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Quick Reference
Not in any team playbook.
Breakdown
RPO Power Peek Slant is a run pass option out of Shotgun Wing Slot Wk with 12 personnel that pairs Power run blocking to the play side with a quick slant and flat combo from the backside receivers. The diagram shows the outside receiver running a slant that sits behind the flat route, with the flat receiver working underneath toward the sideline as a quick alert throw. The QB reads the play side second level defender: if he crashes down to fill the Power run lane, the ball comes out immediately on the slant behind the flat, otherwise the RB gets the ball on the designed Power run.
Defensive Reads
Watch the play side linebacker depth before the snap, a linebacker cheating downhill into the box signals the slant window is opening. Man coverage with the corner playing outside leverage on the slant receiver gives the run action priority since the slant has no natural separation. Zone shells like Cover 3 or Cover 4 that keep the underneath defender flat footed in his drop are vulnerable to the slant sitting behind the flat route. A user controlled linebacker sprinting to the flat or slant window pre-snap is the biggest defensive counter, it takes away both RPO reads and forces a live Power handoff into a stacked box. Blitz packages that send extra defenders through the play side gap can beat this if the QB does not get the ball out on time, so clock management on the peek read is critical.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify whether the play side linebacker is sitting in a run fit or spying the slant window before deciding to key the peek read.
Use this against defenses that load the box with 7 or more defenders since the slant peek exploits second level defenders crashing down on Power.
Hot route the flat runner into a quick out against aggressive man corners if you want an even faster answer than the slant.
Pair this with RPO Power Alert Glance or RPO Power Alert Bubble in the same set to keep defenses guessing between inside and outside RPO reads off the same run action.
Best called on early downs or short yardage since the run action stays live and the slant read only takes a beat to confirm.
