Playbooks
Breakdown
Mtn Slot Screen is a slot receiver screen out of Shotgun Cluster HB Str with 11 personnel, and the diagram shows a full man in motion sweeping across the formation before the snap to help sell run action and widen the defense. At the snap the outside receiver runs a deep vertical clearout while the TE releases up the seam, and the interior receiver sets up behind a wall of blockers releasing from the cluster to lead the screen. This is a zone beater designed to punish teams that drop into coverage and vacate the underneath area, with the primary read progression starting on the screen receiver behind the blocking wall and going to the vertical clearout only if the screen is jumped.
Defensive Reads
Key the flow of the linebackers at the snap, since aggressive run blitzing linebackers will crash the screen lane and blow this play up before the blockers get set Watch for a user controlled defender spying the backfield or sitting in the shallow zone, as this indicates the defense recognizes the screen tag and will jump the throwing lane Identify if the defense is in man coverage before the snap by tracking whether a defender shadows the pre-snap motion man across the formation Cover 2 and Cover 3 zone shells with slow linebacker reactions are the most vulnerable to this screen since the underneath defenders have to read and react rather than jumping routes Blitz heavy fronts with extra rushers can be deadly against this play if the offensive blockers cannot get out in front fast enough, so watch for overloaded pressure looks pre-snap
Usage Tips
Call this play when the defense shows soft zone shells like Cover 3 or Cover 4 that give up easy underneath yardage after the catch
Watch the pre-snap motion defender to identify if the defense is playing man across or zone matching, since a defender running with the motion man signals man coverage which slows the screen setup
Use in obvious run down and distance situations like 2nd and short or 1st and 10 to keep the defense honest and disguise the screen as a run look
Hot route the backside vertical route into a shorter option like a slant if you are worried about a spy sitting underneath and taking away the screen lane
Pair this play with Mtn HB Draw and Read Option in the same set to keep defenses guessing between run action and screen concepts out of the same formation look
