Football Library · Routes
Fade
Route10-22 yd
Vertical release with a ROUNDED outside arc toward the sideline (no hard break). Ball thrown back-shoulder or up-and-away. Red-zone staple — defender can't recover when the throw is placed up-and-away. Usually a tall WR vs a short DB.
Example: @X (outside WR) runs the route at 16yd depth. Only the route runner and the QB are shown so the break stays the focus; the same route family scales to any depth a play calls for, and concepts that use this route may set a different depth.
How to run it
back-shoulder window, defender's hip.
Reading it by coverage
How to run the fade against what the defense shows.
- Cover 0:
- one-on-one back-shoulder before help arrives — throw it up-and-away from the trail leverage.
- Cover 1:
- vs press man — stack the corner's outside hip; ball placed back-shoulder where only you can adjust.
- Cover 2:
- attack the deep-sideline honey hole behind the squat corner and in front of the half safety.
- Cover 3:
- hold the deep-third corner with the stem, then win back-shoulder on his outside hip.
- Man:
- back-shoulder vs tight leverage — the throw beats the coverage, not the route.