Playbooks
Mtn Lead Outside Zone is a run play out of Shotgun 11 personnel that sends the offensive line and lead blocker flowing laterally to the play side, giving the running back a track to bounce outside or stick a cutback lane based on defensive flow. This is a zone beater against light boxes and over aggressive linebackers, since the stretch action forces defenders to honor width before the RB commits downhill. The primary read progression starts with the play side edge defender: if he crashes hard down the line, the back bounces it outside off the lead blocker, and if the edge stays home, the RB looks for the natural cutback lane created by flowing linemen.
Watch the play side defensive end and outside linebacker pre-snap, since a wide alignment or crashed stance signals they are keying the stretch and will erase the bounce lane Identify if the defense is in a one gap or two gap front, since two gap fronts with disciplined defensive tackles hold the cutback lane closed and force the RB to try the perimeter Key the play side safety and any user controlled defender flying downhill, since an aggressive user fill on the edge is the biggest threat to this concept and forces an immediate cutback read Recognize six or seven man boxes with linebackers stacked tight, since that alignment eliminates the cutback creases and makes the play a low value call against stacked fronts Look for a scraping mike linebacker who flows late, since a slow scrape means the defense is vulnerable to a quick bounce before the backside pursuit can rally
Check the box count pre-snap and only run this against six or fewer defenders in the box to avoid a numbers disadvantage
Look for linebackers cheating downhill or overpursuing to the play side, since that flow creates the cutback window this play is designed to hit
Use this on early downs like first or second and short to medium yardage where defenses are more likely to sit in base fronts instead of nickel or dime blitz packages
Pair this with Mtn Inside Zone and Mtn PA Power Pop in the same set to keep linebacker eyes off run fits, since the outside zone stretch action sells the play-action and pop pass hard
If the defense shows a hard edge crash or an overloaded play side front, motion or shift protection with a chip or stay patient and trust the cutback rather than forcing the bounce