Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Exit Double Slants is a quick-hitting man beater out of Shotgun Normal Y Off Wk with 11 personnel. Pre-snap the outside receiver runs an exit motion across the formation, and at the snap the formation shows two stacked slants underneath from the left side while the far right receiver runs a deep corner route and the tight end releases vertically up the seam before breaking outside. The primary read progression starts with the inside slant against the underneath defenders, works to the outside slant if the first window is jumped, and comes back to the corner or seam route on the backside if the defense sinks its linebackers to take away the quick slants.
Defensive Reads
Watch the slot cornerback and nickel defender pre-snap since their leverage on the exit motion receiver tells you if the defense is in man or zone. Post-snap, key the middle linebacker's drop, if he sinks hard to the strong side he is taking away both slants and you need to reset to the corner route. This concept struggles against Cover 3 with disciplined underneath zone defenders sitting on the slant windows, so look for a sky safety rotating down as a warning sign. Man coverage with inside leverage on the slot defenders gets exploited immediately since both slants break away from the defender's help. Watch for a lurking user linebacker sitting in the shallow crossing lane, since a smart defender will jump the first slant route and bait the quarterback into a turnover.
Usage Tips
Use the exit motion pre-snap to bait man defenders into wide alignments, which opens natural throwing lanes for the double slants underneath.
This play excels on third and short or in the red zone because both slants create instant separation against man coverage before linebackers can drop into throwing lanes.
If you see a two-high shell with soft corners, hold the ball a beat longer and look to the deep corner route on the backside since the cornerback will likely be playing off.
Pair this play with Double Slants or WR Under earlier in a drive to establish the quick game, then hit this exit-motion variant later to catch defenders cheating toward the base slant concept.
Hot route the tight end into a quick out if you diagnose a Cover 2 shell, since the underneath defenders will sit on the slants and leave the flat open.
