Over the last five years, the “Run-Pass Option” concept has taken over the league. The ability for the quarterback to read the linebackers and then decide to hand the ball off or throw it gives offensives quite the tactical advantage.
If you were to watch any NFL game from the 2019 season, the influence of the RPO offense is everywhere. Nearly every team runs a version of it and it’s because of how difficult it is for defenses to defend. But that doesn’t mean every quarterback is having success doing so.
In a recent article by the Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, he listed the worst NFL quarterbacks for every type of throw in 2019. For example, Kyler Murray of the Cardinals struggled the most with screen passes and Jared Goff had a passer rating of only 82.9 on play-action passes.
Unfortunately, Raiders’ quarterback Derek Carr made an appearance as he was the league’s worst quarterback by passer rating when it came to RPO throws. Take a look at Farrar’s thoughts on Carr last season:
“Last season, no quarterback had a lower passer rating on RPOs than Carr’s 68.3, which was accomplished with 12 completions on 15 attempts for 106 yards, seven air yards, no touchdowns, and one interception.”
It seems very unlikely that the RPO offense/throw will be going away from the Raiders’ offense any time soon. Carr will need to make dramatic improvements here if the team’s offense wants to improve in 2020. And if that happens, he should become a significantly better passer he can get the ball out of his hand quickly and into those of a dynamic weapon such as Darren Waller or Henry Ruggs.
Look for the RPO throw to be a point of emphasis for improvement for Jon Gruden and Derek Carr going into the 2020 season.
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