Xs and Os: The Option

by Arnaldo

If you've watched the Florida Gators play under Urban Meyer, or the Denver Broncos in the last few weeks, you've probably heard the word "option" thrown around a bit.  In this Xs and Os, we're not just gonna define the option, we're gonna get into its specifics, technique, and recent application in the NFL (via Tim Tebow).

The option is nothing more than a series of run plays (from a variety of formations) where there are two or more potential ball carriers.  Conventionally, a run play will have a single predetermined ball carrier running a predetermined route.  The option allows the quarterback to decide during the play, how he wants the ball to be ran.  He does this by reading certain players before the snap, and during the first few moments of the play, and decides how to proceed based on these reads, called "keys".


Option Plays


There are essentially only two option plays that can be executed from various formations.  Each has only two potential ball carriers, or "options".

Read Option

The "mesh" exchange between Tim Tebow and Jeff Demps.
Note Tebow's eyes as he reads his dive key and decides what
to do with the ball.

The first is called a "read" option, which has two possible options, a "dive" track and a "keep" track.  The quarterback takes the snap and puts the ball in the belly of his running back.  Instead of handing it off, he holds it there and follows along with the running back's movement for as long as he can without taking an actual step.  This amount of time is called the "mesh".  During the mesh, the quarterback reads his "dive key", a defensive end (opposite of the running back's direction).  If the end pursues the running back, the quarterback with keep the ball and his keep track will run in a direction away from the dive track.  If the end recognizes the play as an option, and waits to see how the mesh unfolds, the quarterback will hand it off and the play follows the dive track.  Keep in mind that a dive refers to a running route directly up the middle.  If the quarterback reads his key correctly, the offense will always have the upper hand, because the keep track moves away from the end's direction, and the dive track will have a head start on the end who hesitated.  This play is also sometimes referred to as the

Speed Option

Tim Tebow in the motion of pitching the ball on a speed
option run.

The second option play is a "speed" option.  It is so named because as soon as the quarterback receives the ball, he immediately goes into motion.  The two tracks here are the "keep" track and the "pitch" track.  A running back, here refered to as a "pitch back", will be running a few yards beside the quarterback.  When the quaterback (still carrying the ball) runs into some defenders, he may chose to keep the ball, or pitch it back to the running back, based on his read, here called a "pitch key" (usually a linebacker or defensive back).  If the defender pursues the quarterback, he'll pitch the ball, but if the defender follows the pitch man, he'll keep it.  As long as both options aren't being simultaneously covered, the speed option should always get positive yardage.

Triple Option

Josh Johnson running his keep track.

Those two plays are essentially the building blocks of the option.  There are two forms of "triple option" that derive from them.  Triple option meaning that there are three possible ball carriers, the conventional triple option is a combination of both the read option and the speed option.  With two running backs, the play begins and runs exactly like the read option.  If the quarterback decides to keep the ball, he still has the pitch man running beside him (the speed option).  This entire sequence is also known as the "veer" (play; there is also a "veer" formation).

The other triple option is a double speed option.  Innovated (debatable) and perfected (indisputable) by Urban Meyer, this involves all three backs to rush in one direction just like the speed option.  The only difference is that the quarterback has two pitch options, one on either side of him.  The benefit here is that typically on a speed option, the quarterback finds one or two defenders ahead of him, but hardly ever three.  The third option allows allows for positive yardage, almost all the time.  Note that the forward pitch is called a "shovel pass".  This is done to differentiate the two because even a forward pitch is a forward pass.  If it is dropped, the ball is dead as an incomplete pass.  A normal pitch (backwards), if dropped, is a fumble and a live ball.


Formations


Originally, the option was invented out of the single-wing and T formations, but quickly became prevalent out of the wishbone. All three formations are now extinct, so we'll just skip over them.

Flexbone

The most successful flexbone option team.

The wishbone evolved into the flexbone in the '80s where Fisher DeBerry combined the double slot formation with the wishbone option concepts.  The flexbone moved the wishbone's backs into the slot back positions.  This made the overall scheme more pass-friendly, whereas the wishbone wasn't.  This completes the flexbone into a full offensive scheme.  Today, only four FBS teams base their offense off the flexbone option and are considered true option teams.  They are the three service academies, Navy, Army, and Air Force, and Georgia Tech.  If you ever have the chance to closely watch any of these teams play, pay close attention to how the run these plays from the flexbone.  As you can see, the flexbone utilizes four backs, the quarterback, a full back, and two slot backs.  A slot back is a role typically filled with half backs or wide receivers.  The position is a hybrid of the two, and slot backs need to be skilled evenly between the two positions. 

