Flankers

Flankers are an interesting receiver in that lining up off the line, they can go in motion. This allows the offense to change its look on the fly and hopefully confuse assignments in the defensive secondary.

Of course- lining up behind the line makes it difficult to go deep but their speed can put them in interesting and useful places. Their routes are usually in the short to middle ranges.

Flankers are often called possession receivers because they are key go to guys on 3^rd down.

Tight Ends

Tight Ends are unique receiver/lineman hybrid. While some are better blockers than receivers, a good receiving tight end can be a dominate presence. While most receivers are small, fast guys, the TE is a big guy capable of surviving and blocking in the offensive line. He's also quick enough to get out and run patterns. Defensive backs often find big tight ends running at full speed almost impossible to handle.

Defenses usually try to cover tight ends with a linebacker but this is usually a mismatch. Duels between Tight Ends trying to run slants and drags across the middle and linebackers trying to cover the middle zones can be epic.

Many coaches under utilize the tight end position but with a little imagination and some talent, the TE can be as valuable as any receiver on the field.