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Why don't teams in the NFL run the option?

thunderkyss

thunderkyss

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It's always been my impression that teams don't run the option as a major part of their offense was because the QB would get hurt.

So far, Tebow is perfectly healthy.... & VY didn't really get leveled like you wanted.... I mean like you thought he would.

Vick still can't stay healthy, but he's got a totally different build than guys like Vince & Tim....

So I hear this anchor on NFLN ask the question, is this sustainable.... I've got to ask, does anyone think it should be? Every time Tebow runs out there, he's litterally a snap away from being out for the season. Is Quin going to run the option? Is Orton?
 
I just always thought it was because the LBs are too fast, but then teams do run the power sweep.

If Matt Schaub had run it, he would've just stopped suddenly and thrown one of those across-field WTF numbers to a wide-open Daniels.
 
This is a good question.

It is my belief that it won't take long for NFL D coordinators to figure out how to stop it. The players on defense are bigger, stronger and faster than college.

It takes an unusual talent for a QB to run at this level. Very few guys can pull it off.

And like you said, how long until they get hurt and someone else has to step up.

Give me an Aaron Rodgers type anyday over a Tebow.
 
Could it be because of the pro field narrow hash marks? Teams line up from one sideline to the other in college. That and the QB will get frontally, upwardly, helmet on jawingly smashed one time too many. Schaub got taken out on a (foolish) QB sneak.

Of course Haynesworth probably went into a schizophrenic episode when he had a clear shot at one of Schaubs legs but that's another matter. Albert no doubt sees floating heads and such so he's the wrong guy let your QB play around. It was an absolutely bone headed play. I bet McNair is giving Kubiak heck over that stupid call. Anyways yeah, you can get a QB injured with a menacing glare so I don't think one would last long with guys like Cushing and Von Miller getting clean shots on them.
 
The pure option is actually fairly easy to defend since it is really running a handful of plays hoping that a defender makes a mistake. It also takes a bunch of discipline from the offense. It is not an accident that the military academies (and Georgia Tech) are the only teams to run it in major college ball. In terms of blocking it is kin to the zone block scheme in the sense that a player blocks area first often employing cut blocks.
 
Closing speed, condensed talent pool at the NFL level. DB's and LB's are way too quick in the NFL. Option hybrids are ran in some of the league's wildcat formations, and every great once in a while it might work. But for the most part, NFL defenses blow that **** up.
 
A good qb must be able to move the ball thru the air first and foremost. If they can run from time to time great but that's why you have a running back. None of the examples given were good passwrs who could run. They were good runners who could pass. Steve young and Randall cunnigham were the only ones I could think of that were good at both consistently. You need a pass threat. I remember Warren moon running an option play against the jets I think. The play worked and the rb scored but moon got rocked and had his chin busted open. I never saw that play run again. A good qb is not worth risking for running the option. Maybe in college where the body can fill in but not the pros where the skill set and pay are major factors.
 
Wolf6151 said:
Easy, because your grossly overpriced QB's would get killed by LB's like Cushing.
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yes.. NFL every one is fast and/or knows angles (if not fast enough)..give an NFL defensive coordinator a few games and they will know how to stop it... hence the wildcat ...reason you didn't see like Tommy Frazier take the NFL by storm...
 
As some have said, I believe it is because it is not dependable at this level. It may work as a kind of "gimmick" (didn't want to use that word) but it isn't something to base your offense around. The Wildcat was popular there for a while until D-Coordinators learned how to sniff it out, and since then no one uses it with any regularity.

Tebow will suffer the same fate as VY did. Teams will learn how to defend his rushing attack and force him to throw. VY could throw the ball better than Tebow, but he never learned to read an NFL defense. Tebow is smarter than VY (he has to be, right?), but we'll see if he can get the ball to his receivers.
 
Bulluck53 said:
As some have said, I believe it is because it is not dependable at this level. It may work as a kind of "gimmick" (didn't want to use that word) but it isn't something to base your offense around. The Wildcat was popular there for a while until D-Coordinators learned how to sniff it out, and since then no one uses it with any regularity.

Tebow will suffer the same fate as VY did. Teams will learn how to defend his rushing attack and force him to throw. VY could throw the ball better than Tebow, but he never learned to read an NFL defense. Tebow is smarter than VY (he has to be, right?), but we'll see if he can get the ball to his receivers.
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Whether he's smarter or not, Tebow is definitely more mature than VY.
 
Tebow and the Broncs offense was basically shut-down by the Jets D Thursday night except for the last drive of the game. The real credit for the Broncos win should go to their defense.
 
IDEXAN said:
Tebow and the Broncs offense was basically shut-down by the Jets D Thursday night except for the last drive of the game. The real credit for the Broncos win should go to their defense.
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Who are admittedly playing out of their minds because of Tim Tebow.. they even said as much. Everyone on that team believes Tebow gives them a chance to win games & everyone plays their best to make sure the team has that opportunity.

