How the Colts' Offense Could Change with Sam Ehlinger: Film Room
The Indianapolis Colts have a new starting quarterback, as Head Coach Frank Reich announced the decision to bench veteran Matt Ryan during Monday's press conference. The new starter going forward will be second-year QB Sam Ehlinger.
Ehlinger is a drastically different quarterback than Matt Ryan. Ryan has always been a traditional pocket passer, whereas Ehlinger fits the new age version of an NFL quarterback (outside of having a rocket arm). With the stark differences in style, could the Colts' offense undergo a bit of a philosophy change for the rest of 2022?
In today's article, I dive into some new wrinkles we could see in the Colts' offense and how these new wrinkles could lead to some more efficiency.
More RPO's
The biggest change that we are certainly going to see with this offense is an uptick in RPO's (run-pass options). Frank Reich has worked with three mobile quarterbacks in his time in Indy (Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett, and Carson Wentz), and he installed heavy RPO gameplans with each passer.
A heavy use of RPO's could do wonders for a quarterback like Ehlinger, as these plays are one-read throws designed to get the ball out quick. These types of play designs would simplify the game for the young quarterback, while also allowing him to use his athleticism to freeze defenders at the second level (as this adds a threat of him running).
The team was quite effective on RPO designs last season with Carson Wentz at the helm. Wentz was quick to pull the trigger on these plays, and they were an efficient way to start drives with easy yards. If I had to bet on any play design/type seeing a heavy uptick in usage with this QB move, it is RPO calls.
Designed QB Runs
This next section is more of a personal wish than a prediction. We have seen a recent rise around the NFL in teams utilizing their quarterbacks in the run game. It may not be as prevalent as it was back in the read-option days of Robert Griffin III with Washington, but it is certainly a trend around the league.
Let's look at two quarterbacks that have benefited from designed QB runs in recent seasons. The first that we are going to look at is Baltimore Ravens' backup QB Tyler Huntley, a player that was thrown into a similar situation as Ehlinger in 2021. Huntley started four games for the Ravens in 2021, and he helped keep that team in playoff contention until the end of the season.
The Ravens' coaching staff made life as easy as possible for their backup quarterback, as they mixed in plenty of QB runs and options to keep defenses guessing. While Ehlinger isn't near the athlete that Huntley is, these are play designs that he could excel at:
The other quarterback that I wanted to look at is New York Giants' starter Daniel Jones. Jones has been a revelation this season, as his Giants have jumped out to a 6-1 record through seven weeks. The most fascinating part is how Jones has been used. He has 58 rushes in seven games, which is among the highest of all quarterbacks league-wide.
Looking at his game against the Jaguars last week, it is easy to see Ehlinger in a role like this. Jones is not a world class athlete, but he is big and fast enough to get positive yards on these runs. Ehlinger could easily accomplish something similar (in terms of rushing yardage) if he were used in a similar way.
Broken/Extended Plays
This last point has absolutely nothing to do with coaching. The Colts' offense will have more broken/extended plays with a player like Ehlinger in as the starter over Matt Ryan. Matt Ryan did some good things this season, but he was hardly able to create outside of the pocket. With Ehlinger, the Colts have a player that could create big moments when all looks lost in the face of pressure.
There isn't much of a sample size with Ehlinger at the moment, but we did see a glimpse of this potential in the preseason. When the pocket fell apart, Ehlinger was able to extend plays and make things happen. That simply was never going to happen with an aging Matt Ryan.
With the Colts' massive issues at offensive line, Ehlinger gives this offense a better fighting chance at making magic in the face of pressure than Matt Ryan does.
The Bottom Line
The Indianapolis Colts' offense is going to look quite different with Sam Ehlinger as the starter going forward. Will it be better than it was with Matt Ryan? That is hard to tell at the moment, but it certainly can't get much worse.
With Ehlinger, the Colts are banking on mobility (and a little bit of magic). He can simply do more with the ball in his hands, and that is desperately needed with how terrible this offensive line is at the moment. Here is to hoping that Ehlinger becomes this team's savior on offense.
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