Is the read option here to stay?

Not really.

Read option relies on 1) poor decisions by the defensive end and outside linebacker and 2) something of an athletic mismatch between the quarterback and the defense that doesn't allow them to recover when they hesitate on the handoff/fake handoff

It works in college, where the variance of talent is much more significant, even on good teams (very few teams have 11 elite athletes on defense at any one time, even SEC teams with 8 or 9 on the field don't have 8 or 9 seniors with NFL talent, but rather guys at varying stages of development) and where the players are younger and with less coaching.

It worked this past year in the NFL because it took teams by surprise.

But the coaches are going back to school. They'll be more prepared next year. And I'm not saying it'll disappear, it has it's place I think still as a change of pace, but no NFL team is going to be able to make it a heavy part of a successful offense I don't think. NFL players are too prepared, too fast, too good.

And there is the injury angle too.


Good contrast.

It will be interesting to see how defenses adapt this year and how many...if any new teams will try to incorporate it into their offense. Also how the offenses react to the reaction. Once the wildcat was figured out it just disappeared...