Playbooks
Overview
Bunch Open TE is Shotgun's trips-bunch look built on 11 personnel, but the key wrinkle is in the name: the tight end is detached and set into the bunch cluster rather than attached to the tackle. You get a three man stack to one side (typically the TE, slot, and outside receiver in a tight triangle) with the X isolated backside and the back offset next to the quarterback. That alignment gives you a true one on one island on the weak side while the bunch side forces the defense to declare whether it is banjoing the cluster in man or spotting up in zone.
What separates this set from standard Shotgun Bunch or Trips looks is the flexibility of that detached tight end. Because he is in the cluster instead of on the line, he releases clean off the snap with no chip responsibility, which is why the play art is loaded with option and spot concepts (Clearout Z Option, Z Spot, Mtn Sprint Z Spot, Mtn Mesh Spot) that stress a linebacker or nickel in space. A 6'5 TE running an option route against a 80 speed backer in the flat area is the single best matchup this set manufactures, and it shows up on nearly every concept in the book.
The RPO package is where Bunch Open TE really earns its slot in a competitive playbook. RPO Alert Bubble, RPO Zone Alert Bubble, and RPO Peek WR Screen all let you read the second level defender over the bunch and either hand off into a light box or throw the bubble to a numbers advantage. Pair that with Same Side Zone, HB Draw, and HB Slip Screen and you have a run game that keeps the same look, plus Flood, Y Trail, and Dig Return for the dropback answers. The Gadget and SLWR tags mean you can drop a speed back or gadget athlete into the cluster and create a coverage mismatch the defense has to burn an adjustment on.
Strengths
- The bunch cluster creates natural traffic and rub action against man coverage, and Clearout Z Option plus Mtn Mesh Spot turn that congestion into automatic separation without needing a single hot route
- RPO Alert Bubble and RPO Zone Alert Bubble give you a legitimate pre snap numbers count: if the defense does not have three over three on the bunch side, the bubble is free yards every single snap
- Flood and Mtn Sprint Z Spot are elite Cover 3 and Cover 2 answers because the flat, intermediate, and deep levels all attack one side and force a single zone defender to choose between two receivers
- The detached tight end releases clean, so you can hot route him on a drag or option and isolate whichever linebacker the defense leaves in the middle hook zone
- The isolated backside X is a pure one on one, and a simple backside hot route to a fade, slant, or comeback beats press man before the bunch side even develops
Weaknesses
- Only five blockers with the back often releasing on RPOs, so A gap pressure and overload blitzes to the bunch side get home fast against the deeper dropback concepts like Dig Return and Fake Screen Verticals
- Good users sit a defender in the middle of the bunch triangle and take away the spot, snag, and option routes with one well placed user pick
- Cover 2 Invert and match coverages that banjo the bunch will pass off the rub routes cleanly, killing the natural pick action the set depends on
- The bunch alignment tips run direction on Same Side Zone and gives the defense a strength side read before the snap, which experienced opponents will shade toward
- Backside protection is thin when the offset back leaks out on HB Slip Screen or the bubble RPOs, leaving the blind side tackle on an island against a speed rusher
Usage Tips
Read the defender over the bunch pre snap on RPO Alert Bubble and RPO Zone Alert Bubble: if he is stacked at seven yards or wider than the slot, hand it off into the light box, and if he is tight to the line, throw the bubble
Against single high with a user in the middle, go to Flood or Sprint Double Out and work the sideline where the user cannot get depth in time
On third and medium, Mtn RPO Read Snag and Z Spot are your best zone beaters because the snag sits in the soft spot while the corner route holds the deep third defender
Motion the point man of the bunch across the formation to diagnose coverage: if a defender chases, it is man and you go to Clearout Z Option or Mtn Mesh Spot, and if the defense stays static, it is zone and you go to Z Spot or Flood
Keep the back in on Dig Return and Fake Screen Verticals when you see a two high shell with creeping second level defenders, because those are your longest developing concepts and the pressure will get home otherwise
Use the Gadget and SLWR tags to put your fastest athlete in the bunch on HB Slip Screen and the bubble RPOs, then punish whichever linebacker gets stuck in space
