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Slotback, also called slot receiver, is a position in gridiron football. The "slot" is the playing area between the offensive tackle and the wide receiver. A player who lines up between those two players and behind the line of scrimmage fills that "slot".

The slotback position is a fixture of Canadian football and indoor football where they act as extra receivers. It is also used in American football where the position requires a versatile player who must combine the receiving skills of a wide receiver, the ball-carrying skills of a running back, and the blocking skills of a tight end.^[1] In modern NFL, the slotback is often referred to as the "flex" position.

Slotbacks can line up as far as 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped. In both Canadian and indoor football, slotbacks can make a running start toward the line of scrimmage before the snap. In the NFL, this would be called illegal motion, however, most professional leagues such as the Canadian Football League, the World Football League, and the XFL allow forward motion. There is a difference between a wide receiver, slot receiver and slot corner.

Role

Slotbacks are primarily used as receivers and sometimes running backs, and are often used to provide pass protection on blitzes and blocking as required on running plays. They may be preferred over the wide receiver or tight end for receiving short passes or hand-offs because they line up closer to the quarterback. When formations containing slotbacks are used in American football, the team often has to go without a tight end, a fullback, or a running back since there are only 11 players on the offense and 7 of those are on the line of scrimmage. This is one of the reasons that slotbacks are less common in the American game.

In Canadian football, there are 12 players per side on the field. With 3 downs, the CFL is a much more pass heavy game. Slotbacks are similar to wide receivers, with the exception that they line up closer to the quarterback and can use the waggle (motion before the snap). Canadian slotbacks rarely run the ball and are almost always sent out to receive passes. They will block on the lesser called run plays, as the tight end position is essentially obsolete in the CFL.

However, as NFL teams have increasingly "defaulted to three- and four-receiver sets" in recent years, the slot receiver has become a fixture of American football formations.^[2] A slotback is typically treated as a third wide receiver and may be expected to be a "possession receiver" that can reliably catch a pass when covered by a safety since they are most commonly used when converting medium-distance third-down conversions.

Slotbacks are used effectively in the flexbone formation where they are used as extra receivers. They are usually relatively smaller and faster players and are used for short passes and short runs to get extra yards or a first down or third down drive.

Players are not drafted to the slotback position in the NFL; it is filled as needed by a wide receiver or running back with the necessary skill-set to effectively play the position. Slotbacks must be able to block, catch, and evade tacklers while still being highly productive. In 2019, the Navy Midshipmen football team's slotbacks gained over 1,500 all-purpose yards.^[3]

Examples

In the last few years, the NFL has seen an increase in the number of slotbacks. Examples include retired players such as Darren Sproles and Larry Fitzgerald, along with active player Christian McCaffrey.

Larry Fitzgerald extended his football career by moving from an outside receiving position into the slot. He used his change of direction in tandem with his willingness to block to still be an effective member of the offense.^[4]

Christian McCaffrey entered the NFL in 2017 and put up over 1,000 yards from scrimmage in four of his first six seasons. In 2019 he totalled a thousand yards running and a thousand yards receiving, with many of those receiving yards coming from the slotback position.^[5]

Darren Sproles did not thrive in the running back position, but achieved success as a slotback. His 2011 season is particularly representative of how a slotback can function successfully. He ran the ball 87 times and added 86 receptions for over 1,300 yards from scrimmage and 9 touchdowns.^[6]

Slotbacks are very important in the CFL, where most formations include 3 slotbacks and 2 wide receivers in a 5-receiver set. In the TSN Top 50 CFL Players, four of the top players in league history were slotbacks: Allen Pitts, Milt Stegall, Ray Elgaard, and Terry Vaughn. These players were typically the most reliable receivers on their team.

In American football, slotbacks are labeled as wide receivers on depth charts.^[7]