Playbooks

Y Off Trips Close

Shotgun·11

At a Glance

FormationShotgun

Personnel

111 RB · 1 TE · 3 WR

Plays31

Not in any team playbook.

Overview

Y Off Trips Close is a compressed 11 personnel look out of Shotgun that stacks three receivers to one side with the tight end (the Y) aligned off the ball as the innermost trips player. The Close tag tightens the splits so the trips group sits near the core of the formation instead of spread toward the sideline. That leaves the X receiver isolated on the backside and plenty of field outside the numbers for routes to break into. Compared with standard Trips TE or Trips Wide sets in Shotgun, this alignment trades vertical spacing for leverage: defenders have to declare their leverage early, and the compressed release points create natural rubs, picks, and traffic against man coverage.

Because the Y is off the line, he gets a free release without being jammed and can motion, arc, or insert as a blocker. Defenses often match him with a linebacker or safety, and that is the matchup the playbook is built to attack with TE Whip, Y-Option Wheel, Pats Y Out, and Mtn Y PoCo. The backside X gets a true one on one when the defense rolls help to trips, which Jets Curl, X Curl, and Giants Go DBL Post exploit. The Mtn tagged plays add pre-snap movement, including several Mtn Empty calls that motion the back out to create a five wide look and reveal man or zone before the snap.

The set is also a legitimate run and screen formation. HB Power, Inside Zone, 5 6 Trap, and HB Mid Draw work because the compressed trips pull box defenders toward the strength, and the off ball Y can climb to a linebacker or kick out an edge. WR Screen, Pats HB Screen, and PA calls like PA Pats Cross and PA CoPo Cross Dig punish defenses that fly downhill to stop the run, so the set works as a complete package instead of a pass only look.

Strengths

The compressed trips splits create built in rubs on Mesh Y Out, Wheel Mesh, Pats Drag Wheel, and Double Ins, which makes them elite man beaters against Cover 1 and Cover 0 because defenders trail through traffic
The isolated X receiver gets true one on one looks when the defense shades help to trips, and Jets Curl, X Curl, and Giants Go DBL Post punish single high safeties that cheat toward the strength
Flood and corner concepts like Mtn Corners, Mtn HB Corner, and Mtn Y PoCo attack the open space outside the compressed trips, stressing Cover 3 cloud corners and Cover 2 flat defenders with high low reads
Mtn Empty calls such as Mtn Empty DBL Unders, Mtn Empty Smash Y-Post, and Mtn Empty HB Sluggo motion the back out to create empty looks, giving you a clean pre-snap read on man versus zone based on who follows the motion
The off ball Y creates favorable linebacker and safety matchups on TE Whip, Y-Option Wheel, and Pats Y Out, and a balanced run game with HB Power, Inside Zone, and 5 6 Trap keeps box counts honest

Weaknesses

Compressed trips invites overload pressure to the strength, and a nano blitz or Mug look off the trips edge can beat your protection before the rubs develop, especially on longer developing Mesh and Wheel concepts
A user controlled defender sitting in the shallow middle can erase Mesh Y Out, Double Ins, Jets Crosses, and Pats Cross because many of the set's core concepts funnel receivers through the same underneath window
The tight splits let defenses play Cover 3 Buzz or Cover 4 Palms with outside leverage, taking away the corner and out routes while keeping everything in front of them
Only one true backside receiver means the X is easily bracketed or double covered with a shaded safety, which kills your best vertical isolation if you cannot win to the trips side
Mtn Empty motions pull the back out of protection, leaving five blockers against any six man pressure with no hot read built into several of those concepts

Usage Tips

Before the snap, check whether a corner or linebacker follows the Mtn motion, then attack man with Mesh Y Out or Wheel Mesh and zone with Mtn Corners or Mtn Y PoCo

On 3rd and short, lean on Double Ins, Slot Out, and Pats Y Out since the compressed splits generate quick separation, and hot route the RB to a block if you see a trips side overload

When you see single high with the free safety cheating toward trips, audible to Jets Curl or Giants Go DBL Post and throw the backside X immediately before the rotation recovers

Establish Inside Zone and HB Power on early downs to pull linebackers downhill, then call PA Pats Cross or PA CoPo Cross Dig to hit the vacated second level windows behind them

Against heavy blitz teams, keep WR Screen and Pats HB Screen as audibles, and hot route the Y to a slant or quick out to give yourself a fast answer when the pressure comes off the trips edge