When you’re discussing the passing game in football, eventually you run into the Levels concept. Levels is simple, an outside receiver runs a 5 yard in route and the slot receiver runs a 10-12 yard square-in to give the QB an easy high-low read. A&M adapts this high-low read in their three-man levels concept out of an empty formation. In empty, the QB is alone in the backfield with five potential receivers. The concept side is three receivers and the backside is two receivers. The concept side is where A&M runs three-man levels.
Play Concept
You can run empty from 10, 11, or 12 personnel, it all depends on your faith in your tight ends and RBs as receivers. A&M runs empty from 11 personnel, one tight end and a RB aligned out wide. When A&M runs three-man levels, the TE is aligned to the boundary and the RB is aligned to the field on the concept side.
As you can see in the diagram, the X and TE are aligned to the boundary while the RB is the inside slot to the field. The outside slot and field receiver complete the concept side of the play. Using empty set requires five-man pass protection, A&M uses half-slide pass pro here. Field side will slide protect while boundary side will be big-on-big protection.
At the snap, X pushes for a vertical route. TE runs three steps and then drags across the formation. On the concept side, the RB runs a 2 yard slant to the boundary and outside slot runs his own three step drag inside to mirror the TE. The QB knows he has mirror routes inside on both sides to attack the flats to the middle. Field receiver pushes to 10 yards and then runs inside. The outside slot’s drag at 5 yards and field receivers in route at 10 yards gives the QB a high-low read of levels. With the RB’s slant to the boundary, the QB has a three-man levels concept hitting short, middle, and deep.
Executing Three Man Levels
Jalen Preston is the boundary receiver below the numbers. TE Jalen Wydermyer is the boundary slot. QB Zach Calzada is in the shotgun in the backfield. RB Devon Achane is the inside slot. WR Ainias Smith motions to the outside slot. WR Moose Muhammad III is the field receiver out wide.
At the snap, Preston pushes vertical to the end zone. Wydermyer runs three steps and then drags to the middle. Achane runs a 2 yard slant outside. Smith crosses Achane’s route and runs three steps and drags inside, mirroring Wydermyer’s route. Muhammad pushes vertical to establish inside leverage, fights off the press coverage of the corner, and turns inside at 10 yards. Calzada avoids the rush and spins on off to Muhammad. Moose makes a nice catch and goes into the end zone with the reception.
Result of the play is a 13 yard touchdown. Three-man levels is an easy way to exploit a secondary using an empty formation. Here A&M used it to score their first touchdown against LSU in 2021.