Read Option WON'T catch teams by surprise this year

Originally posted by kem99:
The issue is NOT whether teams will be more ready for the read option, its what are they going to do about the threat of the read option within the Pistol formation. Unfortunately, most fans and too many "experts" talk about the read-option as if it and the Pistol formation are one in the same. They aren't. If the ends spy the QB, the 49ers have a numbers advantage in their power running game. If the ends crash and pursue the RB, Kap can take off running. And, that doesn't even count running play action off power run and/or read-option looks from the Pistol.

And, lets not forget, even if a team prepares for the read option, that doesn't mean play to play that the 49ers offense won't out execute the defense or that the defense won't blow assignments, especially given the multiple formations/looks the 49ers give, which should increase even more with Mangini self-scouting the offense.

Two other considerations as well...

(1) Roman and the 49ers offense adjusted to using the pistol and the read-option on the fly last year after Smith's injury. Neither was used much (or at all) prior to Smith's injury. Now, they have had the entire off-season to work on and incorporate it into the entire offense. That's going to make a difference in execution for the 49ers offense.

(2) Kap could get hurt and probably will at some point in his career, as do all QBs, but comparing him to RG3 is not a fair comparison. RG3 is small by NFL QB standards these days and had an injury history coming into the NFL. Kap is so much bigger and stronger and does not have the same injury history as RG3. Of the 4 QBs talked about -- Kap, RG3, Newton and Wilson -- the one least likely to get hurt is Kap. RG3 and Wilson are just smaller and not as physical. Newton is big as well but he takes a lot more hits because Carolina does not have the same weapons around him and most of their short yardage and goal line packages revolve around Newton running the ball.

The threat of the read-option out of the Pistol will be enough to give the 49ers offense an advantage. Show me an article about the league catching up to the Pistol and perhaps then I will be concerned.

Nice post! I've been trying to make this argument for a while, but you explained it very well.

GNielsen and NCommand have the best grip on this. And altho I posted it two pages back, there will be a lot less running for kap who will basically be passing from the pocket altho it will be with a guy on each side of him. I think the only difference of this formation and the old "T" from the 50s and 60s is that the guys on either side of kap could be WRs or TEs just as well as RBs. I hate the thot of kap not running this yr, but Coach H learned from shanny that running your QB is a time limited proposition. RG3 is already 2/3 of the way to becoming a non football player. Anybody REALLY think shanny is going to have him RUNNING from the read option? If that were to happen and RG3 gets his final knee injury, almost certainly a horrible one after all the work already done, then shanny doesn't have to wait to be fired. He will just walk in and resign.

Relevance? Well, much as I love to see kap run like a deer(truly, he lopes...but dam fast), Coach H likes his job and knows his QB has to stay healthy to win it all. For Kap, health= winning SB, and JH is all too aware of this. So guys, from the pistol , read option, shot gun, sit back and watch kap put on a pocket passer show to light up the stadium. If protection breaks down , THEN he takes off, but only to run til he has to slide. I think JH pretty well got that message thru to kap last yr....and also, no more trying to run over LBs, nor trying to stay in bounds when a simple step out of bounds means no big hit. Regardless of the O set, kap is going to be one helluva pocket passer this yr....the advantage of the Q formn is, even if kap isn't running, it freezes the OLBs or DEs. Nobody wants kap to get outside of them, and that just gives kap that much more time to find his receiver . Just the THREAT of him taking off is going to cause all Ds to respect his running ability, even if he uses it only occasionally.

Add to that the fact that for "ball catchers" we now have Anquan, Vance, Vernon, kyle, Hunter, AJ(hopefully), patton, frank, LMJ and celek if needed. That guys is 10 ball catchers, with Collie in the wings plus the new guy just picked up from SEA. You don't think Coach H doesn't see these guys as ALL ball catchers and much less as WRs whether split out or slot (X,Y, & Z) or TEs or RBs even. He is arming us for as many as 10-12 potential Kap targets out there. We still keep our running game, regardless of which formation(frank actually liked the Q last yr once he understood it), but the ball catchers? No way another pair of ball catchers goes down and we go backwards. Now we got ball handlers of all stripes lining up next to kap. I love what I see Coach H doing. The weak link is kap if injured. Putting an anchor on his leg is a very sound idea, but opponents won't know for sure. kap running less means he is healthy to and thru the SB. I am expecting an O display not seen in yrs this yr...anywhere.

