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RPO=Offense. Offense isnt our issue . We have the GOAT .
What are these threads ??
There are a lot of bad threads lately. But I don't think this is one of them.
There's a certain "arrogance" in this thread that the offense is fine, or that we don't need to take things from college of all places. And that's fine.
But that's not how Belichick operates.
He's the GOAT (other than Super Bowl 52). And he liberally borrows from the college game. He is always visiting campuses or having college coaches visit the Patriots to talk about football and trends and new concepts that are emerging.
Imagine an NBA coach constantly asking a D-League or college coach what they think is new and effective.
The spread concept is one area the Patriots used to go from a top-10 offense consistently in the early Brady era to a top-3 offense consistently. There are elements of Chip Kelly's offense in there too, even though Brady can't run.
You also don't have to take everything or nothing. You can take the bits that work for you. Obviously Brady isn't a big threat to run, but that doesn't mean you have to throw the entire thing out. The Falcons have used RPO concepts recently too, and nobody is going to confuse Matt Ryan for Michael Vick (fortunately for the dogs of Atlanta).
We already incorporate some elements of RPO. Traditional play-action passing has the OL move back to pass block, but the Patriots almost always run block in that situation so the LBs can't figure out the play based on the OL.
But Brady is a super computer able to process what's going on with the defense. RPO usually relies on a few "keys" that the QB needs to figure out. Brady does that and more. And the offense has matured to the point that Brady can have two completely different plays based on the defense, not just toggle between a run or pass. He can alter the entire formation, or the routes will vary depending on the defense.
So I think it's somewhere in the middle. There are elements that are useful, and BB will always look for an advantage anywhere and everywhere, even the level "below" him, which some may see as ridiculous. But it's one of the reasons he continues to evolve and grow with the game, while many of the all-time greats eventually became obsolete as the game passed them by (looking at you Shula).