Levels: a 5v5 flag football play
Two receivers from the same side break inside at different depths: the slot at 5 yards, the outside receiver at 10. The middle defender can only take one. Against zone, the two routes settle into the windows between defenders.
Opens the free play maker with Levels added, ready to edit and print on a wristband card.
How Levels works
- Y pushes 5 yards and breaks flat inside.
- Z pushes 10 yards and runs a dig inside, over the top of Y.
- X runs a go route to hold the deep defender.
- C snaps and releases to the left flat.
The quarterback's read
- Read the middle defender.
- They come up on the 5-yard in: throw the dig.
- They sit at 10: throw the in.
- If both are jammed, the flat is the outlet.
Coaching points
- Keep the 5-yard gap between the levels. Too close and one defender covers both.
- The in-routes look for open grass and settle in it against zone.
- The QB throws the dig on the break so it arrives before the safety.
When to call it
Second and long against zone, and to beat a defense sitting in the middle.
For youth teams
Teach 'short in, deep in' with cones at 5 and 10 yards.
Rules check
IFAF (5v5, 7v7 and beach)
Legal as drawn, and legal in a no-run zone.
NFL FLAG and other rulebooks
Legal as drawn.
Rule numbers refer to the IFAF International Flag Football Rules 2023, the current edition. See the trick plays guide for the six rules that decide most plays.
Put Levels on a wristband
Add it to your playbook in the free play maker, change the routes to fit your team, and print numbered wristband cards and a coach's call sheet on regular paper.