The story of 'Dagger,' the route Liam Coen loves to call for Jaguars

Upon his arrival via trade last November, receiver Jakobi Meyers brought multiple things to the Jacksonville Jaguars: Experience, leadership, a track record of production and a consistent ability to avoid drops.

But perhaps most of all, he opened up the Jaguars’ passing game in general and a middle-of-the-field route in particular.

Welcome to “Dagger," a key play during the Jaguars’ second-half-of-the-season sprint to the AFC South title and a 13-4 record. Welcome to a play coach Liam Coen loves to call for quarterback Trevor Lawrence. And welcome to a play that takes advantage of the no-fear, willing-to-run-into-hazardous-areas attitude of Meyers and receiver Parker Washington.

“It was my favorite route to throw as a player and it has continued

to evolve for us,” said Coen, a record-setting quarterback at UMass before he started coaching. “It became a strength when we got Jakobi and we started working it and then Parker worked it and it allowed (Brian Thomas Jr.) to do what he does best outside.”

And even though defenses know the Jaguars excelled at the concept, Coen and Co. enter the Sept. 13 season opener against the Cleveland Browns confident it will continue to produce big plays.

Before we really dig into the weeds on it, “Dagger” in the simplest term: The wide right receiver runs nine steps (18-20 yards) before darting inside to catch a pass Lawrence lofts over the head of the linebacker and in front of a deep safety.

Explaining components of ‘Dagger’

Let get right down to it: What is the play?

During an interview at the Jaguars’ facility in late July, The Times-Union presented a piece of paper (with a football field on it) to Coen asked him to draw “Dagger.”

What followed was a solid 12-15 minutes of Football Passing Game Heaven if you’re into these kinds of things (both hands raised) and interested in getting a tutorial from one of the NFL’s best play-callers.

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“Let’s put the ball on the left hash,” Coen said.

And we’re off!

The piece of paper will end up with circles, letters, squares, lines (straight and squiggly) and arrows.

The alignment Coen draws up:

Lawrence in the shotgun with a tailback off his right hip. … One receiver (“X”) is wide left (Thomas) … On the right side is the “Y” tight end (Brenton Strange) next to left tackle Anton Harrison. … At slot right is the “F” receiver (Washington). … Wide right is the “Z” receiver (Meyers).

Lawrence uses a play-action fake and the left guard (in this case, rookie Emmanuel Pregnon) will pull-block right to help sell the impression it is a run play.

If the opponent rushes four players, the Jaguars will send five players on routes.

Meyers: The “Dagger” route. He runs down outside the hash and before sticking his foot in the ground to move inside.

“I try and get downfield and stretch the (space between him) and the defensive back,” Meyers said as he pointed at Coen’s drawing. “I need to get flat at the top of the route and not losing speed is one of the biggest points.”

Meyers said the Jaguars coach their receivers to use “speed cuts,” when getting out of a break as opposed to “rounding” the route.

“Different places do it differently, but here, the speed cut is putting your foot into the ground and (accelerating) inside,” he said, adding a rounded route may slow down a player.

Washington: He runs what Coen calls the “Streak” route straight down the right seam.

“Parker is running a clear-out route,” Coen said. “It’s typically not open, but he knows his job is to clear out the safety.”

The only two coverages that would make Washington a plausible option is “Tampa Two,” (split safeties, which would allow him to get open between the hash-marks) or “Cover Zero” (all-out blitz to leave the deep middle of the field vacant).

Thomas: He runs a double move down the inside edge of the left-side numbers. At 25 yards, he can change to a deep curl or deep “sit” (stop).

If Lawrence sees Thomas 1-on-1 because a safety shifts inside to account for Washington, Coen said: “We’re taking it. Anytime you get 1-on-1 in the NFL, you take it 95% of the time.”

Strange: After chip-blocking the defensive end, he runs an angle route of 6-8 yards before pivoting outside to the right hash to create “high” (Meyers) and “low” (Strange) options for Lawrence.

The tailback: He runs to the left flat to be another check-down option.

