Is the read option being figured out or is it the QB play?

[SPTO]

This season has seen a lot of the read option heavy teams having problems and none of those teams seem very consistent at all. The only read option heavy teams that are having reasonable success are Philly and Seattle and in the case of the latter they're more predicated on the play of its defense and hardnosed running of Lynch.

We've seen Kaepernick's play being erratic, RGIII resisting even running the offense, Dalton looked pretty damn good early on but the Bengals have been exposed as a paper tiger, The Panthers haven't done too much (save for today) with a lot of people questioning Cam Newton's ability and the Dolphins have been inconsistent offensively.

Is this all a function of bad QB play or are teams figuring out how to attack the read option? I think it may be a little bit of both as we've seen defenses mixing up their coverages and while no one really plays with a traditional spy technique you do see teams putting more emphasis on keeping the QB in the pocket. On the other hand the QBs that are running these offenses have on more than one occasion made incredibly bad reads in the midst of the play and sometimes even before the snap.

I do think we're seeing a renaissance of a more traditional style offense coming back into play. All the top teams in the league keep the read option principles to a minimum and while the more college style bubble screens have been predominant they're not really THE main scheme except for maybe in Denver. While we'll never return to a truly traditional scheme in formation packages again we are starting to see teams going back to a style that mimics said principles especially in KC, Arizona and NE. (though I think NE owes a lot of its success to cribbing off of the Air Coryell philosophy)

It will be interesting to see what happens over the course of the next few years because the read option is so prevalent in college which has produced a crop of QBs who can move around with their feet and make quick decisions but at the same time all that movement sometimes robs them of the critical thinking you need before you pull the trigger on a pass.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Give teams 7-8 months and I'd be surprised if teams didn't figure out a way to at least minimize its impact. I won't say "stop" since the NFL today is geared toward even having average Offenses still have some sort of success to a degree. So to answer your question I think it is being figured out.

It's funny because when we had the Wildcat Phase going on a few years back, people thought that was hear to stay and that teams would have difficulty planning against that and 2 years later, it's been completely phased out of NFL Offenses. I won't say the read option is heading towards that route but teams are going to start becoming more prepared for it, if they already aren't by now.

Unless your name is Green Bay.

[Steven78]

I think the rule that you can hit the Qb kind of phased it out.

[LowerWolf]

Hard to say. Seems like most teams are trying to force mobile QBs into being pocket passers.

We barely run read-option with Kap.

[Steven78]

Or more like the clarification that yes, you can indeed hit the qb even if he doesn't have the ball.

[superjames1992]

Quote: Originally Posted by SPTO

This season has seen a lot of the read option heavy teams having problems and none of those teams seem very consistent at all. The only read option heavy teams that are having reasonable success are Philly and Seattle and in the case of the latter they're more predicated on the play of its defense and hardnosed running of Lynch. We've seen Kaepernick's play being erratic, RGIII resisting even running the offense, Dalton looked pretty damn good early on but the Bengals have been exposed as a paper tiger, The Panthers haven't done too much (save for today) with a lot of people questioning Cam Newton's ability and the Dolphins have been inconsistent offensively. Is this all a function of bad QB play or are teams figuring out how to attack the read option? I think it may be a little bit of both as we've seen defenses mixing up their coverages and while no one really plays with a traditional spy technique you do see teams putting more emphasis on keeping the QB in the pocket. On the other hand the QBs that are running these offenses have on more than one occasion made incredibly bad reads in the midst of the play and sometimes even before the snap. I do think we're seeing a renaissance of a more traditional style offense coming back into play. All the top teams in the league keep the read option principles to a minimum and while the more college style bubble screens have been predominant they're not really THE main scheme except for maybe in Denver. While we'll never return to a truly traditional scheme in formation packages again we are starting to see teams going back to a style that mimics said principles especially in KC, Arizona and NE. (though I think NE owes a lot of its success to cribbing off of the Air Coryell philosophy) It will be interesting to see what happens over the course of the next few years because the read option is so prevalent in college which has produced a crop of QBs who can move around with their feet and make quick decisions but at the same time all that movement sometimes robs them of the critical thinking you need before you pull the trigger on a pass.

Here's a relevant article by Peter King:

http://mmqb.si.com/2014/12/03/quarte...et-draft-2015/

[djp73]

the read option is easy to defend for disciplined defenses

[dsallupinyaarea]

Teams use it just as much this year and it's only slightly less effective. It's just the poster child for it (RG3) stinks so the narrative is it's "solved". Barnwell wrote about it

here: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/we...iate-football/


and

here: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/we...lts-cardinals/

Quote:

Many of San Francisco’s problems have not been obvious; they’ve stretched across places like the offensive line and special teams, where easy narratives fear to tread. Instead, the criticisms have come in for Kaepernick, Harbaugh, and their shared connection. Some have suggested that the read-option is a problem, that people have figured out all the tricks the 49ers have to offer — comparing Kaepernick to the failing dictatorship of Robert Griffin. That’s just a false construct. The read-option is still doing just fine for teams with better offensive lines and more effective quarterbacks. Hell, you don’t even need that; Blake Bortles was awful virtually all game against the Giants last week and set up the game-winning field goal with two keeps on the zone-read. Russell Wilson and Ryan Tannehill and the Eagles offense are all doing fine. Andy Dalton has run for a pair of read-option touchdowns the past two weeks. Cam Newton looked great yesterday, even at far less than 100 percent. It seems silly to point to Griffin’s obvious physical struggles and try to use that as proof that it’s a tactic on its last legs. Should the NFL stop drafting tall quarterbacks because Zach Mettenberger and Mike Glennon were both bad this year?