Read Option Ready for the Super Bowl

By Henry Gula

In early November of 2011, then Denver Broncos starting quarterback Tim Tebow began doing something that nobody in the NFL had ever done before. 

Instead of taking the snap, dropping back into the "pocket" created by the offensive line, and searching for an open receiver, he took the snap with the intention of running up the middle, the way a power running back would. 

It not only incorporated the quarterback as a runner, but had plays specifically designed to allow the quarterback the "option" to run, say left, and pitch the ball out to a running back further to his left if he "read" that there was an opening for his teammate. 

The "read-option" offense, long a staple of the college game, had arrived in the NFL. 

"You have the option to run or pass, and the read-option running plays cause aggressive defenses to become slower," wrote Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun. "Teams are running more pre-snap motion with it and the offense is tailor-made for a quarterback who is athletic, instead of merely an athletic quarterback."

Tebow and the Broncos made the playoffs last year. This year, three quarterbacks operating under this scheme made it. Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks, Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins, and of course, Colin Kaepernick of the Bay's own San Francisco 49ers. 

The 49ers incorporated the read-option system into the "pistol" offense, which has been in use for a few years in the NFL. 

The pistol is a combination of the traditional shotgun and single-back formation where the quarterback lines up three to four yards behind the center and the running back is three or four yards behind the quarterback.

Kaepernick and the 49ers will look to continue their tremendous success with the pistol offense against the Baltimore Ravens in this weekend's Super Bowl. 

"I think everybody saw what he did last year," Kaepernick said of Tebow at Sunday night's news conference after the 49ers arrived in New Orleans from San Francisco. "I was confident before I saw what he was doing. At the same time, that was also another opening for me. To be able to use another tool to help me on the field."

CBS analyst Shannon Sharpe said, "Until these defensive coordinators find a way to take this particular element away, you're going to see more and more guys come into the league that can do this and teams are going to incorporate that into their offense."

There is no better sign that a new era has come to the NFL. The days of the Mannings and Bradys as strict pocket passers is coming to an end. The new generation of more dynamic and athletic quarterbacks has arrived. 

Henry Gula is a sophomore communication major.