Football Library · Routes
Curl
Vertical stem then a ROUNDED ~180° turn back toward the QB, settling in a soft spot in the zone (route tree #6). Depth varies by use: a traditional pro-style Curl runs 10-12 yds vertical and settles at ~9 yds; SHORT Curls (5-7 yds vertical, settling at ~5 yds) work underneath in Curl-Flat / Flood concepts. Any depth from 4 to 13 yards can fit the route, so a 7-yard curl is the short variant rather than a deviation. The break is a smooth turn-back, NOT a sharp corner — receiver decelerates, faces the QB, and finishes with a slight inside lean toward the middle. Reliable vs zone — find the window between defenders.
Example: @X (outside WR) runs the route at 9yd 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.
How to run it
settle in the soft spot, face the QB.
Reading it by coverage
How to run the curl against what the defense shows.
- Cover 0:
- hot vs blitz — settle early, face the QB on rhythm.
- Cover 1:
- vs man — drift inside to widen the leverage, face the QB at the break.
- Cover 2:
- settle behind the OLB and in front of the corner — hands ready.
- Cover 3:
- soft spot at the curl line — between the curl/flat defender and the deep third.
- Tampa 2:
- settle behind the MLB's drop — read the QB's eyes.
- Man:
- vs man — drift to widen leverage, square up at the catch.
- Zone:
- find the void behind the underneath zone — settle and face the QB.
Concepts that use this route: Curl-Flat, Split Back Boot Left Ladder, Split Back All Out, Split Back Boot Right Wheel, Strong Reverse Fake, Strong Boot Right Ladder, +3 more