Playbooks
Mtn HB Fade is a man beater built around isolating the running back on a linebacker or nickel defender in a one-on-one fade route to the flat and up the sideline, with motion used to identify man coverage before the snap. The rest of the formation runs vertical clear-out routes from the Dbls Flex alignment to occupy safeties and take the top off the defense, while the offensive line executes standard pass protection to hold up against a four man rush. The primary read is the HB fade matchup out of the backfield, and if the motion reveals zone coverage the quarterback should progress to the underneath crossing route or check to the secondary read on the opposite side.
Check the linebacker depth before the snap, if a linebacker is shaded over the running back with no safety help over the top, the fade is live. Watch for nickel or dime packages that swap a slower linebacker for a faster defensive back on the running back, since this cuts down the fade's effectiveness significantly. Post-snap, track whether the safety on the fade side rotates down into the throwing lane, this is the biggest defensive read that shuts the play down. Cover 3 and Cover 4 shells with a deep defender sitting over the numbers will squeeze the fade window, so be ready to move off the primary read quickly. User-controlled defenders sitting in a low hole or flat zone can jump the underneath route, so use pump fakes or eye manipulation to freeze that defender before committing to your final read.
Use the pre-snap motion to bait a linebacker or safety into declaring man coverage before you commit to the HB fade as your first read.
This play thrives in the red zone and on the goal line where the fade route's back shoulder placement is nearly unguardable against slower linebackers.
If the defense shows two deep safeties post-snap, abort the fade read and work the underneath crossing route since the deep half coverage removes the fade window.
Pair this play with Mtn HB Angle and Mtn HB Out from the same set so you can run all three HB-isolation concepts from an identical formation look and keep the defense guessing.
Hot route your outside receivers into hitch or slant routes if you see aggressive press man corners jumping the underneath stuff, which opens up more room for the HB fade on the boundary.