Playbooks

Empty Trey

Shotgun·11

At a Glance

FormationShotgun

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

Plays21

In 9 playbooks

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Overview

Empty Trey is Shotgun's pure five-wide look built from 11 personnel. Instead of keeping the running back next to the quarterback, the set empties the backfield. It aligns a three-receiver trips surface to one side, with the tight end as the inside #3 (Y), and a two-receiver side where the running back is split out alongside a wideout. Other Shotgun sets keep a back in the box as a checkdown, run threat, or extra blocker. Empty Trey gives all of that up to put five eligible receivers on the field immediately and stretch the defense horizontally from sideline to sideline.

The personnel package is the real weapon here. Because the offense stays in 11 personnel, the defense often answers with base or nickel. That leaves a linebacker or safety matched up on the Y in the trips slot and a linebacker walking out over the split running back. Plays like Y Corner, Y-Post Ohio, Curls Y-Shake, and Go's Y Shake are designed to exploit that tight end isolation. The trips overload forces the defense to declare its rotation pre-snap, so you can read coverage before the ball is ever snapped.

The play list leans heavily on quick game and full-field concepts. Stick, Stick N Nod, Quick Slants, and Curl Flats cover rhythm throws. Smash, Smash Z-Under, and Corner Strike attack Cover 2 and Cover 3 with high-low reads. Dbl Slot Cross, TE Slot Cross, Scissors, Shock, and DBL Ins serve as man beaters, while Four Verticals and Strong Flood stress deep and intermediate zones. WR Screen and QB Draw are the only real answers to light boxes and aggressive rush lanes, so this set lives and dies through the quarterback's pre-snap read and quick release.

Strengths

Five immediate eligible receivers with no backfield give instant coverage tells: a linebacker or safety bumping out over the split running back or trailing a receiver usually confirms man, while a flat defender cheating wide reveals zone.
The tight end as the #3 in trips draws a linebacker or safety in space, and Y Corner, Y-Post Ohio, and Go's Y Shake punish that matchup, especially against Cover 1 and Cover 3 where the seam and corner lanes open up.
Smash, Smash Z-Under, Curl Flats, and Corner Strike put cloud and flat defenders in constant high-low conflicts, making this one of the most efficient Cover 2 and Cover 3 beating sets in Shotgun.
Dbl Slot Cross, TE Slot Cross, Scissors, Shock, and DBL Ins build natural rubs and crossing traffic from the bunched trips alignment, giving you reliable man beaters against Cover 0 and Cover 1 without needing a single hot route.
Four Verticals and Strong Flood overload single-high shells, and hot routing the trips-side outside receiver to a streak or the Y to a seam creates a vertical triple threat that stresses the deep middle safety.

Weaknesses

Only five blockers stay home and no back is available to pick up pressure, so Cover 0 blitzes, nano blitzes off the edge, and six-man overloads create free rushers almost every time the defense sends heat.
The run game is nearly nonexistent (QB Draw and WR Screen only), letting opponents confidently sit in dime or quarter personnel, play the pass, and ignore any run threat.
A user-controlled linebacker or safety sitting in the middle hook zone can erase the crossers in Dbl Slot Cross, TE Slot Cross, and Y-Post Ohio, turning your best man beaters into interception risks.
The split running back is usually the weakest route runner and catcher on the field, so savvy defenders shade help toward the trips side and double the Y while leaving a lone defender on the back.
Press man with a contain rush disrupts the quick-game timing that this set depends on, and without a checkdown in the backfield, a jammed first read often forces a sack or throwaway.

Usage Tips

Count the box before every snap: if six or more defenders are threatening the line, audible to Quick Slants or WR Screen, or hot route your hot-side receiver to a slant so the ball comes out before the free rusher arrives.

On 3rd and 4 to 7, lean on Stick, Stick N Nod, and Curl Flats against zone, and flip to Dbl Slot Cross or Scissors when you see linebackers aligned directly over your slots in man.

When the defense shows a two-high shell with base personnel, target the Y with Y Corner or Curls Y-Shake, since a linebacker or safety will likely be stuck covering the tight end.

Slide protection toward the most likely blitz side pre-snap, and if the defense keeps bringing the house, mix in QB Draw after they drop into man with their backs turned to the quarterback.

Use Empty Trey in two-minute drill and hurry-up situations: Smash Z-Under and Four Verticals attack the sideline and seams quickly, and the spread alignment makes it difficult for opponents to sub personnel or disguise coverage.