Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Wide Trap is a Power Run play out of the Shotgun Box Offset Wk set that pulls a lineman to trap block the first defender outside the play side guard, creating a running lane between the guard and tackle. The diagram shows the HB starting behind the QB and taking a lateral path before cutting upfield off the trap block, with the offensive line executing down blocks to seal the interior and the trap blocker cracking down on the edge defender. This is a run play designed to exploit aggressive defensive tackles and slanting fronts, with the primary read being the trap block: press the hole hard, then read whether the trap blocker seals inside or outside to determine your cutback lane.
Defensive Reads
Watch for a defensive tackle or 3-technique crashing hard upfield pre-snap, since Wide Trap is designed to trap and seal that exact aggressive charge. Check linebacker depth before the snap: linebackers stacked too tight to the line will get washed by the trap block, so look for two-gapping backers who read and react rather than attack. If the defense shows a slanting or stunting front, Wide Trap capitalizes on the resulting gap since the trap blocker picks up whoever fills that vacated lane. User-controlled defenders spying the backfield or sitting in the hole will blow this play up, so avoid calling Wide Trap into defenses that show a heavy A-gap plug or a linebacker manually crashing downhill immediately. Disciplined gap defense with a defensive tackle that reads and holds ground, combined with a linebacker filling fast, shuts down the cutback lane and forces the HB to bounce outside into pursuit.
Usage Tips
Run this out of Shotgun Box Offset Wk when you see base 4-3 or 3-4 fronts with defensive tackles crashing hard upfield, since the trap block exploits their aggressive first step.
Use pre-snap motion or a hard count to bait linebackers into flowing early, which opens up the cutback lane once the trap defender is sealed.
Pair Wide Trap with Inside Zone and Outside Zone from this same set so defenders cannot key on a single blocking scheme, forcing linebackers to hesitate on run fits.
Call this on early downs (1st and 10, 2nd and short) when defenses are likely to sit in base personnel rather than nickel or dime looks that remove run defenders.
Set up Wide Trap after running PA Read or Read Option from the same formation so linebackers respect the play-action threat and bite on run fakes, slowing their pursuit to the trap hole.
