also: orbit · loop motion
A back looping around behind the quarterback rather than crossing flat in front of him. The curved path is what distinguishes it and what makes it slower and later than jet.
A back or receiver moves on a curved path that takes him behind the quarterback rather than flat across in front of him. Where jet motion arrives at the line of scrimmage at speed, orbit arrives in the backfield with depth, which makes it later and less immediately threatening as a run.
What it buys instead is availability. A player arriving with depth behind the quarterback can still take a handoff, become a pitch man, run a route into the flat, or block, and the defense has to keep all of those live longer. It is a slower question that stays a question for more of the play.
orbitjet motion and jet sweep, return motion