Inevitably, tagging along with all the OC talk on the board lately, have been the critiques of our offensive scheme of the past few years. I've mentioned both of the following points before on here. And I'm sure it's just me who reads these two repeated fallacies like fingernails on a chalkboard (for you younger guys, a chalkboard was the precursor of the whiteboard and the SmartBoard). I offer these thoughts in an attempt to ease my pain.
1. There is no READ OPTION. It is redundant. Think about it. Both words, in essence, mean the same thing. Every Option is a Read. The correct terminology for the scheme is ZONE READ - zone blocking with a QB read. Yes, many football gurus make this mistake. Yes, even some coaches make this mistake. It doesn't mean it isn't still a mistake. Let's up our collective football vocab on here and adopt Zone Read as the acceptable term. Really, you sound at least 10% smarter just saying it.
2. Marshall doesn't run the ZONE READ (formerly known as the Read Option). Most of our running plays are variations of Inside or Outside Zone - handoffs with zone-blocking concepts. There is no read. Contrary to popular belief, we have not been trying to take a dropback QB and force him into a QB-running offense. It also isn't that Litton won't run; it is, instead, that he isn't being asked to run. Marshall's Zone runs are similar to those run by every NFL team. No one is upset that Tom Brady isn't running more. It's because he isn't supposed to. And neither is Litton. At most, we have called just a couple true Zone Reads in any single game. The vast majority of Litton's handoffs are just that - HANDOFFS. He isn't supposed to keep the ball.
Now, you can be upset that we have not been running the ZONE READ, and believe that we should be using our QB's legs as well as his arm. You can be angry like I am, when we have often left the traditional "read" defender unblocked but still don't read him and he runs down the play. But you can't be critical (of Litton, at least) that he doesn't run enough. And you can't be critical of our coaching staff for "trying to fit a square peg (dropback passer) onto a round hole (zone read scheme)." That has not been happening.
Oh, and you can't say read option.
Thank you for letting me get this off my chest.
1. There is no READ OPTION. It is redundant. Think about it. Both words, in essence, mean the same thing. Every Option is a Read. The correct terminology for the scheme is ZONE READ - zone blocking with a QB read. Yes, many football gurus make this mistake. Yes, even some coaches make this mistake. It doesn't mean it isn't still a mistake. Let's up our collective football vocab on here and adopt Zone Read as the acceptable term. Really, you sound at least 10% smarter just saying it.
2. Marshall doesn't run the ZONE READ (formerly known as the Read Option). Most of our running plays are variations of Inside or Outside Zone - handoffs with zone-blocking concepts. There is no read. Contrary to popular belief, we have not been trying to take a dropback QB and force him into a QB-running offense. It also isn't that Litton won't run; it is, instead, that he isn't being asked to run. Marshall's Zone runs are similar to those run by every NFL team. No one is upset that Tom Brady isn't running more. It's because he isn't supposed to. And neither is Litton. At most, we have called just a couple true Zone Reads in any single game. The vast majority of Litton's handoffs are just that - HANDOFFS. He isn't supposed to keep the ball.
Now, you can be upset that we have not been running the ZONE READ, and believe that we should be using our QB's legs as well as his arm. You can be angry like I am, when we have often left the traditional "read" defender unblocked but still don't read him and he runs down the play. But you can't be critical (of Litton, at least) that he doesn't run enough. And you can't be critical of our coaching staff for "trying to fit a square peg (dropback passer) onto a round hole (zone read scheme)." That has not been happening.
Oh, and you can't say read option.
Thank you for letting me get this off my chest.