R&D ThinkTank: The Next Evolution of Football: RPOs

I wrote about RPOs in a previous article (here) and how I feel that the next wave of change in football is going to be the use of RPOs, especially in the ever growing population of spread offenses.

So why the rise of RPOs? It's simple, really.

 Defenses have started to develop ways to take away the base run plays of these spread offenses. As an individual that has run a spread offense, you find very quickly that there are limitations in the run game out of a spread formation versus a Wing-T or Power I formation. You have 5 linemen, a running back, and a quarterback. You find that you have to be very creative with blocking schemes or start optioning someone. You are left with limited amount of plays to run and limited amount of ways to block them.

Defenses started to pick this up and have devised ways to take away your options. It can be through defensive alignments (double eagle looks) or defensive techniques (gap exchange). Their goal is to even further limit or eliminate your run game. This leads to more passing, which can lead to you being one-dimensional...which is never good usually. So offenses need to find a new wrinkle in the run game to help overcome this adaptations by the defense, which has led to development of RPOs.

So why RPOs?

You are taking 2 plays and combining them into a single play and reading the defense on which part of the hybrid play you are running. A read system that is more advanced than previous offensive plays or is being used in a new way (triple option football but with pass, instead of the pitch!). There are all kinds of ways you can mix in the run with pass, but how to know what kind of RPO is good for you?

It really depends on what your personnel is and what your philosophy is on offense. If you have an athletic QB and you are looking to run him a lot, then it gives you a triple option effect when using a RPO play. If your QB is not as mobile, but can pass well, that gives you a pass option with a run play (in a sense a double option, just with either a RB run or QB pass). People are designing RPOs based on personnel, formation choice, and how people defend them. They want an added dimension in the running game that can attack more than just the standard read keys of option football.


Triple Option RPOs

The goal of a triple option RPO is to run the standard zone read concept by have an added pass route as the third option if the QB is attacked by the force player. This is usually accomplished by tagging a bubble or hitch (smoke) screen route to zone read play. The single receiver side fade/curl has been made popular by Auburn as its' third option in a RPO. Also, a new wrinkle to this concept has come up lately is the use of an arrow route as the third option of the play. Any route can be used, it just that you are looking to read the force defender and throw the route if the force defender attacks the QB. It is a zone read run play until the QB has to pull, which almost makes it into a sprint out pass with a run/pass option based on force player. Any zone play can be run with these (IZ/MZ/OZ) or people even use gap scheme plays like power/sweep. The key is to read the E for the run read, then read the force defender for the run/pass option out wide.

Here a few examples of Triple Option RPOs:

And there is probably many more routes/options out there, but here are your basic Triple Option RPOs. You are reading the E first for the run option, then looking at the force defender (either SS or C) to determine your choice on the run/pass option once the QB gets on the edge.


Double Option RPOs

The reason the next RPOs are just double options is because you are taking the QB running option out of the equation. We are now just reading a single defender or situation, which then lead to either a run or a pass. The other difference is now the pass routes involved with the play are going downfield more. The triple option RPOs were just screen passes or passes that stay tight to the LOS. With the double option RPOs, you are looking at your quick game routes being used, like Slants, Sticks, and Fades. So instead of a zone run with a sprint out run/pass option (triple option RPOs), we have a zone run with a quick drop back pass tied in (RPOs).

This is where the Double Option RPOs get tricky because coaches use these plays in different ways.

Some coaches will teach a QB to pull and throw is a pre-snap/post-snap situation develops. It is not necessary a read of a single defender, but more the structure of the defense. If the defense gives you the run option, take the run option; if the defense gives you the pass option, take the pass option. This might be an IZ Slice play (H back or FB kicks out BS DE) tagged with a bubble. If the defense is not respecting the run, then hand it off for the run. If the defense is hugging too tight to the OL and not in position to cover the bubble, throw the bubble. That is a RPO play that really is reading a defense, not a single defender...get yourself in the best play.

The other way Double Option RPOs are run is by having the QB read a single defender and either hand off/throw based on the action of the defender. The player that probably gets read the most is BS LB in the box. The zone plays will now be blocked differently, with the BST blocking back on the DE and everyone else running standard zone blocking. This leaves the BSLB unblocked and the read key. The QB will hand off if the BSLB is just standing still or slightly dropping while the mesh is occurring. If the BSLB attacks the run, the QB will pull and throw to the pass route tagged in the RPO. As far as what run plays to use, you have to be careful here. If you use IZ, the OL will be getting up field, so you have to have the ball out quick on the pass option or you will be penalized for having OL beyond 3 yards. My personal choice would be to use an OZ or sweep play because the OL will be reaching more than driving up field. Some people also use a draw play, which again is a play where the OL will not get up field.

Here are a few examples of Double Option RPOs:

Again, there are probably many other ways of running a double option RPO, but these are the few that I have seen run. The goal with the double option is to isolate a single defender, read him, and make him wrong every time with either the run or the pass.


So does the defense have an answer for RPOs?

The answer right now seems to be running Cover 1 or 0 vs a heavy RPO team. The man coverage takes away a lot of the options available and possibly gets another guy in the box. That can be a good or bad thing for a defense. If you run zone exclusively most the year, are you comfortable changing it up and going man? Are your DBs good enough to lock up man with the offense's WRs? That is where the "chess match" comes into play in the game of football.

Here is a great video (done by Coach MacPherson of playfastfootball.blogspot.com) that does a great job of explaining the "chess match" between the RPOs and the defenses:

This is the next evolution of football...I used the term "evolution" on purpose. Offenses and Defenses are constantly adapting and changing techniques/philosophies to out compete the other...to gain an advantage. Sometimes those periods of evolution involve an old idea being infused with new concepts. Triple option ball has been around for awhile, but just now are we seeing a pass integration into the triple option philosophy.

This is why I love football so much. I love working the players and developing them into great people and leaders...but it is also the "chess match" that I love about the game. It is a demonstration of who can take the talent on their team, develop a scheme that is effective and can be implemented by your talent, and execute that scheme against someone who developed their own scheme to stop yours or score on yours. Football is a much deeper game then what people give it credit for...it shapes people's lives and brings out some of the most creative parts of our minds and puts it on display.