Option
The quarterback runs at one defender with the back trailing him, and leaves that defender alone on purpose. Take the quarterback and the ball is pitched; take the back and the quarterback keeps it.
- The offense1 / 3
The look
The quarterback sprints to the edge with the back a pitch-width outside him and a step behind. Both of them are running at the same defender, and he cannot take both.
- vs Takes QB2 / 3
The conflict
The key attacks the quarterback. The pitch goes out to the back, who is now outside a defender who has just committed inward, with the edge to himself.
- vs Takes QB3 / 3
The pitch
The option does not beat the key — it makes him choose, then goes wherever he did not. Its yards come from a two-on-one on the edge that the defense cannot fix without bringing another man, and that man came from somewhere.
Why it works
It takes a defender out without touching him
The key is left alone on purpose, and his own decision removes him from the play. It is the one way to take a defender out that is legal in every code.
It is a two-on-one wherever you run it
The defense has to send an extra man to fix it, and every extra man on the edge is one fewer somewhere else.
Wrong either way
A key with the right answer against the keep has the wrong answer against the pitch. That is the whole design.
How it gets run badly
The quarterback decides early
He reads the key's shoulders and pitches off what the key does, not off what he expected. A predetermined option is a predetermined play, and the key will sit on it.
Losing the pitch spacing
The back stays about four yards outside and one behind. Too close and the key can take both; too far and the pitch floats.
Running it where the quarterback cannot run
Check the rulebook first. Where the quarterback cannot cross the line himself, the option is only a pitch — and the key will work that out by the second snap.
Who can run it, and how
Five of the six formats, three of them with a caveat. The option needs a quarterback who is a live runner, and that is the rule that varies most. NFL Flag does not allow it at all, so the option is not on that page; in many 5v5, 6v6 and 7v7 rulebooks he can only run after a handoff or pitch, which makes it a pitch-only play.
- In flag5v5 · 6v6 · 7v7
Nobody blocks, and nobody needs to: the key is left alone on purpose in every code, which is why the option travels. Check whether your league lets the quarterback run — if it does not, this is a pitch-only play.
- In tackle9v9 · 11v11
The line blocks everybody except the key, who is left unblocked on purpose. It is the same read as in flag — the blockers just make sure he is the only defender with a decision to make.
- 5v5Its offense
- 6v6Its offense
- 7v7Its offense
- 9v9Its offense
- 11v11Its offense
Put Option in your playbook
Draw it in the designer, change the assignments, and save it to your playbook.
Open the designer