Playbooks
At a Glance
Overview
U Off Trips Wk puts the trips bunch to the weak side of the formation with 12 personnel, which is the key distinction from standard Shotgun Trips looks that stack strength to the passing side. The "U Off" tag means one tight end aligns off the line as the inside trips receiver, giving you a bigger body working the short middle while the second tight end stays attached on the opposite side as an extra run fitter. That split alignment forces the defense to declare: if they rotate a safety and slide linebackers to the trips, the single-side tight end and the run game get a soft edge, and if they stay balanced you get a three-on-two or three-on-three overload with a tight end mismatched on a linebacker or nickel.
Strengths
- RPO Alert Bubble, RPO Zone Alert Bubble, and RPO Peek Corner let you read the box count pre-snap and post-snap, so light boxes get Inside Zone or Read Option and heavy boxes get the free bubble to the trips side.
- Mtn Fade Smash and Smash are premium Cover 2 and quarters beaters out of the trips look because the corner route from the number two receiver holds the safety while the flat route stresses the sinking corner.
- Dagger Sit, Levels Out, and Mtn Stick give you layered high low man beaters where the off tight end runs shallow and the outside receivers clear vertical, forcing user defenders to choose a level.
- PA Crossers, PA Boot, and PA Boot Corner-Post punish aggressive run committing defenses after you establish HB Power and Outside Zone, and the boot action moves the pocket away from A gap pressure.
- Spot Quads and Mtn Verticals flood one side of the field, which overloads Cover 3 curl flat defenders and creates easy reads against single high shells.
Weaknesses
- The trips side leaves the tight end side one on one in protection, so edge pressure and overload blitzes from the single receiver side get home fast on the deeper developing concepts like Dagger Sit and Mtn Verticals.
- Play action heavy plays (PA Crossers, PA Boot, PA Boot Corner-Post) have long animations and get blown up by any nano blitz or A gap heat, so they are risky on obvious passing downs.
- Cover 2 Man and press coverage with a user defender sitting over the off tight end kills the short middle concepts, since the bunch does not create natural rub releases the way a tight bunch set does.
- 12 personnel means slower route runners than 11 or 10 personnel, so if the opponent runs man across the board with a user in the deep middle, separation gets hard on isolated verticals.
- Only two dedicated run plays plus Read Option means a defense that recognizes the run tendency can shade the box and force you into low percentage throws.
Usage Tips
Read the box count before you snap the RPO plays: five or fewer in the box, hand it off or pull it on Read Option, six or more and hit the alert bubble immediately.
Motion the outside trips receiver across the formation pre-snap to identify man or zone, then check into Smash or Mtn Fade Smash if a corner travels and you get press.
On third and medium, hot route the off tight end to a sit or drag from Mtn Stick and read the user defender first, since most opponents will jump the outside route in the trips concept.
Set up PA Boot Corner-Post after two or three HB Power or Outside Zone carries so the linebacker level bites and the corner post has room behind the flat defender.
Against Cover 3 and Cover 6 shells, Spot Quads and Levels Out give you clean quick reads to the flood side, so use them to move the chains rather than forcing the deeper Mtn Verticals concept.
