Playbooks

Mtn H Shallow Cross

Shotgun·Spread Y-Slot·11
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Quick Reference

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Air Raid Classic OffenseOffense

Breakdown

Mtn H Shallow Cross is a man beater out of Shotgun Spread Y-Slot 11 personnel that pairs a shallow crossing route with an over route from the mountain concept, creating natural traffic against man coverage while still giving you defined zone landmarks. The H runs the shallow drag underneath, working from one boundary to the other to create rub action, while the deeper crossers stretch the field horizontally and hold linebackers in the middle of the field. Blocking is standard pass protection with the back available for a check down or swing release, and the primary read is to work the shallow drag first, then peek the deep crosser if a linebacker sits low, before resetting to any late-developing dig or corner route.

Defensive Reads

Key the flow of the middle linebacker at the snap, if he sits and reads the shallow drag instead of dropping to his zone landmark, you are likely facing man coverage or man match principles. Watch the corners at the line of scouting the shallow crosser's release, if they press and trail immediately, expect man coverage underneath that the rub action should defeat. Against zone shells like Cover 3 or Cover 4, look for the flat defender sinking too far and leaving the shallow drag open in the void behind the line of scrimmage but in front of the zone drops. Beware disguised Cover 2 or Tampa 2 looks where the middle linebacker sits deep in the seam, since this can take away the deep crosser and force you to live on the shallow drag exclusively. If the defense brings a user blitz off the edge or shows a nano blitz look pre-snap, get the ball out immediately on the shallow drag or checkdown since the deeper crossing routes will not have time to develop.

Usage Tips

Use this on third and short to third and medium since the shallow drag and any underneath option give you a quick answer against blitz looks.

Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing two high safeties, since that usually signals off man or a zone shell that lets the shallow drag work versus the drag defender's leverage.

If you see man coverage with a single high safety, target the shallow crosser immediately off the snap since the natural rub from the crossing routes should spring him open versus man match defenders.

Hot route the running back into a quick flat release when you diagnose a blitz, this gives you a checkdown valve that beats nano blitz pressure before the shallow route fully develops.

Pair this play with Mtn Y Cross or Mtn Z Shallow Cross in the same set to keep the defense guessing on which receiver is running the shallow drag, forcing linebackers to hesitate on their run fits and coverage drops.

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