Playbooks

Doubles Flex Wk Swap

Shotgun·11

At a Glance

FormationShotgun

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

Plays12

Not in any team playbook.

Overview

Doubles Flex Wk Swap is a 2x2 Shotgun set out of 11 personnel that flexes the tight end off the line into a slot alignment and swaps the typical strength of the formation, so the defense has trouble identifying a true strong side pre-snap. Standard Doubles puts the TE attached or tight, and Trips looks tilt the coverage one way. This set instead spreads the field with two receivers on each side while keeping the TE in a detached role. That detached TE forces the defense to choose between matching him with a linebacker, a safety, or a nickel corner, and each option creates a matchup you can attack.

The play list leans heavily on Mountain (Mtn) tagged concepts, the Shanahan style menu built on crossers, play action, and motion into the backfield. Mtn Mesh Y Corner, Mtn Drive, Mtn Drag, and Slot Cross give you layered horizontal stress that punishes man coverage and underneath zone droppers. Mtn PA Y Middle Read and Mtn Slot Post use run action to pull linebackers up before hitting the voids behind them. HB Counter, Mtn HB Sweep, and RPO Alert Power keep the box honest and stop defenders from sitting on routes.

The key advantage is isolation. With the TE flexed, a linebacker in man often has to carry him across the field on Y Middle Read or Y Corner, which is a mismatch for any athletic tight end. The two outside receivers get clean releases against boundary corners, and screen options like FL Screen and Mtn HB Cross Screen punish aggressive pressure. In short, this is a set where you dictate which defender has to cover whom.

Strengths

Mtn Mesh Y Corner is an elite man beater because the mesh crossers create natural rubs underneath while the Y corner attacks the outside third against Cover 3 and Cover 1 safeties who bite on the drags.
The flexed TE creates a linebacker or safety mismatch on Mtn PA Y Middle Read, and the play action freezes hook defenders so the Y can sit in the vacated middle or break away from leverage.
Slot Cross, Mtn Drive, and Mtn Drag give you three different crosser based answers to zone, letting you high low the hook and curl defenders without changing formations and tipping your tendency.
RPO Alert Power and HB Counter give you a legitimate run game from a spread look, so defenses that go dime or play light boxes to defend the pass get punished between the tackles.
FL Screen and Mtn HB Cross Screen are built in blitz beaters that let you counter heavy pressure and nano blitz setups without needing to hot route your entire progression.

Weaknesses

Only five blockers stay home on most concepts, so overload and nano blitzes from the field side can get home before the crossers on Mtn Drive or Slot Cross clear the linebacker level.
A user-controlled middle linebacker or robber safety sitting in the low hole can take away Mtn Mesh and Y Middle Read reads simultaneously, since so many concepts funnel through the same area.
The flexed TE weakens edge blocking on HB Sweep and Mtn HB Sweep, so defenses with fast outside linebackers or DEs set to contain can blow up perimeter runs.
Cover 2 Man and Cover 4 Drop with inside leverage can smother the crossers and take away the outside breaking routes, forcing you into checkdowns if you do not have a vertical adjustment ready.
The Mtn play action concepts take time to develop, so a defense that consistently shows pressure pre-snap can make the play action set useless on obvious passing downs.

Usage Tips

Read the defender matched on your flexed TE pre-snap: if a linebacker walks out over him, call Mtn PA Y Middle Read or Mtn Mesh Y Corner and target him immediately against the mismatch.

Against Cover 3 looks with a single high safety, run Mtn Slot Post and hot route the opposite outside receiver to a streak to create a two vertical stretch that splits the deep middle defender.

On 3rd and short, lean on Mtn Drag or Mtn Spot since the quick crossing and flat concepts hit before blitzes arrive, and hot route the RB to a block if you see a slot or edge blitzer creeping.

When the opponent shows six or more box defenders, audible to FL Screen or Mtn HB Cross Screen; when they show a light box with two deep safeties, check into HB Counter or RPO Alert Power.

Break tendencies by running HB Counter out of the same look you use for Mtn PA Y Middle Read, which conditions users to crash the run fake and opens the middle of the field later in the drive.