Spacing Concept

The Spacing concept is a concept which, as is in its name, is intended to provide spacing between the receivers so a single defender cannot cover 2 receivers at one time. This concept is a great short-yardage play, much like Blade and Q8, but is also a great open field play to pick apart zone defenses and also get some quick passes off before any blitzes can get to the QB.

 The spacing concept uses a mini-curl/hitch route combined with a flat route and a spot route out of the 3 receiver side of a 3x1 receiver set to bring the defense close together, then spread them out quickly and attack any mismatches. On the single receiver side, some teams run a slant route as shown in the diagram above to try and beat man coverage as quickly as possible, while others allow for different route options.

Smart Football has some great articles detailing the spacing concept here and here.