Youth Football 2 Back Slot Play Action Pass


By FirstDown PlayBook on Aug 25, 2023
The #1 Tool for Youth Football Coaches

Here at FirstDown PlayBook we have previously explained some of the benefits of a youth football 2 Back Slot offense. However today we want to expand on one of those aspects we believe helps a youth football coach teach Pop Warner aged players a football staple. I am referring to the play action pass.

The play action pass is a great way to begin teaching how defenses are going to line up to offensive formations. For very young Pop Warner aged players the defense will often line up in man coverage. It is simple and allows them to overload the run game box inside.

At some point a youth football offense will begin to see zone coverage from the opponent’s defense. This usually happens when the youth football quarterbacks begin to get proficient enough to hurt man coverage with their passing arm. Smart youth football coaches will make sure the quarterback is capable of this but eventually it will happen.

This 2 Back Slot Offense Allows You To Teach Play Action Passes

When defenses start playing zone coverage on you, it is the perfect time to have the 2 Back Slot formation in your game plan. As we have expanded on before, the 2 Back Slot gives you a strong 2 Back running game as well as a jet sweep threat. It also gives you 2 receivers to begin teaching 2 man route combinations.

The 2 Back Slot play action plays offer your youth football offense a chance to put the weak side linebacker in a conflict of assignment. This is just a fancy way to say that this linebacker has to make a decision of either play the run or over the curl area passing game.

We Would Install Play Action Passes Before Ever Saying The Phrase RPO

This allows you to begin teaching some of the early lessons about how to attack a defense. Now notice that we did not say RPO (Run Pass Option). This is when your quarterback will actually read a defender pre snap and post snap. Our suggestion is that you wait awhile for that.

A youth football play action pass will allow you to take some of the burden off of your young quarterback. You can call either the weak side run or the play action pass off of it, depending on how you see that weak side linebacker playing the 2 Back Slot formation. Take a look at this 50 second video to learn more.

FirstDown PlayBook offers you 12 different formations just like this 2 Back Slot formation. You should consider one or two of these for your Pop Warner offense. Tap on any one of the tiles below to visit the article describing that formation. Then get on over to FirstDown PlayBook to get busy coaching your Pop Warner team with the best football playbook available!

Matt Leinart On FirstDown PlayBook