Late night bullshit: question about slot corners.

[Direckshun]

Honest football question here:

Why don’t teams put their #1 CBs at slot corner, rather than putting them out wide? I’ve been watching a ton of film on the 2020 Chiefs and Sneed was fantastic there. And the 2019 Chiefs has Mathieu manning the slot, where he almost won DPOY.

Three reasons I can think you’d want your #1 CB there:

1. Receivers have way more options in the slot, whereas aolitnout wide they are bound in by the chalk.

2. Teams are moving their receivers around as much as they ever have these days. Tyreek Hill is a demon in the slot and the Chiefs put him there plenty.

3. Your lesser CBs are aided out wide by the chalk. Obviously it does not solve all their problems but it allows them to hedge some. That opportunity doesn’t exist in the slot.

Just some late night bullshit ruminations.

[Rain Man]

If a slot receiver catches a ball, you've got defenders in better position to bring him down. If a guy out wide catches a ball, he just has to beat one or two guys and he's gone.

That's my theory.

I also wonder if slot is a fundamentally different position. A slot corner has to be quick, and he can be smaller.

[Dante84]

My hunch is Action/Reaction.

Most teams’ #1WR is not a slot WR, he’s out wide the majority of the time. Yes, they move around more than ever in the passing NFL of the past 10 years, but again, most #1’s are not in the slot most of the time, so neither are the #1 Corners.

I also think shrinking the field is better than splitting the field from a defensive perspective, and harder on the QB. If you take away 1/3rd, I’d eliminate one of the sides before the middle. You can concede a side to your #1 corner and flood the remainder with your other guys, but even with a beast slot corner, you can’t truly concede the middle to your guy and flood the sides because then it’s easier for the run game up the middle. My random initial thoughts.

[O.city]

You've gotta have alot of movement abilites in there as guys can go two ways. It's tough.

[JD10367]

Don't slot WRs tend to be smaller and shiftier? Usually the #1 WR is a tall fast guy, so you put your #1 corner (who is usually a tall fast guy) on him. I don't know what other teams have used but watching the Patriots I tend to see the same types of guys (Troy Brown, Wes Welker, Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman) being used a lot.

Now, on the other hand, one weird thing Belichick has done with success is this: instead of putting his #1 CB on the #1 WR, he double teams the #1 WR and puts his #1 CB on the #2 WR. ::: shrug :::

[RunKC]

If you’ve noticed, Spags has been building the middle of the field with valuable resources ever since he got here.

Matheiu
Thornhill
Gay
Sneed (he played a lot of slot corner)
Bolton

It’s far easier to find capable outside corners (Breeland for example) and it’s far easier to defend the outside on most occasions bc:

A. Not many teams have a QB like us that can make the high velocity throws
B. Not many teams have an elite outside receiver

[ModSocks]

If you’ve noticed, Spags has been building the middle of the field with valuable resources ever since he got here.

Matheiu
Thornhill
Gay
Sneed (he played a lot of slot corner)
Bolton

It’s far easier to find capable outside corners (Breeland for example) and it’s far easier to defend the outside on most occasions bc:

A. Not many teams have a QB like us that can make the high velocity throws
B. Not many teams have an elite outside receiver

Inside, you get a lot more help. An outside CB often has sole responsibility and sometimes a safety shaded over the top. If he blows his coverage, it could be a massive gain.

The slot is a bit more crowded, naturally. There's linebackers in there, safeties in there, it's easier for DL's to get their hand up and swat the ball if the throw is inside the hashes.

To put it simply, there's way more support for slot corners than there is outside. That's why premier corners are generally used outside. That's not to say that some corners will shadow a WR and follow him into the slot.

And to your B: MOST teams have an elite outside WR.

I don't understand why people think otherwise. When i say the Chiefs are no longer loaded at WR, well they aren't comparatively speaking. Look around, most teams have a pair of substantial weapons, and those that don't have at least one. What they lack is a substantial QB.

AFCW:

Broncos: Sutton and Jeudy
Raiders: Ruggs
Chargers: Allen & Williams

AFCE:
Dolphins: Waddle, Fuller, Parker
Jets: Mims, Davis, Crowder, Moore
Bills: Diggs. Sanders, Beasley

AFCS:
Jaguars: Chark, Shenault, Jones
Titans: Brown
Colts: Hilton, Pittman

AFCN:
Ravens: Brown, Watkins, Bateman
Steelers: Schuster, Claypool, Washington
Browns: Landry, OBJ, Higgins
Bengals: Chase, Higgins, Boyd.

Wake up Chiefs fans, look around. Most teams in this league are fucking loaded at WR. Most of those guys are absolutely elite. They may not be Tyreek Hill elite, but they're damn good players and would thrive in our offense.

[htismaqe]

Inside, you get a lot more help. An outside CB often has sole responsibility and sometimes a safety shaded over the top. If he blows his coverage, it could be a massive gain.

To be fair, outside CB's get the assistance of an impenetrable boundary on one side, limiting from the start the amount of field they have to cover.

Not saying outside CB's don't often have far more isolation but the inside guys often have to cover a lot more field, especially in man coverage, and account for a lot more in/out possibilities in terms of option routes.