Below is 4 verts switch against MOFC.
| X | Inside release and over the top of A. Get vertical up the hashmark |
| A | Let the X cross your face for a natural rub and get vertical to the outside attacking the top of the numbers to bottom of numbers |
| Y | Let the Z cross your face for a natural rub and get vertical to the outside attacking the top of the numbers to bottom of numbers |
| Z | Inside release and over the top of Y Get vertical up the hashmark |
| Q | Move the single high safety horizontally. Look him off with hips, shoulders and eyes. Progression will be inside seam to outside seam. |
Below is 4 verts switch against MOFO
| X | Inside release and over the top of A. Get vertical up the hash mark to attack safety and then bend it to the middle and attack open grass. Get eyes back as soon as you plant outside foot to break in. |
| A | Let the X cross your face for a natural rub and get vertical to the outside attacking the top of the numbers to bottom of numbers |
| Y | Let the Z cross your face for a natural rub and get vertical to the outside attacking the top of the numbers to bottom of numbers |
| Z | Inside release and over the top of Y Get vertical up the hashmark occupying your near safety. |
| Q | With MOFO and Corners down, the progression will be on the same side as the bender route. QB will get eyes on near safety and read outside seam to inside bender. |
Here are a few different clips of us running 4 Vert Switch
4 Verts + Comebacks
I really like tagging comebacks to the outside WR’s when CB’s start aligning at 7+ yards before the ball is snapped. I typically see this look after successfully cutting the top off the secondary with a basic 4 vert attack. Now that CB’s are playing with more cushion, instead of trying to fight over the top of them, we’ll tag the outside guys to run a comeback at 14 yards back to 12.
The key for the comeback route is for the outside WR’s to run a Go route until it’s not. Meaning, they must sell the Go route as best they can and attack vertically off the LOS until they need to decelerate into their breakpoint. The CB’s must feel threatened vertically which will eventually create enough space for the WR to be open out of the break.
| X | Outside release vs press. With cushion attack the outside hip of the CB. The breakpoint for the comeback is 14 and work back down the stem at 45 degrees to the outside back to 12. |
| A | If you are tagged with the post/bender, balance up the safety to give yourself a 2 way go and then post/bend into the middle of the field as you clear the 2nd level defenders |
| Y | lock seam on the hash to hold down your safety. |
| Z | Outside release vs press. With cushion attack the outside hip of the CB. The breakpoint for the comeback is 14 and work back down the stem at 45 degrees to the outside back to 12. |
| Q | With MOFO and Corners off, the progression will be on the same side as the bender route. QB will get eyes on near safety and read the break point of the A, then work to the comeback to the same side. If A has an OLB over him and gets collisioned off the LOS, then the read immediately goes to the comeback. |
4 Vert Switch + Comebacks
This is a combination of the switch concept with the comebacks. The comebacks will now be ran from the slot WR’s as they will end up on the outside attacking the CB’s. It’s important for the slot WR’s to get their hips and shoulders completely squared to sell the vertical before breaking off into the comeback.
Common mistake that WR’s make in this position is that as they switch to the outside, their hips and shoulders stay angled towards the sideline all the way until their breakpoint for the comeback. This is a dead give away to CB’s that the slot WR’s are breaking their route off. They must avoid that by committing to the vertical first before hitting their breakpoint for the comeback to the outside.
| X | Inside release and over the top of A. Get vertical up the hash mark to attack safety and then bend it to the middle and attack open grass. Get eyes back as soon as you plant outside foot to break in. |
| A | Let the X cross your face for a natural rub and get vertical to the outside attacking the top of the numbers to bottom of numbers. Get your hips and shoulders down field before breaking it off for the comeback at 14 yards and back to 12 to the outside. |
| Y | Let the Z cross your face for a natural rub and get vertical to the outside attacking the top of the numbers to bottom of numbers. Get your hips and shoulders down field before breaking it off for the comeback at 14 yards and back to 12 to the outside. |
| Z | Inside release and over the top of Y Get vertical up the hashmark occupying near safety. |
| Q | With MOFO and Corners off, the progression will be on the same side as the bender route. QB will get eyes on near safety and read the breakpoint of X. If safety maintains his inside leverage on X, then QB will look to the comeback on the same side. |
4 Verts off Jet Sweep Power Read Play Action
If you like to run jet sweep in your offense then using it as play action is a great way to window dress a 4 vertical passing attack. This type of action can get linebackers and safeties to move horizontally and towards the line of scrimmage which can create more space for your WR’s in the passing attack.
