Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 12 playbooks
Breakdown
Mtn Mills is a classic Mills concept out of Shotgun Trio Y-Flex, built to attack Cover 4 and other zone shells with a post-dig combo. The backside receiver runs a corner route up the sideline while the two receivers on the strong side clear out with a deep out and a corner, giving the underneath dig route a clean lane to sit down behind linebackers and in front of safeties. The X receiver runs a shallow crosser underneath to hold the flat defender, and the tight end releases from the backfield on an angle route to the flat, giving you a checkdown option if the deep routes are covered. Primary read progression starts with the dig sitting down over the middle, then works to the corner route on the backside if the safety bites down on the dig.
Defensive Reads
Key the deep safety alignment pre-snap since Cover 4 shells with safeties at depth are the primary target for this Mills concept. Watch the flat defender and underneath linebacker drop after the snap because if they widen with the shallow crosser, the dig route will have a soft window to sit in. Read the corner route defender on the backside if the dig gets taken away, as a single high safety rotating late leaves the corner one-on-one down the sideline. Look for Cover 3 sky or Cover 1 man with a deep lurking defender in the middle of the field, as those shells can rob the dig route and force you to check to the outlet tight end. Beware of Cover 2 man under pressure looks where a defender jumps the shallow crosser, since that tips off a potential nano blitz and means you need to get the ball out fast on your primary read.
Usage Tips
Diagnose the safety shell before the snap because this play is built specifically to exploit Cover 4 and Cover 2 where the safety has to pick between the dig and the corner route. Use motion pre-snap to identify man versus zone based on whether a defender follows across the formation. Hot route the tight end into a deeper route or leave him in as a checkdown against blitz-heavy looks since he is your outlet against pressure. Call this on second and medium to second and long where defenses are more likely to sit in zone shells rather than crash the box. Pair Mtn Mills with Mtn Corner Y-drag or Mtn Shock Slot Dig in the same set so the defense has to respect both the dig and drag concepts, then hit them with the corner shot when they overplay the shallow routes.
