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Breakdown
Mtn Trail HB Sneak is a play-action style dropback pass out of Shotgun Trio HB Wk with 11 personnel that uses a trail motion man to create a moving pocket read. The backside X runs a vertical seam that bends into a deep dig across the field, the TE releases into a deep out breaking to the sideline, and the trail man works underneath on a shallow crosser that settles into a flat/drag area near the sticks, while the HB releases outside to a wide flat route for a checkdown. Blocking keeps the line home to protect against interior pressure, and the primary read progression starts with the deep dig, moves to the deep out, then works down to the shallow crosser and HB flat if the top of the defense takes away the two vertical breaking routes.
Defensive Reads
Key the middle linebacker and nickel defender at the snap, if they widen to follow the trail motion man it signals man coverage and opens the shallow crosser and deep dig against grass. Watch the deep safety depth pre-snap, a single high safety alignment tips zone coverage underneath and favors attacking the deep dig behind the linebackers. Identify cornerback press alignment on the X receiver, soft press invites the vertical stem into the dig, while hard press outside can bait a quick throw to the trail crosser. Post-snap, look for a user lurking in the shallow zone since that defender can jump the trail crosser route and bait a costly interception if the quarterback stares it down. Against Cover 3 or Cover 4 zone shells this concept struggles since the deep out and dig run into occupied zones, so be ready to check down to the HB flat rather than force a low percentage throw into a sinking zone defender.
Usage Tips
Use pre-snap motion on the trail man to identify man versus zone, if the defender follows across the formation it is man coverage and the shallow crosser becomes a high value hot route target.
Against single high safety shells, prioritize the deep dig since the safety is often occupied by the vertical stem before it breaks inward.
Against two high shells, work the deep out to the TE since the flat defender to that side is often outleveraged by the trail motion pulling defenders away.
This play pairs well with Mtn Spot Smash and Mtn Stick Nod Swirl since both share the same Mtn motion look, letting you disguise run action and pass concepts from identical pre-snap formations.
Best called on second and medium to second and long where the deep dig and deep out give explosive play equity while the HB flat protects against a blown protection.
If the user spies or blitzes the middle linebacker, hot route the HB to a quick option or check him into protection to buy the quarterback extra time for the deep routes to develop.
