Half Back Pass Option Play

[LeonardRachiele]

There are various offbeat plays that teams have used over the last 40 years-the end around with a possible pass, the shot gun, and the wildcat.  The first different type play was the running back option pass.  Here the quarterback pitches or hands off to someone in the backfield.   If the play develops, the runner throws a pass; if not he runs trying to pick up yardage.   There were five halfbacks who originally ran the option play.

Dan Reeves for the Dallas Cowboys;  Completed 14 of 32 passes for 370 yards and two touchdowns;  his best season was 1967  when he passed for 195 yards and two touchdowns;  no one will ever forget his 50 yard touchdown pass to Lance Rentzal in the 1967 Ice Bowl.

Dick Hoak for the Pittsburgh Steelers;  Played both quarterback and running back at Penn State; as a pro completed  20 passes of 40 passes for 429 yards and four touchdowns; Hoak's best season was 1968, passing for 188 yards.

John David Crow for the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers;  Crow completed 33 of 70 passes for 759 yards and five touchdowns;  best season was 1960 when Crow passed for 247 yards and two touchdowns.

Paul Hornung for the Green Bay Packers; played both quarterback and running back at Notre Dame; as a pro completed 24 of 55 passes for 383 yards and five touchdowns; best season was 1960 throwing for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Tom Tracy mainly for the Pittsburgh Steelers; completed 24 of 67 passes for 854 yards and six touchdowns;  best season was 1960 passing for 322 yards and four touchdowns

[rhickok1109]

Lombardi pointed out (probably in Run to Daylight) that the halfback pass option was a T-formation version of the single-wing tailback option, just as the power sweep was a T-formation version of the single-wing cutback.

[RichardBak]

One glaring omission is Frank Gifford, who tossed 14 TD passes off the option, but there are others. Such as Bob "Hunchy" Hoernschemeyer, whose 11 completed passes on the option (incl. postseason) resulted in 10 TDs. Not a bad percentage.

[Bob Gill]

One glaring omission is Frank Gifford, who tossed 14 TD passes off the option, but there are others. Such as Bob "Hunchy" Hoernschemeyer, whose 11 completed passes on the option (incl. postseason) resulted in 10 TDs. Not a bad percentage.

Crow and Tracy each did have a couple of high-volume passing seasons, and deserve to be mentioned, but Gifford and Hoernschemeyer are my two favorites. Hunchy for the TD record you cited, and Gifford because his passer rating (for his career) is a point or two higher than Joe Montana's. I've always thought that's pretty neat.

[RichardBak]

One glaring omission is Frank Gifford, who tossed 14 TD passes off the option, but there are others. Such as Bob "Hunchy" Hoernschemeyer, whose 11 completed passes on the option (incl. postseason) resulted in 10 TDs. Not a bad percentage.

Crow and Tracy each did have a couple of high-volume passing seasons, and deserve to be mentioned, but Gifford and Hoernschemeyer are my two favorites. Hunchy for the TD record you cited, and Gifford because his passer rating (for his career) is a point or two higher than Joe Montana's. I've always thought that's pretty neat.

You know, I've wondered about some of those numbers Crow and Tracy piled up. I always viewed the HB option as more or less a "surprise" play, but if you look at their game logs you'll see where they sometimes threw 3 or 4 passes in a game. You'd think a defense would get wise after the first or second attempt.

[rhickok1109]

One glaring omission is Frank Gifford, who tossed 14 TD passes off the option, but there are others. Such as Bob "Hunchy" Hoernschemeyer, whose 11 completed passes on the option (incl. postseason) resulted in 10 TDs. Not a bad percentage.

Crow and Tracy each did have a couple of high-volume passing seasons, and deserve to be mentioned, but Gifford and Hoernschemeyer are my two favorites. Hunchy for the TD record you cited, and Gifford because his passer rating (for his career) is a point or two higher than Joe Montana's. I've always thought that's pretty neat.

You know, I've wondered about some of those numbers Crow and Tracy piled up. I always viewed the HB option as more or less a "surprise" play, but if you look at their game logs you'll see where they sometimes threw 3 or 4 passes in a game. You'd think a defense would get wise after the first or second attempt.

It was called an option for a reason. If the defense played pass, it gave the halfback a lot of room to run.

[RRMarshall]

Andy Johnson of the NE Patriots deserves a mention. The former Georgia QB excelled at the halfback option, completing 7 of 13 for 4 TDs (all of them coming in 1981) in the regular season. He also had one in the postseason, a TD throw against the Houston Oilers in the 1978 Divisional Playoff Game. He passed in 2018, and was one of the kindest men to play in the NFL.

[Brian wolf]

Walter Payton did a good job on the option pass as well and was the most versatile RB I have ever seen, slightly over Marcus Allen. The best running backs do everything well but I will try to keep up with Leonard and put out a post about who the best one-dimensional back might be, who only did one thing particularly well, whether running, catching, blocking or throwing. Might be interesting ...