Playbooks
Power Option out of the Wishbone Tight formation in 32 personnel is a true option run play built off a power blocking scheme with the fullback and a trailing halfback stacked behind the quarterback. The QB reads the play side edge defender and either hands off to the FB running power behind the pulling guard or pitches to the trailing HB on the option path if that edge defender crashes down. This is a run play designed to beat gap-fill defenses and light boxes, with the primary read progression being dive key first (edge defender squeezing inside) then pitch key on the option if he stays home.
Watch the play side defensive end or outside linebacker before the snap to see if he is aligned wide to take away the pitch or tight to take away the dive. Post snap, track whether that same edge defender crashes hard inside on the fullback, which tells the user or CPU quarterback logic to pull and pitch to the trailing halfback. Look for a user-controlled linebacker spying the mesh point since a good spy defender can blow up both the dive and the pitch read simultaneously. This play struggles against fast flow linebackers who fill downhill immediately and against defensive ends that stay square and play both options rather than committing early. Overloaded blitz packages sending extra defenders off the edge shut this down quickly since it removes the numbers advantage the option is designed to create.
Check the box count before the snap and only call this against six or fewer defenders in the box since the extra gap created by the option adds a numbers advantage you need to exploit. Identify if the defense is playing a hard read technique with the edge defender crashing every snap, and if so, be ready to pull the ball immediately and get to the pitch phase. Use manual motion or a shift pre-snap to get a free release on the play side receiver and bait the defense into showing their run fit. Pair this with FB Trap and HB Lead from the same set so the defense cannot key on the fullback dive versus the option pitch, keeping linebackers honest on their run fits. Save this for early down situations like first and ten or second and short where defenses are more likely to sit in base fronts instead of nickel or dime packages that speed up the edge.