Man , bring on the PS and forget TC. I wanna see how are O works. It should be a thing of beauty. And Jaws was right to make kap 11th best QB out there...based on only 10 games....something he never has done....because as we know, Kap is truly a special talent.

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
GNielsen and NCommand have the best grip on this. And altho I posted it two pages back, there will be a lot less running for kap who will basically be passing from the pocket altho it will be with a guy on each side of him. I think the only difference of this formation and the old "T" from the 50s and 60s is that the guys on either side of kap could be WRs or TEs just as well as RBs. I hate the thot of kap not running this yr, but Coach H learned from shanny that running your QB is a time limited proposition. RG3 is already 2/3 of the way to becoming a non football player. Anybody REALLY think shanny is going to have him RUNNING from the read option? If that were to happen and RG3 gets his final knee injury, almost certainly a horrible one after all the work already done, then shanny doesn't have to wait to be fired. He will just walk in and resign.

Relevance? Well, much as I love to see kap run like a deer(truly, he lopes...but dam fast), Coach H likes his job and knows his QB has to stay healthy to win it all. For Kap, health= winning SB, and JH is all too aware of this. So guys, from the pistol , read option, shot gun, sit back and watch kap put on a pocket passer show to light up the stadium. If protection breaks down , THEN he takes off, but only to run til he has to slide. I think JH pretty well got that message thru to kap last yr....and also, no more trying to run over LBs, nor trying to stay in bounds when a simple step out of bounds means no big hit. Regardless of the O set, kap is going to be one helluva pocket passer this yr....the advantage of the Q formn is, even if kap isn't running, it freezes the OLBs or DEs. Nobody wants kap to get outside of them, and that just gives kap that much more time to find his receiver . Just the THREAT of him taking off is going to cause all Ds to respect his running ability, even if he uses it only occasionally.

Add to that the fact that for "ball catchers" we now have Anquan, Vance, Vernon, kyle, Hunter, AJ(hopefully), patton, frank, LMJ and celek if needed. That guys is 10 ball catchers, with Collie in the wings plus the new guy just picked up from SEA. You don't think Coach H doesn't see these guys as ALL ball catchers and much less as WRs whether split out or slot (X,Y, & Z) or TEs or RBs even. He is arming us for as many as 10-12 potential Kap targets out there. We still keep our running game, regardless of which formation(frank actually liked the Q last yr once he understood it), but the ball catchers? No way another pair of ball catchers goes down and we go backwards. Now we got ball handlers of all stripes lining up next to kap. I love what I see Coach H doing. The weak link is kap if injured. Putting an anchor on his leg is a very sound idea, but opponents won't know for sure. kap running less means he is healthy to and thru the SB. I am expecting an O display not seen in yrs this yr...anywhere.

Man , bring on the PS and forget TC. I wanna see how are O works. It should be a thing of beauty. And Jaws was right to make kap 11th best QB out there...based on only 10 games....something he never has done....because as we know, Kap is truly a special talent.

Wow, great post...truly. You covered a ton here!

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
Command , in response to your observation re: RG 3, I have posted elsewhere that I don't expect shanny to expose him on run/option plays. I think the medical history has already been written on RG3, and shanny is betting his job on RG3 staying healthy. Watch and see RG3 become a very adequate pocket passer, who escapes out of the pocket at times, but not often. To turn RG3 loose to me is just plain nuts. Much as I love to watch the guy, an incredible talent, dance and dodge much bigger defenders, the repeat knee injuries, this time a double dose, does not bode well for his long term stay in the nfl. You know the saying NFL...not for long. Well that is going to be RG3 if shanny puts him in run/option most of the time. I just don't see him doing that, because without RG, the skins got nuthin'. And if RG is injured, shanny won't last after this yr in Washington.

To be honest, I likewise think Coach H has taken notes on RG3, his injuries, and subsequent team outcome. Without RG, Skins are nothing. Without Kap....well, we could compete, but NFCC and SB? Highly unlikely, and don't think for a minute that Coach H hasn't noticed. That is one reason why I can't wait for season to start...to see how JH handles Kap and the running issue. At least last yr, Coach got Kap to quit trying to run over LBs and slide instead. Same goes for going out of bounds vs staying in, getting a few more yards and some nasty licks. I don't like saying this but I look for Kap to be moving more toward a pocket passer with escape ability , but not running as a steady diet. That 600 yds running in 7 games? I don't think so this yr. Kap is just too valuable to put him out there running over LBs. Let frank, kyle, LMJ, Dixon, due that. Now, the THREAT of Kap taking off...many times that alone will freeze the OLBs , or DBs if playing up close. So the threat alone is good enough in many cases. Then when kap does take off, well, it is sure exciting, but I always cross my fingers and pray he slides.

