Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Sft Mtn Inside Zone is a zone run play out of Singleback Trips with 11 personnel that uses pre-snap motion to shift the formation into a soft motion look before the snap. The offensive line executes an inside zone blocking scheme, working double teams at the point of attack and climbing to the second level to seal off linebackers, while the HB reads the block flow and picks his lane between the tackles. This is strictly a run play with no pass option attached, and the primary read progression for the ball carrier is backside cutback to frontside bounce, reading the play side double team first, then working through the B gap before bouncing outside if the alley is clogged.
Defensive Reads
Watch for a linebacker or defender running with the motion man pre-snap, this confirms man coverage and usually means one less defender in the run fit. Count the box before and after the motion, if the defense does not adjust the box count after the shift it is often a sign of a base defense that inside zone can exploit. Key the play side defensive tackle and outside linebacker leverage at the snap, if they squeeze down hard the ball carrier should look to bounce outside the double team. Look for a fast flowing Mike linebacker or user controlled defender shooting the play side A or B gap immediately after the snap, this is the biggest threat to blow up the play before the double team can climb. This run struggles against stacked eight man fronts or aggressive gap shooting fronts with defensive tackles crashing hard, since there is no play action or RPO element attached to punish an overloaded box.
Usage Tips
Use the pre-snap motion to identify if the defense is playing man or zone, if a defender runs with the motion man it confirms man coverage and tips the defense into a lighter box for the run. Call this on early downs like first and ten or second and short to keep defenses honest and set up play action shots later in the drive. Pair this with Sft Mtn PA Dagger Crosser or Sft Mtn PA CoPo since they share the same motion and formation look, forcing linebackers to respect the run before hitting them with the play action crosser. Manually control the HB after the snap to press the play side double team longer, then cut off your puller or blocker's hip once the second level defender commits. Attack bases with light boxes or defenses that show two high safeties post motion, since the extra gap defender from the box will already be accounted for by the shifted numbers.
