NFL teams don’t run option because, it puts the star QB at risk.
NFL teams don’t run option because, like Keasley said, it requires a ton of reps. Teams don’t want to dedicate 20-30 percent of starting QB practice reps to something that can get him hurt.
Milroe has plenty of time to practice this with the twos, and he isn’t the star QB we worry about getting hurt.
Milroe needs some game speed reps, even if he is redshirted. Using him in a low risk, low reward playcall, that may setup something better, later in the game or season, is exactly how you bring the young one along.
A pitch out being just far enough behind the RB that he can get a hand on it, and keep it in bounds, but not close enough that he can control it, is about as fluky as a interception of a helmet bounce.
At that point in the game, the offense wasn’t really in a rhythm, having generated a missed FG, and a punt.
Darnold wasn’t in the middle of his five TD stretch.
Seattle was down 6 nothing, having held TB to two field goals and a punt. TB defense was looking the same. Neither offense was breaking out. It was shaping up to be a low scoring, bend but don’t break defensive battle.
In retrospect, they should have left the ball in Darnolds hands. Had we known it was going to be a shootout, we wouldn’t be looking at plays to open up a stifling defense.
Unfortunately, while the game can only be understood retroactively, it has to be played contemporaneously. Based on the info we had at the time, it wasn’t a bad call. It was just a fluke.
