Do the Skins keep the read option with RG3 or scrap it?

[bradboyd80]

RG3 needs to learn the baseball slide. Simple as that. Has nothing to do with playcalling. The Ngata hit was definitely a fluke, but he's still got to limit the potential for injuries. Sliding would reduce his vulnerability. Forget the extra couple of yards and live to play another down.

[PigskinPhat]

Read option or not, he was hit by 2 linebackers past the line of scrimmage while he was running.

[DraftChrisLong]

RG3 needs to learn the baseball slide. Simple as that. Has nothing to do with playcalling. The Ngata hit was definitely a fluke, but he's still got to limit the potential for injuries. Sliding would reduce his vulnerability. Forget the extra couple of yards and live to play another down.

this.

The read option makes AlMo and the receivers a threat. We don't have any explosiveness without it. Offense will need to be tweaked a little more, guys will have to be better at protecting and holding your blocks downfield, and most of all RG3 will have to learn to get out of bounds or slide when necessary

[Gibbit]

RG3 needs to learn the baseball slide. Simple as that. Has nothing to do with playcalling. The Ngata hit was definitely a fluke, but he's still got to limit the potential for injuries. Sliding would reduce his vulnerability. Forget the extra couple of yards and live to play another down.

he just needs to get down before guys are right on top of him. Seen many times he does try to slide but a guy is already two feet away from him laying out for the hit and to make it worse....it wont draw a flag. Dont let them get close

Yeah though, his "slides" this year usually result in him rolling and flipping around alot, exposing limbs to freak hits.

[ADF]

I'm glad that people get it. It's not really about the read option. It's about Robert Griffin protecting himself. On both of his injuries (Falcons and Ravens) he had plenty of time to get out of bounds and avoid contact. He didn't and is dealing with the consequences. It won't matter what play you call if the QB doesn't protect himself. There is already an inherent danger playing the QB position. He's actually more vulnerable in the pocket. He's safer when he becomes a runner since he should be more aware of the folks around him and be able to protect himself by going out of bounds or sliding. He made two horrible decisions by cutting back into the middle of the field and sliding late.

The only play call that I hate when it comes to putting Robert in danger is the triple option. That does nothing but amount to a free hit on the QB.

[VeroViper]

I realize he was not hurt on a read option play this year. However, it's all about how many times he is exposed to possible injury. I think the key is to cut his runs down in general. I don't think we should do away with the read option altogether. I don't think it should be such a big staple of our offense anymore though. If his ACL is torn again he can ill afford another one to that same knee. You don't want to walk on eggshells. But I think we should make a concerted effort going forward to reduce his exposure to contact and ugly hits. It's just a damn shame this happened in year 1 of his career.

[clskinsfan]

None of the injuries came on the read option.

Concussion and Ngata hit were on scrambles when the play broke down.

Two knee re-aggrivations against Seattle were non-contact.

That may be true. But I dont think running RG3 in the option is going to be a smart move next season.

[rdavis2005]

Our offense doesn't need the read option to be explosive. We looked just fine against Cleveland who had a pretty good defense. In fact outside of the second qtr of the first Dallas game it was the best I seen the passing offense this year.

[clskinsfan]

I realize he was not hurt on a read option play this year. However, it's all about how many times he is exposed to possible injury. I think the key is to cut his runs down in general. I don't think we should do away with the read option altogether. I don't think it should be such a big staple of our offense anymore though. If his ACL is torn again he can ill afford another one to that same knee. You don't want to walk on eggshells. But I think we should make a concerted effort going forward to reduce his exposure to contact and ugly hits. It's just a damn shame this happened in year 1 of his career.

Its a damn shame it happened at all. But I agree with your post.

[zskins]

RG3 needs to learn the baseball slide. Simple as that. Has nothing to do with playcalling. The Ngata hit was definitely a fluke, but he's still got to limit the potential for injuries. Sliding would reduce his vulnerability. Forget the extra couple of yards and live to play another down.

Is it time to bring Jim Zorn back with his slide?

[HeluCopter29]

He needs to be willing to never cut it back inside or try and bounce it outside. I'm ok with him running it because it's good for 4 yards basically everytime, keeps the defense on edge, and has the potential for a big play with the wheels that he has.

But he has to be willing to "take what the defense gives" because otherwise it's not at all worth it with the type of punishment he can take from it. He has gotten better at this, but there were hits he took in the Seattle (early part) and Dallas game that were viscous and only got us a couple extra yards because he tried to play like a RB. If he can't do that 100% of the time, then scrap it.

Also, he needs to work on his slide technique. It's kinda awkward.

[TimFolk]

Yes... switch to the Denver look and formation.

[MadMonkey]

Read option or not, he was hit by 2 linebackers past the line of scrimmage while he was running.

And failed to protect himself!

[ADF]

I'm okay with them scrapping the read option. That would be perfectly fine by me. Robert Griffin can run the same offense that Kirk Cousins ran vs the Browns. Cousins wasn't out there taking five or seven step drops from directly under center and passing. They either ran the ball or passed off of play action. That's exactly what they do with Griffin when he's directly under center and he was good at it. People marveled at how well he sold the play action fakes and some of our biggest plays came off of it. He also seemed to be more adept at drawing defenders off sides while under center. I wish they did more of it this past season.

Unfortunately, all that won't solve the issue. If Griffin hadn't run a single read option this season we'd still be in the current situation. They guy simply has to learn to protect himself 100% of the time. He got a lot better at it after the Falcons game but it only takes one slip up and he's done.

[ZRagone]

Read option or not, he was hit by 2 linebackers past the line of scrimmage while he was running.

So since you were so gung ho on removing the read option and playing a "traditional offense", I take it you now believe that we should just tell Griffin he's not allowed to scramble if the offensive line breaks down?