Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Mesh Traffic out of Shotgun Bunch X Nasty puts three receivers tight to one side with a heavy mesh concept underneath. The two inside receivers cross low at the same depth to create natural traffic for man defenders while the backside outside receiver runs a deep crosser away from the mesh, and one bunch receiver bends a shallow drag to the flat. The running back releases to the opposite flat on a checkdown route while the offensive line picks up a full pass protection look with no play-action or screen elements. This is a man beater built to rub coverage off through the mesh point, with the primary read starting on the shallow drag or flat route and progressing into the mesh crossers before working to the deep crosser on the backside.
Defensive Reads
Identify if the defense is in man coverage before the snap since mesh traffic is designed to pick and rub defenders through the crossing routes at the mesh point. Watch for a linebacker sitting in a low hole zone drop, which can jump the shallow drag or flat route and turn this into a turnover if you force it early. Key the safety rotation post-snap, if the safety stays deep and does not crash down on the mesh crossers you have room to work the intermediate crossing routes with confidence. Beware of user-controlled defenders spying the running back's flat release, as savvy opponents will jump this route first since it is the easiest checkdown in the concept. Against zone coverage shells like Cover 3 or Cover 4, this play loses much of its rubbing effect since zone defenders will sit in windows rather than trail receivers through the mesh point, so consider switching to a designed zone beater from the set instead.
Usage Tips
Look for man coverage indicators pre-snap such as corners lined up tight on the bunch receivers or a single high safety shell before snapping this play, since the mesh traffic loses value against soft zone drops.
Hot route the running back into a wider flat release against teams that like to spy or crash the mesh with a linebacker, giving you an easy answer if the mesh gets clogged.
Use this on third and short to medium distance situations where the shallow drag and flat route give you a quick answer against blitz-heavy play calling.
Pair this with Mtn Mesh Cross or Mtn China Cross from the same set to keep the same bunch look while changing the crossing depths, forcing defenders to guess on route depth after seeing mesh traffic once.
If the defense shows heavy man coverage with underneath help, work your eyes to the deep crosser on the backside since the traffic at the mesh point should spring it open against trailing defenders.
