Playbooks
Landingzone Heavy Safety Return Trap Middle is a kick return scheme built out of the Safety Kick Return formation, designed to funnel the return up the gut behind a heavy wedge of blockers. The blocking scheme stacks extra bodies in the middle lanes to trap and seal the first wave of kick coverage defenders, opening a crease for the returner to burst through before cutting off the trap blocks. This is a return play, not a pass concept, so there is no man or zone beater logic involved. The primary read progression for the returner is to identify the wedge forming in the middle, track the trap blocks sealing the inside lanes, and explode through the crease before defenders converge.
Key the coverage team's gunners pre-snap, if both are aligned wide and sprinting straight downfield without contain responsibility, the middle trap lane has more room to develop. Watch for a heavy inside crash from the second wave of kick coverage, since a well-disciplined coverage unit will send extra defenders straight through the middle to blow up the wedge before it forms. Track the kicker's lane discipline as the safety valve, since a kicker who reads the trap block and stays home in the middle can be the last line of defense that shuts this return down. Identify any user-controlled defender flying downfield outside blocking angles, since a good user in coverage will abandon lane assignment to shoot the gap and blow up the trap before the returner reaches full speed. Recognize squib or low trajectory kicks as a coverage counter, since a shorter, faster developing kick disrupts the timing needed for the wedge to set the trap in the middle.
Call this play when the kicking team shows a spread coverage look with gunners lined up wide, since that leaves the middle lanes thinner for your wedge to trap.
Take manual control of your returner immediately after the catch so you can press the crease created by the trap blocks instead of drifting laterally and losing the blocking angles.
Use this play in short field or momentum-shift situations where a big return can flip field position, since the trap middle design is high risk, high reward compared to a designed edge return.
Pair this call with Landingzone Heavy Safety Return Left or Landingzone Heavy Safety Return Right on kickoffs following a touchdown, alternating the point of attack so the coverage unit cannot key on where the wedge is forming.
Watch the coverage team's lane discipline pre-snap, if they are stacking numbers on the outside lanes, stick with the trap middle call since the inside lane will be softer.