Scrambling QB fad is over.

[Tacoma_canuck]

This is pretty dumb. maybe it's youth or a lack of understanding the term but "scrambling" QB's have been around forever. Steve Young did pretty well and people forget that Montana was considered a scrambler early on. Elway ran the ball a fair amount when he was younger. Fran Tarkenton ran all over the place and although he didn't win the big one, he had a lot of success. The "read-option" may stay or fade away but only time will tell. It's way too early to call it a failure. If a team has talented enough players, it works.

 

[MilkSpiller22]

This is pretty dumb. maybe it's youth or a lack of understanding the term but "scrambling" QB's have been around forever. Steve Young did pretty well and people forget that Montana was considered a scrambler early on. Elway ran the ball a fair amount when he was younger. Fran Tarkenton ran all over the place and although he didn't win the big one, he had a lot of success. The "read-option" may stay or fade away but only time will tell. It's way too early to call it a failure. If a team has talented enough players, it works.

Agreed, the wildcat is now faded away, but it was unstoppable when miami used it... they had the players to use it with ricky williams and Ronnie brown... but it has failed for most other teams and now rarely used... But if you have the right players for a formation or philosophy then you will find success... The eagles have the players for this chip kelly offense, and so far there offense has been amazing, unfortunately their defense sucks and will need to compensate...

 

[JDM]

The wildcat didn't fade out because no one else had the players. It faded out because there was no legitimate passing threat to concern yourself with, and the was broadcasted before the play.

 

[jdwills126]

There is always room for an athlete.

NFL scouts are licking their lips over TB, Boyd and Manziel just to name a few. There will never be a shortage of running QB's inbound to the pro's and there will always be a NFL team looking to upgrade thier old model for a new shiny one.

I think a better way to phrase it is the read option is going to be a fad. The athletic QB like Manziel, RG3, and Cam Newton will always be an attractive option. But finding the athletic QB that is a QB first will be tough. The road is littered with the Akali Smith's of the NFL.

And lets be honest the jury is still out on a lot of these young guys that have had one good year. Some will make it and more will fail.

The NFL is just to violent a sport for a QB to be a running threat all the time IMO.

 

[boltfan72]

It was not always fluid. There were dropped balls and silly penalties.

BUt, it seems a bit of a stretch to say "slowed down".

The Eagles did put up 550 yards and scored 30 points in only 19 minutes of possession.

They scored at will when they actually had the ball....which was rarely...

Their problems are from a bad defense. The Chargers simply never stopped getting long drives.

San Diego played "keep-a-way" with long 12 play drives that ate up the clock for 41 minutes.

The Chargers also had two redzone turnovers. The game should've been a blowout and over by the 3rd quarter.

You are correct though that the Eagles defense is terrible. The reason Seattle and SF are threats to win a Super Bowl is because of their defense. You have to have a great defense if you're entire game plan on offense is to score and give the ball back to the other team while burning the minimum amount of clock possible. A great defense will struggle to stop the Brady's and Manning's and Rodgers' of the world if they're on the field for 40 minutes, which is why Kelly's offense will never work in the NFL.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

I think a better way to phrase it is the read option is going to be a fad. The athletic QB like Manziel, RG3, and Cam Newton will always be an attractive option. But finding the athletic QB that is a QB first will be tough. The road is littered with the Akali Smith's of the NFL.

And lets be honest the jury is still out on a lot of these young guys that have had one good year. Some will make it and more will fail.

The NFL is just to violent a sport for a QB to be a running threat all the time IMO.

That is a better way of putting it. You are correct - one year is not a good way to judge any of these guys. Likewise - a week or two of bad play is also not a good way of concluding that these guys are no good. The jury is still out on a lot of QBs - as has always been the case.

It is basically a chess game. Teams used the read option to their benefit last season. Thus far this season they appear to be very conservative & holding back on using it as often (for several reasons). No doubt there will be all types of adjustments over the course of the season. IMO - coaches are very concerned about the health of their QBs & will make necessary adjustments to keep their QBs in the game.

