Basic Approach to Three-Step Passing

There have been lots of new and recent developments in the three-step drop game recently, and with great defensive linemen coaches are converting many 5-step plays into three step equivalents and developing special concepts like stick, mini-curl, etc.

However, I thought it would be good to get back to basics about the primary purpose of the three step passes and review the three main passes, hitch/seam, slant/shoot, and the fade and when they are primarily used.

First and foremost, the 3-step game is best suited for getting the ball quickly to one of your outside receivers when the defense is giving you some underneath breathing room. The 3-step game functions well vs. blitz and some of these plays but, as much as anything, it is meant to take advantage of loose zone and man.

In gameplanning and for the QB pre-snap (we almost always mirror our routes) I try to identify the defender responsible for the "flat." Primarily, if I am going 3-step it is because this is a LB or inverted SS. Below are diagrams for common defenses. This is not meant to be all inclusive but to just illustrate the point. I have drawn boxes around the flat defender.



Generally, if the cornerback becomes the flat defender (i.e. he is lined up anywhere on the outside receiver as a "force" player) we do not want to throw the 3-step game. This is one reason why I shy away from the 3-step game versus 2 deep, other than the double-slant concept (see my post on throwing the slant) and sometimes the fade or other concepts. The focus of this article is on the flat defender.



The general approach is summarized above: if the flat defender is tight to the formation (and often LOS) we look to throw the hitch to the outside. If he lines up wide and is walked out 2/3 or so we want to throw the slant/shoot to draw him to the flat and hit the slant behind him. In the 1/2 to just inside area it is more about the grey area, and QB reads become more important and the throws must be tighter.

Below are two forms of the hitch to show this:



The drawings are a bit fuzzy, but in the first the flat defender is lined up tight, the second, he is wide. This is important to note and is the whole reason for this article: Yes, in the second the seam should be open, but one does not make a living looking to throw the seam in this circumstance and trying to get the ball to the inside player; the three step game is designed to get the ball to the outside (I will say in some spread situations the hitch to the slot can be a breadwinning play, but, in general this is the mindset).

In a given play yes the seam is an option for the QB, but, as a playcaller, the more that flat player slides outside, the more you want to make the move to the slant:



Below is my article on throwing the slant.

If the corner is the force/flat player and is lined up on any part of the receiver we may want to throw the double slants or not throw the 3-step gam at all. However, the fade is a common throw and, briefly to summarize our thought process:

If the corner is lined up to the inside of the receiver the receiver will attack the defender's coverage and then outside release. In this case we (usually) want to hold the other safety, so we send the slot/Y on a seam route.



If the corner is lined up to the outside (cover 2) the receiver makes his steps outside but doesn't force the issue, and gets upfield and back outside as fast as possible. As long as the safeties aren't cheating too far outside we look to hold the corner in the flat, so we send the slot/Y to the flat. If the corner turns and runs with the fade we will drop it off to the out.



A receiver looks to catch a fade route between 16-20 yards downfield, and the throw does not have a lot of air on it (To the short side it can be more like 14-18 yards).