Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Power out of Shotgun U Off Trips is a downhill gap scheme run play with 12 personnel on the field, using pre-snap motion to bring a receiver across before the snap to adjust the numbers at the point of attack. The offensive line pulls the backside guard through the hole while the frontside double team combo blocks down, creating a lead blocker for the HB as he presses off tackle before cutting inside the kick out block. This is a base run play designed to beat aggressive fronts and overpursuing linebackers, with the primary read progression being for the HB to press the hole hard, read the puller's block on the edge defender, and decide between bending it back inside off the double team or bouncing outside if the edge is sealed.
Defensive Reads
Watch the defensive line alignment before the snap, if you see a 4i or 5 technique crashing inside hard, this Power scheme with its double team down block will seal that gap and create a natural cutback lane. Key the play side linebacker depth, if he is sitting shallow at 4 yards or less he is likely reading run fits fast and will be tough to seal on the edge, forcing the HB to cut back sooner. Look for safety rotation after the pre-snap motion, if a safety cheats down into the box before the snap it signals a run blitz or contain call and the HB should be ready to bounce this outside immediately. Nano blitz packages that send extra rushers off the edge can beat this play if the puller gets picked off, so check for stacked EDGE alignments with a blitzing linebacker behind them. Zone shells with linebackers flowing hard to the pull side will shut this down if the offense does not have a counter run tagged in the same personnel to keep the defense honest.
Usage Tips
Use the pre-snap motion to identify if the defense shifts a linebacker or DB, this reveals man coverage rotation or a zone shift and tells you if the edge is going to be light or stacked. Run this on early downs like 1st and 10 or 2nd and short when you have called man beating pass plays like PA Post Shot or Post Wheel Shallow earlier in the drive, since the play action rollout tags in this set pair perfectly off this run look. Hot route the fullback or extra TE into a lead block adjustment if you see a heavy box with 8 or more defenders in the box pre-snap. Pair this with RPO Alert Bubble or RPO Read Flat in your play calling sequence to keep defenses honest and force linebackers to respect the edge before committing downhill. Against aggressive gap shooting fronts, user the pulling guard manually to ensure he gets outside the first threat instead of getting caught in the wash.
