Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

[BillsImpossible]

RG3, injured.

EJ Manuel, injured too...thankfully not as bad as Griffin was/is.

QB matters most in the NFL. Coaches that know better are telling their QB's to rely upon their arms instead of their legs.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000251037/article/kyle-shanahan-readoption-plays-no-longer-easy

Read Option Plays No Longer 'Easy'

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Defensive coordinators all over the National Football League spent the entire off-season devising schemes and plans to shutdown the read option.

[BillsFever21]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

It's definitely in a decreased role. Defensive Coordinators didn't know how to defend it this year. Now you have very few QB's getting much rushing yardage this year. They are still running the read option but the QB's aren't taking off and running very much. Outside of Wilson and Pryor the QB's haven't rushed for many yards.

Manuel doesn't have blazing speed as it is. I don't even see why they are running the option with him. He has the ability to take off and run when it's needed but he isn't a great runner with great speed to use in that role. He needs to be a QB that can run and not a running QB.

The read option has been useless with Manuel at the helm because he doesn't have the speed that Kapernick, RJ3 and other QB's have. It only has a chance to work if the defense needs to worry about the QB breaking one for 50 yards. This isn't the case with Manuel.

[Homegrown]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

It's definitely in a decreased role. Defensive Coordinators didn't know how to defend it this year. Now you have very few QB's getting much rushing yardage this year.

Aren't those statements contradictory? ...

[Mace]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

Trends need even themselves out. It will always be a viable sub package but knees just don't hold up well in it. Wildcat also, or hurry up offense. Stuff looks great in theory until it meets large powerful defenders in organized schemes who run really fast and run into you very forcefully, over and over until something breaks. And it will be a knee.

One day it will trend to fullback QB's who can at best throw 5 yards with the wind. They will get injured knees as well.

[BillsFever21]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

Aren't those statements contradictory? ...

Sorry was a typo. I meant they didn't know how to defend it last year.

Last year you had QB's running wild. This year it few and far between. The biggest one's from last year like Kapernick and RG3 are barely running at all and Kapernick wasn't even injured.

[Mace]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

Sorry was a typo. I meant they didn't know how to defend it last year.

Last year you had QB's running wild. This year it few and far between. The biggest one's from last year like Kapernick and RG3 are barely running at all and Kapernick wasn't even injured.

Knees.

[better days]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

Damn, I didn't realize Hoyer was a read option QB.

[Mouldsie]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

I liked Warren Sapp's quote last year when RO was making headlines saying it wouldn't last long, something to the effect of "The fastest evolving thing in the world is the NFL defense" or "the fastest evolving organism is an NFL defensive coordinator." He was right.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

Er, what? Has anyone watched an Eagles game? They are #1 in the NFL in rushing, a full yard/carry ahead of the #2 running the option-heaviest attack the NFL has seen in decades.

[GingerP]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

Er, what? Has anyone watched an Eagles game? They are #1 in the NFL in rushing, a full yard/carry ahead of the #2 running the option-heaviest attack the NFL has seen in decades.

Their QB is already injured and there is no saying he lasts the year, which underscores the points. It has only been 5 games, let's see how it plays out over the course of the season. Kelly is a smart coach, and he likely will have to scale back the read-option stuff to keep his guys healthy. He is going to burn out McCoy, who is on pace for 350+ touches and doesn't have the frame for that workload.

Also, the Eagles also have been a pretty good rushing team for years, so they have the personnel. They dropped to 13th last year with injuries, but were 5th in rushing in the NFL in 2010 & 2011. With Shady McCoy they would be a pretty good rushing team no matter what system they ran.

In the end, there is a place for read-option in the NFL, but I doubt teams will run it all the time. It just exposes QBs to too many hits, and read-option teams are already scaling back the runs and throwing more. In college you can get away with that, since the rosters are deeper. In the NFL, you have to protect your QB, because defenses are going to take their shots.

[The Popcorn]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

It's just a fad. When a QB gets blasted with a career-ending injury, it'll be off to the boneyard with the Wishbone.

[TigerJ]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

I think the read option has a little more staying power than the wildcat. QBs that take off and run can't get too greedy though. Manuel needs to remember he's not Superman and slide when he gets a first down and the defensive player is bearing down on him. It's fighting for the extra yards that raises the injury risk to levels we don't want to see.

[JoeMama]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

The read option is a stupid gimmick. It will fizzle out just like the wildcat.

Pocket passers are still king in the NFL and I doubt that changes anytime soon.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

So, how does everyone feel about it now? Thad Lewis ran the crap out of the wildcat this afternoon, and it made a practice squaddie in his second start ever into a viable threat against a Top 10 defense.

It's much easier to run than it is to defend, so it's always going to have a place in the league.

[JoeMama]

Re: Is The Read Option Going The Way of The Wildcat?

So, how does everyone feel about it now? Thad Lewis ran the crap out of the wildcat this afternoon, and it made a practice squaddie in his second start ever into a viable threat against a Top 10 defense.

It's much easier to run than it is to defend, so it's always going to have a place in the league.

Yeah the wildcat was so awesome we lost by 3 instead of 10.

Woo! Wildcat!

Shows us.