The run-pass option (RPO) is a type of designed option play in

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

in which the

offensive team In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

has the ability to either rush or

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland *Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *El Paso, Texas, a city which translates to "The Pass" * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see Li ...

the ball depending on the alignment and actions of

defensive team In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. Like the standard read-option, the quarterback is responsible for viewing the actions of a particular defender (the "read man") and makes a decision to hand the ball off to their

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

depending on how that defender chooses to act after the snap of the ball. However, unlike the read-option, the quarterback is responsible for making a decision regarding whether or not to throw a

play-action pass A play-action pass (also known as a play fake or simply "play-action") is an American football play. The play action starts with what appears to be a running play, but turns out to be a pass play; in this way, it can be considered the opposite of ...

to a receiver running a designed route, rather than simply the decision to keep the ball and run with it.

History

The run-pass option is a development of the

triple option The triple option is an American football play used to offer six ways to move the football forward on the field of play. The triple option is based on the option run, but uses three players who might run with the ball instead of the two used in ...

that became popular after a 2009 revision to the NCAA rulebook. This rule change allowed

linemen Lineman or linesman may refer to: In personal roles: *Lineworker, one who installs and maintains electrical power, telephone, or telegraph lines *Lineman (gridiron football), a position in American football *Head linesman, the American football of ...

to advance three yards downfield prior to a forward pass being thrown. Previously linemen had been restricted to blocking just one yard downfield on pass plays. The additional downfield blocking greatly assisted the

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

's ability to run after the catch. As such, the RPO became a staple of many successful college team playbooks. There were many notable critics of the RPO, including former

Alabama Crimson Tide Football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The Alabama Crimson Tide, Crimson Tide competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the Nat ...

head coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

. Critics of the RPO's adoption within college football generally argued that the rule changes that enabled the RPO had made the game unbalanced by allowing linemen to block so far downfield on passing plays, which was exacerbated by the failure of

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to properly penalize linemen who blocked too far downfield. Just prior to the 2016 college football season, the NCAA proposed to restore the pre-2009 rule, which would have had the effect of restricting the efficacy of the RPO, but declined to do so after a large number of coaches expressed their discontent with the proposed rule change. The RPO has since spread beyond college football, becoming a part of professional offenses in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. By 2018, the RPO had entered the playbooks of NFL teams including the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

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, and

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

Strategy

College football

In college football, the relatively lax definition of an illegal man downfield allows for RPOs to involve heavy downhill running plays and vertical passing attacks. The extra space downfield that linemen are allowed to advance allows more time for passing plays to develop and allows for linemen to engage with

linebackers Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

in order to support a downhill run.

NFL

In the National Football League, the use of the RPO is more restricted than in college football due to its more stringent criteria for an illegal man downfield penalty. As such, passes tend to be quick-hitting and near the line of scrimmage, and linemen are less able to engage with second-level defenders.

Examples

There are several run-pass option plays that have become commonplace, even earning adoption in the NFL. One common such RPO involves a slot receiver running a slant route run alongside an inside zone read.

References

{{American football strategy American football plays