Agree Paso, but sometimes coaches can't break bad habits of players...see M Vick. But RGIII is a very smart guy and he will no doubt be more coach-able than many. Three years ago I was wondering where the great young QBs were and now we have at least four who have proven to be capable of becoming top tier talent--CK, Wilson, Luck and RGIII. What really is significant is their intelligence...watching RGIII interviews is like watching a seasoned politician, but with less BS.

It will be fun to watch these young guys over the next ten years to see which ones continue to develop and how their teams do in supplying them with talented team mates. As for exposing them to harm in running--it's a fine line between stifling their creativity and protecting them. Shanahan tried to give RGIII free reign but that didn't work very well. Perhaps he needs to be tempered in his decision making...when to slide or run out of bounds.

This has been an age-old debate and I always liked mobile QBs over pure pocket passers because it adds an element for the defenses to consider, but P Manning and T Brady have made pocket passing popular.

Eff the read option. It's just but one play of hundreds the 49ers can execute. Kap will make his mark in the pocket this year. I'm envisioning Lockette, Jenkins, and Patton on the field together just destroying secondary's and getting behind them quickly or creating 1 on 1 coverage and Kap airing it out for a long tds every now and then.

Originally posted by fortyninerglory:
Eff the read option. It's just but one play of hundreds the 49ers can execute. Kap will make his mark in the pocket this year. I'm envisioning Lockette, Jenkins, and Patton on the field together just destroying secondary's and getting behind them quickly or creating 1 on 1 coverage and Kap airing it out for a long tds every now and then.

If just one of those three players proves he can get behind secondaries, the offense is going to roll. Davis can get behind secondaries. Boldin is the consummate possession receiver. Vance McDonald might be a terrific third down target. And let's not forget LaMichael James making fools out of potential tacklers in space.

"Read-option won't catch defenses by surprise this season" deserves a 'no s**t Sherlock!' Back when Stockton/Malone were running the pick 'n roll the opponent knew exactly what was coming, but could hardly ever stop it because the execution was so high. This comparison isn't totally accurate because the defense doesn't always know what's coming on a read-option play, but they'll be a lot more prepared for it. As long as they always guess wrong though, it can't be stopped. Like has been mentioned before, read-option is merely a play among many which are run from the pistol formation.

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Originally posted by rum53:

It doesn't matter if the read option will surprise people this season. The only way to stop the read option is to have the defensive ends play the QB. That means fewer players to stop the Gore/Hunter/Lattimore/James run up the middle.

The defense has a choice to make. The defensive ends will either crash down the line to help with the rush up the middle which opens up the read option OR the defensive ends will stay home to combat the read option which means one less player to stop the inside run.

The beauty of the read option is that it gives the offense another weapon to combat the defense's style of play.

This. People try so hard to make the argument that we can't run the read-option all the time. Here is the thing, we're not trying to. It's one more play at our disposable. We could call it a lot, a little, or not at all. Either way, the defense has no choice but to commit a defender to spy.

It's obvious you guys get it. We have no worries this is not the damn wildcat.

How can he have a "sophmore" slump when this is his 3rd year

I almost thought this topic was about Randy Orton.

Originally posted by defenderDX:
How can he have a "sophmore" slump when this is his 3rd year

He's a redshirt sophmore . jk.

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Originally posted by HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU:

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dtg, I agree, mobile QBs are way more exciting than pocket passers. But watching a talent like RG3 go down....well, it lessens my enthusiasm for mobile QBs. Now that is not to say that kap won't scramble, because he will. My point was I believe JH got the point when RG got carried off on a cart. Right then the SKins were done. NO SB in Washington with RG out for season. 49ers as well as most other teams are in the same boat. We have one of the top 10 Qbs, and he is not far below the top 5....if he stays healthy. Fans often forget that what may be exciting as all get out, may also be conducive to losing your QB early and often. As you well know, DLs, LBs. CBs, are all bigger , faster, stronger, better. And they keep going that way. Not exactly the kind of guys you want to put a real lick on your starting QB who is making a designed run.