Playbooks
Overview
Trips Over is the heaviest gadget alignment in the Wildcat formation, pairing 22 personnel (two backs, two tight ends) with a stacked trips surface to one side while the direct snap goes to a running back under center. Unlike the standard Wildcat sets that keep a more balanced two-by-two look, Trips Over floods bodies to a single side, creating an immediate numbers advantage at the point of attack and forcing the defense to either rotate a safety down or accept a light box. The quarterback is typically split out as a decoy, which means the defense has to decide whether to cover a non-threat with a real defender or leave a linebacker in space against the perimeter.
The 22 personnel grouping is what makes this set work. Two tight ends and a fullback give you real down blockers for gap scheme runs like Power and Counter, and the extra hat on the play side means pullers arrive with a numbers edge rather than a wash. Blast Rt attacks downhill behind lead blocking, while Counter and Power give you the misdirection and pull action that punish over-pursuing user linebackers. Because the defense has to respect the run first out of a direct snap look, the play action off it becomes genuinely dangerous.
Jet Sweep and PA Jet Sweep add the horizontal stress element. Motioning across the formation before the snap forces the defense to declare its leverage and lets you diagnose man versus zone instantly: if a defender chases the motion man across the formation, you are seeing man coverage and the play action shots off PA Jet Cross open up behind it. PA Jet Cross in particular isolates the crossing target against a linebacker who has already committed to run fit, which is a matchup you win consistently against zone drops that are slow to widen.
Strengths
- Jet motion out of the trips surface gives you a free man versus zone read before the snap, letting you kill into the correct concept without burning a timeout.
- Power and Counter get real pulling angles because 22 personnel supplies two tight ends and a fullback as extra down blockers, so the play side is almost always plus one in the box count.
- PA Jet Cross is a legitimate zone beater: the crossing route works behind linebackers who have flowed with the jet action, and the play art pulls second level defenders out of their hook zones.
- The trips alignment forces the defense to declare its coverage rotation early, and against single high looks you get a clean read on which defender is responsible for the back side.
- Gadget tag means the direct snap look draws aggressive run commitment, which makes the play action rollouts and crossers hit against user defenders who bite on the initial mesh.
Weaknesses
- Only six plays in the set, so a competent opponent will recognize the personnel package and pattern match your tendencies quickly.
- No true quarterback under center means your protection is limited on the play action calls, and any edge pressure or nano blitz forces the throw out early or gets a sack.
- The trips side is heavily condensed with tight ends, so there are no vertical field stretchers to punish two high shells and you are working underneath most of the time.
- User-controlled defenders sitting over the middle can sit on the crossing routes in PA Jet Cross because the route tree is short and predictable.
- Backside is essentially empty, so any defensive slant or overload to the trips surface can outnumber your blockers and blow up Counter before it develops.
Usage Tips
Use jet motion on nearly every snap to identify coverage: if the defender travels across the formation you are in man and PA Jet Cross is your best call, if the defenders pass the motion man off you are in zone and Jet Sweep to the numbers advantage side becomes live.
Save this set for short yardage and goal line situations where the 22 personnel run game with Power and Blast Rt gets you the extra hat you need against a stacked box.
Do not run this back to back in the same drive against a good opponent, alternate it with your base personnel so the direct snap look retains its shock value.
Hot route the tight end to a flat or drag on the PA calls when you see the defense crashing the edge, giving yourself a quick outlet against pressure since your protection is thin.
Motion the quarterback wide before the snap to see if the defense assigns a real defender to him, if they do you are effectively playing eleven on ten in the box and your run game gets easier.
