The Read Slant

The slant route has been a staple in the passing game for decades. The route has remained popular because it can be a high percentage throw and has the potential to bust for big gains. Guys like Jerry Rice made their career off of running the slant. NFL teams still execute the slant flawlessly. There might not be a better slant team in the NFL than the Green Bay Packers. For some reason though, you have started to see less and less of the slant in high school and college football. I think a lot of this can be attributed to three things: 1) NFL defenses run a ton of cover 1 where good receiver’s can get loose on a 1 step slant, 2) defenses on the HS and college level have become more multiple, and 3) the threat of a spinning safety or dropping lineman in a zone dog/blitz scheme.

Many teams have adjusted their slant game to answer the evolving defenses. Last spring we incorporated the Read Slant to our offense and found it to be successful this season. We borrowed this idea from Rich Skrosky (formerly of Elon) and a video he shared with A Play A Day. Many coaches, particularly high school coaches, prefer to abide by the K.I.S.S. rule and stop reading at this point, but I assure you that this concept is simple and can be learned and employed by athletes most any level.

What is the Read Slant? A smart way to assist your quarterback and receiver’s and help create open space for a high percentage throw.

What exactly are we reading? The “Read” portion of this concept is based on the alignment of the defense and the rules are simple. First, is there a slant threat? Second, what kind of cushion am I going to get? From there the route develops.

How the “slant threat” changes the route:Once the receiver aligns to start the play he looks for “access” to run his slant.

If there is no threat (like above) he will make the appropriate break on the route and run out the break while “throttling” down slightly to help the quarterback place the ball in the window.
If there is a defender that denies or limits the “access” to the slant window the WR will make his appropriate break and immediately “throttle” down and almost stop the route. This keeps the invert defenser from getting underneath the route. WR’s like this technique b/c it prevents them from taking big shots by inside defenders. If there is a threat the rule is simple, the closer you are to the “threat,” the shorter the slant becomes. Over time our WR’s started to recognize that if the “threat” aligns too wide or drops too shallow that they can run right past him, but that will come with time. Start simple.

How the cushion changes the route:Like any traditional slant route the WR will burst off the ball for three steps before breaking his slant. If the cushion of the defensive back is three yards or more the WR will stick on his third step and break on an angle showing his jersey number to the quarterback. The angle should never be greater than 45 degrees. If the cushion of the defensive back is less than three yards the WR will break flat and show his jersey number to the quarterback.
If the defender is aligned in press coverage our WR’s will automatically convert the route to a fade.

Throttling Down:I believe it is important to use common language and be consistent in how you teach and coach everything you do. When we talk to our receiver’s about settling down in a hole we prefer to use the term throttle over settle. When I/we used the term “settle” the kids always wanted to come to a dead stop when they found green grass. When we tell our kids to “throttle down” they understand that we are telling them to slow the process, but we are not asking them to stop entirely. The defender’s keep moving, so should you. So when we teach the DIG route or the MESH concept we tell our kid to throttle against zone coverage and show their numbers to the quarterback. People I’ve discussed this particular concept with always ask why we throttle down the slant route. I think that throttling down the slant route helps with accuracy and can assure a higher percentage throw. I spend a lot of time talking to my quarterbacks about “throwing the receiver open” in our 3 step game. Our QB’s and WR’s got so used to throwing this read slant that the QB was able to consistently place the ball on the should that he wanted the WR to turn and run – like the noose drill for you SYSTEM guys. Early each spring, when we are limited with what we can do with the player’s, our QB’s organize and run 1 on 1 and 7 on 7 sessions with our other skill player’s. I sat in a meeting room and taught this route to our top two quarterbacks about a month prior to the start of spring ball last April. They taught the route the WR’s, and by the time we started spring practice there was very little coaching for the staff to do. Our kids could throw and catch this route versus any coverage from day one. The concept is simple enough that every QB & WR in our program (grades 9-12) picked it up easily. Teach the “Cushion” rule, followed by the “Threat” rule, and you are off and running.