Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Inside Zone from Shotgun Deuce Close is a base zone run play with 12 personnel, giving you two tight ends attached to the formation for extra beef at the point of attack. The diagram shows the RB stepping laterally behind the QB before pressing the line, with the offensive line executing zone steps to create a natural cutback lane rather than a predetermined hole. This is a pure run play with no route concept attached, and the primary read is the RB reading the double team at the point of attack first before working through his zone landmarks to find the crease, bouncing outside if the backside cut is taken away.
Defensive Reads
Look for the linebacker depth pre-snap. Stacked or crashing linebackers signal a run blitz that this zone scheme can struggle against without a quick RB decision. Identify whether the defense is in a base 4-3 or 3-4 front. Odd fronts with a true nose tackle can clog the interior zone lanes harder than even fronts. Watch the safety alignment. Two-high shells with safeties sitting deep leave the box lighter and favor this inside zone run, while a safety creeping down into the box signals run support and a tougher gain. Post-snap, key the play-side defensive end and linebacker fits. If the end crashes hard inside, the RB should look to bounce the run outside off the zone track. User-controlled defenders flowing downhill too fast can be gashed on the cutback lane, so watch for a lurking user linebacker who abandons his run fit to jump underneath routes, since that opens the backside cutback immediately.
Usage Tips
Run this out of 12 personnel to bait base or nickel fronts into thinking pass, since Deuce Close disguises run and play-action equally well.
Check the box count before the snap. If you see eight defenders in the box against your six blockers plus RB, consider checking to a pass or RPO from this same set instead of forcing the run.
Use the RB's zone steps patiently. Do not immediately floor the stick, let the blocking develop and read the frontside double team before committing to a lane.
Pair this with RPO Read Cntr and Mtn RPO Zone Stick from the same Deuce Close set so the defense has to respect the same run action out of multiple play calls, keeping linebackers honest and slow to fill.
Great on early downs (first and ten, second and short) when defenses are more likely to sit in base fronts. Avoid calling this into obvious run-blitz situations like third and short unless you have already set up cutback lanes with previous zone runs.
