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Quick Reference
Not in any team playbook.
Breakdown
Read Option out of Pistol Full House Pro is a true zone read run play with the QB reading the backside end while the HB and QB mesh in the backfield. The offensive line blocks zone to the play side with the TE sealing the edge, and the FB and second RB stay in the backfield to provide additional lead blocking or lead protection on the give or keep. This is a run play designed to attack gap fills and force the defensive end to declare, with the primary read being the backside DE: crash inside and the QB pulls it outside, stay wide and the QB hands off to the HB into the vacated inside lane.
Defensive Reads
Watch the backside DE alignment and first step, if he stays disciplined and stays home this play is dead on the keep and the offense should already be conditioned to give. Key the play side linebacker depth, a linebacker sitting shallow in the box signals a quick fill on the dive read and forces the QB to pull more often. Look for user-controlled defensive ends spying the QB, this is the number one counter to Read Option and shuts down the keep entirely. Check safety rotation pre-snap, a single high safety cheating toward the play side often means an extra run fitter is on the way and the box will be crowded. Watch for a scrape exchange from the linebacker level, if the backside linebacker replaces the DE on the edge while the end crashes down, both the give and keep reads can be taken away simultaneously.
Usage Tips
Check the box count pre-snap and only run Read Option into light boxes with six or fewer defenders in the tackle box.
Identify the backside DE alignment before the snap, a wide 9-technique end is an easy give read while a crashing 4i is your keep read.
Use the FB and second RB as extra gap blockers to counter overload blitzes off the edge, and consider sliding protection if you see a nano blitz look pre-snap.
Pair this with HB Dive Wk out of the same set to keep the defense honest on interior gap reads, then hit them with PA Boot Rt off similar backfield action once they start crashing hard on the mesh point.
Save this call for early down and manageable distance situations where defenses are more likely to sit in base fronts rather than sub packages built to stop the QB run.