It's the same thing we've seen in Indy, they believe Peyton gives them a chance in any game & play out of their minds to make sure they have that opportunity.

Peyton has proven to be that guy. Interceptions or not, sacks or not, bad defensive plays or not, Peyton has shown to have the ability to overcome & win games.

Tebow has not. Why the Broncos feel this way, I don't know. But as long as Tebow does something each week, they'll probably continue to believe it. & "do their part"
 
Well, you look at the shelf life of a RB. You generally want a QB to last more than 4 years, and I don't think you can do that by featuring option plays.
 
It's like a lot of people have said... it limits the offense and makes the offense one dimensional. When the offense goes one-dimensional, the defense has a better chance of stopping it.

Like the Wildcat, the Option will work for a while and it will work here and there if you can get the defense to expect something else. If it's a gimmick that you don't see very often, it can be successful. In college, the defensive coordinators don't have the time to prepare their defense like a pro does so you can get away with things you can't get away with in the pros.

But if you're goign to make it the staple of your offense, it's going to get stuffed as soon as there's tape on you and as soon as one guy figures you out.
 
It would be too easy to defend. NFL defensive players are just too fast and strong for an offense to run the option with any consistency. It may work here and there, but as a base offense. All it would do is get the QB killed at some point.
 
headsplint said:
Closing speed, condensed talent pool at the NFL level. DB's and LB's are way too quick in the NFL. Option hybrids are ran in some of the league's wildcat formations, and every great once in a while it might work. But for the most part, NFL defenses blow that **** up.
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QFT. Most NFL defenses have what crummy to average college teams never have - closing speed at the LB/secondary levels. Also, they are too smart - they watch film religiously and smell those formations, and are so quickly in the backfield that the play never has a chance. I was stunned that the Jets gave up anything to the option - they are one of the teams I would have predicted that would have physically destroyed that play.
 
Qb's would just get crushed if teams went to more option style play across the board. You think they are injured too much now, just run the option for a year. Most quarterbacks aren't built like Tebow with running back abilities. Hell, even some running backs don't have running back abilities...cough, cough, Jon Wells, cough, cough, Chris Henry...

NFL defenses are just too big and fast to commit to a run heavy situation when you can keep a guy healthier in a conventional set. At the end of the day the Tebow offense will suffer the fate of its polar opposite offense, the RnS. One dimensional units will face good defenses in the playoffs and they will take away what you do best and you have to beat them with what you do second best. If Tebow can't pass any better than he is doing right now, he may win some games but that team won't be successful in the long run. If Tebow can find a way to throw the ball better than he shows now, it may have a punchers chance to thrive....I'd bet against it long term, but then again, I've already been Tebow'd once this season in my survivor league.
 
Vinny said:
Qb's would just get crushed if teams went to more option style play across the board. You think they are injured too much now, just run the option for a year. Most quarterbacks aren't built like Tebow with running back abilities. Hell, even some running backs don't have running back abilities...cough, cough, Jon Wells, cough, cough, Chris Henry...

NFL defenses are just too big and fast to commit to a run heavy situation when you can keep a guy healthier in a conventional set. At the end of the day the Tebow offense will suffer the fate of its polar opposite offense, the RnS. One dimensional units will face good defenses in the playoffs and they will take away what you do best and you have to beat them with what you do second best. If Tebow can't pass any better than he is doing right now, he may win some games but that team won't be successful in the long run. If Tebow can find a way to throw the ball better than he shows now, it may have a punchers chance to thrive....I'd bet against it long term, but then again, I've already been Tebow'd once this season in my survivor league.
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MSR

Bottom line is that in college, they many times leave the QB to fend for himself. These are less accurate passers that have to use their legs to make their mark. In the NFL, they usually try everything they can to limit the hits inflicted on their QBs. An option system directly contradicts that philosophy.

I guess if you had an unlimited stable of dispensable big QBs with low Wonderlics, poor navigation systems on their arms, and some quick happy feet.....it could work.......for a while.......
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
MSR

Bottom line is that in college, they many times leave the QB to fend for himself. These are less accurate passers that have to use their legs to make their mark. In the NFL, they usually try everything they can to limit the hits inflicted on their QBs. An option system directly contradicts that philosophy.

I guess if you had an unlimited stable of dispensable big QBs with low Wonderlics, poor navigation systems on their arms, and some quick happy feet.....it could work.......for a while.......
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I agree with this, & everyone who said we don't run the option because you'll get your qB killed.

The question though, is why are the NFL pundits talking about how difficult it is to defend?

As soon as the QB crosses the LOS on a run play, whether he has the ball or not, he's fair game. Someone on every team playing the Broncos should know...... if you see #15 on the wrong side of the LOS, lite him up. Everytime. Whether he has the ball or not.

But teams aren't playing it that way.

Why not?
 
And another thing, you have to have a backup QB with the same skill-set or you have to basically have two offenses and only enough time to practice one of them.

