Mesh Spot out of Shotgun Trips HB Wk lines up three receivers to the trips side with the HB releasing out of the backfield to the boundary. The two inside trips receivers run crossing mesh routes underneath while the backside outside receiver runs a spot concept with a corner route from the slot working over the top, and the backside single receiver clears vertically on a go route to hold the corner deep. The HB releases into a flat/curl combo away from the mesh, giving the QB a five level progression from the shallow mesh crossers to the deep vertical shot. This is a true man beater built around natural rub picks at the mesh point, though it also stresses zone defenders who have to sort crossers in Cover 3 or Cover 4.

Defensive Reads

Pre-snap, identify if the corner over the trips is playing outside leverage or bracket technique since that tells you whether the mesh crossers will have a free run underneath. Watch the middle linebacker depth at the snap, a shallow drop signals man or Cover 3 while a deeper drop into the mesh area signals a Cover 4 or match zone look designed to clog the crossers. This play struggles against a hard inside blitz since the mesh routes take time to develop, so if you see a nano blitz alignment with defenders crashing the A or B gaps, get the ball out to the HB flat route immediately. Man coverage with no help over the top gets shredded by the natural rub at the mesh point, so trust the crossers when you see press man alignment on the trips receivers. User controlled lurk defenders sitting in the shallow zone are the biggest threat to this concept, if you see a user spy the mesh crossing point, immediately look to the backside go or corner route for the explosive play.

Usage Tips

Read the mesh crossers first since the natural pick action creates instant separation against man coverage and forces linebackers to fight through traffic in zone.

Check the safety alignment pre-snap, two high shells tell you to work the mesh and flat combo while single high tells you to hold onto the deep corner route as a shot play option.

Hot route the backside go route into a comeback or dig against zone heavy defenses to give yourself a quicker outlet if the mesh is jumped by underneath defenders.

Use this on third and medium to third and long since the mesh combo consistently creates YAC opportunities against both blitz and coverage looks.

Pair this with Trips Cross or Inside Cross in your play calling sequence so the defense cannot key on the mesh action every snap, and mix in Four Verticals to punish teams that sit low waiting on the crossers.

Mesh Spot

Quick Reference

In 6 playbooks

Receiver routes

Read progression

Breakdown

Defensive Reads

Usage Tips

Other Plays in Trips HB Wk