Read option - fad or future

[KYPack]

fad. its come and gone in the past.

give it a year or two and it'll be gone again. then maybe in 8-10 years it'll come back again and we'll be having this discussion again

ck, rgIII and wilson will learn to be a pocket qb, if they don't, they'll have short careers. hell RGIII might already be done as a scrambling QB

I know, one of the main proponents of RO finds himself in the hospital getting knifed at the end of the season.

Where does everybody rank Luck in this discussion?

I think he's a QB that runs effectively, not a RO guy.

[Joemailman]

I know, one of the main proponents of RO finds himself in the hospital getting knifed at the end of the season.

Where does everybody rank Luck in this discussion?

I think he's a QB that runs effectively, not a RO guy.

Luck reminds me of Rodgers, frankly. Can use his legs to extend plays, but is looking to throw the ball.

[KYPack]

fad. its come and gone in the past.

give it a year or two and it'll be gone again. then maybe in 8-10 years it'll come back again and we'll be having this discussion again

ck, rgIII and wilson will learn to be a pocket qb, if they don't, they'll have short careers. hell RGIII might already be done as a scrambling QB

Also supply and demand. The last two seasons, the college game gave the NFL a whole herd of R/O QB's. This draft there is really only one top notch read/speed option QB on the horizon for the draft. LJ Manuel of FSU. Manuel is 6'5"ish, 240. Fast runner with decent arm, set an FSU record by completing 67% of his throws. Manuel only ran for 188 yards, but his coach admits they wanted to focus on pocket passing this season.

Most scouts think Manuel and Football Johnny (in '14) are the only two big thing r/o QB prospects on the horizon.

[rbaloha1]

The question is too black and white.

My position is the same as Jaws at espn -- it is a dimension to the offense not another west coast type offense. Running the spread option 10 - 20 per game with qb doing the best to avoid hits is the way to go.

Jim Kelly of the Eagles hired an NFL offensive coordinator which signals he probably runs elements of the Oregon offense integrated with typical NFL offenses.

IMO this is not a fad since the qbs using sprad option elements are very good throwers.

[3irty1]

I think it will be like the spread offense, the run and shoot, the no huddle. It will have its place long term in the NFL but it will be somewhere between a wrinkle and a base offense.

I agree with this. If you've got a buy who can actually pass like a starting quality conventional QB but also has wheels, why not leverage that to make him elite? The 49ers have struck about the right balance. Kaepernick can take off when a passing play breaks down and get a few big plays per game using the option wrinkle.

If I were the Titans I'd start using Jake Locker like this.

[Deputy Nutz]

Also supply and demand. The last two seasons, the college game gave the NFL a whole herd of R/O QB's. This draft there is really only one top notch read/speed option QB on the horizon for the draft. LJ Manuel of FSU. Manuel is 6'5"ish, 240. Fast runner with decent arm, set an FSU record by completing 67% of his throws. Manuel only ran for 188 yards, but his coach admits they wanted to focus on pocket passing this season.

Most scouts think Manuel and Football Johnny (in '14) are the only two big thing r/o QB prospects on the horizon.

The number one qb in the draft Geno Smith is a spread, veer read guy. Manuel was a pocket passer that just happens to be black so people think he is a runner.

[Pugger]

There is a reason most RB's are done before they're 30. Those hits add up. And most QB's are built less compactly than RB's which increases the chance those hits will cause injury. The thing is, if you have a good/great QB, you want him to play well into his 30's because they're hard to find. Fad.

Agree.

[Fritz]

One effect of this kind of QB in this kind of offense is that it effectively negates a pass rush - you don't rush a guy so much as you try to contain him so he doesn't take off on you. That gives the guy time to throw the ball, and if he's accurate enough and can see the field well enough, your defense will get torn apart. After all, our main complaint about the Packers' defense after last year was the lack of pass rush.

However, it takes a combination of running/seeing/throwing skills that it's hard to believe there'll be enough of these guys to make the whole thing go as a "direction" for everyone.

The next step is going to be for Dom Capers and other D-coordinators to figure out how to stop it. Seems to me you need nearly superhuman (very fast, very strong) linebackers with great vision to counteract the kaepernicks of the world.

[Pugger]

I'd like to see the numbers on QB hits this year...Arod was sacked how many times this year? Dude was hammered after the ball was gone a few times I'm sure.

I wonder how long it will take AR to get the same 'protection' they give P. Manning and Brady?

[pbmax]

The read option will live on as a play (or a series of plays) for a long time. Even Rodgers ran a version of it where the QB option was a pass. The idea is similar to a naked boot.

The pistol or spread offense are the offenses that might get a toehold in the NFL. The pistol is here to stay, just as Sherman had a similar idea with his shortgun. The spread offense has got to look more like Mike Leach than Urban Meyer. It has to be spread to pass as well as run. It will be interesting to see if Chip Kelly can adapt his offense with the Eagles. He is attempting to graft a West Coast pass game on to his run game.

The cost of a QB and sophistication of NFL defenses probably will keep a running QB from dominating play. But twin threats like Griffin, Wilson, Newtown and Kaepernick will still get chances to run. As long as you aren't Mike Shanahan level stupid, you can limit the number of QB run options to keep them healthy. Chris Ault, who invented the pistol, has run his offense without running QBS before. You can do traditional drop back passing out of it, just like Mike Sherman and Brett Favre.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Part of the huge success of the read option is the OL. SF and Seattle's OL are very good units. Without those OL's this style of offense doesn't work nearly as well. It's not just about the QB and his arm or running ability. If they can't handle the DL, then this offensive option gets greatly diminished. You can put Kapernick on the Packers, Bears or Lions and the read option won't work worth a damn for example. Their OLs are just not capable of controling the LOS as the scheme needs.

One of the points that was brought up about why AP had such a great year is that thanks to the successful Madden-like passing attacks of the Saints, Pats and Packers in recent years, teams have gone from bigger run stopping units to needing smaller pass-rusher types and smaller, lighter LBs to keep up with the TEs and pass catching RBs. So teams have built their defenses around the passing game. So when a team decides they are going to run the ball, and have the OL and backfield to do it, they can be very successful.

[rbaloha1]

The spread option even works with a non thrower like Tebow. The 0-line needs to be more physical and be able to sustain blocks.

Just the threat freezes the de/olb for a split second resulting in big plays.

Again it is a dimension of an offense that is here to stay.