Counter Trey?

Skinsfan55 · Post by **Skinsfan55** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 6:49 pm

Hey guys,

I'm too young to know much about Coach Gibbs, but what exactly is this "counter trey" play I keep hearing about? could someone help me out?

Justice Hog · Post by **Justice Hog** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:50 pm

See the "pulling guard" thread. That essentially the play where a guard pulls out and runs right or left to lead the way for Riggins...I mean...our RB!

DEHog · Post by **DEHog** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 6:36 am

That's pretty much it.

The term counter mean a play starts one way...say right then ends up going left. Trey means three lineman are leading the way. If you watch any of the old Skins game on ESPN you'll see it.

skinsfaninroanoke · Post by **skinsfaninroanoke** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:12 pm

DEHog, I thought it was two linemen - not meaning to contradict... I thought it was the left guard and tackle pulling right, or vice versa depending on which way it went.

Justice Hog · Post by **Justice Hog** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 11:14 pm

I thought it was two linemen as well. Maybe the "trey" stands for the 2 linemen and the RB?

DEHog · Post by **DEHog** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 6:42 am

I thought it was two lineman and TE ??? I could be wrong??

Good to see ya back SfaninR!!

skinsfaninroanoke · Post by **skinsfaninroanoke** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 7:55 am

hehehe... had to do a trade show in Atlanta - took all week - I was so busy I didn't have time to do anything besides work the show and sleep...

DEHog · Post by **DEHog** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 7:58 am

AH OK,
Yea I'm doing the same thing next week...will be in Dallas for two days then on to Chicago for 4 days so I'll be off the board for a while.

Warmother · Post by **Warmother** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 9:40 am

Your right about the 2 linemen DEHog and Skinsfan..On the counter trey the Center, Guard and Tackle on one side blocks down while the RB fakes goingthe same direction as the blocks. While all this is going on the other Guard and Tackle pull to the opposite side of the line and the RB cuts back behind them and gets the handoff. The G and T take out anything in thier way, hopefully a saftey and CB and the RB takes the ball to the house. Depending on formation the H-back or TE could also be blocking at the point of attack.

Skinsfan55 · Post by **Skinsfan55** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:18 am

Gosh, seeing as how I've never seen this in action before it sounds like a pretty slow play to get working.

So the tackle, guard and center all block right, the halfback fakes right then heads left behind the left guard and tackel who are split out from the line and start lead blocking, then the halfback runs to daylight following the fullback or tight end? Whew, luckily we have skilled offensive line, a good blocking FB and with ANY luck we'll have a brilliant TE named Kellen Winslow Jr. :-)

RedskinsFreak · Post by **RedskinsFreak** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:42 am

Oh my, the visions of 68 (Grimm) and 66 (Jacoby) pulling around and leading 44 to open greenness of football field.

hailskins666 · Post by **hailskins666** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:46 am

Oh my, the visions of 68 (Grimm) and 66 (Jacoby) pulling around and leading 44 to open greenness of football field.

then to have 44 drag a dolphin ten yds only to break free for a TD..... ok i'm not exactly sure that particular play was a counter trey, but it sounded good, huh?

RedskinsFreak · Post by **RedskinsFreak** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:47 am

hailskins666 wrote:
Oh my, the visions of 68 (Grimm) and 66 (Jacoby) pulling around and leading 44 to open greenness of football field.
then to have 44 drag a dolphin ten yds only to break free for a TD..... ok i'm not exactly sure that particular play was a counter trey, but it sounded good, huh?

If sure does. The play, however, was 70 Chip.

skinsfaninroanoke · Post by **skinsfaninroanoke** » Fri Feb 13, 2004 2:52 am

So it is a 2 man pull... ok... just wanted to make sure I remembered it right

The TE and the FB seal off the backside and the LT and LG pull to the right knocking the cleats off of anyone downfield wanting to set his sights on our runner - I like that thinking

I bet PRam likes that too - I still say our backs that we have on the roster would perform much better this year under Gibbs given the opportunity to run behind his run block schemes and consistent game planning of the run game. SOS was so on again off again on the run game it isn't a surprise that no back did well consistently... give 'em a chance I say - imagine Trung's speed behind the counter trey - right after the guys engage the blockers, Trung pops out and scoots down the sidelines outracing the poor safety who took a bad angle coming up on run support...

scalperdude · Post by **scalperdude** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 5:41 pm

IN THE MASTER OF GETTING THE MOST OUT THE OFFENSIVE LINE.BACK IN THE DAYS JOE JACOBY WAS THE FIRST LINE TO COME AROUND THE CORNER(RIGHT SIDE) LIKE A RODE GRADER.
IN THE FOURTH QUARTER ,OPPOSING DEFENSES WOULD JUST FADE.
SACLPERDUDE

(moved by BH)

skinsfaninroanoke · Post by **skinsfaninroanoke** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 9:09 pm

Skinsfan55 wrote:Gosh, seeing as how I've never seen this in action before it sounds like a pretty slow play to get working.

