Can the Read Option Continue to Thrive in the NFL

Seeing as it is the culmination of basketball season my first posts were about the NBA, however my true expertise is the game of football. Well, baseball too but I'll get to that later. Last year we all bore witness to the rise of a new dynamic offense in the NFL, the read option. Actually it is not a new offense at all as it has been around the high school and college game for a very long time. The read option is meant to capitalize on the athleticism and perhaps compensate for the lack of passing ability of a given quarterback. Let's be real here, if the QB had an arm like Peyton Manning he damn sure wouldn't be running a read option offense. Never the less the read option has taken the NFL by storm and young gun QB's like RGIII, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, and Colin Kaepernick are capitalizing.


(Photo courtesy of: nfl.com)

 However, is this new style of offense just the latest fad? History tells us yes. For starters there is a reason why the option offense has been prolific in the college ranks over the last couple decades but has never made the jump to the NFL. NFL defenses are simply too big, too smart, and too fast to run the same type of play over and over again. It is a style of offense intended to confuse defenses and that simply will not happen nearly as much in the NFL. Plus injuries will be far too common for quarterbacks running this style of offense, similar to Griffin's at the end of the season last year. Quarterbacks are not built to handle all the hits.
So why now though? The read option flourished last season as the NFL saw a rise in athletic style QBs over pocket passers. Quarterbacks like the ones listed above along with veteran Michael Vick have the pure speed and athletic ability to give defenses fits. Athleticism alone, however, will not be enough to make the read option stick.


(Photo courtesy of: nola.com)

Another knock against the read option is that it seems like an all too familiar fad. Oh yeah that's right a couple years ago an innovative new offense hit the scene in Miami called the Wildcat. The Wildcat put a tailback or athletic quarterback in the backfield with another quarterback out wide. The player receiving the snap could then keep it, hand it off, pass it, or pitch it. The Wildcat presented athletic mismatches and options to the offense that confused defenses for the rest of the season. However, after accumulating a full season of game tape defenses locked it down. The wildcat was no longer difficult to stop. The defensive end just needs to stay home on his assignment and allow the outside linebacker to take away the pitch and the inside line backers to shoot their gaps and disrupt anything up the middle.The same can be said about the read option. It is so difficult to stop because it puts the D-End in a tough spot. He has to choose to pursue the QB or take away the pitch. All the defense has to do against these teams is prepare to play the run a whole lot. Lets face it these young QBs do have good arms but they are not THAT good of pocket passers. I would not put a single one of these option quarterbacks in the top 15 in passing ability. Which means that defenses simply have to pack the box ( because they know whats coming) and dare the offense to throw the ball over the top. The defensive end will just have to commit to the QB and then rely on the linebacker or safety to cover up the pitch. Inside linebackers can then jam the gaps inside along with the defensive tackles and boom no more read option. Easier said than done?


(Photo courtesy of: winycitygridiron.com)

 I'm sure it is but I am also sure that with a full season of game film from countless teams that the read option will be a short lived fad. Give defenses more credit, they won't let one play crush them all year. Not after having an entire off season to prepare for what they already know is coming their way.