BustedKnuckles
Footballguy
Falcons Utilizing Option Reads --
Sat Sep 23, 2006 --from FFMastermind.com
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports the Falcons are using the option with great success. Atlanta's new wrinkle has helped the NFL's top rushing offense becoming even scarier on the ground, churning out 558 total yards in season-opening victories over Carolina and Tampa Bay. "It's exciting, especially as something new, like what we showed," OC Greg Knapp said. "When you first teach it and the players are learning it, they're trying to figure out, 'Where are they going with this?' To see it come to fruition like it did is a confidence booster for everybody. It's like, 'Yeah, this is an element to our offense the other team doesn't know about as much.'" What Knapp stresses is that the option is an element to the offense, not the basis of it. Films of the Falcons' victories showed Atlanta ran the option eight times — twice at Carolina, six times against Tampa Bay. The premise of the concept is that QB Michael Vick takes the snap 5-7 yards behind the center out of the shotgun formation. He puts the ball in the gut of RB Warrick Dunn or RB Jerious Norwood and gives it to the running back if the unblocked defensive end doesn't collapse into a hole being created by the offensive line. If Vick sees the defensive end crash inside to tackle Dunn or Norwood, he pulls the ball out and dashes to the opening created on the edge by the defensive end's reaction. Most of the yards gained by Dunn and Vick, the team's leading rushers, have come on designed runs or Vick pulling it down on pass plays. The twist to what Knapp said is a negative connotation to the term "option," is that Atlanta runs it out of the shotgun formation, not out of the I, wishbone or split-backs veer. That alleviates the pounding a quarterback takes, Knapp said. During some down time at the end of last season, Knapp said he watched the Sugar Bowl between West Virginia and Georgia. West Virginia ran a spread offense that included a heavy dose of option reads out of the shotgun that had Georgia undone. Knapp, who came under fire last season for his play calling and usage of Vick, then called on his fellow offensive coaches to do more research on other college teams that ran similar systems. They watched tape of Missouri, Ohio State, Texas and Florida, then called coaches there. Florida's staff met with the Falcons this summer, and ideas were exchanged.
Sat Sep 23, 2006 --from FFMastermind.com
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports the Falcons are using the option with great success. Atlanta's new wrinkle has helped the NFL's top rushing offense becoming even scarier on the ground, churning out 558 total yards in season-opening victories over Carolina and Tampa Bay. "It's exciting, especially as something new, like what we showed," OC Greg Knapp said. "When you first teach it and the players are learning it, they're trying to figure out, 'Where are they going with this?' To see it come to fruition like it did is a confidence booster for everybody. It's like, 'Yeah, this is an element to our offense the other team doesn't know about as much.'" What Knapp stresses is that the option is an element to the offense, not the basis of it. Films of the Falcons' victories showed Atlanta ran the option eight times — twice at Carolina, six times against Tampa Bay. The premise of the concept is that QB Michael Vick takes the snap 5-7 yards behind the center out of the shotgun formation. He puts the ball in the gut of RB Warrick Dunn or RB Jerious Norwood and gives it to the running back if the unblocked defensive end doesn't collapse into a hole being created by the offensive line. If Vick sees the defensive end crash inside to tackle Dunn or Norwood, he pulls the ball out and dashes to the opening created on the edge by the defensive end's reaction. Most of the yards gained by Dunn and Vick, the team's leading rushers, have come on designed runs or Vick pulling it down on pass plays. The twist to what Knapp said is a negative connotation to the term "option," is that Atlanta runs it out of the shotgun formation, not out of the I, wishbone or split-backs veer. That alleviates the pounding a quarterback takes, Knapp said. During some down time at the end of last season, Knapp said he watched the Sugar Bowl between West Virginia and Georgia. West Virginia ran a spread offense that included a heavy dose of option reads out of the shotgun that had Georgia undone. Knapp, who came under fire last season for his play calling and usage of Vick, then called on his fellow offensive coaches to do more research on other college teams that ran similar systems. They watched tape of Missouri, Ohio State, Texas and Florida, then called coaches there. Florida's staff met with the Falcons this summer, and ideas were exchanged.
