Playbooks

Mesh Wheel

Shotgun·Trey Open·11
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This play belongs to no NFL team or scheme playbook, so it may not appear in the in-game builder.

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

In 1 playbook

Air Raid Classic OffenseOffense

Breakdown

Mesh Wheel out of Shotgun Trey Open combines a classic mesh crossing concept underneath with a wheel route as the deep shot alert, making this a versatile man beater with built in zone answers. The two shallow crossers create natural rub traffic that shakes man defenders, while the wheel route attacks any linebacker or safety who tries to sink into the mesh traffic instead of staying on top of the flat. Your primary read starts with the wheel route on a pre-snap man coverage indicator, then works down to the mesh crossers underneath if the deep shot is not there, with the shallow drag as your checkdown against zone.

Defensive Reads

Watch for a linebacker or nickel defender walked out over the wheel route runner pre-snap, that is a strong indicator of man coverage and a favorable matchup for the wheel Read the safety rotation at the snap, if both safeties bail deep into Cover 2 or Cover 4 shells the wheel route will be capped and you should work the mesh crossers instead Identify any sim pressure or nano blitz looks where the defense drops an extra man into the shallow zone, since that defender can sit on the mesh crossers and bait a turnover Key the flat defender's depth against Cover 3, if he stays too wide the wheel route can split the seam between him and the deep third safety Beware of a user controlled linebacker spying the mesh area, a good user player will abandon zone assignment to jump the crossers, so be ready to reset to the wheel as your outlet

Usage Tips

Check the alignment of the defender over your wheel route runner before the snap, if he is playing outside leverage in man coverage this play is a green light for a big gain

Use motion or a quick glance to identify if the coverage is Cover 3 or Cover 1, since the wheel route is most dangerous against man match schemes where a linebacker has to carry it vertically

Hot route the mesh crossers to sit down against zone if you see two high safeties, this turns the shallow drag and mesh into easy underneath completions instead of forcing the wheel

This play works best on second and medium or third and long when defenses are more likely to play man coverage with an underneath robber

Pair Mesh Wheel with Mesh Dig or Mesh Rewind from the same set so defenders start jumping the mesh combo, opening up the wheel route as a double move counter later in the drive

Use play action or tempo before calling this to slow down linebacker run fits and buy the wheel route runner extra time to separate vertically

Other Plays in Trey Open