Coaches Corner: What you can expect to see with the Dolphins RPO focus this season.

[DOLFANMIKE]

This is a breakdown of the RPO by one of the best RPO coaches in football at the Nike Coach of the Year clinic that I've attended almost every year for 32 years.

Alabama’s RPOs with Steve Sarkisian – Univ. of Texas

Helping coaches learn, prepare, and excel

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As big as Alabama is they could easily load the box themselves and just maul defenses up and down the field, but they understand the importance of attacking space and taking advantage of leverage and numbers when you have it. These simple RPO’s are just that, simple! They make it easy on a QB as he has to get a pre-snap read of the numbers in the box, depth of corners, and alignment of apex defenders. Majority of the time, Bama is facing a loaded box which makes it an easy decision for Jones to hit the perimeter with the pass option. This is a great lesson for the rest of us high school and youth football coaches. Even the best team in the nation with a great coaching staff keeps it simple and doesn’t over complicate the offense.

Alabama RPO

RPO = RUN PASS OPTION. Pre snap RPO’s are different than the common post-snap RPO’s where the QB will either give the ball to the back, or throw the football based on the given conflict player. In a pre snap RPO, the QB is going to decide to either throw the ball to one of his receivers, or give the ball to the back based on the look that he gets before the ball is snapped. In a pre-snap RPO, there is no “mesh point” between the QB and the RB like there is in the post-snap RPO’s. Alabama utilized some simple pre-snap RPO plays early against Notre Dame in the semifinal game. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

You will notice that the RPO doesn't require the QB to run the ball. The RPO is either an RB run or a pass to a WR/TE.



















All of this stuff can easily be googled all over the net. The commentary you see is from the sites that had the video support.
All of it is 100% reliable in terms of what the RPO is at Alabama and all those that copy them.

If you want to know all the read breakdowns and rules/responsibilities ... here you go:

The 2020 Crimson Tide Offense by Spread-N-Shred | CoachTube

The Alabama 2020 Offense has been absolutely amazing. No one can argue that they have some Elite Talent at several key positions, but they are also able t...

coachtube.com

 

[danstilldaman]

That's good stuff there man I appreciate you sharing. Hell stuff like this needs to be sticky noted, because over this entire season there was a s*** ton of people on this forum, mostly not the regulars that don't understand RPO concepts.

 

[dolfan91]

Hopefully more running room for the RB's?

 

[DOLFANMIKE]

That's good stuff there man I appreciate you sharing. Hell stuff like this needs to be sticky noted, because over this entire season there was a s*** ton of people on this forum, mostly not the regulars that don't understand RPO concepts.

Yeah I understand that based on some of the comments. I've gone to a lot of RPO coaching clinics although I've never ran the full system like Alabama does. The biggest misconception about RPO is that the Run pass option involves the QB running the football. While some schemes do that, most of the RPO's are based on the RB carrying the ball if they go with the run read.

 

[danstilldaman]

Yeah I understand that based on some of the comments. I've gone to a lot of RPO coaching clinics although I've never ran the full system like Alabama does. The biggest misconception about RPO is that the Run pass option involves the QB running the football. While some schemes do that, most of the RPO's are based on the RB carrying the ball if they go with the run read.

Yeah I haven't ran a full RPO system like Alabama either, but I have as well been to a lot of clinics, and I've seen a lot of good coaches talk as well. Not as long as you though only since 2005, but you're absolutely correct with a lot of misconceptions when it comes to RPO

 

[danstilldaman]

And also on a side note Dolfanmike it is crazy to me when you look at some of these threads that are 20 plus pages long with people arguing opinion. But when it comes to an actual analysis breakdown for the most part a lot of crickets. I'm definitely not trying to derail this thread to make it all about Tua, however it blows me away considering his ability in the RPO system, it's been the best that I've ever seen hands down.

 

[Avalanche of Wins]

I recall us getting nailed at least twice by by linemen getting too far up the field on RPO's. Apparently there is a difference between college and the pros in how far downfield the linemen can be if they choose the pass option.

 

[danstilldaman]

I recall us getting nailed at least twice by by linemen getting too far up the field on RPO's. Apparently there is a difference between college and the pros in how far downfield the linemen can be if they choose the pass option.

You are absolutely correct, there's definitely a huge difference between 3 yards and 1 yard and it does effect the RPO game from college to the NFL.

