How to Throw the Back Shoulder Fade

The back shoulder fade is one of the cleanest answers in football against bump-and-run man coverage—especially when the DB is on top of the go route. If the corner has cut off the vertical, you’re not winning downfield. So instead, you throw the receiver open backward, not forward.

Here’s how I think about it:

• Visual cue: Aim about one foot in front of the receiver’s current head position. Not where he’s going—right where he is. This gives you the right trajectory to let him throttle down and make the play.
• Timing cue: This only works if the receiver gets his eyes back. That’s the signal. It lets him subtly tempo down without fully stopping—he’s still running forward, but not at full go-ball speed. The back shoulder is a trust throw, and both sides have to be on the same page.
• Reps matter: This isn’t a throw you just pull out on game day. You’ve got to rep it with your guys. Work on tempo, eye contact, and placement so the timing becomes second nature.
• Distance: The one-foot-in-front-of-the-head cue works best inisde ~20-25 yards of depth. It still holds up on standard fades in the red zone at that range, but if you’re pushing it out to 30 or 40 yards, you’ll need a different visual and timing approach. That deep, the ball flight time increases, and you need to adjust your aiming point.

When thrown right, the back shoulder fade is difficult to guard. DB’s playing the go, receiver throttles down, eyes flash, ball’s already on the way.

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