To defend the Option play we must decide how to use our Defensive End. I’m going to focus more on the currently very popular shotgun triple, although the principles work the same against any Option style offense.

The Defensive End can commit to playing the dive, commit to playing the Quarterback, or he can use a “feather” sort of technique to give the illusion of playing the pitch to the Quarterback. It is important to understand that the Defensive End is the read (at least, in the style of option we’re working with) and can therefore dictate to the offense who is going to get the ball. You’ll discover that being able to force the offense to put the ball in the hands of a lesser athlete can be a huge help in any situation. The option can be a bear to defend, but it can be really fun to prepare for the chess match at hand.

If you want to keep the ball out of the hands of the running back, then your defensive end will need to crash hard. He needs to get his shoulders turned and sprint down the line of scrimmage. In this way, he is taking away the cutback on the Zone Option, no matter how slow he is, and with a quicker defensive end should be able to tackle the Tailback on a zone run. To defend the option against a team with a great running back, you’ll want to crash that Defensive End hard. You need to assign a second-level defender to handle the Quarterback, as well. If everyone attacks the dive, even the slowest Quarterback will tuck it and run for good yardage.

The next option is to attack the Quarterback immediately. By coming up-field and attacking the Quarterback, you are keeping the ball out of his hands. If you want to force the Tailback to beat you, this is the way to handle the option. In this case, your second-level defender needs to play the cut-back. A team who runs the inside zone poorly may be most affected by taking the “Option” out of the offense and turning this into a simple Inside Zone. In addition, you should be able to take some shots on the Quarterback in this manner.

Finally, you may use a feather technique to confuse the read of the Quarterback. By keeping the shoulders square, you will probably get a give read on the option. However, if you squeeze down with shoulders square, and keep eyes on the Quarterback, he may have trouble deciding what to do. Now as the Quarterback keeps the ball, slide with him and stay outside of the quarterback. Ideally, with an athletic defensive end, we can split between the pitch back and the Quarterback. Stay in a position at the line of scrimmage in which you can break back in on the Quarterback or break out on the pitch – though you probably want to favor the Quarterback more heavily. By not committing to the Quarterback up field, the option read is being slowed down. The Quarterback is unsure of your defensive end’s responsibility, and your other players are being given time to defeat their blocks and get to their responsibilities. Also, the secondary read for the Quarterback is being given time to get to the pitch man, so that if the Quarterback makes the wrong decision off of his primary read (the End), he may pitch it right to your guy! All of this sounds great, but it is a tough technique to teach. If you’re only playing one option team this season, you may not have the time to teach this technique. If you’re going to be seeing multiple, quality Option offenses, you might want to learn more about this technique.

Play the chess game with the offense, and find a way to put the “offensive advantage” of the Option Offense back into your hands by using your Defensive Ends effectively. Good luck!