If Tebow is your starting QB, you practice that option style offense all week. If he gets hurt... Orton and Quinn aren't going to run that offense. Not like Tebow does. So when they come in, you run a different offense but it's probably going to be keystone kops time because you haven't practiced that offense enough.
 
Whenever Schaub comes back, we should definitely fool our opponents' Ds by running the option all the time. :kubepalm:
 
I think if you can keep throwing down, hitting TEs and RB and maybe lob a bomb to a WR once or twice a game...why not? If it works, it works. Have a guy a like Tebow who runs like a RB and throws....like a RB run the option. Lots of room for deception if you get the right offensive mind to manipulate the talent in front of him.

Every player is one play away from never playing again. Including Tebow. So career length be damned, win the game in front of you.
 
TimeKiller said:
I think if you can keep throwing down, hitting TEs and RB and maybe lob a bomb to a WR once or twice a game...why not? If it works, it works. Have a guy a like Tebow who runs like a RB and throws....like a RB run the option. Lots of room for deception if you get the right offensive mind to manipulate the talent in front of him.

Every player is one play away from never playing again. Including Tebow. So career length be damned, win the game in front of you.
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The reason Denver runs it so often is that it's the only way Tebow presents a real threat. I'm sure Fox knows it's not sustainable, but if they try and have Tebow drop back thirty times a game they have an even smaller chance of being successful. So, its either run a traditional offense and preserve your quarterback while having little chance of winning, or put your quarterback in harms way and give your team a chance to be successful.

But for other teams it really isn't a viable option for more than once or twice a game, and that's only depending on the offense.
 
thunderkyss said:
It's always been my impression that teams don't run the option as a major part of their offense was because the QB would get hurt.

So far, Tebow is perfectly healthy.... & VY didn't really get leveled like you wanted.... I mean like you thought he would.

Vick still can't stay healthy, but he's got a totally different build than guys like Vince & Tim....

So I hear this anchor on NFLN ask the question, is this sustainable.... I've got to ask, does anyone think it should be? Every time Tebow runs out there, he's litterally a snap away from being out for the season. Is Quin going to run the option? Is Orton?
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QB's would be killed every play is one reason. Bill Walsh did it during a strike season with scabs. It was kind of funny.
 
thunderkyss said:
It's always been my impression that teams don't run the option as a major part of their offense was because the QB would get hurt.

So far, Tebow is perfectly healthy.... & VY didn't really get leveled like you wanted.... I mean like you thought he would.

Vick still can't stay healthy, but he's got a totally different build than guys like Vince & Tim....

So I hear this anchor on NFLN ask the question, is this sustainable.... I've got to ask, does anyone think it should be? Every time Tebow runs out there, he's litterally a snap away from being out for the season. Is Quin going to run the option? Is Orton?
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Tebow is the exception, not the rule. You are correct in thinking that QB's would get hurt. Could you imagine Brady, Palmer, Manning, Manning, Schaub, Brees, and countless other pigskin chunkers running the ball? What a nightmare. The only guys that can take a beating (and that will eventually end) is Tebow and Newton.
 
Super Mario said:
Tebow is the exception, not the rule. You are correct in thinking that QB's would get hurt. Could you imagine Brady, Palmer, Manning, Manning, Schaub, Brees, and countless other pigskin chunkers running the ball? What a nightmare. The only guys that can take a beating (and that will eventually end) is Tebow and Newton.
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and unlike Tebow, Cam Newton has a pretty decent arm.
I fear him more than Tebow.
 
i'm of the school of thought that any offense can work in the NFL with the right personnel. a big reason why the wildcat faltered eventually was because no teams really had the right grouping of players to make it work. it's ironic that the Dolphins popularized it considering the personnel group was not really fit at all to run it effectively.

Tebow seems like a perfect fit for an option QB. it's hard to predict how it'll work in the long run, as injuries/free agency may force changes to personnel that lowers the effectiveness of the offense. and it'll lead people to say that "the option just can't work in the NFL!" well, year after year there are teams that try to run a West Coast offense and they're terrible at it. and that's because they don't have the right players for the task.
 
kastofsna said:
Tebow seems like a perfect fit for an option QB. it's hard to predict how it'll work in the long run, as injuries/free agency may force changes to personnel that lowers the effectiveness of the offense. and it'll lead people to say that "the option just can't work in the NFL!" well, year after year there are teams that try to run a West Coast offense and they're terrible at it. and that's because they don't have the right players for the task.
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The option doesn't (shouldn't) work in the NFL, because QBs get paid too much & defenses would smack him out of his mind.

But, I've yet to see anyone put a hit on Tebow that really bothered him.

He's not your avg prima donna QB (which is why so many people probably like him so much), he's built like a RB or a TE that gets hit all the time.

& the Broncos (Fox & Elway) would probably not mind so much if Tebow has to come out of the game & they are allowed to go with a more traditional offense. Which should mean that they are fervently working behind the scenes with Brady Quin.

This off-season, I'd add to the defense to make them an even more formidable & develop a strong offensive line. Prepare for my next QB, give him the kind of support we think we have for Tj
 
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