The quarterback read for best decision on giving the ball or keeping the ball in a one back gun option attack will be explained in the following illustrations. Remember, the quarterback is reading the end for give or keep read but, the decision to put this into an option read play is because of
the outside invert. With this scenario there is no invert so the gun option read is on.
With the situation below and the outside invert located outside of the EMLOS the quarterback would make the decision to give the ball and you would probably not want to read this particular run play. The key to keep it as a read option play would be to bring another receiver over to block the outside invert. Thus, taking the quarterback player out of the game.
With this scenario from a Doubles set the outside invert is now occupied by the 4 Back. Thus, the quarterback can keep this as an option read play
.
Cowboy the Pitchman from a Slot Formation
The Cowboy technique has the pitchman taking one step forward with his outside foot and then a 45 degree angle step with his inside foot to work into the proper pitch relationship.
When aligning in a formation that gives you a slot to either side you can audible into best play depending upon the read by the quarterback thus, either slot could possible cowboy into a pitchman our into the convoy screen.
Cowboy the Pitchman
About the Author of this post:
Jerry Campbell has over 30 years of high school and college coaching experience. He has experience as a head coach, offensive coordinator, and various position coaches. He has written numerous football coaching articles in various publications, is the author of over 30 books on coaching football, and has produced 12 coaching video series. Additionally, he is a nationally sought after speaker on the coaching clinic circuit.