Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Middle Slant out of Shotgun Trips TE Offset Wk aligns three receivers to the offset side with the TE tight and a lone WR to the closed side. The backside WR runs a corner route stemming vertically before breaking upfield toward the sideline, the inside trips receiver at the top runs a deep vertical seam, the middle trips receiver runs the namesake slant across the field, and the outside trips receiver at the line releases into a flat/out route while the running back checks release and swings out to the boundary for a safety valve. This is a man beater at its core, using the slant to attack inside leverage and the flat route to pull underneath defenders away, with the corner and vertical stretching the deep half to hold safeties. Primary progression starts with the slant, then works to the flat/swing combo underneath if the middle is clogged, and finally the corner or vertical shot if the defense bites hard on the shorter routes.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is playing man coverage with the corner tight to the trips side receiver running the slant, this alignment tells you the slant will win immediately on the snap. Watch the middle linebacker depth at the snap, if he sits shallow and flows toward the trips side he can undercut the slant and jump the throwing lane. Key the safety rotation post-snap, if both safeties bail deep into a two high shell the underneath flat and slant combo should be wide open due to soft zone coverage underneath. Look for a user controlled defender spying the middle of the field or sitting in a lurk technique, since this is the exact throwing lane the slant route occupies and it is the primary way this play gets picked off. If the defense shows Cover 3 with the corner sinking into the deep third, the slant and flat combo underneath will have room, but watch for the zone linebacker widening late to close the flat window.
Usage Tips
Use this play on early downs or third and short when the defense shows man coverage, since the slant creates instant horizontal separation against press corners.
Check the pre-snap alignment of the trips side cornerback and nickel, if they are playing tight man with no safety help over the top, expect the slant to be open immediately off the snap.
If the defense shows two high safeties, hot route the backside corner route into a deep post or hold onto the vertical route longer to stress the middle of the field before checking down.
Pair this play with Verticals and Read Y Corner in your call sheet, since both look identical pre-snap out of this same formation and force the defense to respect the deep shots, making the slant hit even faster once they start jumping the short stuff.
Against zone heavy defenses, use the running back swing and flat combo as your first read since the slant can get squeezed by underneath zone defenders sitting in the hook area.
