Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Fade Out is a four man route concept out of Singleback Wing Stack with 12 personnel. To the closed side, the wing TE runs an out route while the outside receiver stacked behind him releases vertical up the sideline on a fade, creating a natural high low stack for a two man man beater against man coverage. On the backside, the flanker runs a deep crosser all the way across the field while the point man releases straight upfield on a vertical, giving you a field stretching combo away from the fade side. The primary read starts with the fade on the boundary against single coverage, then works to the backside crosser if the safety rotates over the top, with the deep vertical serving as a clear out to open up the crosser behind linebackers.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify whether the corner over the fade side is playing press man or sitting off in a soft shell, since press man with no safety help is the biggest weakness this play attacks. Watch the safety alignment before the snap, a single high safety who cheats to the fade side takes away that route but opens the backside crosser working through the middle of the field. Post-snap, track any user controlled defender sitting in a lurk position near the crosser's path, since a smart user can jump that route and turn it into a pick six. Zone coverages with underneath defenders sinking deep can clog the crosser's window, so look for linebackers dropping into passing lanes rather than covering flat zones. Cover 3 and Cover 4 shells with disciplined deep defenders on the fade side shut this play down hard, forcing you to rely entirely on the backside combo route to move the chains.
Usage Tips
Check pre-snap for single high or two high shells before locking onto the fade, since the fade only wins versus true one on one man coverage on the outside corner. If you see a two high shell rotate to cover the fade side, immediately go to the backside crosser which is running away from zone drops and safety help. Use the vertical route on the backside as a clear out to pull linebackers and safeties out of the crosser's lane, then user that route manually if you need to squeeze it into a tight throwing window. This play works best on second or third and medium when defenses respect the run and sit in man coverage or single high shells. Pair Fade Out with PA Dig or Curl Post Drag from this same set to keep defenders guessing between vertical shots and underneath crossing routes off similar formation looks.
