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Quick Reference
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Breakdown
RPO Zone Alert Snag reads out of Shotgun Tight Y Off Wk with 11 personnel, giving the offense a run/pass alert built off the box count. The diagram shows an inside zone hand off action to the HB while a single receiver runs a deep crosser to the opposite side of the field, with the line executing zone run blocking up front. This is a run first RPO: the primary read is the alert (usually a linebacker or safety flow) to decide zone run or pull and throw the crosser, making it a solid zone and man beater depending on which side the defense overloads.
Defensive Reads
Watch linebacker depth pre-snap, if they are stacked tight to the line they are likely to trigger downhill on the zone action and get exposed on the crosser Identify single high versus two high safety shells, a single high shell with aggressive backers is where this RPO hits hardest Man coverage on the crosser route can be beaten with a rub if the defense is in man match, but pattern match zone teams with disciplined backers can wall off the crosser Look for a spinning safety or late rotation post snap, that usually signals a zone drop meant to sit on the crosser User controlled lurk defenders sitting in the middle of the field are the biggest threat to this play, if you see a user spy sitting inside, take the zone run instead
Usage Tips
Check the box count before the snap and count defenders in the box against your blockers to decide if the zone hand off is favorable
If the defense shows an extra hat in the box or fills gaps quickly, pull the ball and go to the deep crosser for an explosive gain
Use this against aggressive run blitz teams since the alert naturally punishes linebackers who crash downhill
Pair this with Fk Cheat HB Stretch or Outside Zone earlier in a series so the defense keys run action and opens up the crosser on the RPO look
Best called on early downs (1st and 10 or 2nd and short) when you want to stay balanced and force the defense to respect both phases
