bench
Zone Beater
Bench is an excellent quick snap play because all four routes can get open against man and zone coverages with zero adjustments. The WR corner routes on both sides are some of the best corner routes in the game because of how they flatten out and quickly get to the sidelines. I almost always run stock Bench for my first play of the game so I can get a sense of what kind of defense my opponent is playing. I typically look to the wide side, reading the corner route and then the out route, but if my opponent is usering on that side I’ll look over to the short side and make the same read progression.
Your opponent may try to guard the out routes with hard flats, but remember that because your TE’s start so far inside, the hard flats won’t cover these routes until they get near the sidelines. This means that typically the out routes will be open on their break for short gains, unless your opponent is putting vert hooks in the middle of the field. If you want to avoid the hard flats entirely, then you can use Setup 2 and smart route both TE out routes. It’s a strange looking route combo, but the TEs are usually open immediately after their breaks, and because they go in opposite directions, the user can’t cover both. Finally, Setup 3 is best for when you want to flood the wide side of the field and stretch the zones apart. You’ll want to read the TE on the streak, the wide side WR on the corner route, and then the RB on the swing route, with a backside TE curl as an emergency dumpoff.
Alignment
On a hash with the running back lined up on the wide side of the field
Setup 1
Put your short side TE on a smart routed out route
Put your wide side TE on a smart routed out route
(Optional) Block your RB
Setup 2
Put the short side TE on a curl
Put the wide side TE on a streak
Put the RB on a swing route