Playbooks
Franchise Playsheet
Slot TE-am
PlaysheetOffenseOverview
Slot TE-am is a 40 play situational playsheet built around the slot receiver and the quick passing game, and at 40 plays it carries more volume than 83% of the game's 42 offensive franchise playsheets. The weight is unmistakable: 26 of the 40 plays (65%) come out of Shotgun across four separate sets, which means the majority of your call sheet is already in a spread look with the ball in the quarterback's hands. Pistol and Singleback split the remainder evenly at seven plays and 18% apiece, each out of a single set. You are not getting a balanced formation tree here. You are getting one deep formation family with two compact change of pace looks bolted on.
The concept list tells you exactly how this book wants to attack: Screen Pass and Hb Screen for free yards against pressure, Slant and Drive for timing throws into man coverage, Crosser and Flood for horizontal stretch, Four Verts for vertical shots, and dedicated Cover 2 Beater, Cover 3 Beater and Cover 4 Beater tags so you can pick a call once you have read the shell pre-snap. Sample plays like Fade Smash, Bench Pivot and Four Verticals cover the three main answers you need against a zone team: high low the corner, sit the pivot in the void, or run everybody past the safeties. Personnel is 11 and 12 only, so every call is one back with either one or two tight ends.
What you get from choosing Slot TE-am over a heavier or more balanced franchise playsheet is depth inside one formation family. Four Shotgun sets means you can chain calls, motion, and shift without leaving the huddle look your opponent has already committed his defensive personnel against. The Pistol set gives you a downhill run threat with the quarterback still behind the back, and the single Singleback set gives you a true under center tempo change for short yardage and clock work. If you want a book that lets you live in the slot, read the shell, and pick the labeled coverage beater, this is it.
Scheme Fit
Slot TE-am wants an accurate quarterback who plays fast on rhythm throws, a slot receiver with elite route running and short shuttle, and at least one outside receiver with the speed and release to make Four Verticals and Fade Smash real threats. A receiving back with good catch and elusiveness traits is close to mandatory given the Screen Pass and Hb Screen volume, and a route running tight end matters because 12 personnel is your only alternative to 11. Pick this book if you are a read based passer who likes to identify the shell pre-snap and call the labeled coverage beater, and avoid it if your roster is built around a power back and a fullback, because there is no heavy family here to feed him.
Playsheet bonuses
- IUnlocks the playsheet
- II+3ReleaseTE
- III+3CatchingTE
- IV+5Short Route Running, Medium Route Running, Deep Route RunningTE
Every play in this playsheet (40 plays)
Pistol Spread Y Slot7 plays
Shotgun Bunch Trio Open6 plays
Shotgun Bunch Y-Flex7 plays
Shotgun Spread Dbl Flex6 plays
Shotgun Trey Y Iso7 plays
Singleback Y Trips TE Slot7 plays
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Strengths
- Four separate Shotgun sets covering 26 plays means you can build an entire audible package inside one formation family, so motions, shifts and formation subs carry over from call to call and your opponent never gets a clean personnel read off the huddle.
- The labeled Cover 2 Beater, Cover 3 Beater and Cover 4 Beater concepts let you diagnose the shell pre-snap and call the matching answer without hot routing, which is a luxury a run heavy book with the same 40 play count does not give you.
- Screen Pass and Hb Screen out of Shotgun give you a built in pressure answer, so when you are blitzed off the edge you can check to a screen instead of manually hot routing a back to a flat and hoping.
- Crosser, Drive, Flood and Slant cover both the man beater and zone beater buckets from the same Shotgun looks, so you can run mirrored and flood concepts back to back and punish an opponent who guesses the coverage family.
- The Pistol set and the Singleback set, seven plays each, give you two distinct tempo breaks from the spread, letting you run Play Action off a downhill look after establishing 65% Shotgun snaps.
Weaknesses
- At 65% Shotgun, your tendencies leak immediately. A user who scouts your formation list knows he can set a base nickel or dime front and never get punished by a true heavy package, since 11 and 12 are the only personnel groups in the book.
- Pistol and Singleback are one set each, so there is no depth to fall back on. Once an opponent has seen those seven plays per formation, you have no second set within either family to disguise the call.
- No two back, no I Form, no heavy or jumbo family means short yardage and goal line are genuine problem downs. You are converting third and one out of a spread look or a single Singleback set, not lining up and running behind an extra fullback.
- The concept list is pass first, with only Screen Pass, Hb Screen, Play Action and the labeled beaters driving your rhythm. Against a user who plays disciplined zone and keeps a safety over the top, you can stall out if the quick game is taken away.
- Four Verts and Fade Smash need a receiver who can win outside. Without that, the vertical concepts in this book become empty calls and your route tree collapses down to the underneath Slant, Drive and Crosser material.
Usage Tips
Build your primary audible package out of the four Shotgun sets and make those your first, second and third down base. That is 26 of 40 plays, so anything you do not audible into from Shotgun is a play you are effectively not running.
On third and five to eight, reach for Bench Pivot or the Cover 3 Beater material out of Shotgun. Read the shell at the snap, and if the corner sits, hit the pivot in the void behind him rather than forcing the vertical.
Use the Pistol set as your called run and Play Action package after a stretch of Shotgun snaps. Seven plays is enough to sell a downhill look, and play-action off it is the cleanest way to move a safety who has been sitting deep against your spread.
Save the Singleback set for clock work, four minute drill and short yardage. It is your only under center family, so do not burn it early or your opponent will have seen all seven plays by the fourth quarter.
Check to Screen Pass or Hb Screen the moment you see a blitz shell or heavy pressure look. With no heavy personnel in this book, screens are your protection call, not a gadget.
Formations in this playbook
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