Bobby Petrino on the Pistol in the NFL

[InmanRoshi]

This is a long feature on Bobby Petrino and his new job at Western Kentucky. No doubt he's a first class jerk, but he has some interesting perspective as someone who's straddled the line between traditional Pro Style NFL and the "new school" offenses in college. He was mentored by Chris Ault in the pistol, a former NFL HC, and was Coughlin's offensive coordinator at Jacksonville.

"I didn’t think you’d ever see [the Pistol in the pros]," Petrino says. "Why? Because you’ve got an owner there that says, 'You’re gonna get this guy, this guy I’m paying this much money to, a chance to get hit and get hurt?' That’s why I never thought you’d see it."

It's about how many times you want your quarterback hit. I always thought, well what if you went out and got three guys who did it in college and ran it? Would it be successful? But I tell you what, they did a great job with it in San Francisco

(At Arkansas) He looked at Nevada and wanted to freeze high-caliber SEC defensive ends by forcing them to read rather than attack, thus freeing up the run game, but has concerns about the system long-term because of the situation it places his favorite player, the quarterback, in.

"What I’ve found is that when you run the zone read stuff from the shot or pistol, you’re basically setting your feet in the opposite A gap and not everyone’s as fast as Kaepernick. Not everyone can get out to that edge. As far as that scheme for me, it’s been harder. If you’re stepping towards the back and right, basically you’re going from one A gap to the other. So how much speed you have, what your quickness is, it becomes harder to run that stuff from directly behind.

This is kinda where I see the weaknesses of the Pistol longterm in the NFL. The NFL is a QB driven league, and will always be that way as long as there is a salary cap and QBs are the highest paid player. Your QB takes a tremendous amount of punishment in this offense, to the point where even one of the proponents of the system wonders if a QB can survive a 16 game season in it. It also requires that your QB have a tremendous amount of speed and is able to get around the corner before the pursuit catches up to him. Kaepernick at the moment is a 25 year old thoroughbred who can pull it off, but the margins are slim. Can he pull it off when he's 30 and wear and tear have zapped him of 10+% of his speed/quickness. What if RG3 is a half a step slower after repeated leg injuries.

http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2013/3/5/4062684/bobby-petrino-profile-wku-arkansas-football

 

[AmishGangsta]

Here is another article on the subject - which is basically the other side of the arguement:

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/3/6/4068694/nfl-read-option-offense-defending-rg3-russell-wilson

Should be a great discussion, because the read-option is taking the league by storm. Maybe it's the next "Wildcat", or maybe it's the next "West Coast Offense", who knows.

Thoughts?

 

[burmafrd]

agree you would need 3 QBs of about equal ability to run it. Which is not impossible but then how do you pay them when they are successful?

 

[koolaid]

Here is another article on the subject - which is basically the other side of the arguement:

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/3/6/4068694/nfl-read-option-offense-defending-rg3-russell-wilson

Should be a great discussion, because the read-option is taking the league by storm. Maybe it's the next "Wildcat", or maybe it's the next "West Coast Offense", who knows.

Thoughts?

wow that quote from chan gailey was spot on!

 

[Muhast]

I agree, it is not a sustainable offense to me. Players break down with age. RG3 can't run that offense for 15 years like Brady or a Manning could run the same scheme.

You are putting your QB on a path of taking more and more hits as their career goes on.

So either your cycling through QB's every 5-7 years in order to keep fresh healthy legs, or your toning it back as he gets older. Either way it's not an offense your sustaining.

 

[slaga]

agree you would need 3 QBs of about equal ability to run it. Which is not impossible but then how do you pay them when they are successful?

With the Rookie pay scale, they are fairly replaceable, especially and 2 or 3 rounder. You keep recycling them until you have a chance at your franchise QB, which you do not use the option with very often, if ever. I guess I am saying you pay them a rookie's salary.