Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
HB Slip Screen out of Shotgun Y Off Trio Wk is a designed screen pass that slips the running back out to the boundary while the offensive line sells pass protection before releasing to wall off defenders. On the backside the diagram shows a receiver working a deep in-breaking route to hold the safety, while the trio side runs a vertical clear-out into a deep crosser and a corner route, occupying the underneath defenders and stretching the zone horizontally and vertically so the screen has room to develop. This is a zone beater at its core, designed to punish aggressive pass rushes and drop-heavy zone shells, with the primary read being the HB out of the backfield first, working through the blocking wall before ever looking at the deep routes as a bailout if the screen is jumped.
Defensive Reads
Watch for defensive ends or edge rushers with contain or spy assignments, they are the biggest threat to this play since they can sit outside and read the HB immediately after the snap. Identify Cover 3 or Cover 4 zone shells pre-snap, since deep zone coverage tends to have linebackers drop into shorter zones and get eyes on the quarterback, leaving them slow to react to the screen developing behind them. Post-snap, key any user-controlled defender who stays home instead of rushing, that is almost always a screen defender and will be the first man to blow up the play if he reads it early. Look for delayed blitzes or double A-gap pressure packages pre-snap, aggressive fast rushers who commit hard upfield are the exact defenders this screen is designed to exploit. If the defense shows off-man or bail coverage on the outside receivers, respect the deep in-breaking route and corner route as legitimate answers since the defense may be selling out to stop the screen underneath.
Usage Tips
Call this play when the defense shows heavy pressure looks or blitz-heavy tendencies since the delayed release punishes fast interior rushers who overcommit upfield.
Pre-snap, check for man press corners tightening down on the trio side, if you see man coverage with no underneath zone defenders sitting flat, consider hot routing into one of the vertical routes instead of the screen since blitz-beating screens lose value against disciplined man teams.
Use user control on your lead blocker to seal the first defender that shows outside leverage, this manual assignment often decides whether the screen gets to the numbers or dies for a loss.
Sequence this play after calling Inside Zone or HB Base from the same set so linebackers start keying run fits and flow hard, then hit them with Slip Screen to catch them out of position flowing away from the throw.
Best used on early downs or in obvious passing situations against teams that bring extra rushers, avoid calling it into a spy or contain defender who reads screens quickly since that defender can sit and blow it up before the wall sets.
