Thursday, August 8, 2013

Packers Now Have Read Option Quarterback Vince Young | Defense Looks To Improve



Vince Young Packers Back Up
In a bizarre, head scratching, and completely unexplainable move, Packers General Manager Ted Thompson signed highly scrutinized over the years, free-agent quarterback Vince Young. This move is the sort of move that Ted Thompson has never made and comes with nothing but a big fat “huh?” However, if you think about it, good old “CIA” Ted did it again.

The read option has quickly become a fad league wide. Many teams such as San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, and Philadelphia are using it as a base concept of their offense. Personally I have never been a big fan of the read option in the NFL, and I do believe it will die out eventually as brilliant defensive minds figure out how to adjust to it. One of those defensive minds, regardless of what you all think, is Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers. The Packers defense has been embarrassing against the run the last couple of years, and back in January, they were torched by San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick via the read option.

When he was at Texas (for one remarkable and historic season,) Vince Young ran the read option better than any quarterback ever has, college or pro. His 467 yards, five touchdowns to no turnovers performance in the 2006 Rose Bowl is considered to be the greatest individual performance in a college football game in history. Now granted, Young didn’t become the quarterback he was projected to be in the NFL, but he does have experience, winning experience, posting a 30-17 record as a starter. However, I do not believe he is here to compete for a backup job, but rather for something else.

Teaching The Packer Defense How To Crush The Read Option

 

A big part of the reason as to why the Packers can’t defend the read option is because they have nobody to practice it against. It’s one thing to put a running back in the shotgun during drills in practice and have him pretend to be a quarterback, it’s another to have a real quarterback back there who knows how to run the read option, and that is exactly what Vince Young can do. Think about it from this angle. The Packers secondary has been one of the leagues best on almost a yearly basis for two decades now. Why is that? Well, for the last 20 years, they have had an elite passer to practice against. First “he whose name will never be spoken,” then second Aaron Rodgers. Now I can’t be 100% certain this is why Thompson signed Young, however, I do believe it is, at the least, the biggest reason.   
           

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