Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Outside Zone from Trips TE Offset Wk in Shotgun is a pure zone run play designed to get the HB to the edge before cutting up field. The offensive line flows laterally toward the play side with the offset TE and playside tackle reaching the edge defenders, while the trips receivers occupy the defense downfield without running a route combo of note. The primary read for the HB is to press the play side hole, read the reach block from the TE and tackle, and decide between bouncing outside the edge or cutting up through the first inside crease if the defense flows too hard toward the sideline.
Defensive Reads
Watch strong safety and outside linebacker depth pre-snap since a walked up defender on the offset TE side signals a run blitz or edge set that can blow up the reach block. Base 4-3 and 3-4 fronts with light boxes are vulnerable to this play because the offensive line can get clean angles on zone blocks without extra defenders crashing down. Overload run blitzes and nano blitz packages aimed at the play side edge can beat this if the user immediately attacks the TE's block before he can seal the edge defender. Post-snap, key the play side linebacker's first two steps: if he flows hard outside with the zone action, the cutback lane opens for the HB to plant and go vertical. Man coverage shells with underneath linebackers spying the backfield can be an issue since a spy defender sitting in the hole eliminates the cutback read the HB is counting on.
Usage Tips
Use pre-snap motion or a hard count to see if linebackers cheat toward the trips side before the snap, since that tells you whether the backside cutback lane will be open.
Call this out of 11 personnel on early downs, second and short, or first and ten, where defenses are more likely to sit in base fronts instead of stacking the box against obvious run looks.
Pair this with Inside Zone and Bounce Inside Zone in the same set so the defense has to respect both the edge run and the interior cutback, forcing linebackers to hesitate on their fits.
Sequence this play with RPO Read Bubble and RPO Pin Alert Bubble to keep second level defenders honest, since they will start biting on run action if you have not shown them the bubble RPO out of the same look.
Manually control the HB through the initial mesh point and trust your zone blocking rather than forcing an outside bounce into a squeezed edge, letting the TE and tackle climb before committing to a direction.
