Playbooks

Mtn Inside Zone

Shotgun·Normal Y Off Close·11

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

In 4 playbooks

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Breakdown

Mtn Inside Zone is the base zone run out of the Shotgun Normal Y Off Close set in 11 personnel, designed to attack the interior gaps between the guards and tackles. The offensive line executes a combo blocking scheme with double teams at the point of attack that climb to the second level, while the H back or TE arcs across the formation to seal the edge or pick up a flowing linebacker. The primary read for the ball carrier is the frontside double team: press the mesh point, read the first down lineman past the center, and cut off the block of the playside guard or bounce outside if the alley opens up.

Defensive Reads

Pre-snap, check the depth of the middle linebacker and weakside linebacker, if they are sitting at five yards or closer this indicates run blitz support and you should consider bouncing outside immediately Look for safety rotation into the box, a single high safety with both corners playing off man usually signals a light front that this zone run can gash Post-snap, key the defensive tackles across from the center and guard, if they are getting immediate penetration into the backfield abandon the frontside read and cutback opposite the flow Watch for a user controlled linebacker flowing hard downhill, this is a strong indicator the CPU or opponent is keying run, use your jump cut or juke to make him miss at the second level Against a stacked box with nine or more defenders near the line of scrimmage, this run is a poor choice, audible to Mtn Snag Curls or RPO Peek Spot to punish the aggressive alignment through the air

Usage Tips

Use pre-snap motion or a quick glance at the box count to confirm the defense is not stacking eight in the box before calling this run

Attack even fronts and light boxes where the middle linebacker is not sitting downhill, since Mtn Inside Zone struggles against heavy blitz looks with extra defenders crashing the A gaps

Pair this run with RPO Zone Snag or RPO Zone Stick from the same set so the defense has to respect both the run action and the quick game, forcing linebackers to hesitate on their run fits

User the fullback or H back lead blocker manually to smash the first second level defender in the alley, this often springs the cutback lane for a explosive gain

Run this on early downs, first and ten or second and short, to keep the defense honest and set up Mtn PA Boot or Zone Fake Jet later in the series once linebackers start cheating up

Vary your cut point between the frontside double team and a hard cutback to keep defensive tackles from getting penetration and blowing up the play at the mesh point

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