I'm wanting to know, maybe from some real coaches or just people that would KNOW, how should I go about making my reads? I'm talking in terms of offensive passing of course.

Currently what I do I attempt to read pre-snap man vs zone then if I can cover 1, 2, 3, etc...Then after the ball is snapped I watch the safties, then if I'm not running for my life and I have time I watch the CBs then the LBs....

My question is how should I read my routes? Do you look for the short ones first? Then the deep route? Or do you look for the "orange route" first? Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but I'm hoping the coaches out there might give me some idea of how you're "supposed" to do it.

I know on a simplier play, i.e. WR Screen it's pretty easy, but what about something like a SMASH play say from Shotgun Trips in the SMU playbook? There are multiple routes being run there all with different "throw points" How would one suggest I go about attacking the defense with a play like this?

Would it be something like, read the defense, then figure out which of those routes "should be" open and watch for them to develop? Or do you do something more like WR 1, 2, 3, ?

I guess the terminology I'm looking for is how do you make your receiver progressions?

It seems like I've read somewhere about a "passing tree" not sure if I need to look in the directin for the answer to my question.

Thanks.