We will take the outside WR and tag “follow” which means he lines up 2 yards outside the inside WR off the ball with in the inside man on the LOS. On the snap he runs inside #2 and climbs to 8 yards. This allows the C to cheat over the traffic. When the WR sees the corner is getting threw the traffic he immediately cuts back under the smash to the sideline. It’s a pick but never called.

We couple that route and also run a mirrored smash/mesh look. Run it from ACE. Same alignment as above. Outside players will run mesh. If you have run the above route the corner will hesitate waiting for you to come back to him. T flares on either side. Mesh WR on T side should try and run under the OLB. If he can that should be the QBs first read because T will be wide open in the flat.

This is why Greg Brown, among others, plays cover 1 (aka man-free) with corners in inside or outside leverage depending on the split of the WR. So, in the case explained above, for example, Stevie Brown would’ve been aligned in outside leverage. Yes, the slant is available, but with a MOF safety, it isn’t a TD.

You may be wondering, “What if it’s cover 0 (i.e., no safety help)?” All defenders use inside leverage. Yes, Stevie Brown would’ve been susceptible to the corner route, but if the D is playing cover 0, they should be sending enough blitzers that the QB doesn’t have time to take a 5-7 step drop and throw a corner route. If he does, then the coverage scheme isn’t the problem; poor timing and/or poor gap responsibility by the blitzers is to blame.