The Patriots will open up more of their RPO schemes with Stidham

For those that haven't read my article on the Patriots system, go check it out. The Short is the Patriots offensive system is a hybrid of three offenses. The west coast, the air raid, and the spread. Thus the name the "Air West Spread".

As fans of the Patriots know the key features of the Patriots offense is hitting the slot receivers, tight ends, and receiving backs as much as possible; as fast as possible. By hitting quick passes to all three sections (low-med-high) of the field.

The one aspect of the Patriots system not seen too often is having a quarterback with the ability and instincts to pull the ball down and run with it. That's not Tom Brady. Tom was also not the best to throw on the run. While Tom ran the offense almost perfectly, The Patriots playbook was designed for a mobile or dual threat quarterback.

When it came to running RPOs in 2019, the Patriots ranked 29th, only calling them 1.7 percent of all offensive plays.

According to PFF, The Patriots averaged 4.2 yards per rush (tied for 27th) and a 75.0 passer rating (28th) on run-pass options in 2019. Granted the Patriots were dealing with injuries and a slow 42 year old quarterback.

According to CLNS's Evan Lazar, "Stidham’s Auburn offenses ran RPOs on 26.4 percent of his snaps in his two seasons as the starter, with the Pats QB averaging 7.0 yards per attempt, tied for 16th among 33 qualified quarterbacks"

I assure anyone reading this, RPOs have been part of the Patriots playbook but with Brady's lack of Mobility they were not called. 

One of the areas that Stidham needed work on was his release timing. If he cannot get the ball out quicker, the Patriots will not be successful on calling RPOs with him either.

Lazar continued, " Although Stidham doesn’t have elite mobility, he’ll take off if the opportunity presents itself and has similar speed to a Patrick Mahomes or Baker Mayfield, who also run RPOs very effectively.,

The Patriots going forward are not going to be a complete doppelganger of the offenses we have seen with Tom Brady. The Patriots are going to make adjustments and open the playbook up, to make it better suited for Stidham. 

What that means for fans of the Patriots is that, the quarterback may have 400-500 yards rushing a season. It should also mean more gimmicky plays. The classic drop back will be the bread and butter of any team but now the Patriots with Stidham have a mobile quarterback and can start enjoying the main course too.