Wilson and the read option theory.

I was listening to local radio today and a caller asked why this was missing so much lately. The host said he feels that Wilson has lost explosion and injuries have started to hamper him. The opponent's no longer worry about the read option anymore.

I do think Wilson has lost a step but I also think defenses know how to contain it as well.


Thoughts?

I think it has more to do with defenses learning to counter it. Face it, the RO is a bit of a gimmick out of the college footbally playbook. Like most of those, it works for a while but defenses learn to counter it in the NFL, where you see the same teams all the time and the game film is much more available.

Any more, much like most option plays, it will work if used sparingly and you catch the D off guard, but as a staple of the offense, it won't get you far.

Wilson is fine, IMHO.

They commit a LB or the DE to line up a bit wider and do a check down now, it's not just Wilson across the league it kind of has been put back in the bag, also QB injuries were beginning to occur.

I just watched TN score on a 57 yard RO

I saw the same last week

It slows down the defense and makes them honest. We don't have the running threat to make it believable

last time i checked u still need blocking when running the read-option

mikeak":3609bc5r said:

I just watched TN score on a 57 yard RO

I saw the same last week

Click to expand...

tennessee has a great oline, and 2 good backs in henry and murray to keep a defense honest

^ Did you read my last sentence?

Selectively quoting me and removing the conclusion so you can draw it is an interesting approach

In my opinion he hasn't done it enough this season.

I think to really sell it you need a good running back threat. Marshawn was a threat because you know if he gets it he will at least make you earn that tackle. I've seen too many of our RBs getting hit in the backfield before reaching the LOS. Teams are crashing in no matter, it makes the read option difficult. The RB and QB would have to be really in sync with each other or else there would be fumbling issues.

The read option is dead. DC's just tell their defensive players to blow up the mesh point and the refs have shown they will not throw flags if you blow up a read option QB.

mikeak":25mra9s1 said:

so you can draw

Click to expand...

Yeah, I can draw. But what does that have to do with anything? We're talking about the read option.

Nm

IMHO, it just seems like saying RO is dead is like saying play action is dead and "teams have figured it out." RO allows for two extra features, culminating four possibilities, play action only has two. With the RO you have run, fake RB run then pass, QB run, QB fake run to a pass. How is this figured out while play action in the NFL is either run or pass and is still well accepted in the NFL community?

Let's be honest, the RO died in Seattle with RW when he signed his new contract even though he seems to be in more danger of injuries playing like a pocket type QB.

seahawkfreak":bfq4zce5 said:

IMHO, it just seems like saying RO is dead is like saying play action is dead and "teams have figured it out." RO allows for two extra features, culminating four possibilities, play action only has two. With the RO you have run, fake RB run then pass, QB run, QB fake run to a pass. How is this figured out while play action in the NFL is either run or pass and is still well accepted in the NFL community?

Let's be honest, the RO died in Seattle with RW when he signed his new contract even though he seems to be in more danger of injuries playing like a pocket type QB.

Click to expand...

If that was true then Nebraska would be known as the NFL's all-time QB school. The mesh point in a read option has the QB and running back standing in one place longer then they would in a play-action setting. So the DC just tells their players to blow up the mesh point. In 2012 defenders would not blow up the mesh point because they did not want to get roughing the passer penalties. After the 2012 season, they got the green light that a RO QB was considered a runner so defenders just go after them like that. See all the times Cam Newton has cried about getting blasted by defenders.

newton getting blasted without consequence to the defenders makes sense in light of that argument. on the one hand, newton is a big star, but on the other, he gets hit early and often, and very few flags are ever thrown. if the nfl approved of newton's style of play, cam would get more favorable calls.... imo... ymmv...

sdog1981":nkzg5kku said:

seahawkfreak":nkzg5kku said:

IMHO, it just seems like saying RO is dead is like saying play action is dead and "teams have figured it out." RO allows for two extra features, culminating four possibilities, play action only has two. With the RO you have run, fake RB run then pass, QB run, QB fake run to a pass. How is this figured out while play action in the NFL is either run or pass and is still well accepted in the NFL community?

Let's be honest, the RO died in Seattle with RW when he signed his new contract even though he seems to be in more danger of injuries playing like a pocket type QB.

Click to expand...

If that was true then Nebraska would be known as the NFL's all-time QB school. The mesh point in a read option has the QB and running back standing in one place longer then they would in a play-action setting. So the DC just tells their players to blow up the mesh point. In 2012 defenders would not blow up the mesh point because they did not want to get roughing the passer penalties. After the 2012 season, they got the green light that a RO QB was considered a runner so defenders just go after them like that. See all the times Cam Newton has cried about getting blasted by defenders.

Click to expand...

Not that Nebraska ran the read option (shot gun ride option if you like) per se if you are talking about pre 2000 Nebraska but your overall point is well taken. I still think that RW signing a 20 million dollar a year contract was significant in the decision to axe the RO though.

Do you guys watch other games besides Seahawks?

The RO may not be the go-to play throughout games but it is most certainly part of today's NFL. I posted a thread several weeks ago about how back to back plays on the redzone channel were RO plays for TDs. It happened again today as noted above.

So if you want to argue that you can't build your offense around it - fine. But you cannot argue that the play cannot be used as PART of an NFL playbook because you are proven wrong every single weekend.

Well as stated you need a second threat to really make a defense respect it, Lacy is not going to scare people, we seen a few plays with Carson in the back field.

It changed way back when the league decided not to protect duel threat QBs the same as they do pocket passing statues. Defenses are allowed to T off on a QB running the read option whether the QB keeps the ball or hands it off just because of the threat that he might be a runner. I recall Harbaugh testing this out and assigning Bowman to crush Wilson every time we ran RO. After that the fake component was taken out of play and defenses now know who the ball carrier is.

The straight read option isn't dead, it's just not used nearly as much anymore for four reasons:

(1) Like the wildcat before it (which is just a read option with the QB safely at the edge), defenses got better at the scrape exchange, so although still effective it's not as effective as it used to be.

(2) For many teams the read option has been replaced by the RPO, which keeps the quarterback safe while having the same overall effect of putting a defender in conflict.

(3) All the teams that were running it a lot are now paying their QBs in excess of 15 million a year, and they're less apt to do so particularly given #1.

(4) It has gone from being a "tester" play (you run it to see how the DE will react) to being something you only pull out after you already have it confirmed that that the DE is crashing too hard on inside zone and the LB isn't taking the scrape assignment. As a result, rather than using it to set things up, it now gets used once or twice in a game because it has BEEN set up (see: Washington's use of it on Kirk Cousin's rushing TD this weekend only after they had it confirmed that Soloman Thomas was crashing crazily hard on the inside zone).

RO is a lot more effective when the handoff option is Marshawn Lynch.

When your rushing attack is so impotent that it only takes 4-5 committed defenders to stop it, the RO is useless.

This leaves two defenders free. They can use an end, linebacker, or safety to seal the edge and another to close the C gap. As long as these guys let the play come to them, and don't overpursue, it won't matter where the ball goes.

The RO works well when you have a dominant rushing attack and the defense has to stack the box, and focus on the runner, leaving only one defender free to cover the C gap and seal the edge. It can also work when you have a defense that doesn't play disciplined, and overpursues the play. If you can draw the C gap guy into the backfield, it reopens the gap for an attack. A defense can attack the mesh point, but it's risky. Better to let the play develop and attack after the decision is made.

RO can also work if you don't have a "running QB" and you can sucker the defense into ignoring the QB, but you can't do that very often anymore.

Defenses are getting better at playing disciplined against the RO. Maintain gap control, let the play come to you. Patience is the key to shutting it down.