Mike Tomlin: Read-Option is "Flavor of the Day"

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by rageeumr

I think read option can be viable with the right guy. Wilson is a good example. He just seems to have a knack for avoiding big hits. He is shifty enough to get a lot of glancing blows and he gets out of bounds a lot.

RGIII is the antithesis. Dude is always getting lit up. He won't last running the offense they tried to run last year.

Kaepernick is somewhere in the middle.

I still think you're taking years off a guy's career by running the read option, though. Look at the shelf life of NFL running backs vs. quarterbacks and tell me how often you REALLY want your QB running the ball....

I pretty much agree with this, you can get away with it more often with the right guy, although i'd say kaepernick is just as good as wilson at avoiding or minimizing the biggest hits, plus his size probably helps absorb some of that better.

But like you say/allude to, even with guys who have the knack... its just a matter of time before they get hulk smashed, and thats really not something a team should want to build their offensive philosophy around, because its going to cost dearly at some point.

To me, the best bet is just have your passer pass and only run it when a play breaks down or a no-brainer opening manifests.