I’m curious how the current RPO’s differ from the triple option used in the 70’s excluding the fact that teams usually have one back vs. the three they used 40 years ago.
We're not leaving anyone unblocked on the DL....
70s wishbone/veer usually left a DT and/or DE unblocked and QB had 3 options depending on how the DT and DE reacted to the RUN.
All three choices ended up
being a running play.
And 70s defenses usually ran ZONE instead of man coverage.....
Rarely, the QB would fake the run and throw it to the TE down the seam....but those plays were usually called in the huddle and were not part of the QBs options.
Keith Jackson of OK back in the 80s earned a career in the NFL by outrunning Safeties who had bit on the run down the seams.
RPOs of today developed as a way to option the reactions of the MIKE ILB and the SS instead of the unblocked DT/DEs.
RPOs also developed as a counter to man under coverage and nickel defenses....
RPOs end up in a run or a pass by design....unlike the triple option in which the 3 options always ended up in a run by design.
If the MIKE and the SS react quickly to the run....the QB pulls the ball and throws the ball to the TE, slot, or WR running into the open area vacated by the SS.
If the MIKE and the SS are slow to react to the run...QB gives the ball...
Sometimes the RPO is designed like the triple option....The QBs first 2 options will be to run the ball....but his 3rd option will be to throw it down the field.
