What is a wildcat formation?

The wildcat formation is a variation on the typical player alignment of American football where the ball is snapped to a skilled position player instead of the quarterback. In some formations, the quarterback is substituted for an additional receiver or running back.

The wildcat offense is designed to give an advantage to the attacking team through confusion and forced mismatches. Defenses have difficulty adapting to the unpredictable nature of the formation. Originating from the high school level of the sport, the wildcat has slowly moved into the college and professional ranks. The greatest limitation of this strategy is the rarity of players capable of performing in such an offense.