Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 1 playbook
Breakdown
Inside Zone out of the U Off Trips Flex set in Shotgun with 12 personnel gives you a two back look with the flexed TE aligned as the lead blocker to the play side. The diagram shows a standard zone blocking scheme up front with the offensive line flowing laterally to create running lanes based on the defensive front, while the HB takes the handoff and reads his blocks from backside to frontside. This is a run play designed to attack the interior gaps and gash defenses that overcommit to the perimeter, with the primary read being the playside double team and backside cutback lane depending on how the front flows.
Defensive Reads
Watch linebacker depth at the snap since shallow linebackers crashing hard downhill are susceptible to the cutback lane this play is designed to hit. Identify if the defense is running a 4-3 or 3-4 front pre-snap because odd fronts with a nose tackle can clog the interior gaps this play attacks. Key on safety rotation, if both safeties stay deep in a two high shell this play has more room to operate versus a single high look that adds an extra run defender in the box. User controlled defenders flowing hard to contain will open cutback lanes, so mirror your run vision to whichever side the second level defenders vacate. This play struggles against gap or bear fronts with heavy A gap blitz packages, so be ready to check to a different concept if you see a stacked box with blitzing linebackers showing pre-snap.
Usage Tips
Check the box count before the snap and only run this into light boxes with six or fewer defenders in the box. Use the flexed TE alignment to identify if the defense is showing man or zone based on how the slot defenders align over your trips. Pair this with Read Option or HB Slip Screen out of the same formation to keep defenses honest against overpursuing linebackers. On early downs, this is your bread and butter play to stay ahead of the sticks, but avoid calling it on clear passing downs where defenses will stack the box. If the defense shows a heavy blitz look pre-snap, consider hot routing your fullback or TE into a chip block to slow down an edge rusher before committing to the handoff.
