Mike Tomlin isn’t a believer in the read option scheme that has taken the league by storm, and turned the QB position on its head. The two time winning Superbowl coach is anything but sold on the option play, compared to traditional pocket play.
As reported by USA Today Tomlin said the following while at a Tuesday media session for AFC coaches at the NFL Owners’ meeting:
“I think the read-option is the flavor of the month…We’ll see whether it’s the flavor of the year. A few years ago, people were talking wildly about the Wildcat. It’s less of a discussion now.”
“I think there are coaches in rooms preparing themselves to defend it, there are coaches in rooms also preparing to run it. I think it’s going to sort out on the grass.”
Tomlin’s views on the scheme are skeptical at best as the injury risk associated with the read option leave its future very much up in the air. Tomlin continued:
“I always take a skeptical approach,…We’ll see if guys are committed to getting their guys hit, because when you run the read-option, obviously they are runners and there’s something that’s associated with that.”
This is somewhat easy for Tomlin to say, considering the fact that he has one of the premier scrambler QB’s in the game in Ben Roethlisberger, who can execute off the scramble and in the pocket–oh, and the fact he’s got the build of a linebacker helps his case as well.
Is there true validity to Tomlin’s statement, is the read option just the ‘shiny new toy’ of the NFL that will be all the rage for a today then gone tomorrow?