In football, slot is the area between and slightly behind the outside wide receivers and offensive linemen. Slot receivers are also known as slot backs. They play a crucial role for teams as they help protect running backs and wide receivers on outside run plays by blocking blitzing linebackers and secondary players. They are able to do this because they are typically shorter, stockier, and tougher than outside receivers.

In recent years, the position of slot receiver has become a much more prevalent part of NFL offenses. This is because more teams are using the slot receiver to create mismatches with defenses. Slot receivers are typically a little smaller than traditional wide receivers, but they have plenty of speed and quickness. This allows them to run just about every route possible on the field, including inside and outside routes, short and deep routes. Moreover, they also have to be excellent at running precise routes and having great chemistry with the quarterback.

Slot receivers are also called upon to carry the ball on occasion. This is usually done on pitch plays, reverses, and end-arounds. They are called into pre-snap motion by the quarterback and then handed the ball after they are made clear of defenders in their path. This is a different skill set than running regular pass routes, as they must be very fast and have excellent timing.

Lastly, slot receivers are often asked to block. This is especially true if they are not the ball carrier on a given play. They must be able to pick up blitzes from linebackers and secondary players, but they also help protect outside run plays by blocking for the fullback or extra tight end.

While there are some good No. 1 and No. 2 wide receivers who occasionally play in the slot, many of them spend a majority of their time on the outside. This means that the top slot receivers must have tremendous skills to be able to hold their own against the top outside receivers and defensive backs in the league.

The term “slot” can be used in other contexts besides football. In linguistics, it refers to a grammatical function within a construction into which any of a set of morphemes can fit: “the slot in the verb”; “the slot in the noun”. In airport coordination, a slot is an authorization for an aircraft to take off or land at an airport on a specific day and during a specified time period. This is meant to help prevent air traffic delays, which can occur when too many planes try to take off or land at busy airports simultaneously.