Should be interesting to see how this unfolds for the balance of the season.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I think a better way to phrase it is the read option is going to be a fad. The athletic QB like Manziel, RG3, and Cam Newton will always be an attractive option. But finding the athletic QB that is a QB first will be tough. The road is littered with the Akali Smith's of the NFL.

And lets be honest the jury is still out on a lot of these young guys that have had one good year. Some will make it and more will fail.

The NFL is just to violent a sport for a QB to be a running threat all the time IMO.

He name should only come up if the list is for biggest draft busts!

The jury is still out...even on Cam whom I think possesses the best arm...at the end of the day, you must be able to pass the ball effectively to win a SB and I think these guys can do it, but not if they're also called on to be a consistent playmaker.

 

[MellowYellow]

QBs who can run are the new QB.

They have to be able to throw too.

 

[RobBase]

I've got news for the younger fans in this thread playing the semantics game: QB's who run first been called scrambling QB's since Tommy Frazier was running the ball in Nebraska. I realize the terminology has changed over time, but if you read my first post you can clearly understand what type of QB's am I talking about here. Scrambling, read option, running etc...it's all the same thing. Just read the whole post and look at the names being discussed.

 

[MellowYellow]

I think a better way to phrase it is the read option is going to be a fad. The athletic QB like Manziel, RG3, and Cam Newton will always be an attractive option. But finding the athletic QB that is a QB first will be tough. The road is littered with the Akali Smith's of the NFL.

And lets be honest the jury is still out on a lot of these young guys that have had one good year. Some will make it and more will fail.

The NFL is just to violent a sport for a QB to be a running threat all the time IMO.

You don't get the read option actually protects a running QB more often than not. Well, that's what offensive coordinators and offensive-minded head coaches say about it.

 

[DragonfromTO]

None of these quarterbacks you're talking about are run first QBs. Kaepernick and Boldin shredded the Packers D. Vick just threw for over 400. Wilson consistently throws for 300 and rushes for 60+. Rodgers has slowed down a bit, but his first few seasons starting, he ran pretty frequently. Hell, the Super Bowl season he was second only to Vick in rushing yardage, and rushed for a few big TDs in the post season.

Looking at Wilson's regular season game logs from last season it looks like he never threw for 300 yards (although he got to 293 twice), last week was the first time. For his career he's been under 200 yards passing more often than he's been over. He also has only run for 60+ yards twice.

 

[RobBase]

The best part about the original post was stating that "Kaep has jumped the shark" & Harbaugh will return to college in two years.

Kaep is getting exposed and so is Harbaugh. His own brother owned him and now Pete Carroll is owning him. Harbaugh is a real weird dude. Us fans in MI have seen it first hand. He won't take more than 1 or two years of losing before he heads back to the NCAA ranks imo. I know you saw his meltdown after the SB where he couldn't even show class losing to his own family. Harbaugh will stick around as long as he wins. If Carroll wins the division, look out.

 

[boltfan72]

Current QB rating leaders:

1) P. Manning
2) A. Rodgers
3) M. Vick
4) P. Rivers
5) M. Ryan
6) M. Stafford
7) A. Dalton

6 of the top 7 are traditional pocket passers.

 

[RobBase]

Current QB rating leaders:

1) P. Manning
2) A. Rodgers
3) M. Vick
4) P. Rivers
5) M. Ryan
6) M. Stafford
7) A. Dalton

6 of the top 7 are traditional pocket passers.

And the one who isn't, is a veteran who has had to try and evolve into a pocket passer to survive in the NFL and avoid major injuries.

 

[MellowYellow]

Current QB rating leaders:

1) P. Manning
2) A. Rodgers
3) M. Vick
4) P. Rivers
5) M. Ryan
6) M. Stafford
7) A. Dalton

6 of the top 7 are traditional pocket passers.

