Throwing the Slant

The slant is one of the most potent but often one of the most poorly executed routes in all of football.

The biggest problem I see is that players and coaches alike need to remember to slow down. The slant is a route where everything is under control. The route is never run at full speed and the pass is very, very far from being a bullet.

The route should be run at almost no more than 3/4 speed, if not just a bit more. The receiver will explode off the ball but will handle the rest under control. The pass is a touch pass. It is thrown on a rhythm and will hit the receiver one foot in front of the numbers, but as a general rule (which helps with a variety of coverages) the ball will be thrown away from the defenders, rather than directly to the receiver, if that makes sense.

We begin by teaching the route vs. air, and we like it most as a route vs. loose coverages or Cover 2 where the receiver won't really get interfered with.

We have our receivers begin outside foot back. It is a 3 step route for the receiver, meaning he will step outside foot big step, inside foot, and then outside foot. On this 3rd step the receiver will land with his toes pointing inwards and will pull and roll off this foot into a 45 degree angle. We like to teach a fairly skinny break on the slant (aided with our 4 yard vertical step and the fact that it is run under control). Versus cover 3 it will end up being a bit flatter to get away from the corner.

The QB will take a 3-step drop. Some coaches teach "3 big steps," we prefer to just have him take a normal 1 big, two small 3 step drop, and if he needs to hold at the end that is find. On the QB's first step away from the line he will be looking directly down the middle keying the safety and not giving away any clues.

Vs. air this thrown and catch should be easy. A lot of repetitions will help them get the timing down. It needs to be thrown quickly and, remember, it is still an outside route, meaning that it isn't meant to be caught over the tackle or anything like that.

The next thing we will do is introduce press man coverage. This goes back to all of your routes vs. man and your receivers must be able to release. We prefer an inside release, because we feel like trying to come back underneath the man defender is difficult. The receiver will use an escape move (our favorite is "where I want to go, where I don't want to go, where I want to go" and a burst. The receivers must use the hands well.) will get inside position, push upfield to 3-5 yards, lean into the defender and burst on his break. The ball should pretty much be on its way when he snaps his head around.



We don't use this route vs. Cover 4 much. Vs. cover 3 we prefer the slant/shoot combo, where we send #2 on a 0-1 yard shoot to the flat. Essentially the QB keys this flat defender but it is as simple as looking through a window, if he cannot, then he will look to the flat. Reps help the QB see this develop quickly. The better the QB throws this pass the more likely it is to result in a touchdown. The Rec will catch the slant, burst upfield, split the safeties, and score.



Vs. Cover 2 (below) we like the double slant. Some coaches teach to read outside to in, others say inside to out. We say you want to throw the outside slant and the inside slant is hot. What that means is that the inside slant becomes the first read if there is some kind of blitz leaving a hole in the zone, but otherwise he's essentially a decoy. We found there was not enough to be gained from throwing this inside slant into the middle of the LBs with the MLB ready to take his head off.



The inside slant will release at the inside hip of the defender over him, and burst his cut at 4-5. The outside receiver will step at the squat corner but isn't looking to mess with him, and will essentially run his 3-step slant at adepth of 4-5 and break skinny on the slant. He needs to be mindful of that Safety, and very often he may be required to catch the slant and then deliver the "Forearm of Doom" (as Tommy Bowden likes to call it) to this safety.

You can decide for yourself if you want your slant receiver to run his 3-step stem at the defender or to break straight upfield. We generally have our receivers run their 3-step stem at the outside hip of the defender, whether he is lined up inside, outside or what, but many coaches have success with straight stems. (remember, he needs to be looking at the face of the DB, not at the ground where he wants to make his break!)

Hope this helps. Big thing is to bring all of this under control. It doesn't need to be a 100 miles an hour, and that will likely be self defeating. Happy slanting.