The Read Option

[mattjames2010]

Does anyone have the numbers on how many times we've used it this season and how effective it's been? I think we used it a few times against the Giants which had some impact.

I'm not a huge fan of that style of offense, but I wonder if this will help settle Dak down a bit early in games and keep the defense on their toes.

Last season, Cam Newton, Mariota, Bortles, and Wentz were in the top 5 when it came to a rushing yards per attempt in the read option.



I would say Dak has similar athletic ability to Mariota, who averaged a little over 10 yards per rushing attempt from the read option.



Obviously, this is not a complete solution to our problems. Dak will still need to do something more with his arm, but we have to work with what we got and Dak isn't providing much. He does have some athletic ability though, so that's one thing going for him.

 

[G2]

I know we hardly used it vs. Seattle. Once in the first half and a couple times in the 2nd. Seems like we used it much more often in the NY. It would help greatly if we had better pass protection.

 

[Dre11]

We run it and had it called in Seattle game, Seattle brought Thomas up to defend I and Dak on one play made the wrong decision. It's easy to defend if you're disciplined. If the DE stays up field it turns into a normal run play, I don't know what the issue, we face this all season long in High School football, it's the number one type of offense ran in our league.

 

[Bluefin]

I think we used it a few times against the Giants which had some impact.

Coaches and players knew going in to the Giants game that Dak Prescott keeping the ball on the read option would be successful because New York isn't assignment sound on defense.

They expected the exact opposite against the Seahawks and were right again.

Obviously, this is not a complete solution to our problems. Dak will still need to do something more with his arm, but we have to work with what we got and Dak isn't providing much.

Correct.

More read option isn't going to be a magic cure-all on offense. It's a good play for our personnel, but Dak's carries will be dictated by the opposing defense. If the weakside edge player bites on the inside hand off action to Ezekiel Elliott, Dak will pull the ball and run to that vacated area.

If the defender stays in his gap, it will look like an ordinary run to most fans with the ball going to Zeke. You have to watch Dak and see if he is reading the unblocked edge defender.

If that player respects the threat of Dak keeping the ball and stays in his gap, it eliminates him from the play without using a blocker. Then Zeke gets the ball and the OL has the numbers advantage on the defense at the point of attack.

 

[glimmerman]

Use it. We have to get something going. Now.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Does anyone have the numbers on how many times we've used it this season and how effective it's been? I think we used it a few times against the Giants which had some impact.

I wonder if we used it so much more against the Giants because they are a 3-4.

 

[cowboyschmps3]

There’s a lot of time’s that he should have kept it and at least ran 10 yards untouched.

 

[Dre11]

I wonder if we used it so much more against the Giants because they are a 3-4.

Or they scouted them as not very good at defending it. Seattle brought the Satey down in the box.

 

[Bluefin]

Anyone can scroll down the twitter feed of Cowboys stats and graphics, there's a tweet that states Dallas called the zone read against Seattle about as much as they did against New York.

The tweet in question is responding to DMN related tweet, so I can't post it here because the DMN tweet will show up.

RT La'el Collins and TE Geoff Swaim both ignore the LDE, leaving him unblocked on purpose.

That is Dak Prescott's read.

The DE stays in his lane guarding against Dak keeping the ball, so Ezekiel Elliott gets the hand off for a nice gain to the left. Dallas has the numbers advantage because the DE is taken out of the play by the threat of Dak keeping the ball on the option.

If that DE bit inside and went after Zeke, Dak would've kept the ball and run to the right into the vacated area for a big gain.

Seattle was assignment sound on defense and respected the threat of Dak keeping the ball on read option plays. Jason Garrett credited some of Zeke's success running the ball to Dak because it helped open things up.

 

[Ken]

Does anyone have the numbers on how many times we've used it this season and how effective it's been? I think we used it a few times against the Giants which had some impact.

I'm not a huge fan of that style of offense, but I wonder if this will help settle Dak down a bit early in games and keep the defense on their toes.

Last season, Cam Newton, Mariota, Bortles, and Wentz were in the top 5 when it came to a rushing yards per attempt in the read option.



I would say Dak has similar athletic ability to Mariota, who averaged a little over 10 yards per rushing attempt from the read option.



Obviously, this is not a complete solution to our problems. Dak will still need to do something more with his arm, but we have to work with what we got and Dak isn't providing much. He does have some athletic ability though, so that's one thing going for him.

He ran it 2 times for about 20 yards against the Hags.

I would also say he is considerably slower than Mariota. I will never forget Marriota's rookie year run...one of the longest runs i have seen from a qb.

 

[Nemesis4u]

Ive been screaming about running this. The Read Option should be our main offense and until people over adjust to it then we throw the ball. The read option should be ran 30 times a game.

 

[gmoney112]

Is this taking into account that most people now get read option confused with RPO?

I cant see Wentz running read options. However, his offense and the one with Foles winning a Super Bowl, are built around RPOs.

 

[Nemesis4u]

Yes RPO should be our overall offense but the READ option should be one of our main plays overall. Maybe they were thinking we were good enough to run a tradiontal offense enough at least to make the playoffs then go into the read option? I doubt this was there thinking but obviously now we need to just stick to the read option and an overall RPO offense. Only time I wanna see the 4-5 wide would be in a 2 minute offense type of situation and even then i want a running back in there almost always as a check down for Dak.

 

[Swanny]

I know I'm in the minority and I know this is WAY OUT there but I would LOVE to see an old triple option offense run with this team. Got a good line for run blocking, Olawale is a good runner from the FB position, Dak can run and good at reading the DE's, and obviously Zeke is Zeke.
Bring back the old wing T and triple option offense. Would be more entertaining to watch than whats currently happening on offense.

 

[okstateCowboy]

He ran it 2 times for about 20 yards against the Hags.

I would also say he is considerably slower than Mariota. I will never forget Marriota's rookie year run...one of the longest runs i have seen from a qb.

The Cowboys play on prime time so much that I’ve never even heard those announcers before. Probably a bunch of announcers that do the c-list games at noon that no one knows about

 

[LocimusPrime]

Anyone can scroll down the twitter feed of Cowboys stats and graphics, there's a tweet that states Dallas called the zone read against Seattle about as much as they did against New York.

The tweet in question is responding to DMN related tweet, so I can't post it here because the DMN tweet will show up.

RT La'el Collins and TE Geoff Swaim both ignore the LDE, leaving him unblocked on purpose.

That is Dak Prescott's read.

The DE stays in his lane guarding against Dak keeping the ball, so Ezekiel Elliott gets the hand off for a nice gain to the left. Dallas has the numbers advantage because the DE is taken out of the play by the threat of Dak keeping the ball on the option.

If that DE bit inside and went after Zeke, Dak would've kept the ball and run to the right into the vacated area for a big gain.

Seattle was assignment sound on defense and respected the threat of Dak keeping the ball on read option plays. Jason Garrett credited some of Zeke's success running the ball to Dak because it helped open things up.

Thanks for the info.