Triple option in the flexbone.  Note the read option that may
become a speed option.

Now lets look at the option plays from the flexbone.  Typically, one of the slot backs goes in motion before the snap, and ends up past the full back by the time of the snap.  The quarterback sidesteps to enter the mesh stage with the full back.  He reads his dive key and makes a decision.  If he decides to keep it, he follows his keep track along side the pitch track ran by the slot back who went into motion before the snap.  After reading his pitch key, he may keep it or pitch it.  This same play can be redrawn in several variations with the tracks slightly moved around.  There is also a lot of room for pass plays and play-action passes from this formation.

Shotgun

Read option from the shotgun (see top picture).

I say shotgun and not spread here because the spread isn't a formation; it's a scheme.  A formation with three or more spread out receivers with the quarterback in the shotgun is considered spread.  Now a shotgun isn't a particular formation either but an umbrella of formations with the quarterback several yards behind the center.  This is the new wave of option football popularized by Urban Meyer, Rich Rodriguez, Chip Kelly and others.  Under this system, the quarterback receives the snap and enters the mesh immediately, or takes off on his track on a speed option, just like before.

Triple option (double speed) from the shotgun.

The difference maker in this system is the spread concept.  Three to five wide receivers spead the defense out and makes wider holes for the option run to find.  This is why under this system, small shifty backs (Chris Rainey, Jeff Demps) are more useful than big, strong, power backs.  The other advantage behind this scheme is that it doesn't become predictable or one sided.  The spread is without a doubt, the best scheme for strong passing.  Look at any two minute offense.  Look at Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers pass in the spread.  It gives them great field vision, several receivers causing separation in the secondary, and mismatches that will always favor the offense.  Defenses have to prepare for a deceptive option game, and a spread passing, and that's not even factoring what happens when you combine the two for play-action passing.  Defenses can be talented, but unless they're properly disciplined for this type of offense, they'll lose every time.


Reemergence in the NFL


If you're like me, or plenty Gator fans, you've been paying close attention to the Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow.  After going 1-4, the Broncos start Tebow and implement the spread option which has never seen decent play time in the NFL.  As I mentioned earlier, the early option concepts thrived in pro football, but the spread option has never quite made the transition (one exception is the Josh Johnson Buccaneer package).  In my opinion, as reluctant as the NFL has been to change, the players who were a part of the popularization of the spread option are now all in the NFL.  There was bound to be a breaking point.  This isn't to say that all teams will start encorporating the this scheme.  They won't.  There a reason the most popular offensive style is called the Pro-style.  The NFL, like all pro sports, is a business.  A business where people quit their jobs, and get new ones.  Franchise players are a thing of the past.  Free angency, and the need for greed, has homogenized NFL schemes.  Because players and coaches are constantly shifting from team to team, all offenses and defenses styles are basically the same.  There are slight differences and plenty of variations, but they are conceptually the same.  A team that sets out to break these tendencies needs stability so that all their players can adapt to the new system.  It's like moving to a country where they drive on the opposite side of the road.

Yeah, these idiots.

I will say this, however.  There is a reason Tim Tebow excels at these plays.  He is a Heisman winning, two-time National Champion under this system, but as great as that sounds, he's not alone.  There happens to be not one, but two other quarterbacks in the NFL with similar resumes: Vince Young and Cam Newton.  Newton, we all know, won a Heisman and a national championship doing almost exactly what Tim Tebow did a few years prior.  And Tebow succeeded Vince Young, winning a national championship at Texas and coming in second in Heisman voting behind Reggie Bush, who vacated the award (so it's basically his).  They're also not having the most success right now.  Young's future is up in the air.  On the other hand, Cam Newton is having little to no problem fitting into his new scheme, but it still isn't his forte, and the Carolina Panthers still need a jump start.  Don't be surprised if we see Carolina pull a Tim Tebow, and put Newton in a similar option situation next year.