RPO vs Play-Action
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Rupert Patrick
- Posts: 1746
- Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:53 pm
- Location: Upstate SC
RPO vs Play-Action
I've been hearing the term RPO (Run Pass Option) a lot during the second half of this season. Is it a fancy new term for Play-Action? Are they one and the same?
"Every time you lose, you die a little bit. You die inside. Not all your organs, maybe just your liver." - George Allen
Re: RPO vs Play-Action
No. Though probably a lot of the time you hear it it's just announcers trying to sound like they know what's going on but it's really just an actual called pass play (with the fake handoff).
Actual RPO has the option to hand it off or to throw it. Ergo run-pass-option.
Different from plays where it's 100% a pass play and you're running 'play-action'.
Naturally announcers now just say "RPO" everytime even when there is NO run option because it's a called pass play and not an RPO. Similar to when "3-technique" was the new popular term for announcers even though it wasn't a new term in football and same then, many just said it to say it and really didn't apply it correctly.
Actual RPO has the option to hand it off or to throw it. Ergo run-pass-option.
Different from plays where it's 100% a pass play and you're running 'play-action'.
Naturally announcers now just say "RPO" everytime even when there is NO run option because it's a called pass play and not an RPO. Similar to when "3-technique" was the new popular term for announcers even though it wasn't a new term in football and same then, many just said it to say it and really didn't apply it correctly.
Re: RPO vs Play-Action
During the college season I went on a rant about the announcers use of "RPO" in a group page with my teammates from college.
Found the post from a couple months ago, copy/pasting here since it appears of interest (note: we were talking while games were on-going so some of it is in direct response to what an announcer had just said):
"I like how announcers just throw out "RPO" a million times a game now to sound smart or like they're paying attention to the game they're calling. A zone-read with no receiving options is just a zone-read, it's not a RPO. Basic play-action pass where you can see from the line splits as well as the OL pass blocking that it isn't a run isn't a RPO, it's a play-action pass. Basic handoff out of shotgun with no receiving options isn't an RPO, it's a handoff.
Stop saying RPO a million times a game unless it's an actual RPO!
Also, stop acting like it's new. You can watch old Mike Price Washington State Cougars games and see built-in inside zone/bubble screens."
---next comment
"Predictable. The QB just fumbled on a zone-read and during the replay of it the announcer says, "you have an RPO, read-option play here" ... Wow! There's no pass option so it's not a RPO! It's just a zone-read. Also it was a zone-read and not a read option! There was no option! It was a one-read zone-read, basic as it gets. Where is the pitch man (option in read-option) and where is the pass option in run-pass-option? No where! Because it was a zone-read!"
---next comment
"It's getting ridiculous. Today we've seen sweeps called "read-options" when it was just a sweep! Had power called a "zone-read" when there was no read, no zone blocking or anything close to that, it was power. We had a play-action pass (from under center!) called a RPO with no actual run option, just your everyday pap. And an inside zone called "read-option" when it was just a handoff with no read as well as no option man.
What is going on here? These things aren't new nor are they difficult concepts to understand. What's next, an end around being called a reverse? Oh, that's only been happening our entire lifetimes."
---next comment and later when we came back to the same comment section during bowl games.
"What's crazy to me is that since the first few decades of the NFL there arguably hasn't been an era where so much is the same between college and pro. It's makes for a more stale sport and is a reason why the quality at both levels is arguably the worst it's even been in our lifetimes (just a reason, the rules are the main problem as we all agree) BUT there is still more going on than EVERY play being a "read-option" or a "RPO".
It's ridiculous. It should be the easiest it's ever been in the TV era to be a college football or NFL announcer. High School -and part of the reason I say it's currently the best (or at least most interesting) level of the sport- is where announcers actually have to do any work because one week you could have Wing-T v. Spread and the next you could have double wing v. power I or even wing-t v. wing-t but looks like two different offenses because each runs their own version. Not to mention numerous defensive schemes.
These two games today have been crazy, we've heard "RPO" possibly a 100 times in the last few hours and one of the 4-teams that played so far today was Navy! What the hell?!
It's worse than when you heard "3-tech" and "5-tech" a million times a game, even though they'd say "3-tech" over and over and the guy wouldn't be playing a 3-technique.
Or how everytime a defense is in cover-2 the announcers say "Tampa 2" when it isn't Tampa 2! It was just cover-2!"
Found the post from a couple months ago, copy/pasting here since it appears of interest (note: we were talking while games were on-going so some of it is in direct response to what an announcer had just said):
"I like how announcers just throw out "RPO" a million times a game now to sound smart or like they're paying attention to the game they're calling. A zone-read with no receiving options is just a zone-read, it's not a RPO. Basic play-action pass where you can see from the line splits as well as the OL pass blocking that it isn't a run isn't a RPO, it's a play-action pass. Basic handoff out of shotgun with no receiving options isn't an RPO, it's a handoff.
Stop saying RPO a million times a game unless it's an actual RPO!
Also, stop acting like it's new. You can watch old Mike Price Washington State Cougars games and see built-in inside zone/bubble screens."
---next comment
"Predictable. The QB just fumbled on a zone-read and during the replay of it the announcer says, "you have an RPO, read-option play here" ... Wow! There's no pass option so it's not a RPO! It's just a zone-read. Also it was a zone-read and not a read option! There was no option! It was a one-read zone-read, basic as it gets. Where is the pitch man (option in read-option) and where is the pass option in run-pass-option? No where! Because it was a zone-read!"
---next comment
"It's getting ridiculous. Today we've seen sweeps called "read-options" when it was just a sweep! Had power called a "zone-read" when there was no read, no zone blocking or anything close to that, it was power. We had a play-action pass (from under center!) called a RPO with no actual run option, just your everyday pap. And an inside zone called "read-option" when it was just a handoff with no read as well as no option man.
What is going on here? These things aren't new nor are they difficult concepts to understand. What's next, an end around being called a reverse? Oh, that's only been happening our entire lifetimes."
---next comment and later when we came back to the same comment section during bowl games.
"What's crazy to me is that since the first few decades of the NFL there arguably hasn't been an era where so much is the same between college and pro. It's makes for a more stale sport and is a reason why the quality at both levels is arguably the worst it's even been in our lifetimes (just a reason, the rules are the main problem as we all agree) BUT there is still more going on than EVERY play being a "read-option" or a "RPO".
It's ridiculous. It should be the easiest it's ever been in the TV era to be a college football or NFL announcer. High School -and part of the reason I say it's currently the best (or at least most interesting) level of the sport- is where announcers actually have to do any work because one week you could have Wing-T v. Spread and the next you could have double wing v. power I or even wing-t v. wing-t but looks like two different offenses because each runs their own version. Not to mention numerous defensive schemes.
These two games today have been crazy, we've heard "RPO" possibly a 100 times in the last few hours and one of the 4-teams that played so far today was Navy! What the hell?!
It's worse than when you heard "3-tech" and "5-tech" a million times a game, even though they'd say "3-tech" over and over and the guy wouldn't be playing a 3-technique.
Or how everytime a defense is in cover-2 the announcers say "Tampa 2" when it isn't Tampa 2! It was just cover-2!"