Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 1 playbook
Breakdown
Mtn WR Outside Zone is an outside zone run play out of Shotgun Doubles Hip with 11 personnel, and the diagram shows a receiver motioning across the formation pre-snap before the snap hits. The offensive line flows laterally to the play side with zone blocking steps while the HB takes a lateral path and reads his blocking help to cut upfield off the edge. This is a zone run play designed to stretch the defense horizontally and beat over aggressive gap fronts, with the primary read being the HB scanning the play side edge blocks and picking the crease at the alley or cutting back inside if the defense flows too hard.
Defensive Reads
Key the offensive line's initial zone steps, if they all flow hard to one side that confirms outside zone and tells you to fit your linebackers to the play side gap immediately. Watch the motion receiver at the snap, if a defender mirrors him across the formation you are looking at man coverage which usually means fewer defenders in the box to fit the run. Get your edge defender or outside linebacker to stay square and force the ball back inside rather than letting the HB get to the boundary, since outside zone dies when contained. Use a user controlled linebacker to fill the cutback lane since the offense is banking on defenders overflowing to the play side. This run struggles against defenses that stack the box with an extra run defender or against gap schemes that key and shoot the play side A gap before the zone blockers can reach their landmarks.
Usage Tips
Use the pre-snap motion to identify if the defense is in man or zone, since a defender following the motion man across the formation confirms man coverage and tells you the box is thinner. Run this on early downs like first and ten or second and short when the defense is likely in a base front rather than a nickel blitz package. Watch linebacker depth before the snap, if they are sitting tight to the line in run fits you want to bounce this outside quickly rather than forcing it between the tackles. Pair this with Inside Zone and HB Draw from the same set so the defense cannot key run direction based on formation tendency alone. If the defense shows a hard edge or crashes the DE, use the cutback lane since the zone blocking scheme naturally opens an inside lane when the front overpursues.
