Keep Your QB Healthy

Very interesting reading from Gary Danielson on the spread option, especially this on the reality of having a good, healthy running QB:

I think the cog that makes the offense go is a running quarterback. The spread without a running quarterback really is pretty easy to defend, and if you don't have that guy operating at pretty near peak performance, teams can throw that offense off-balance and you see it all over college football. When Oregon lost their guy they had nothing. When West Virginia got Pat White nicked they lost both games. When Florida got Tebow nicked they lost the game. That's why Florida had a perfect scenario last year. When you run the spread offense, it's not a bad break when your quarterback gets hurt; it's inevitable. It's like having two running backs: you must have two tailbacks to play these 12-game seasons nowadays, I think we've seen all the major colleges go to this. The next wave with spread offense is you'll have to have two quarterbacks be ready.

Thanks to Paul WesterDawg for the link