Fade Technique In The Tight Red Zone
How many times do you see a tight red zone fade route throw end up sailing futilely out of bounds? Sometimes it’s a case of the quarterback just not giving the receiver a chance. Often times though, the receiver has not done the proper work to give the quarterback a chance.
In order to run a great fade route the receiver must attack the technique of the defender first. This will set a clear line at the top of the stem before the receiver fades outside. This will do a couple of things.
It will give your quarterback a better idea of the space he has to work with. It will also allow your receiver to have enough field space to fade outside and get his feet down like you see in this clip. In the tight red zone inches matter.
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When executed properly, it gives the quarterback room to deliver the ball where only the receiver can catch it. The best receivers run all of their red zone routes off of the same stem. This way the defender must respect the fade, slant and out routes right up until the last second.
Teach Your Receivers To Play a Physical Style In The Tight Red Zone
Although there is something to be said about throwing a tight red zone fade to a tall receiver at the pylon, there are also useful techniques that can help as well. It goes without saying that teaching your receivers to play a physical brand of ball helps here as well.
Teaching physical receiver play in the tight red zone is something that can be practiced without pads. You will see that displayed in the video clip above.
