[QUOTE="sixringz1"][QUOTE="sourcerah"] How do you know it won't work with those two athletes? The qb/rb duo's that have tried it in the past were no where as athletic as those two. Can u you name a duo that even comes close? I hope they do sign Vick so he can prove all the haters wrong. People seem to forget how good Vick was. People act like takin 2 years off will diminish his skill completely. It's called skill for a reason. Then people say he's not 25 anymore. WTF?!? The Vikings were just interested in signing a 40+ qb. How can you even bring age into the convo?? Plus, NONE of you know what Vick was doing inside. He could come back stronger and better than before with the only thing lacking is conditioning. That's nothing some suicides and snakes can't fix. Vick was the most athletic qb ever, Peterson could be the bes rb ever when it's all said and done. Some people need to just stop hating. I hope Vick comes back and demolishes your teams in the second half of the season sourcerah
Who's hating? Where in my post did i say anything negative about his ability. You're right there haven't been TWO athletes of that magnitude to run the option, but guess what, on the other end the option has NEVER been run successfuly against ELEVEN elite defensive players which is what every NFL team has. This aint navy, air force, or tommy frazier and the 95 Huskers, this is the NFL. The league where lineman and linebackers are damn near the same speed sideline to sideline as the running backs and, in this case, qb's, especially when you factor in the angles. Horizontal plays of ANY sort don't work in the NFL on a consistant basis unless it's a misdirection (ie., reverses), and that's what the option is. Even though my post quoted yours, it wasn't entirely directed towards you. The parts about his ability was directed at the other nonsense in this thread. Up until now, I would have agreed with you. I also believe that defenses are too strong and fast in the NFL for th option to work. BUT, using this fictitous(sp?) scenario I think that it would work. I think it would actually dominate some of the lesser skilled defenses. Why because Vick can be too fast and Peterson too fast AND strong for some defenses. And you have one sentence in your post which is complete nonsense imo. Every team in the NFL does NOT have 11 elite players on defense. Just look at the team we're talking about, the Minnesota Vikings. How can you possibly believe that there are 11 ELITE players on that team? Are you serious?? And the lineman are NOT the same speed as the RB's. Are you watching the same league on Sundays as everyone esle. Maybe you're getting it confused with the AFL. Horizontals plays HAVEN"T worked in the past. That says NOTHING about the present. And one more thing... Isn't that what they said about the Wildcat formation?? hmmmmmm First point when i said 11 ELITE players on D that was in comparison to college where the option is run. The option is successful for teams in college cause they don't go up against the talent level of the NFL. Therefore even the Bengals look ELITE in comparison. The best team in college football would get beat by 4-5 touchdowns by the Lions. That's what i was referring to.Point 2. I said defensive lineman AND linebackers are damn NEAR the same speed when talking about SIDELINE to SIDELINE. I'm not talking about Albert Haynesworth or Shawn Rodgers, or any other guys in the middle, i'm talking about an end where the play would be made. A defensive end like dwight freeney or jason taylor can get to the end. How many times do you see a running back take a toss get to the sideline and take it to the house? Not very often. Most big runs come from straight up the gut and busting through the second level. It takes too long for a play to develop on the outside with the speed of the Defensive players of today. I'm not talking about running them down the field, i'm talking sideline to sideline. But for your argument, Adrian Peterson's 40 time = 4.35, Shawne Merriman = 4.61. Two of the best at their position. That looks pretty close to me. Certaintly close enough to get the angle and use the sideline as a second defender.
3rd point. Please tell me you aren't nieve enough to buy into the "wildcat" formation (aka the wishbone, aka there's a reason it hasn't been in use for decades). The play was a gimmick that cought people off guard. Do you really think that every defensive coordinator didn't set aside some time this offseason to prepare for that, unlike last year where it caught teams off guard. The Dolphins ran all over the Patriots when they CAUGHT THEM OFF GUARD. What happened the next time they played? Belicheck had time to prepare, the Dolphins had 66 TOTAL RUSHING YARDS and got blasted by 3 touchdowns. It's a gimmick, a fad, a trend, etc. And just like all of those, it will end with preperation.
Finally, you say horizontal plays haven't worked in the past but that doesn't mean they can't work in the present or future. You're right, it's possible. Me buying a lottery ticket hasn't worked in the past either, but that doesn't mean i can't win in the future. Look at college football and look at the prodominate offense used - THE SPREAD OPTION. Teams run and pass up and down the field in college with that offense. If the talent level is so close, why don't teams do that in the pros? Vince Young was the best i'd ever seen running that offense, he gets to Tennessee, Fisher tries to implement that as part of their offense, what happens? IT FAILS MISERABLY. There is TOO MUCH SPEED in the NFL to consistantly run horizontal plays. Now i'm not saying it wouldn't work if they used it as a gadget play 2 or 3 times a game, and have a run or HB pass option(sort of like a reverse, or flea flicker), but it will NEVER succeed as a part of the primary offense. Forget Vick, i don't care if Usain Bolt is running it. One man's speed won't get through a whole defense of similar speed, ESPECIALLY when you eliminate half the field which is what is done when you run the option, A HORIZONTAL PLAY THAT GOES EITHER LEFT OR RIGHT
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