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Post Route: Win Inside Leverage and Beat the Safety

Updated · Fact checked

The post is the 8 in the common route tree. You stem up the field, then break inside at about 45 degrees toward the goal posts and keep running.

It is a deep shot, so two defenders decide it: the cornerback over you and the free safety in the middle of the field. Winning the post means getting inside the corner and getting there before the safety does.

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The post route run by the X receiver lined up 12 yards from the left sideline, drawn by the free Play Designer.Open in the Play Designer
Route tree number
8
Breaks
Toward the middle
Play Designer break depth
10 yards (drawn default; your playbook may differ)
In one line
Stem to 10, 45 degrees to the goalpost

How to run the post route

  1. Check the corner's leverage

    Before the snap, see whether the cornerback is outside or inside you, and how much cushion they are giving.

  2. Release to widen

    Against outside leverage, take an outside release and stem toward the numbers to move the corner away from the middle.

  3. Pressure step

    At the top, plant hard off your inside foot as if you were breaking to the corner route.

  4. Break to the post

    Redirect inside at about 45 degrees with no loss of speed, head down and accelerating.

  5. Find the ball upfield

    Get your eyes to your landmark, then find the ball on your upfield shoulder.

Two defenders, one route

Matt Bowen, a former NFL defensive back, describes the skinny post as an ideal way to target a man-to-man cornerback's technique and test the free safety's discipline in the middle of the field. In single-high defenses like Cover 1 and Cover 3, Bowen says the free safety has to drive top down on the post route, and that for that safety, angles and depth matter more than stopwatch speed.

So the post is not an automatic big play against any one look. The Scouting Academy shows what sound Cover 3 does to it: on a deep post shot, the cornerback gave a seven-yard cushion at the snap, stayed on top of the route, and the quarterback ended up scrambling. Bowen's route tree lists the post as a top vertical route against single-high, quarters and two-deep shells alike. What decides it is the leverage you win and where the safety is.

Getting inside leverage

In Cover 1 and Cover 3, Bowen writes, the cornerback on the open side is coached to play with outside leverage and funnel receivers to the free safety. In other words, the corner is giving you the inside on purpose, with help waiting behind. Your job is to take that inside path fast and clean.

Against an off cornerback with outside leverage, Bowen's coaching for the skinny post is to use an initial outside release, stem the route to the numbers and then break back to the post. Widening the corner opens the throwing lane. His dino stem pushes the idea further: take a hard vertical release, stem to the corner route, force the cornerback to open his hips and pin him to the sideline, then cut to the post.

Some corners line up inside you instead. AFCA writer Kelsey Pope's answer against an off defender is to attack the defender's midline, so you keep a two-way go and the defender can't eliminate routes. His example is a defense that likes to play off quarters coverage with inside-leverage corners.

Keep the speed through the cut

The post never stops. The Scouting Academy's glossary groups posts with go routes as full-speed routes that rely on speed and fluidity through the cut, not a full change of direction. That is the speed side of the speed cut vs sink cut drill.

Drew Lieberman's USA Football coaching gives the detail: at the top of a post, take a hard pressure step off your inside foot toward the corner route, then redirect to the post without losing speed. Accelerate through it, keep your head down as you separate, and use your eyes to find your landmark so you stay on a path the quarterback can trust.

Depth depends on the playbook. Bowen notes that in the NFL, routes outside the three-step game break at 12 to 15 yards. The Play Designer draws the post's break at 10 yards as a default and at 12 in its Y-Cross concept; those are drawings, not a rule.

Where the ball goes, and how the secondary fights it

In Bowen's breakdown of a 57-yard Peyton Manning touchdown on the skinny post, the throw went on the receiver's upfield shoulder. A ball thrown short, or back toward the middle of the field, brings the free safety into play.

The same clip shows the cornerback's side. The corner weaved the pedal to stay square and keep outside leverage, which was correct. The trouble came at the turn: the corner didn't stay in phase, got too tall, overextended the hips and faded toward the boundary, ending up trailing and in desperate need of safety help. The defensive back hub covers that transition from the defense's side, and the receiver plan lives on the wide receiver hub.

Pass concepts that use the post

Plays in the Play Designer's concept library with a post in them. Open one to see the whole play and edit your own copy.

  • Y-CrossTE crosses deep behind linebackers with a vertical clearing.Open

FAQ

What is a dino stem on a post route?

It is a post with a fake corner built in. Bowen coaches the receiver to stem to the corner route, force the cornerback to open his hips and pin him to the sideline, then break back to the post.

What coverage does the post route beat?

No single one. Bowen lists the post as a top vertical route against single-high coverages (Cover 1, Cover 3), quarters and two-deep shells. Whether it works comes down to winning inside leverage on the corner and where the safety is.

Where should the quarterback put a post?

On your upfield shoulder. In Bowen's breakdown, a ball thrown short or back toward the middle lets the free safety make a play.

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Sources

  1. NFL 101: Breaking Down the Basics of the Route Tree (Matt Bowen, Apr 4, 2014), Bleacher Report
  2. Coaching the Wide Receiver - Separation Techniques (Drew Lieberman, Jun 12, 2019), USA Football
  3. Breaking down Peyton Manning vs. the Jets (Matt Bowen, Inside the Playbook, May 20, 2011), National Football Post
  4. What is a 'Dino' route? (Matt Bowen, Jul 3, 2012), National Football Post
  5. ITP Glossary: Cover 3 (Mark Schofield and Dave Archibald, Dec 9, 2015), The Scouting Academy / Inside The Pylon
  6. Winning Vertically at the WR Position (Kelsey Pope, Aug 22, 2023), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA)
  7. ITP Glossary: Sinking the Hips (Jul 3, 2018), The Scouting Academy / Inside The Pylon

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