Playbooks
At a Glance
Overview
Trips TE Flex takes the standard Shotgun trips concept and flexes the tight end out of the formation, putting him in the slot or as the point man in the three receiver surface instead of leaving him attached to the line. That single alignment change is the whole point of the set: instead of the defense getting a clean 11 personnel read with a tight end on the ball, you force them to declare how they want to cover a bigger body in the slot. Nickel defenses that stay base will often put a slot corner or a smaller safety over the top of your TE, and that is the matchup you are hunting on every snap.
The three receiver side gives you the full trips route tree with Stick, Verticals, Levels Sail, Double In Sail, Dagger, and Post Rail all working off the same look, while the single receiver side isolates your X on an island for backside iso reads. The flexed tight end means the play art puts him on option routes and choice concepts (Mtn Fork H Choice, Y Corner Stop, Y Out N Up, Mtn Y Post, TE In) rather than the standard drag and seam combos you get from an attached alignment. Because the TE is detached, he can also be motioned across the formation to get a quick pre-snap coverage read: man follows, zone passes him off.
Run game support is real here despite the spread look. Same Side Zone, Inside Zone, Outside Zone, HB Draw, Read Option, and RPO Zone Alert Omaha all live in the set, so you can run zone concepts into the light box that the trips alignment creates. The 3DRB and gadget tags mean the backfield can be filled with a receiving back for HB Angle and HB Slip Screen work, and the SLWR tag lets you put your best route runner in the slot next to the TE for stacked releases that wreck press man.
Strengths
- Trips alignment forces the defense to either overload the strong side or play with a light box, which makes Same Side Zone, Inside Zone, and Read Option live plays out of a pass formation
- Flexed tight end creates a size mismatch against slot corners and nickel defenders, and Mtn Fork H Choice, Y Corner Stop, and Y Out N Up all isolate that matchup on option and stop routes that shred man coverage
- Stick, Levels Sail, and Double In Sail are premium zone beaters that flood the intermediate hook and curl flat windows with three route levels on the same side
- Dagger, Post Rail, and Mtn Y Post attack single high Cover 1 and Cover 3 by clearing the deep middle with a vertical and dropping a dig or rail underneath it
- Backside X is fully isolated, so you can hot route him to a fade, slant, or in route and throw the iso read before the trips side even develops
- Gadget and 3DRB tags support HB Angle and HB Slip Screen as blitz punishers, and PA Fork plus PA Crossers give you play action shots off the zone run tendency
Weaknesses
- Detached tight end means you have five true blockers on the line, so overload pressure and nano blitzes to the weak side get home fast unless you slide protection or block the back
- Trips alignment tips your strong side tendency pre snap, and good users will shade coverage, drop a safety over the top of the trips surface, and user the middle hook
- Cover 2 and Cover 4 variants with a cloud flat corner squeeze the Stick and Sail concepts, turning the flat and stick windows into user pick opportunities
- Play action calls (PA Fork, PA Crossers) are slow developing and get blown up by edge pressure since there is no attached tight end to help on the C gap
- Single receiver side has no route help, so an isolated X against a top press corner with a user safety shading his way gives you no easy answer on that half of the field
Usage Tips
Motion the flexed tight end across the formation before the snap to read man versus zone, then check to Mtn Fork H Choice or TE In if the defender travels with him
On third and medium, run Stick with the outside trips receiver hot routed to a slant or curl so you have an answer against both flat coverage and man press
Use Same Side Zone and Read Option when the defense shows a light box against the trips look, then come back to PA Fork or PA Crossers once they start crashing the run fit
Against single high shells, live on Dagger and Post Rail: send the vertical to clear the deep middle safety and hit the dig or rail in the vacated window
Keep HB Slip Screen and HB Angle in the rotation with a receiving back so blitz heavy users pay for bringing extra rushers, and block the running back when you see an obvious overload
Slide protection toward the weak side on deeper dropbacks since the flexed tight end removes your extra body on the edge
