Playbooks
Breakdown
Read Option out of Shotgun U Off Trips is a true zone read run play built off 12 personnel with two backside TEs providing extra beef at the point of attack. The diagram shows the QB reading the playside end while the RB runs the mesh path behind him, with trips receivers to the far side clearing out coverage and giving the defense conflict elements away from the box. This is a run play at its core, designed to beat light boxes and attacking downhill defenses by forcing an unblocked defender to choose wrong.
Defensive Reads
Key the playside defensive end immediately after the snap since he is the read defender and dictates whether the QB keeps or hands off. Watch for a scraping linebacker or a spy assignment that can erase both the keep and give lanes if your offensive line loses the numbers battle up front. Look for defenses stacking the box with eight or more defenders, which forces a bad give read and no clean crease for the RB. Identify if the defense is running a contain rush with the DE staying wide, since that usually signals the keep is the better call. Check safety depth before the snap because a rolled down safety can add an extra run defender and turn this into a numbers-disadvantage look for the offense.
Usage Tips
Check the box count before the snap and only pull the ball if the playside defensive end sits or crashes hard down the line.
Use this against defenses that show six or fewer in the box, since an extra unblocked hat kills the numbers advantage for this scheme.
Pair this with PA Jet Sweep and Jet Sweep from the same set so the defense has to respect perimeter speed and cannot sit on the interior read every snap.
Run this on early downs or short yardage to keep defenses honest, then dial up RPO Read Flat or RPO Alert Bubble later in the series once the DE starts squeezing hard.
Motion or shift the trips side pre-snap to bait a linebacker or safety into revealing man versus zone before the snap.
