xogridmaker

XO Gridmaker

Faster on the app — free on the App Store

Sign in Get started

Loading the selected football play…

Tour Coach Cal Paper Mode Film Room Library Examples Pricing For Leagues

© 2026 XO Gridmaker · Cedar Park, TX

About Contact FAQ Youth safety Terms Privacy

Football Library · Plays

Buck Trap· 11v11 Tackle

intermediateaka Wing-T Trapaka Buck Series Trap

11v11 Tackleonly

Inside answer off buck-sweep action — halfback fakes the sweep, fullback keeps it up the middle behind a trap block.

Make this play yours

Add the diagram and assignments to your playbook, then tailor the details to your team.

Try another concept

Matched to this play and your game type.

01WaggleAnother wing t answerThe buck-series counter-pass — two run fakes one way, QB boots opposite with three receiving levels.
02Buck SweepAnother wing t answerThe Wing-T's signature play — fullback dive fake, both guards pull, halfback attacks the edge.
03Jet ReverseA different backfield answerMulti-handoff misdirection — initial fake one way, reverse runner attacks the vacated side.
04CounterA different backfield answerMisdirection run — back jab-steps strong, takes handoff going back weak behind pulling blockers.

Browse more

The design

How Buck Trap works

The inside complement to the buck sweep, run off an identical first move.
The QB reverse-pivots the same way and the halfback runs the same sweep path — but this time the SWEEP is the fake and the FULLBACK keeps the ball on a dive into the middle.
Playside linemen block down, deliberately leaving the first defender past the center UNBLOCKED, and the backside guard pulls to TRAP him from the side: the defender thinks he is free, takes a step upfield, and gets hit from an angle he never saw.
Call it the moment the tackles or linebackers start flowing to the sweep — if the sweep got 6 yards twice and then got strung out, this is the next call.
It is also the best short-yardage play in the offense because it hits before the defense can move.

Coach the details

Every player's job

: sell the run fake full speed on the drawn track; finish every rep as if you have the ball.
: trap — press into the hole, the trap block opens it late.
: sell the run fake full speed on the drawn track; finish every rep as if you have the ball.
: down block — drive your man INSIDE toward the playside gap, pin him so the pulling guard has a clean track.
: down block — drive your man INSIDE toward the playside gap, pin him so the pulling guard has a clean track.
: stalk-block the corner — get hands inside, drive him off coverage so the runner has the edge.
: down block — drive your man INSIDE toward the playside gap, pin him so the pulling guard has a clean track.
: down block — drive your man INSIDE toward the playside gap, pin him so the pulling guard has a clean track.
: down block — drive your man INSIDE toward the playside gap, pin him so the pulling guard has a clean track.
: pull flat across the formation and TRAP the first defender past the center — hit his near hip from the side. Stay flat; chasing him upfield is how this block misses.
: cut off the backside — chase block to prevent pursuit.

Call sheet

When and where to run it

Money downsRight after the sweep has been over-pursued, and on short yardage.
Defensive lookThe tighter the front squeezes to stop the sweep, the better this hits.
Game planChoose the trap target before the snap and tell the guard to strike the near hip on a flat path.
Defensive lookThe fullback runs at the block, then cuts off its leverage rather than aiming at a fixed gap.
Game planIf the trap defender squeezes, log him and bend outside; if the linebackers over-flow, hit the crease immediately.

Pre-snap to post-snap

Read the defense

Keys to watch

The tighter the front squeezes to stop the sweep, the better this hits.
The fullback runs at the block, then cuts off its leverage rather than aiming at a fixed gap.
If the trap defender squeezes, log him and bend outside; if the linebackers over-flow, hit the crease immediately.
Playside linemen block down, deliberately leaving the first defender past the center UNBLOCKED, and the backside guard pulls to TRAP him from the side: the defender thinks he is free, takes a step upfield, and gets hit from an angle he never saw.

Be ready to change the answer

Cover 0: Anything that develops slowly — pressure gets home first Better answers: Four Verticals, Mesh,

Troubleshooting

What can break the play

Avoid Buck Trap when the designated trap defender squeezes flat and refuses to penetrate, or when a shaded nose disrupts the puller's path before the block can arrive.
If linebackers are not honoring the sweep fake, the interior will remain too crowded for the trap angle to matter.
Trapping guard chases the defender upfield instead of staying flat and hitting his near hip.
Fullback aims at a pre-decided hole instead of running at the trap block and cutting off it.
Halfback jogs the sweep fake, so the linebackers never leave the middle.

Cover 1: Outside vertical shots — the free safety caps them over the top Better answers: Mesh, Drive, Smash, Y-Cross, Four Verticals, Levels

Cover 2: The flats — the corner squats and jumps anything quick outside Better answers: Smash, Four Verticals, Flood

Tampa 2: The deep middle — the Mike runs it, so a straight seam is contested (unlike base Cover 2) Better answers: Smash, Flood

Cover 3: Deep outside — the three-deep shell caps outside verticals Better answers: Curl-Flat, Slant-Flat, Smash, Flood, Four Verticals, Snag, Dagger, Stick

Cover 4: Deep shots — four deep defenders make it very hard to win over the top Better answers: Stick, Snag, Slant-Flat, Curl-Flat, Mesh