Read Option

The option offense in football is fascinating. It definitely seems like more teams in the NFL are employing an athletic quarterback with the idea of executing the read option. The new generation of QBs -- RG3 of the Redskins, Cam Newton of the Panthers, Russel Wilson in Seahawks, and of course Kaepernick of the 49ers have been drafted by their respective teams with that thought in mind. One of the risk however is the QB getting hit and having to come out of the game. Was that why Mike Shanahan, Coach of the Redskins, use a 4th round draft pick to take in another QB in the form of Kirk Cousins? Here is what Vic Fangio, defense coordinator of the 49ers, says of this trend in the NFL.

What makes that kind of offense so hard to defend?

“It just becomes a numbers game. Your typical run, the quarterback hands off and it’s now their ten against your 11. Now when he’s a potential runner, it’s their 11 against your 11 and they’re not even blocking one of the guys at the point of attack, so it actually becomes 11 against ten if they do it right. So, the numbers are flipped.” 

You’ve been around this league a while. We’ve seen a lot more of that this year. What has changed, the philosophy? Because they used to be afraid of getting their quarterbacks hurt. What do you think has changed?

“Well, I think part of is the NFL is a by-product of what the colleges feed us. The colleges are our minor leagues, and that’s what the colleges are feeding us now. So, when you get a quarterback that has that ability, it behooves you to maybe have that as part of your offense.”