Below is Kansas State running Jet Sweep Power Read Play Action with a 4 Vert concept:
Kansas St faces what appears to be a 3 high defensive structure. Post-snap the defense moves into what looks like to be a Tampa 2 defense. The space that needs to be attacked is still the same as the field safety will be in conflict with 2 verticals attacking him on both sides.
The sniffer gets his outside release and runs his vertical up the hashmark while the RB out of the backfield takes his vertical outside.
At the snap of the ball the QB get his his eyes to the field safety and sees him staying over the top and working outside, which is why the ball was thrown to the inside vertical route for a solid gain.
This is a great example of pairing what could be your best run play with an aggressive passing attack of 4 verticals.
4 Verts out of Trips Formation
Trips formation is a great way to attack the defense with four verticals among other trips passing concepts as well. 4 verts out of trips against a defense that plays with single high safety leaves the offense with an extremely favorable advantage to attack open space.
If the defense plays with a 2 high safety shell then routes will again have to be adjusted in order to attack the open space that is available.
Below is the basic way to attack MOFC and MOFO with 4 verts out of trips formation.
4 Verts vs MOFC
The key to attacking MOFC with 4 verts out of trips formation is appropriate spacing between the #2 (Y) and #3 (A) WR’s on their vertical routes. With the single high safety, 2 and 3 must stress the Safety horizontally. In order to do this, the #3 WR should work vertical over the inside backers and then aim for the opposite hash.
Here is Jackson State throwing 4 verts against MOFC out of trips formation
In the clip above, you can see the middle safety turn his hips as #3 cuts across his face for the opposite hash. This is all the QB needs in order to throw the ball on a line to the #2 WR running his vertical route up the hash.
4 Verts vs MOFO
The key to attacking MOFO with 4 verts out of trips formation is understanding how the defense is using their safeties in coverage.
If the Safety to the single WR side brackets X then the #3 WR will want to attack the middle of the field. This will end up looking similar to attacking MOFC as the #2 and #3 WR will split the Safety to the trips side.
If the Safety to the single WR side “poaches” or “robs” the vertical by #3 WR, then you’ll want the #3 to attack that far safety on the opposite hash, and then the #2 WR will work the post/bender into the middle of the field.
Here’s how we attacked MOFO with 4 verts against a Saftey that was helping on the single WR side.
The spacing was a little tight between the #1 WR and the #2 WR off the LOS, however, the #1 WR did a good job of getting his inside release on an outside shade CB and then re-stacking him and working back to the numbers. Ultimately, this defense played special coverage and we took the matchup with our #1 WR vs the CB in MEG.
4 Verts Switch
Switch out of trips formation is perfect for getting the slot WR’s open in space. The switch between #2 and #3 WR’s can eliminate possible collisions by the OLB and can make it difficult for Safeties to stay true to their responsibilities.
Here’s what 4 Vert Switch looks like out of trips formation
Below is a clip of Kansas State in 2022 running 4 vert switch against MOFC
Kansas St did a good job of putting horizontal stress on the single high safety where both routes by #2 and #3 WRs ended up coming open.
Although the inside vertical caught the ball for a big gain, the better option would have been the vertical up the hashmark because of the safety’s pre-snap alignment and post-snap movement of staying over the top of the inside vertical.
Below is another great look of 4 verticals out of a 3×1 surface as 2017 UCF throws 4 verts with the switch option coming from a sniffer inside the box.
This was a quick hitter for UCF as the QB was getting the ball out of his hands when the H back was about 10 yards down the field. The slot WR did a great job on his inside release creating a natural rub for the sniffer to work underneath and to the outside.
4 Verts in the Spread Offense
Having a 4 vertical pass game in your offense can put a ton of stress on a defense. Defenses must feel the threat of vertical routes from an offense and the above concepts are a great way to put pressure on a secondary.
There are multiple ways that you can throw 4 verts, whether it’s 2×2, 3×1, or even with different personnel groupings. By diversifying how you throw 4 verticals, your offense will be less predictable with these concepts resulting in a more successful pass game.