Madden 16 Tips: Shotgun Bunch Open Offset – Y Trail

In my first set of Madden 16 Tips of the year I’m going to show you is out of Shotgun Bunch Open Offset. One of the first tip videos I did for Madden 15 was out of the formation this evolved from Shotgun Bunch Open, so I’m very familiar with the alignment. The play I will show you today is Y Trail, make sure you checkout the video below for an even more detailed breakdown.

Playbook: Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins

Formation: Shotgun Bunch Open Offset

Play: Y Trail

Analysis:

Y Trail’s strength is that all 4 routes are quick hitters that get the ball to its playmakers in a hurry. It’s perfect for teams whose offensive linemen struggle with pass blocking and your quarterback’s completion percentage will skyrocket. Versus man defense, all 4 routes are options and the play provides proper route spacing so one defender cannot cover 2 routes at once and versus zone has a built in triangle read with Y(Triangle on PS4)  RB(R1 on PS4) and B(Circle on PS4). A triangle read contains 3 routes that form a triangle, that work against a wide range of coverages due to its ability to pressure the defense with more receivers in a given area than they have defenders.

1. Hot route X(Square on PS4) on a Hitch(good vs man and non-blitzing zone coverages) or Flat route(only useful vs zone blitzes that leave that flats exposed)
2. Hot route B(Circle on PS4) on a Curl route

Your reads for the play are going to be X (Square on PS4), RB (R1 on PS4), A(X on PS4), and Y (Triangle on PS4). It will look out of order pre snap but during the play your eyes will be moving from left to right very easily.

Reads (Left to Right) vs Man:

1. If X (square on PS4) runs a hitch, you want to bullet pass it to the left away from the corner as soon as the receiver turns around for the ball. It’s important to note than the hitch route is an unbumpable route, so it develops quicker than you might expect. You also want to get the timing of the hitch route down, because if you throw it too early Madden will force you to throw off your back foot and that slight delay is all a good corner needs to take it to the house.
2. As soon as RB(R1 on PS4) cuts inside lead pass it left so it’s away from the defender
3. Y’s (Triangle on PS4) out and in route will comes open no matter who is guarding him. So wait until he breaks inside and lead pass to the left to pick up yards after the catch
4. Once the B (Circle on PS4) receiver turns around, bullet pass to the right so B (Circle on PS4) can shield the cornerback with his body.

Reads (Left to Right) vs Zone:

1. X (Square on PS4) sits down in between the flat and yellow defenders. IF you see an opening , bullet pass it to the side the defender is not favoring
2. RB (R1 on PS4) wants to take advantage of the area between the safeties and linebackers. Once he cuts inside you throw a high bullet pass, so it’s over the linebacker’s heads and doesn’t give the safeties enough time to react. RB’s (Square on PS4) route can run into trouble against safeties that play closer than usual or linebackers that drop way too far back, so be aware of their positioning.
3. Y (Triangle on PS4) relies on RB’s (R1 on PS4) route to carry a linebacker deep so he can run underneath them and take advantage of the open space.
4. In zone coverage B (Circle on PS4) relies on his teammate dragging coverage away to get him open. Earlier I said RB (R1 on PS4), Y (Triangle on PS4) and B (Circle on PS4) formed a triangle read and this route is a benefit of it. It’s like the defense tries to fix a leak by covering an open receiver, but a triangle read makes it so a new leak appears right away.

Hopefully you enjoyed those Madden 16 Tips, let us know in the comments below and check back daily for more FREE Madden 16 Tips here at SGO.