Playbooks
At a Glance
Overview
Doubles Z Close Wk is Shotgun's compressed answer to standard Doubles spacing. You still get 11 personnel with two receivers to each side, but the Z is tucked tight to the formation next to the tackle on the weak side while the back aligns to the weak side of the quarterback. That tight Z alignment is the entire point: it shortens the throw window on slants and spots, gives you a legal pick element on Mesh and Curl Combo, and forces the defense to declare whether they are covering the Z with a nickel defender walked down inside or bumping a safety over. Against man, the reduced split means the Z can win inside leverage immediately instead of fighting a press corner in space on the boundary.
The strong side stays in a conventional two-receiver stack of spacing, which is why the Dagger and Double Post concepts hit so hard out of this set. You get a true high low vertical stretch on one hash while the tight Z either clears out the hook zone or sits underneath it. Dagger Z Comeback and Dagger X Comeback let you attack the same coverage shell with a deep dig or a comeback stem depending on whether the corner is squatting or bailing, and Deep Post Switch plus Double Post are direct shots at single high looks where the free safety has to pick a side.
The run and RPO game is what separates this set from pure passing subsets. RPO Read Bubble and RPO Zone Read Bubble use the tight Z and the slot to create an immediate numbers count on the perimeter, so you are reading the flat defender rather than guessing. Mid Zone, Inside Zone, Mtn Inside Zone, and HB Base give you three different blocking schemes from the same look, and the screen package (HB Slip Screen, PA Jailbreak Screen, Mtn Fk Screen Wheel) punishes aggressive edge pressure. The 3DRB, Power HB, and SLWR tags mean you can drop in a receiving back or a bruiser without changing your presentation, which is exactly how you keep an opponent from committing to one defensive personnel grouping.
Strengths
- Mesh HB Sneak and Mtn Curl Combo turn the tight Z split into a natural rub, making this one of the better man beater sets in Shotgun without needing any hot routes.
- Dagger Z Comeback and Dagger X Comeback attack Cover 3 and Cover 4 with a seam clearout plus a dig or comeback underneath, and you can flip which side carries the comeback based on which corner is bailing.
- Double Post and Deep Post Switch punish single high shells by putting two posts on the same safety, and the switch release breaks up press man and pattern match triggers.
- RPO Read Bubble and RPO Zone Read Bubble create a pre-snap numbers advantage on the perimeter, so you get a free perimeter throw any time the defense leaves the flat defender inside the box.
- Three screen concepts (HB Slip Screen, PA Jailbreak Screen, Mtn Fk Screen Wheel) give you built in answers to blitz heavy users without changing formation or tipping tendency.
Weaknesses
- The tight Z alignment shrinks the field, which lets a user controlled defender sit in the middle and cover Slants, Mesh, and Spot routes from one position instead of having to choose a side.
- Compressed splits mean less horizontal displacement, so interior nano blitzes and A gap pressure arrive faster and the back aligned weak has to help in protection rather than release.
- With the back on the weak side and no fullback or extra tight end, edge pressure to the strong side gets home quickly on the deeper Dagger and Double Post concepts.
- Opponents who recognize the RPO bubble tendency can walk the nickel over the tight Z pre-snap, taking the perimeter throw away and forcing the run into a stacked box.
- Every deep concept in this set takes time to develop, so against Cover 1 Robber or a user in the deep middle you are living on quick game and screens.
Usage Tips
Read the flat defender before the snap on RPO Read Bubble and RPO Zone Read Bubble: if he is inside the box or aligned over the guard, take the bubble immediately without reading the mesh point.
On third and medium, run Mtn Curl Combo or Slants and hot route the tight Z to a quick out if you see press man, since the reduced split gives him a clean release to the sideline.
Use Dagger Z Comeback against a bailing corner and Dagger X Comeback when the corner squats, then flip to Deep Post Switch once the opponent starts dropping a user into the intermediate hook window.
Establish Mid Zone and Mtn Inside Zone early so PA Jailbreak Screen and Mtn PA X Spot get honest run reactions from linebackers, especially inside the twenty where Redzone Fork gives you a two man high low on the safety.
Swap to your receiving back using the 3DRB tag on passing downs and to a Power HB tag on short yardage, keeping the same alignment so the opponent cannot key personnel from the formation look.
Plays (20)
- Dagger X ComebackComeback, Dagger, Pass Play +2
Dagger Z ComebackComeback, Dagger, Pass Play +2
Deep Post SwitchPost, Pass Play
Double PostPost, Double Posts, Pass Play +2
HB BaseDive, Run Play
HB Slip ScreenScreen Pass, Hb Screen, Pass Play
Inside ZoneInside Zone, Run Play, Zone Run- Mesh HB Sneak
- Mid Zone
Mtn Curl ComboCurl, Motion, Pass Play
Mtn Fk Screen WheelPlay Action, Screen Pass, Wheel +2
Mtn Inside ZoneInside Zone, Motion, Run Play +1
Mtn PA X SpotPlay Action, Spot, Motion +2
Mtn Switch WheelWheel, Motion, Pass Play
Mtn Z SpotSpot, Motion, Pass Play +1
PA Jailbreak ScreenPlay Action, Screen Pass, Wr Screen +1
Redzone ForkPass Play, Play Action, Corner +6
RPO Read BubbleRPO, Pass Play, Run Play- RPO Zone Read BubbleRPO, Pass Play, Run Play
- Slants
