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At a Glance
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Overview
Bunch Trio Open takes the standard Shotgun trips look and compresses the three receiver side into a true bunch cluster while leaving the backside completely open, which is where the "Open" tag earns its name. You get 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE) with the tight end folded into the bunch alongside the slot and the outside receiver, and the running back offset in the backfield. The isolated backside receiver has the entire field width to himself, so pre-snap you are essentially reading two separate offenses at once: a rub concept factory on the bunch side and a one on one iso on the open side. Unlike wider trips sets in Shotgun, the tight bunch spacing forces defensive backs to declare their coverage responsibilities early because they cannot line up cleanly across from three stacked bodies.
The bunch alignment is the reason this set punishes man coverage so hard. Any Cover 1 or Cover 0 look has to navigate traffic, and plays like Z Spot, Y Trail, and Dagger Swap X-Slant generate natural collisions without you needing to manually hot route anything. Defenders in Madden get caught on bunch releases constantly, which turns simple flat and slant routes into free separation. Against zone, the same cluster overloads whatever underneath defender is responsible for the flat, and Flood Swap gives you the classic three level stretch to the bunch side.
Where this set separates itself from the rest of the Shotgun tree is the gadget package layered on top. HB Cross Screen, PA Fake Screen Verts, Fake Screen Verticals, and RPO Alert WR Screen all sell the screen action before pushing routes vertically, which is a nightmare for users who like to jump underneath throws with a user-controlled defender. Add Inside Zone and PA Choice Vert Comebacks and you have a set that runs, screens, and throws deep out of the exact same alignment, so opponents get no personnel or formation tell before the snap.
Strengths
- Bunch spacing creates automatic rub and traffic situations that destroy Cover 1, Cover 0, and any man press look without you needing a single hot route
- The isolated backside receiver gives you a clean one on one every snap, so put your best route runner there and read his release for man or zone before deciding where to go with the ball
- Flood Swap and Z Spot attack Cover 3 and Cover 4 with true three level flood and spot concepts to the overloaded side, forcing the flat defender into an impossible choice
- The screen and fake screen family (HB Cross Screen, PA Fake Screen Verts, Fake Screen Verticals, RPO Alert WR Screen) baits user-controlled defenders into jumping underneath while verticals run behind them
- Four Verticals out of a bunch alignment gets your seam runners past the linebacker level faster than wide splits because defenders have to fight through the cluster before they can carry anything
Weaknesses
- The compressed bunch means less pass protection width and no motion man in the backfield beyond one back, so overload blitzes and nano pressure off the open side edge get home before deeper concepts develop
- Cover 2 and any two high shell that brackets the isolated backside receiver takes away your primary iso read and forces you back into the congested bunch side where defenders are already stacked
- Bunch releases in Madden occasionally stall your own receivers into each other, killing timing on quick concepts if the defense presses the cluster at the line
- Heavy man press with a user defender jumping the first bunch release can blow up the entire rub concept and force a checkdown or a sack
- Only Inside Zone as a true run option means the ground game is predictable and defenses can commit to blitzing on early downs without respecting the run
Usage Tips
Read the defender aligned over the isolated backside receiver first: if he is pressed and shaded inside with no help over the top, take the one on one and let your top receiver work
When you see man press across the board, go straight to Z Spot, Y Trail, or Dagger Swap X-Slant and let the bunch traffic do the work instead of hot routing anything
Against a single high shell with a lone flat defender, Flood Swap is your safest three level answer, and you can hot route the back to a flat or wheel to widen the read
Use RPO Alert WR Screen and the fake screen plays after you have shown the real screens a few times, because opponents who start jumping the flats leave the vertical shot wide open
Slide protection toward the open side or hot route the running back to block when you diagnose a blitz off the isolated edge, since that is the fastest path to your quarterback out of this alignment
