Colts' Should See Uptick in RPOs with Sam Ehlinger at Quarterback
The Indianapolis Colts kick off the Sam Ehlinger era this weekend against the Washington Commanders. It has been a week of unexpected absurdity, as the team announced that they would be benching 15-year veteran Matt Ryan for the second-year QB for the remainder of the 2022 season.
Ehlinger is a vastly different quarterback than Matt Ryan, and we can expect some changes to come to the offense with a different archetype at QB. One dial that we could see turned up a notch is the use of RPO's. RPO plays are run-pass options designed to give the quarterback an outlet if the defense overcommits against the run.
Under Frank Reich, the Colts' have used RPO's at a slightly above average rate league-wide. This quote below is from Colts.com Writer J.J Stankevitz this past week:
As for RPOs, the Colts ran 43 with Ryan at quarterback, per Pro Football Focus – the 13th-most in the NFL entering Week 8. Last year, the Colts were 15th in the NFL with 101 RPO plays; with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback in 2019, they were 12th with 92 RPOs. Those have always been a part of Reich's offense, and maybe you'll see the dial get turned up a little bit with Ehlinger in at quarterback – but not necessarily to an extreme.
I do agree with Stankevitz that the Colts won't start using RPO's to the extreme with Ehlinger at quarterback, but I do think we will see a steady change to the type of RPO's called.
Matt Ryan's RPO designs were more to slow down front seven defenders that were overcommitting to the run. Carson Wentz's RPO concepts, in 2021, were more designed to use the quarterback's athleticism and quick release to gain easy yards.
With RPO calls being one-read plays, and Ehlinger having a familiarity to the ones used with Carson Wentz in 2021, I believe that we will see a steady rise in these designs for the rest of the 2022 season.
RPOs with Carson Wentz
Since I mentioned the former Colts' quarterback, let's dive into some of his RPO calls from a year ago. These designs weren't anything crazy, but they were far more unique and creative than anything we have seen from the Colts' offense in 2022. Wentz was able to take advantage on these plays in 2021, as his quick feet and his quick release allowed him to get the ball out in a hurry.
Let's first look at a play design that utilized Wentz's athleticism. This play is certainly an RPO call, as you can always tell by the movement of the offensive line. If the line is firing out and run blocking (despite it being a pass play) that usually means that it is an RPO call rather than play-action.
This call uses the Colts' tendencies to run wham out of the gun. Tight end Kylen Granson sells that he is cracking on the backside, but he is really shooting out into the flat. Wentz rolls with his tight end, but he stops and fires back to the slant route over the middle for a short gain.
When I talk about RPO concepts made more for Wentz (and now Ehlinger) than Matt Ryan, this is what I mean. Ryan at his age wouldn't be able to stop on a dime and fit this pass in there off of the play fake.
This next play design showcases the usefulness of RPO calls in general. Linebackers are taught to read the offensive line in front of them to determine pass or run. If the read a run, they crash downhill and fit their gap. RPO's exploit linebackers for doing their job.
In an RPO, the offensive line is run blocking, because there is an option for the ball to be handed off to the running back. This draws the linebackers up, leading to open pass windows behind for quick gains. These plays are especially beneficial to young quarterbacks, like Ehlinger, because they are efficient one-read concepts for quick completions.
Everything that Wentz is doing on this play revolves around the Mike linebacker. If that Mike flows up, Wentz is to pull the ball out and hit Kylen Granson on the glance route behind him. That is exactly what happens here, as Indy is able to gain 15 yards on the play.
The Colts' favorite RPO call is a slant-flat read out of 11 personnel. This play had a ton of success in the past, especially with Jack Doyle as the tight end running the flat route. The call starts off looking like a typical inside zone run, but the WR-TE run a little slant-flat backside against the (likely) man coverage.
The quarterback's read on this play is the safety/linebacker lined up over the tight end and the outside cornerback. If the outside corner is in tight man coverage, the read is to throw that flat route to the outside. If it is zone coverage, the ball could be handed off or it could be squeezed inside to the slant (if the quarterback is feeling daring).
On this play below, Michael Pittman Jr perfectly picks Mo Alie-Cox's defender on the slant-flat, leading to the walk in touchdown.
Wide angle to show the CB-Safety confusion:
Tight angle to show the play fake:
The final clip I want to take a look at is a fun little orbit screen call out of 21 personnel. For people that want to see more of Nyheim Hines and Jonathan Taylor on the field together, this is the perfect example.
Hines goes in motion prior to the play and he is running a little quick screen out to the right. Carson Wentz's job is to read the Will linebacker. If the linebacker runs out with Hines, then he would hand the ball off against a lighter box. If the linebacker stays put, the he would throw the orbit screen against zone coverage.
Wentz flips this pass out wide to Hines for a nice gain on the play.
The Bottom Line
Simplicity is key when dealing with any quarterback, but especially when dealing with a first time starter. Sam Ehlinger will have his work cut out for him this week, but Frank Reich and the Colts' coaching staff can draw up some plays to make life easier for him.
Reich has traditionally been a fan of using RPO's in his playbook, and we should see that increase even more with Ehlinger as the starter. These quick one-read throws can give the young quarterback easy completions and they can allow him to use his quick release and athleticism for efficient purposes.
While it may not be an extreme uptick, as J.J Stankevitz stated, we should see some creative RPO deigns for the Colts against the Washington Commanders.
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