If you're like most coaches, it's impossible to watch a game on the weekend without breaking it down in one way or another. Watch any NFL game and you'll notice a heavy dose of receivers catching balls on hitch routes, slants, fades, and posts.
Based on last year in NFL here are pass routes new WRs will be expected to run: pic.twitter.com/Jjqbeu7RS4
— Neil Hornsby (@PFF_Neil) April 20, 2016
" target="_blank">Neil Hornsby, the founder and owner of Pro Football Focus, took a detailed look at all of the targeted routes last year by wide receivers and compiled all that information into a handy chart, and that caught our attention this morning. According to Hornsby's breakdown, the 5 most targeted routes last season run by NFL receivers last year were: - 17% Hitches - 16% Go (Fade) - 14% Outs - 11% Crossing routes - 10% Slants
The way I see it, there are a number of ways a college or high school coach could use this chart. With the NFL draft around the corner, coaches with a quarterback or receiver in the draft will be able to draw a crystal-clear connection between the routes that their guys were throwing or catching and what they're doing at the NFL level. For the rest of the high school and college coaches out there, comparing your most run routes with how they stack up to what they're doing in the NFL would make for a fun off season breakdown.