Problem is, there are 11 defenders on the field to cloud the picture for Lawrence and, chiefly, take away Meyers, forcing Lawrence to shift his feet and his eyes and his arm angle to another receiver.

The key player for Lawrence to read is the middle linebacker.

Coen said the Jaguars hope the play-action take forces the linebacker to quickly step up. If he does, advantage to the Jaguars.

“What Trevor is very good at is layering the ball (over the linebacker),” Coen said. “But, really, even if the linebacker gets depth, (Lawrence) still trusts himself to put it there (accurately).”

If the middle linebacker retreats “all the way down the field, then you dump it down to Strange,” Coen said.

It all has to tie together. The textbook play-action fake. The pass protection straining to give Lawrence time. The routes manipulating the coverage. And most of all, an anticipatory throw by Lawrence.

“There are a lot of things that can go wrong on this play,” Meyers said. “You have to be on your screws.”

Route requires accuracy, anticipation by Lawrence

The Jaguars have four former college quarterbacks on their coaching staff: Coen, quarterbacks coach Spencer Whipple (Pittsburgh, UMass and Miami), pass game specialist John Van Dam (Michigan State) and assistant receivers coach Tyler Tettleton (Ohio).

I asked Coen, Whipple and Van Dam if there is a big advantage for Lawrence to have Meyers crossing his field of vision instead of having to look outside the numbers?

Whipple: “Trevor has a great feel for that route and the timing and spacing of it. He loves the anticipation of the ‘Dagger’ cut and just letting it go and letting his guy run through the football. He’s throwing the ball before the receiver has broken inside. There is a trust factor. He’s trusting the receiver will get to his depth of 18-22 yards and the ball will end up in his chest for the catch-and-run opportunity.”

Van Dam: “(Lawrence) just sees those in-breakers really well. Incredible anticipation on that route. He lets it rip.”

Coen: “It’s a little easier throw. When (a receiver) is coming in (on his route), you can truly see what’s in front of you — the linebacker underneath or the safety in the middle. Anytime, you’re throwing outside, I don’t care how far it is, you might not see him as well or the angle as well …”

(At this point, fasten your seat belts. Coen rises from the couch in a second-floor lobby area of the Jaguars’ facility. He doesn’t a have football in his hands, but his still pretends like he does with several pat, pat, pat motions.)

Coen (contnued): “... When I’m dropping back, ‘Dagger’ is right in front of me. When I’m throwing the ball outside the numbers, I’m using my peripheral vision because you want to keep your head down the field if possible. And that’s hard. It just is. You may miss a defender underneath or over the top (outside) and maybe not pick up the angle or the route as well. (‘Dagger’) meets Trevor’s eyes well. I think it meets how he is set up to throw.”

During the first half of 2025, though, the Jaguars emphasized more quick game and out-breaking routes. One in-breaking route was for Dyami Brown (12 yards and pivot inside). Once the season started, though, not much.

“We weren’t attacking the middle part of the field; it just wasn’t great for us,” Coen said.

Meyers’ arrival and Washington’s emergence changed that.

An example of “Dagger” at its best was in the second quarter of the Week 16 win at the Denver Broncos. The Jaguars faced a second-and-6 from their 17-yard line. As described above, the Jaguars were in “11” personnel (three receivers, one tight end and one running back) and Lawrence was in the shotgun.

Washington ran the clear out route and took a safety with him. Meyers ran 15 yards straight ahead before speed-cutting inside and catching the pass 20 yards downfield for an eventual 25-yard gain. Expect more of those plays this year especially if Thomas gets off to a good start and demands over-the-top attention.

“There are obviously certain coverages where they can take (‘Dagger’) away, but in my opinion, there aren’t many,” Lawrence said. “If we’re on time, I throw it early to the window, I can cut it loose against almost any look.”

Contact O’Halloran at [e-mail] or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays (4-7 p.m. on "First Coast Football Friday").

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: The story of 'Dagger,' the route Liam Coen loves to call for Jaguars