patfanken

I am loathe to bring this topic up before we dispose of the Texans and Ravens. But with the success of Kaepernick, RGIII, and Wilson, this is going to be a growing topic. "New age QB", ""a fundamental change in the game itself". These are the things we are going to here a lot of over the next few weeks.

However I think this fascination with the "read option" is going to have the life span of the Bears 4-6 defense of 1985 (which was about 2 years), or the "Wildcat" offense. When I was coaching HS back in the 70's and 80's, everyone ran some kind of option. There was the belly option, the Houston veer, the Texas wishbone, etc etc. Read options aren't new. HIGH SCHOOLS were running them 35 years ago.

So it got me to think about how you would stop what SF did to the Packers last night. As a disclaimer I should mention, I spent about 5 minutes thinking about it, which only confirms to me that football minds infinitely wiser than me, spending a full off season, FULL TIME, tinkering with way to stop the read option, could actually do so much better.

That said, in my full 5 minutes of thinking about it the ultimate answer became crystal clear. Hit the damned QB.....EVERY time, whether he has the ball or not. I mean really drill him (legally) Its was the fundamenta;l rule of defending the option (regardless of the type) that every coach taught.

Believe me. When the first goal of every NFL franchise is to finally find a legitimate QB, you do not want to expose the 10-20MM/yr investment to 5-10 brutal hits by 260 lb well trained superior athletes every game. He isn't going to last that kind of abuse. Coming out of the mesh point the QB is virtually defenseless whether he has the ball or not.

So while THIS year, the possible threat of a Wilson or Kaepernick is real, and is compounded by their throwing abilities; I don't see the "read" option becoming a long term change to NFL football.

JMHO

ausbacker

There was a good segment on NFL Network only a little while ago where the presenters zeroed in on the Patriots defending Tim Tebow last season. From memory it was Ninkovich's role to defend Tebow and only Tebow. Every time he had the ball, it was his job to hit Tebow. It was an interesting segment and one which could easily support your opinion.

Bella*chick

Thanks for this, Ken. I wondered the same thing last night and I came to conclusion (as someone who is not a coach in the slightest) that either the QB or the RB or both needs to be hit every time. I thought about BB's 2001 SB gameplan (hit Marshall Faulk when he has the ball and when he doesn't). Then I wondered about all the flags that would be thrown in this day and age. Finally, I concluded that I don't really know what I'm talking about, so I went to bed.

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patfanken

Thanks ausie. I know BB would chide me from thinking beyond the "next game", but I know its going to be a big topic in all the talk leading up to 4:30, and its a long time before the damned game finally gets going, so I though this topic might kill some time.

DocHoliday

Yeah I brought this up in the game thread.

These read options only work cause in HS and college your QB isn't a 20 million investment and defenders don't hit as hard.

When Kaep gets rocked by Patrick Chung (flag or not) he's gonna be a step slower and all spooked.

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patsinthesnow

Idk, Kaepernick and Wilson play pretty safe in the option, running out of bounds and diving instead of fighting for extra yards. Wilson also benefits from having a RB build, 5'10 and 205 pounds, he can take some hits. Kaepernick is a big dude at 6'4 230 pounds too.

It's people like RGIII and Vick you fear running it with. Both skinny/lanky types that play crazy, never diving at all.

Wretch

I think RG3's season this year tells both sides of the story. The option is difficult to defend if you have a good athlete at the QB position but the option exposes the QB to more hits than a traditional pocket QB. The damage from those hit will accumulate over time and the QB's season and eventually career will be put in jeopardy, see Michael Vick. This is especially with the emphasis on not allowing concussed players back on the field.

Randal Cunningham was RG3 before RG3 and he had to learn how to be a better QB not just a running QB after injuries starting taking their toll. His statistically best year was 1998 after he had a major knee injury and his mobility was more limited.

Randall Cunningham NFL Football Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com

That team was pretty stacked on offense with Moss, Carter at WR and Smith at RB.

blackglass3

I remember back to Mike Vick and Vince Young (it might have happened in the 80's with people too but I don't remember back that far I was too young). Those two were supposed to be the "New" NFL QB's that could run or throw. I don't lump McNabb or Culpepper in with them because they were more passers who COULD run, but weren't known for it like Vick and Young. Anyway, what happened with each of them was their teams tried to turn them into classic passers which kind of took away the run threat, and neither of them were accurate enough to be a traditional NFL QB.

The difference now is that teams are embracing using these guys to their full advantage, and all 3 seems to be able to throw the ball really well. RGIII and Wilson are honest to God legit dual threats (Kaepernick probably also is but I haven't watched enough of him yet to know). If Shanahan tried to make RGIII the next Peyton Manning would it work? Probably not.

So, what made teams FINALLY realize that using a guys strengths is better than trying to fit a square peg into a round hole? Was it the way Tebow flourished last year in Denver, which is the first time I remember a team really embracing a QB that can run? Is it just innovative people and different mentalities over what the norm was in the NFL for so long?

Get it shawtaay

Now, it should be noted that the majority of that yardage Kaepernick chewed up last night didn't come on read-option runs. He was simply tucking and running when the defensive backs were 30 yards downfield in man coverage, and there was no semblance of containment. There were a few times even Brady could have rumbled 10 yards - and that's saying something.

randomk1

You make these bums beat you with their arm.

Currently these read option QBs are backed up by some strong running games and Ds.

I wanna see these weak sisters carry an entire team like Brady does.

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