Playbooks

Sprint Slot Out

Shotgun·Doubles HB Wk·11

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

In 2 playbooks

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Breakdown

Sprint Slot Out is a quick-hitting sprint action passing concept out of Shotgun Doubles HB Wk that puts immediate horizontal stress on the flat defender. The QB sprints toward the trips or slot side while the slot receiver breaks on a quick out route, with underneath crossers and a flat option from the HB creating a natural progression away from the roll. This is primarily a man beater designed to exploit off coverage and outside leverage cornerbacks, with the primary read being the slot out route first, working back to the shorter underneath crosser if the out is capped.

Defensive Reads

Identify the cornerback's pre-snap leverage on the slot receiver, outside shade with inside help signals man coverage that this play is designed to beat. Watch the flat or curl to flat defender at the snap, if he sinks deep or widens too quickly the underneath crosser will be open on your second read. This play struggles against a hard cover 2 or cover 4 shell where the corner sits at five yards and mirrors the out route with safety help over the top. Key the linebacker depth on the sprint side, if he blitzes off the edge the QB has a shortened window and should get the ball out on time to the primary out route. User lurk defenders sitting in the shallow zone can jump the out route if the QB telegraphs the throw, so look off the primary read before committing on tape against skilled opponents.

Usage Tips

Call this on second and short to medium yardage situations where defenses are likely to sit in man coverage or press the outside receivers.

Check the cornerback alignment before the snap, if you see press man on the slot receiver, hot route the out to a quick slant or speed out to counter the jam.

Use the sprint action to your advantage against blitz-heavy defenses since the rollout naturally shortens the QB's throwing window and gets him outside the pocket pressure.

Pair this play with RPO Peek Slant or RPO Zone Peek earlier in a series to condition the defense to bite on quick game reads, then hit them with the sprint out when they overplay.

Combine with Slot Wheel or Post Wheels from this set as a play-action counter once the defense starts jumping the out route in man coverage.

Avoid calling this into heavy Cover 3 cloud shells since the sprint direction runs the QB right into the flat defender's zone drop.

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