So the tackle, guard and center all block right, the halfback fakes right then heads left behind the left guard and tackel who are split out from the line and start lead blocking, then the halfback runs to daylight following the fullback or tight end? Whew, luckily we have skilled offensive line, a good blocking FB and with ANY luck we'll have a brilliant TE named Kellen Winslow Jr.

Actually - the left guard and tackle pull right, swing outside of the right guard, tackle and TE. This essentially swings the line to the right (or left if run vice versa) while the second TE and the FB or WR cut off any backside pursuit coming through where the LG and LT vacated.

There are pics showing this that Boss probably has stashed somewhere.

One thing people don't get sometimes is that the counter trey is a good play, but it wasn't run as often as they think. Gibbs also played a lot of smashmouth football right over either guard or over center...

The worst part for opposing teams is that every time they thought they had the run stopped the Skins would grind out another first down. Made for some heartstopping moments, but by the end of the first half you could see these long, grinding drives wearing the opponents out. Gibbs would then adjust his tactics, running play action and counter trey plays when the opposition was looking inside in the second half.

He would also start the game passing sometimes because he knew he was getting hyped on the run game and that teams were gonna key on it... so he would throw a 40 yard strike right away to loosen up the 8 man box.

I loved watching it, because it was similar to a cobra lulling it's victim with the swaying motion... when the victim starts swaying the way the snake wants...pow

Beautiful.

Can you imagine Samuels and Dockery (all 670 pounds of 'em) catching linebackers and tossing them aside to clear the way for whichever rumored back we get (if we don't use Trung)? What a sight....

Thundersloth · Post by **Thundersloth** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:50 am

I know this is an older thread but I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in on counter trey aka counter gap.

Yes, counter plays take longer to develop than straight ahead plays.

Pulling more than one lineman you want to seal the playside defenders EXCEPT for the last guy on the line of scrimmage and the last backer to that side. The guard "KICKS OUT" that last guy on the line of scrimmage and the tackle comes to "CLEAN" through on the linebacker. So you get a seal with everyone blocking down (the guy inside of you) and the kick out block which is supposed to create an alley, then the tackle cleaning up what's left over. Sometimes the fullback is offset away from playside to fill for the pulling tackle to stop the backside pursuit plus it makes it look like ISO since the fullback and the halfback start off in the same direction, then the halfback follows the pullers on the opposite side.

What kills the play is if the down blocks are missed and there's penetration form the d-line. That could cause the guard to be obstructed form getting to the kickout block which in turn keeps the tackle from getting to the clean through block.

BigRedskinDaddy · Post by **BigRedskinDaddy** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:11 am

Thundersloth wrote:I know this is an older thread but I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in on counter trey aka counter gap.

Yes, counter plays take longer to develop than straight ahead plays.

Pulling more than one lineman you want to seal the playside defenders EXCEPT for the last guy on the line of scrimmage and the last backer to that side. The guard "KICKS OUT" that last guy on the line of scrimmage and the tackle comes to "CLEAN" through on the linebacker. So you get a seal with everyone blocking down (the guy inside of you) and the kick out block which is supposed to create an alley, then the tackle cleaning up what's left over. Sometimes the fullback is offset away from playside to fill for the pulling tackle to stop the backside pursuit plus it makes it look like ISO since the fullback and the halfback start off in the same direction, then the halfback follows the pullers on the opposite side.

What kills the play is if the down blocks are missed and there's penetration form the d-line. That could cause the guard to be obstructed form getting to the kickout block which in turn keeps the tackle from getting to the clean through block.

Absolutely agree. The jab step by the RB also allows an aggressive defense a chance to partially overpursue the play, opening up a cutback lane.

Ahh, the old memories. 70 Chip, 50 Gut...good times.

butzadams · Post by **butzadams** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:52 am

"TREY" = A BLOCKING CALL where the TE & ON T double team on the Counter. If anyone wants to see Joe Bugel diagram the play AND see film cutups of it - order Bugel's DVD on the "Counter" from GILMAN GEAR (online).