A Clever Way to Have a 2nd QB Always Ready

[dksez]

How many seasons have been lost because our starting QB got hurt? Dixon, Adams, Herbert, Nix. There are probably others. But how can we get meaningful game reps for a second QB before it becomes an urgent need? Here's how. Stop kicking extra points. Go for two points, almost every time (unless it's late in the game and a single point will make the difference.) Do it with a short yardage team, including the second QB, who specializes in getting just a few yards more than 50% of the time.

It was almost a decade after the NBA added the 3-point line that any teams were built around it. The "two-buck Ducks" could revolutionize football in the same way. And it fits the brand immediately. Lanning has already fielded a special personnel unit for short yardage gains. He just hasn't inserted a second QB into that package. But think about the fits that would give defenses if he did. And, of course, TV commentators would love the innovation. (That helps recruiting!)

As the season progressed, the playbook would expand. The second QB would start with only two-point conversions. Then goal line punch-ins. Then 4th-and-short around midfield. Then short-yardage must-haves anywhere on the field, on 3rd and 4th downs in quick succession. Eventually, wouldn't it be fun to see both QBs on the field at once? No one but the center and the offensive line would know whether the ball is going to the QB calling the count or to the second guy as a wildcat.

Every point-after opportunity is a valuable and meaningful game rep for a second QB, and it can be done without interrupting the flow of our starting QB. Then the assignment to immediately replace the starter becomes less daunting. Instead of going for two yards, they are going for three or four. Over the span of a season (or several seasons), it makes our team more resilient and harder to defend.

[DUCati855]

This is a very interesting idea. I need to ponder on it for awhile. Thanks for posting it.

[woundedknees]

Go back and look at Chip Kelly's Ducks... Those teams kept everyone guessing when it came to PAT situations.

 

Even more so, check out the games when Oregon almost exclusively employed some QB (His name was Nate Costa, for those history buffs among us.) as the holder for PAT situations... It was worth the wait, when he came off the turf with the ball in his hands. 

 

He also had one of the most awesome recoveries on a bad PAT snap many of us have ever seen.

 

"In week 12 of the 2010 season, he was named the Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week. In a game against the Arizona Wildcats, Oregon needed a win to keep their Rose Bowl hopes alive. The Ducks mounted a comeback and scored a touchdown to bring the game within 1 point. The snap on the extra point was bad, but Costa recovered quickly and got the ball placed, allowing Morgan Flint to convert the game-tying kick. The Ducks won in overtime. Costa was the first player to ever win the award solely for his work as a holder."  (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nate_Costa)

 

Had that young man's knees been healthy the season Dixon's own knee buckled, it might have altered Oregon's entire season. Sadly, he was alreay rehabbing.

 

Need I say, electric?

 

He was also a very serviceable backup, when the game dictated the need (Assuming, of course, his knee didn't buckle! That young man was snakebit!).