To Read Option, or Not

The ravens showed in the super bowl, you knock the crap out of out him when they do the option play, whether he has the ball or not. It starts to get the QB rattled, more snaps to the RB, and as we saw when the QB is rattled or hit a lot, he doesn't play up to par with some bad throws, just like Kaepernick did.I don't think this is an accurate account of the SB. Kaep passed for 302 and the team rushed for 182 yards.

Agreed. And more read option play action passes.

To stop the read option defenses will send one guy take the QB and have another defender shadow the RB for the pitch option. We saw several teams (eg. Dallas, Baltimore) try this last year. This will leave defenders out of position for pass coverage. So when defenders set themselves to defend the read option run, it will not be difficult to go over their heads.And the defender assigned to the QB is therefore (a) not playing coverage and (b) out of position to play the backside/cut-back play and (c) prone to bite on read action

The only way to truely even up the numbers against a zone read play is to replace the defender assigned to the QB, in college team usually do this by moving a S into the box and play only 1 deep FS which means (a) the team is playing man-to-man against the WRs which is a win for the offense or (b) the defense is playing some type of single post FS zone coverage, which makes it easier for the QB to read the coverages because the variety is narrowed down; especially when an offense is running up-tempo or no huddle

And the defender assigned to the QB is therefore (a) not playing coverage and (b) out of position to play the backside/cut-back play and (c) prone to bite on read action

The only way to truely even up the numbers against a zone read play is to replace the defender assigned to the QB, in college team usually do this by moving a S into the box and play only 1 deep FS which means (a) the team is playing man-to-man against the WRs which is a win for the offense or (b) the defense is playing some type of single post FS zone coverage, which makes it easier for the QB to read the coverages because the variety is narrowed down; especially when an offense is running up-tempo or no huddle

Precisely.

Once again you and I are on the same page when it comes to offensive strategy.

Precisely.

Once again you and I are on the same page when it comes to offensive strategy.

Count me in on the strategy party as well.

I may be in the minority on this, but I do not believe Shanny should abandon the read option. By the middle of the season, Griffin was so good at reading defensive ends, that when he opted to keep the ball, he always seemed to get 10+ yards untouched before either sliding or scampering out of bounds. Fact of the matter, his concussion against Atlanta and his initial LCL injury against Baltimore came when a passing play broke down, and he tried to get too much out of his legs instead of throwing the ball away or sliding earlier. It's on Griffin to get better at protecting himself in those situations.

What became clear to me is that a healthy Griffin running read option out of the pistol paralyzes even the most dominant defensive ends, forcing them to read then react. I strongly believe that if we run a normal pocket passing attack, Griffin will take more hits from the likes of JPP, Umenyiora, Trent Cole, and Demarcus Ware.

It's the safest Offense for him to run. It was clear that pass protection was a weakness, so he's more vulnerable dropping back in a traditional set than he is running zone read or running their conventional plays out of the pistol. No brainier.

When we played Seattle, they ran it on us and we couldn't stop it. The best teams in the NFC, Seattle and SF will both be running parts of this in their offense. We need to keep it in as well.

Mike Shanahan wants Robert Griffin III to protect himself better - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9075120/mike-shanahan-wants-robert-griffin-iii-protect-better)


PHOENIX -- The Washington Redskins don't know when Robert Griffin III will be ready to play again following offseason knee surgery, but whenever the quarterback does return to the field, coach Mike Shanahan would like to see him do a better job of protecting himself.

Mike Shanahan wants Robert Griffin III to take fewer big hits, such as this one by the Buccaneers' Mark Barron, next season.

"You can't take shots consistently," Shanahan said at the NFC coaches breakfast Wednesday morning at the NFL owners meetings.

Shanahan said he thinks more experience as a pocket passer and more practice throwing the ball away or sliding in situations that call for it will help Griffin improve in areas of his game he didn't have to worry about as a Heisman Trophy-winning superstar in college.

I wouldn't scrap it , but wouldn't use it as often . upgrade the OL and we can line up and run downhill , not to mention better pass protection .

IAWTP. The read option is a valulable tool, chucking it altogether would be foolhardy. Same time if its relied upon to much defenses will figure it out sooner rather than later and RG3's chances of injury will increase.

And the defender assigned to the QB is therefore (a) not playing coverage and (b) out of position to play the backside/cut-back play and (c) prone to bite on read action

The only way to truely even up the numbers against a zone read play is to replace the defender assigned to the QB, in college team usually do this by moving a S into the box and play only 1 deep FS which means (a) the team is playing man-to-man against the WRs which is a win for the offense or (b) the defense is playing some type of single post FS zone coverage, which makes it easier for the QB to read the coverages because the variety is narrowed down; especially when an offense is running up-tempo or no huddle

Teams tried to at I safety back against us in the second half of the season and III burned them. Both Robinson long balls against the Eagles and Cowboys consecutively were the result. Teams did not try it again and actually moved to two deep safety play.

We are dangerous and our offense is different than those who tried to replicate it. By that I mean better.

I agree, the knockoffs of our offense were.... well just that, knockoffs... and i seem to remember stopping seattle for almost a full half and they were lucky in the bits of success they had against us.. imo