The Tua Disrespect

[Dave Gray]

The Dolphins don't run nearly as much RPO this year. According to a pff article today, Tua has had 29 RPO plays. He has thrown the ball for 248 times, so even if most of those RPOs are passes, 90% (likely more) of all pass plays are NOT RPOs.

Good to know.

How does one know when a play is RPO or traditionally called?  Can you tell from watching it as a fan?

[Pappy13]

Good to know.

How does one know when a play is RPO or traditionally called?  Can you tell from watching it as a fan?

Well for one thing watch the offensive lineman. If they drop off the line to pass block, it's definitely NOT an RPO because the whole purpose of an RPO is that it's blocked the same way for either as the line doesn't know if it will be a run or a pass at the snap.

[fyo]

Good to know.

How does one know when a play is RPO or traditionally called?  Can you tell from watching it as a fan?

Not necessarily easy, since something like a standard play-action pass can look similar. But if the quarterback turns his back when handing off / faking the handoff, then it's clearly not an RPO since the quarterback isn't READING anything and the decision has already been made beforehand.

I came across a nice article a couple of days ago that covers recognizing RPOs.

https://985thesportshub.com/listicle/what-in-an-rpo-the-offensive-concept-behind-the-latest-buzzword-around-the-patriots/

Here's a snippet, but it continues with more pointers. It's a good article, even if it does mainly concern the Patriots.

it can be tough to distinguish what is or what isn’t an RPO at first watching a play live. It might take a replay or two to figure it out. When trying to do so, there are two key things to look for. If a run play looks like an RPO, watch the receivers. If one or two of them go into a route while everybody else is blocking, and the QB glances to that side of the field before a handoff, that could be a tip it’s an RPO.

[Pappy13]

But if the quarterback turns his back when handing off / faking the handoff, then it's clearly not an RPO since the quarterback isn't READING anything and the decision has already been made beforehand.

Now combine that with what I said. If the offensive line drops into pass blocking setup, it's not an RPO, so that only leaves plays where the offensive line run blocks and the QB doesn't turn his back to the defense while he's performing the hand-off. If both of those things are true, it's a good bet it's an RPO. It could be a run option, but that's not very likely with Tua since he's not a great runner, you see that more with QB's who are very good running backs.