Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
SFT Mtn Shallow Trail runs out of Bunch Spread Nasty with pre-snap motion sending a receiver across the formation before the snap. The concept features a deep crosser clearing out from the far side, a shallow drag working underneath from the bunch to the opposite flat, and a trailing route stacked behind it to create a natural pick against man coverage, while the backside slot runs a corner breaking route to attack the boundary. This is a man beater built on rub traffic and crossing angles, with the primary read starting on the shallow drag underneath and progressing to the trail route behind it before working back to the deep crosser or corner route if the underneath stuff is taken away.
Defensive Reads
Watch the motion defender at the snap, if he trails the receiver man to man you can anticipate the rub working and should stay disciplined instead of chasing across the formation Zone defenders should sink under the shallow drag immediately rather than getting caught peeking at the deep crosser, since the shallow route is designed to sit in the throwing lane Linebackers need to recognize the trail route stacking behind the shallow and pass it off quickly instead of colliding with the underneath defender, which is what the rub concept is designed to exploit Cover 3 with a robber underneath can take away both the shallow and trail routes if the robber stays patient and does not bite on the initial crossing action Blitz packages that bring pressure off the edge can disrupt this play before the trail route develops, so an overload blitz or nano blitz timed to beat the protection is the most effective counter
Usage Tips
Use the pre-snap motion to identify man versus zone before the snap, if the defender follows the motion man across the formation you are getting man coverage and this play is primed to work
Start your read on the shallow drag since it settles low and fast against zone, but if you see man coverage let it pull defenders into the trail route running right behind it for the natural rub
Save this play for third and medium to third and long situations where the shallow to trail combo has room to work and the defense has to respect multiple levels
Hot route the corner route to a deeper comeback if you are facing a Cover 3 shell with a hard flat defender sitting underneath it
Pair this with Mtn Slot Under or Mtn Mesh Drive earlier in a series so the defense keys the same shallow crossing action and then gets picked apart by the trail concept once they start jumping the initial drag
