Playbooks

RPO Peek Slant

Shotgun·Trips TE Offset Wk·11

Quick Reference

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Breakdown

RPO Peek Slant is a run pass option out of the Shotgun Trips TE Offset Wk set that pairs an inside zone handoff with a slant based passing concept from the trips side. The quarterback reads the box count and the alignment of the second level defender assigned to the slant area, either handing off to the HB on the zone run or peeking to the slant if that defender crashes down or widens out of the throwing lane. This play works as both a run play and a light man or zone beater since the slant sits down quickly against off coverage and soft zone drops, giving the quarterback a conflict read rather than a full route tree progression.

Defensive Reads

Watch the second level defender aligned over the slant area before the snap, if he is walked up tight to the line he is likely reading run and will vacate the slant window. Man coverage with press corners on the outside receivers tends to open the slant quickly since the underneath defender has no help sinking into that zone. Zone coverage shells with a robber or hook defender sitting in the slant area can shut this down completely, forcing you to trust the run more often against those looks. Post snap, key the flow of the linebacker responsible for the RPO conflict, if he sprints to fill the run gap the slant will be wide open in the void behind him. Heavy blitz packages that send extra defenders through the box can bait a bad handoff read, so recognize blitz indicators presnap like walked up safeties or overloaded fronts and lean toward the quick slant throw instead.

Usage Tips

Presnap, identify whether the second level defender over the slant is reading run or staying home in coverage, since that defender is your entire RPO key.

Use this play on early downs like first and second and short to medium distance, since the built in run threat keeps defenders honest and discourages aggressive blitz calls.

If the defense shows a heavy box with the linebacker crashing down immediately on snap, pull and peek the slant before the window closes, it will not stay open long.

Pair this with RPO Read Bubble and RPO Pin Alert Bubble earlier in a drive so defenders start keying run fits, then come back to RPO Peek Slant to punish overaggressive linebacker flow.

Sequence this with HB Power or Inside Zone on early downs to sell the run action, then call RPO Peek Slant later to catch second level defenders sitting too long on run fits.

Other Plays in Trips TE Offset Wk