Post by Coach Campbell on Jun 3, 2011 6:49:26 GMT
The first problem is the name, "fade." This conjures up the idea that the receiver's job is to release off the ball and immediately start "fading" to the sideline, where the quarterback has to throw it to an increasingly vanishing spot between the defender and the sideline. This is wrong.
1. The route, at least from the receiver's perspective, should be thought of as an almost totally vertical route. Against press man coverage, he should get the defender's feet moving; the goal is not to get "around" the defender but to get through him, by making the defender move and then having the receiver run on a path immediately past him. This isn't always possible, and the fade is an outside release play, but that should be the goal every time it is called. Too often young receivers want to outside release, get jammed, and can barely get off the line of scrimmage or get run basically out of bounds.
2. Second, the receiver must leave at least six to seven yards between him and the sidelines. Some teach five yards but I prefer seven, because it leaves more margin for error. A simple way to think about it is to tell the receiver to get no wider than a yard outside the numbers (i.e. the big numbers on the field between the hashmarks and the sideline).
3. Third, consistent with the above two points, the receiver should actually try to lean into the defender as he bursts upfield. As I've said previously:
[O]ne imperative technique is to learn to "lean into" the defense back at the top of the routes. If you're running an out against press man, once you hit about 10-12 yards you should be "leaning into" the defensive back before you break and separate away. Somewhat counterintuitively, on some of these routes you do want to be near the defender before breaking away at the last minute, and never too early. But this lean will get the defender's center of gravity and momentum going in the wrong direction. Mike Leach is famous for this coaching point.
This is key, and it must precede any "fade" aspect to the play. By getting a good vertical release and leaning into the defender, the receiver can keep the necessary space between him and the sideline for the ball to be thrown.
4. The "fade" portion of the play comes in once the ball has been thrown, but not before. The receiver will "fade" to the ball, and catch it at its highest point. Great receivers know how to use their body to keep the defender on the inside while they reach to the outside to snag the ball.
5. The quarterback's assignment is simple but the techniques take a lot of time to master. The fade is thrown off a three-step drop (or one step from shotgun) to a spot 18-22 yards downfield, and approximately five-to-six yards from the sideline. Obviously, one of the big mistakes you see is the quarterback who throws this pass out of bounds; it's amazing how frequent that happens. The difficult comes with properly extending the arm, getting that medium arc down (it's not a bullet and it isn't a bomb throw), right to the outside shoulder. One common way to practice this is to put a trash can at 20 yards deep and tell the quarterback to drop the ball in the trash can (which you can't do unless you have the right arc on the throw), and you can even simulate a free safety hustling to get over there to make sure there isn't too much arc.
1. The route, at least from the receiver's perspective, should be thought of as an almost totally vertical route. Against press man coverage, he should get the defender's feet moving; the goal is not to get "around" the defender but to get through him, by making the defender move and then having the receiver run on a path immediately past him. This isn't always possible, and the fade is an outside release play, but that should be the goal every time it is called. Too often young receivers want to outside release, get jammed, and can barely get off the line of scrimmage or get run basically out of bounds.
2. Second, the receiver must leave at least six to seven yards between him and the sidelines. Some teach five yards but I prefer seven, because it leaves more margin for error. A simple way to think about it is to tell the receiver to get no wider than a yard outside the numbers (i.e. the big numbers on the field between the hashmarks and the sideline).
3. Third, consistent with the above two points, the receiver should actually try to lean into the defender as he bursts upfield. As I've said previously:
[O]ne imperative technique is to learn to "lean into" the defense back at the top of the routes. If you're running an out against press man, once you hit about 10-12 yards you should be "leaning into" the defensive back before you break and separate away. Somewhat counterintuitively, on some of these routes you do want to be near the defender before breaking away at the last minute, and never too early. But this lean will get the defender's center of gravity and momentum going in the wrong direction. Mike Leach is famous for this coaching point.
This is key, and it must precede any "fade" aspect to the play. By getting a good vertical release and leaning into the defender, the receiver can keep the necessary space between him and the sideline for the ball to be thrown.
4. The "fade" portion of the play comes in once the ball has been thrown, but not before. The receiver will "fade" to the ball, and catch it at its highest point. Great receivers know how to use their body to keep the defender on the inside while they reach to the outside to snag the ball.
5. The quarterback's assignment is simple but the techniques take a lot of time to master. The fade is thrown off a three-step drop (or one step from shotgun) to a spot 18-22 yards downfield, and approximately five-to-six yards from the sideline. Obviously, one of the big mistakes you see is the quarterback who throws this pass out of bounds; it's amazing how frequent that happens. The difficult comes with properly extending the arm, getting that medium arc down (it's not a bullet and it isn't a bomb throw), right to the outside shoulder. One common way to practice this is to put a trash can at 20 yards deep and tell the quarterback to drop the ball in the trash can (which you can't do unless you have the right arc on the throw), and you can even simulate a free safety hustling to get over there to make sure there isn't too much arc.