 

[mwestberry]

To me the clips look like a version of the play action pass. Seems like the real threat to opposing D's is a mobile Qb ... the threat of either the Qb OR Rb running the bal AND the threat of the passing game rolled into one play ...

Why is a fake to the Rb and a pass to the receiver a RPO instead of a play action pass?

Wouldn't a team need the run game to already be a threat before this is effective?

Isn't a running/mobile Qb the key to RPO's? Because the Qb is the only skill player that's not usually "covered"?

Just curious ... would love to know someone's take on my comments/questions

 

[SCOTTY]

To me the clips look like a version of the play action pass. Seems like the real threat to opposing D's is a mobile Qb ... the threat of either the Qb OR Rb running the bal AND the threat of the passing game rolled into one play ...

Why is a fake to the Rb and a pass to the receiver a RPO instead of a play action pass?

Wouldn't a team need the run game to already be a threat before this is effective?

Isn't a running/mobile Qb the key to RPO's? Because the Qb is the only skill player that's not usually "covered"?

Just curious ... would love to know someone's take on my comments/questions

A quick high level response. Play action is a designed pass from the start. Handing off to RB is not actually an option on PA.
RPO the QB is reading a particular defender. If he doesn't crash the box the numbers are there for the RB to take hand off. If the defender crashes the box, the numbers are there for the QB to pass. The defense determines what the QB does. Also, in RPO the QB does not run the ball anymore than any other play. Only if the play breaks down.

 

[Mach2]

To me the clips look like a version of the play action pass. Seems like the real threat to opposing D's is a mobile Qb ... the threat of either the Qb OR Rb running the bal AND the threat of the passing game rolled into one play ...

Why is a fake to the Rb and a pass to the receiver a RPO instead of a play action pass?

Wouldn't a team need the run game to already be a threat before this is effective?

Isn't a running/mobile Qb the key to RPO's? Because the Qb is the only skill player that's not usually "covered"?

Just curious ... would love to know someone's take on my comments/questions

Love ya brother, but it was very thoroughly covered in the homework material provided.

 

[gregorygrant83]

To me the clips look like a version of the play action pass. Seems like the real threat to opposing D's is a mobile Qb ... the threat of either the Qb OR Rb running the bal AND the threat of the passing game rolled into one play ...

Why is a fake to the Rb and a pass to the receiver a RPO instead of a play action pass?

Wouldn't a team need the run game to already be a threat before this is effective?

Isn't a running/mobile Qb the key to RPO's? Because the Qb is the only skill player that's not usually "covered"?

Just curious ... would love to know someone's take on my comments/questions

In a nutshell, a play action pass is 100% a pass play. You run a similar action as a run play, but you fake the hand off and pass the ball. A RPO is a play that is designed so the qb has the option on the play to either hand the ball off to the back or pass the ball. The decision to hand the ball off or pass the ball is based on reads made by the qb after the snap. So on a RPO the qb has options after the snap, on a play action pass it's just a pass play that is designed to look like a run.

 

[mwestberry]

Love ya brother, but it was very thoroughly covered in the homework material provided.

sorry to come off as dense... I must have overlooked the part that explained my questions.... or it didn't register ... either way I appreciate the knowledge/feedback

 

[Mach2]

I guess a simplified example between PA v RPO would be intent.

With PA, the intent is to "freeze" a defender by obfuscating his "key" read.

With RPO, the intent is to force a defender to make a choice, and cede coverage of one or the other options.

The thing about RPO, since it is a post snap decision, is that by necessity the linemen are run blocking regardless, which dictates that any pass option is executed almost immediately. Even moreso at the NFL level, for the reason already mentioned.

RPO is about hat on hat counts, influencing defenders, and the QB getting the ball out quickly.

 

[Fin Thirteen]

One thing that bugs me massively in RPO is where the RB/QB interaction is not sold properly. A well faked handoff or faked " rollout and throw" only has to fool one defensive player for one second for it to hugely impact the success of the play.

You're talking about nothing more than getting a D player on his heels or breaking down or taking a step in the wrong direction to create the necessary soft spot for a play.

The amount of scheming OCs do to try to generate the same thing is crazy. And yet you see RPO/PA plays all the time where the QB and RB give minimal effort to faking the play. It's such an easy fix too..