Cross

Deep crossing (over) route — receiver releases vertically for roughly 3 yards, then bends smoothly inside and keeps gaining depth while running across the formation, typically arriving 12-18 yards downfield on the opposite side. Unlike a Dig, the Cross has no hard 90-degree square-in break; its base path keeps climbing instead of immediately becoming a horizontal line. Unlike a Drag, it is an intermediate-to-deep cross rather than a shallow one. The landmark is coverage-aware rather than a rigid rail: stair-step more vertically over underneath leverage, snap flatter beneath top-down coverage, or settle in an open zone window while preserving the route's cross-field intent. It is the defining route in Y-Cross and the intermediate crosser in boot/Waggle concepts; its moving target is a strong answer to man coverage and pursuit flowing away from it.

Example: @X (outside WR) runs the route at 14yd depth. Only the route runner and the QB are shown so the break stays the focus; the same route family scales to any depth a play calls for, and concepts that use this route may set a different depth.

Concepts that use this route: Y-Cross, Waggle