I don't think I've ever read a succinct explanation of what makes an option offense viable, so here it is in a word: mismatches. By option offense, I mean a system geared around option plays of the type where a player (usually a quarterback) with the ball, usually while "sliding" down the line of scrimmage, makes a choice to either keep the ball or hand or pitch it to another back. Most offenses pit speed against speed and strength against strength. The strongest players, in the line, block their counterparts in the defensive line and linebackers. The fastest players attempt to beat their opponents by using speed running with the ball from the backfield or going out for forward passes. A team that matches up player for player (at least on part of the field, say) can be effective beating the opposition straight up that way. The option, by contrast, creates mismatches, pitting speed against strength and strength against speed. The offensive line sacrifices blocking against some players of the defensive front, and are released for duty downfield. Meanwhile the backs use their options and their speed against the unblocked linemen and linebackers to produce 3-on-2 or 2-on-1 situations, or otherwise just beat the heavies. Meanwhile the offensive linemen who are freed at the line of scrimmage by the blocking scheme knock off players in the defensive secondary. In most offenses, the speed of the defensive backs allows them to beat such downfield blocks. However, the option action in the backfield leaves safeties and corners off balance, freezing them long enough for the linemen to wipe them out. When a big lineman can make good contact on a DB the block is usually very effective, not just a brush -- which helps when the rules forbid blocking below the waist downfield. So option schemes may make give a team that's overmatched at all positions a chance to make hay on offense, although they're not necessarily the best choice for a physically superior team, or a team with a few offensive stars who are hard to cover. Robert Goodman, April 2000