4 out of 7 can also run if needed. Scrambling QBs is too big of a brush stroke. QBs who can run within the pocket, but be a threat outside of it will always have a place in the NFL.

 

[MellowYellow]

I've got news for the younger fans in this thread playing the semantics game: QB's who run first been called scrambling QB's since Tommy Frazier was running the ball in Nebraska. I realize the terminology has changed over time, but if you read my first post you can clearly understand what type of QB's am I talking about here. Scrambling, read option, running etc...it's all the same thing. Just read the whole post and look at the names being discussed.

Try three decades prior with Fran Tarkenton.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Kaep is getting exposed and so is Harbaugh. His own brother owned him and now Pete Carroll is owning him. Harbaugh is a real weird dude. Us fans in MI have seen it first hand. He won't take more than 1 or two years of losing before he heads back to the NCAA ranks imo. I know you saw his meltdown after the SB where he couldn't even show class losing to his own family. Harbaugh will stick around as long as he wins. If Carroll wins the division, look out.

Kaep...exposed? Most 2nd yr starting QBs struggle more in the 2nd yr.

Harbaugh...rescued a talented 49ers team by taking a mistake prone QB and dumbing the game down for him...it worked...Smith cut down on the turnovers and the team almost immediately was playoff caliber. But...it's hard to win games against playoff caliber teams unless you are willing to attack the DEF downfield via the air. Kaep is more willing to do that over Smith and was anointed the starter.

If the turnovers start to pile up...look for Harbaugh to reel him in and do more 1st read, check it down, or run it.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

Kaep...exposed? Most 2nd yr starting QBs struggle more in the 2nd yr.

Harbaugh...rescued a talented 49ers team by taking a mistake prone QB and dumbing the game down for him...it worked...Smith cut down on the turnovers and the team almost immediately was playoff caliber. But...it's hard to win games against playoff caliber teams unless you are willing to attack the DEF downfield via the air. Kaep is more willing to do that over Smith and was anointed the starter.

If the turnovers start to pile up...look for Harbaugh to reel him in and do more 1st read, check it down, or run it.

Yep - don't understand how someone can be overly critical regarding Kaep (& I don't really care how he does overall). He had one - repeat one - bad game & it was in the most hostile stadium in the NFL against a very good defense. Prior to that he had a very good postseason & one of the better games in the NFL this season.

He still has not played the equivalent of a complete NFL season yet. Does anyone remember the first year for guys like Peyton Manning? Generally they have not been good. Most of them take a while to adjust to the NFL (& some start quick, slump & readjust as you mentioned). Give it some time before making an evaluation. I realize that some folks want to be ESPN-like & overstate everything, but please how about a little common sense?

 

[SoCalWizFan]

I've got news for the younger fans in this thread playing the semantics game: QB's who run first been called scrambling QB's since Tommy Frazier was running the ball in Nebraska. I realize the terminology has changed over time, but if you read my first post you can clearly understand what type of QB's am I talking about here. Scrambling, read option, running etc...it's all the same thing. Just read the whole post and look at the names being discussed.

I suppose that you are going to follow up by telling us you walked 20 blocks to school through 6 feet of snow. Things evolve. Therefore - the players you mention can also evolve & a handful of bad games doesn't mean that a player can't survive. Did you forget that a lot of HOF type QBs had poor first seasons? Should we have labeled them as "done" or "jumping the shark". What gives you the right to make these judgements so early?

Again - time will tell. If any or all of these guys look horrible over the entire season then you will have a pretty good case. Until then - let's hold off on the sweeping generalizations.

 

[JDM]

He name should only come up if the list is for biggest draft busts!

The jury is still out...even on Cam whom I think possesses the best arm...at the end of the day, you must be able to pass the ball effectively to win a SB and I think these guys can do it, but not if they're also called on to be a consistent playmaker.

Cam has the best arm? What crack are you on?