Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Mesh Wheel out of Shotgun Trey Open Offset lines up three receivers to the left and a tight end and running back to the right. The backside runs a classic mesh combo with the two inside receivers crossing underneath while the outside receiver runs a deep comeback, and the right side features the tight end running a deep crossing route underneath a wheel route from the flat defender that climbs the sideline for a home run shot. The running back releases into a short flat route as the underneath check down while the mesh traffic occupies man defenders, making this a man beater whose primary read progression starts with the wheel route for the big play, works down to the mesh crossers for the rub advantage, and settles on the HB flat route as the safety valve.
Defensive Reads
Check the flat defender pre-snap, if he is a linebacker or slower defensive back in man coverage the wheel route will win up the sideline almost every time. Look for two deep safeties presnap, a true cover 2 or cover 4 shell forces you to abandon the wheel and lean on the mesh crossers underneath since the top is capped. Watch for a user controlled defender sitting in a shallow zone or spying the middle, this is the biggest threat to the mesh crossers since a lurking defender can jump the rub routes for a pick six. Man coverage with press corners and no safety help over the flat is the death sentence for this defense, get the ball out to the wheel route as soon as you see the corner turn his hips. Zone heavy shells like cover 3 sink the wheel route into a natural passing lane, so check the middle of field open or closed presnap and be ready to work the HB flat route as the checkdown against these zone drops.
Usage Tips
Call this on early downs or second and medium when defenses are still guessing at your formation tendencies since the trey open offset alignment disguises the wheel route release.
Peek at the cornerback aligned over the flat defender before the snap, if you see man coverage with no safety help over the top the wheel route is a live shot play, so put your eyes there first.
Use the mesh crossers to rub off trailing man defenders, this is especially effective against nano blitz packages since the picks buy time before the pressure arrives.
Hot route the running back into a check release if you are facing a heavy blitz look, this keeps a blocker in to protect the wheel route developing downfield.
Pair this play with Y Stick or RPO Peek Slant from the same set to keep defenses honest, once they start jumping the underneath mesh routes the wheel becomes even more open on the follow up call.
