Utilizing and Defending the Read Option

[MHSL82]

Utilizing and Defending the Read-Option

 

[Jikkle]

I'm a firm believer the Read Option is here to stay but I don't think it's going to completely take the NFL by storm.

Not a lot of QBs can run it to it's maximum potential and defenses will get more used to defending it.

But I still see it being an effective part of teams schemes as the threat of it alone will make defenses nervous and anytime you can make a defense nervous and have to focus on something it opens up other things in the playbook.

 

[SonnyCID]

I saw an interview the other day with RW and he sort of rolled his eyes at the idea or DCs working overtime to stop something that is only such à small part of the playbook.

 

[SonnyCID]

I'm a firm believer the Read Option is here to stay but I don't think it's going to completely take the NFL by storm.

Not a lot of QBs can run it to it's maximum potential and defenses will get more used to defending it.

But I still see it being an effective part of teams schemes as the threat of it alone will make defenses nervous and anytime you can make a defense nervous and have to focus on something it opens up other things in the playbook.

Agreed. There is no scheme that will stop it cold because even if an offense lines up for it, they can run anything out of these formations. This is the différence between the RO and the wildcat(which people love to comparé this to), when à team lined up with the RB under center the défense knew exactly what they were doing. Ive read comments from Kap and Max Unger saying that they can run most plays in their playbook out of these formations.

 

[MHSL82]

I know the read-option isn't all we can do and we can run almost any play from that formation. But Justin Smith is saying that he believes our defense can stop it. That might just be confidence, it might be from having a great offensive minded guy running the offense who knows the scheme, it might be to lull others into a belief they can stop it, maybe since we have the best the others can be stopped but not Kaep, etc.

Inside the 49ers | Justin Smith on the read option: ?I think we?re going to be ready to stop it.? | The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, CA

 

[deep9er]

ok, but it still comes down to execution.

any team can line up in a myriad of ways, as the formations/motions try to 'trick' defenses. but in the end your offensive players have to execute.

if we DEFEND the ZR, the first thing you ask is how well do they execute it?

 

[threelittleturds]

Last year some teams were caught off-guard by the read option so their fans think it is a gimmicky trick-play offense, really there is no excuse for GB not expecting it.. that was just stupid on their part. That type of thing just won't happen this year because people will expect it. Atlanta and Baltimore were ready for it and the 49ers still had successful days on offense against both teams.

I guess we'll find out if teams can completely shut it down, I don't think they can, but we'll see. I just think that we'll never see the GB game again, but still a pretty good chance we'll see the same production against Atlanta or the Ravens... which is more than fine if they can do that week in and week out.

 

[imac_21]

I saw an interview the other day with RW and he sort of rolled his eyes at the idea or DCs working overtime to stop something that is only such à small part of the playbook.

Yeah. The 3 teams that ran it the most last year were, I believe, the Niners, Hawks and Skins. I believe I read somewhere that none of those team ran "read option" plays, or any variations of (zone read, triple option, inverted veer etc) more than 10% of the time.

From what I've seen of Ck7, RGIII and RW, all 3 are very capable of running a traditional NFL offense as well. If teams are going to commit all kinds of time and energy to stopping the read option, they could find themselves in a lot of trouble with those guys picking them apart with traditional offenses.

I also shudder to think what those offenses can do after a full offseason, and knowing what they're QBs are capable of, in terms of integrating read option tendencies into an NFL style offense. I could see SF, Seattle and Washington showing a lot of read option looks that end up with big results from more traditional plays.

The most telling thing from that article is the quote from Kyle Shannahan:

"The zone read is something I learned throughout … the year that I think really helped us. It's the least pass rush I've ever seen as a coordinator. Guys just sitting there just scared to death just watching everyone else not moving," said Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan recently. "I go crazy thinking about blitzes every week, how we're going to pick all this stuff up. About halfway through the year I'm starting to realize that we're not getting any of these blitzes that I used to see."

The two things that jump out at me in that are that
a. He learned it on the fly; and
b. teams stopped blitzing so creatively out of fear of getting burned by it.

Giving NFL offensive minds a year to develop it and meld it into what they do, and the fact that it really restricts exotic blitz schemes makes it scary to think about what good, young QBs that can operate in it can do.

One of the things in the Brown article is that college teams tend to roll safeties down to account for the numbers disadvantage the read option creates, using the safety to account for the extra gap. You can get away with that against most college QBs. I'm willing to bet that if Wilson, Kaep or RG3 (or Roman/Bevell/Shannahan) sees that safety coming down hard on read option looks that you'll see some long TDs from Davis (Crabtree when he's back) and Garcon.

Does anyone really believe that Johnny Manziel (by most accounts the best "read option" QB in the NCAA right now, though not best NFL prospect) could hold a candle to CK7, RGIII or RW in running an offense?

Preparing to defend what the NFL version of option football was last year is like baby-proofing your home for a 3 week old child and not accounting for when it can walk. Sure, you padded the corners around the house so he would crawl into them, but that little fucker is standing up and running around the house now. He can get into drawers and shit that you didn't account for.

Going and talking to college coaches that face it regularly (or run it regularly) makes sense. It's the closest you can come to expert testimony, but (as it says in the article) the college read option offenses were built to cover weaknesses on teams. The Brown article credits Rich Rodriguez with inventing the ZR at Glenville State and quotes him as saying he did it

because they were "just trying to get a first down."

. Teams using it in the NFL use it as a weapon, not a last resort to try and move the football. The 3 teams mentioned above all proved they could be quite strong on offense without it as well. Its use in the NFL comes from the exact opposite perspective as its use in college. It's not a"well, we can't do anything else," it's a "we can do this as well."

I fully expect the NFL-option to evolve this year and next, and for a few years at least, to stay ahead of the defenses.

 

[DaBearsShowPride]

I wouldnt say the Read Option is a fad but it was overused by a few teams last year to make it seem like a fad. The defenses also didnt expect any of that and werent able to game plan against it which made it seem more dominant than it actually is. It wont ever disappear but it wont ever be as lethal as it was last year.

 

[imac_21]

I wouldnt say the Read Option is a fad but it was overused by a few teams last year to make it seem like a fad. The defenses also didnt expect any of that and werent able to game plan against it which made it seem more dominant than it actually is. It wont ever disappear but it wont ever be as lethal as it was last year.

No team in the league used it even 10% of the time. How was it overused?

And as I said above, just as NFL defenses adjust, so will the offenses. If you think the read option in 2013 will look the same as it did in 2012, you're crazy, and if you're a DC and think that, you're in trouble.

 

[Breaker99]

For the record....The pistol and the read option are not the same thing. The read option is just one of the many things the "pistol offense" imitates along with the shotgun, pro set, air R, and I formations.

 

[deep9er]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/bl...-read-option-blowing-open-the-point-of-attack


really liked this article cause I never thought of the running lane expanding?

we now have a formidable O-line and must take advantage. they should be more than fine in the run game - read option or otherwise, so for me its getting more in sync with pass protection. on passing plays, defenses will mix up their pressures, so our line needs to 'pass off' correctly, adjust correctly.

I get pass protection includes TE's and RB's too, but it starts with the O-line.