Bill Barnwell took an updated look at how the read-option is working this year. We were told it would be shutdown by some coaches, but that’s not exactly been the case.
So, where does the read-option stand? Somewhere between where it was and where its detractors think it will end up. It’s very obviously not dead. It’s also not the mind-blowing force of nature that it was for San Francisco in the playoffs last year, nor could it ever really be that consistently good. It’s an ever-evolving part of about half the offenses around the league, some much more than others, but just like an NFL team would never run play-action or line up in the shotgun on every single snap, it’s also unlikely to use the zone-read as a base offensive concept. It’s not a gimmick and it’s not an offensive panacea. And if you want to have a discussion about it that extends the argument beyond those two poles, you’re going to have to wait a lot longer than eight weeks to truly figure out how it has changed the game. Until then, all we can do is keep taking its temperature and see how the league is adapting on both sides of the ball.
Like all football schemes, it is evolving.
Mark Saltveit wrote a piece for FishDuck.com, taking an updated look at Chip Kelly and his recent struggles.
Now, to be fair, there is a lot of evidence that Chip’s offense is still creating good opportunities, and his quarterbacks just aren’t taking advantage of them. Here’s where it gets tricky to figure out what to do. A coach can’t make a bad quarterback great, but it’s also his job to make the most of decent but flawed players, and Chip has three to run his offense.
Chip isn’t the problem, despite what some of his critics think. Chip does need to do a better job. Sunday will be a big test. Can he fix whatever caused Nick Foles to struggle vs Dallas?
Wait, some offenses don’t line up in shotgun every snap? Doesn’t that make the victory formation awkward?