The following post is an excerpt from a comprehensive breakdown of RGIII’s Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign. Click here to read the entire article at the Orange and Brown Report.
Later in the season, the Redskins took the Inside Zone concept one step further, using three skill players in the backfield to run triple option out of a ‘Full House’ formation. While triple option has many moving parts, the play is very simple when broken down into components. Think of it as Inside Zone AND Speed Option in the same play. The quarterback has two reads to make:
- The initial inside zone give/pull read on the EMLOS
- A keep/pitch read on the alley defender if the quarterback pulls the ball
Griffin starts the play by reading the right defensive end (#72). When the defender pinches inside to play the run RGIII, will pull the ball and move on to the next phase of the play, the speed option. Generally, the read man on the speed option will be the WILL (#59) in this spot, however because the H-Back (#35) is executing an arc block the read should be the right cornerback (#20). By reading two defenders the offense has again created a numbers advantage at the point of attack.
If the speed option read man attacks Griffen he will pitch the ball to the tailback running fly motion on his outside shoulder. If the read man widens with the fly motion, Griffin will turn upfield through the alley with only a safety to beat.
The left defensive end pinches inside, likely playing the backside scrape exchange game we saw in the previous example.
RGIII correctly pulls the ball and enters the option phase of the play, moving his eyes upfield to the cornerback. Because the second read man has widened with the tailback’s fly motion, Griffin turns the ball upfield for a first down.
