What is the Option concept in 5v5 flag football?
In 5v5 flag football the option is usually pitch-only, because most rulebooks bar the quarterback from running the ball across the line of scrimmage. He attacks the edge to make the defender there commit, then pitches to the back trailing about five yards outside and two yards deeper. Check your own league before installing it: this is the most rules-dependent call in flag football.
Why Option works in 5v5
The keep is usually illegal, so it is a pitch-only read
At eleven players the quarterback threatens to keep it and that threat is half the concept. In most 5v5 rule sets he may not run it across the line at all, so the defender he is reading knows the ball is coming outside eventually. The play still works, because the defender still has to respect the quarterback moving at him, but it is a weaker version of the read and it is honest to say so.
The pitch relationship is the whole play with nobody blocking
The drawing keeps the back about five yards outside the quarterback and two yards deeper, moving at the same speed. That spacing is not a detail: with no blockers, a pitch man who closes it down gives the read defender both runners at once, and one who drifts too far cannot be reached with a catchable ball.
Both backside receivers are holding, not running routes
The diagram captions them HOLD BACKSIDE, and that is their entire job. With five players there is no one spare to run anything speculative, so the two away from the play exist to stop their defenders from folding back into the option. A receiver who quits on that assignment personally adds a defender to the read.
It removes the defender you cannot block
Every run has a defender the scheme cannot account for. An option does not try to account for him; it reads him. That turns the hardest problem in the run game into the mechanism the play runs on, which is why the concept has survived every era of football that has tried to coach it out.
The defense's discipline becomes the offense's information
A well-drilled defender does the same thing every time, and doing the same thing every time is exactly what an option punishes. The better coached the man being read is, the more reliably the play produces, which is an unusual property for any concept.
It stretches the defense horizontally with two threats
Two runners on the same side moving in the same direction means one defender has to cover two gaps. Even when the read is wrong, somebody is usually running free, because the arithmetic of the perimeter does not work for the defense.
How to read it
- 1
Identify the read defender before the snap
One man, named out loud in the huddle. An option run without a specific defender in mind is two players running sideways hoping something opens.
- 2
Attack him, do not drift past him
The carrier has to threaten him genuinely or he never has to choose. Running wide of the read defender lets him sit and wait for the pitch, which is the whole play defended by doing nothing.
- 3
Give it when he comes, keep it when he widens
The rule is that simple and it should not be overthought in the moment. If the defender commits to the ball carrier, the ball goes outside; if he expands to take the trailing runner, it stays inside.
- 4
The trailing runner keeps his relationship
Four or five yards outside and slightly behind, moving at the same speed. A pitch man who gets ahead of the carrier or drifts too close removes the option from the option.
What changes in 5v5
The keep is usually illegal, so it is a pitch-only read
At eleven players the quarterback threatens to keep it and that threat is half the concept. In most 5v5 rule sets he may not run it across the line at all, so the defender he is reading knows the ball is coming outside eventually. The play still works, because the defender still has to respect the quarterback moving at him, but it is a weaker version of the read and it is honest to say so.
The pitch relationship is the whole play with nobody blocking
The drawing keeps the back about five yards outside the quarterback and two yards deeper, moving at the same speed. That spacing is not a detail: with no blockers, a pitch man who closes it down gives the read defender both runners at once, and one who drifts too far cannot be reached with a catchable ball.
Both backside receivers are holding, not running routes
The diagram captions them HOLD BACKSIDE, and that is their entire job. With five players there is no one spare to run anything speculative, so the two away from the play exist to stop their defenders from folding back into the option. A receiver who quits on that assignment personally adds a defender to the read.
When not to call Option
It is the most rules-dependent call you can make
Whether the quarterback may run, and when, changes between leagues and between formats more than any other rule in the game. A playbook that assumes he can is wrong somewhere, so the rulebook has to be read before this concept is installed.
A pitch in space is a turnover waiting to happen
The exchange happens on the move, under pressure, with the carrier looking at a defender rather than at his teammate. It is the highest-risk delivery in the run game and it does not become safe with repetition alone.
Take it to your team
Draw your plays in the football playmaker, collect them in the football playbook maker, and print play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Open Option in the designer
Opens this exact 5v5 diagram. Move anybody, change the depths, then save it to your playbook.
Open this play in the designerRelated questions
Can the quarterback run the ball in 5v5 flag football?
Is the option worth running if the quarterback cannot keep it?
What age can you run an option in 5v5 flag?
Related guides
Coach Ray Carroll
Coaches 5v5 flag football from kindergarten through 7th grade in San Mateo and San Carlos, California, and built RC Football to design, teach and print the plays his own teams run.