Darrelle Revis Predicted the Future: Vick/Johnson Using Read-Option

During the 2011 season, the New York Jets lost to the Denver Broncos 13-17 on a game winning drive led by Tim Tebow. In Collision Low Crossers, Nick Dawidoff suggested that loss was the turning point in a promising season and what led to the team's subsequent toilet spiral. Tebow led the Broncos using the read-option with Willis McGahee, with a combined twenty rushing attempts.

Before the game, noted traitor Darrelle Revis stated that he didn't think the read-option could be sustained for a full season with Tebow and McGahee. However, he stated that:

"Yeah, if you have Michael Vick and Chris Johnson at running back... it can work. Those are probably the two fastest guys that can get out on the edge."

Obviously, the Jets coincidentally now have Vick and Johnson, so it will be interesting to see if the team uses them with the read-option, as Revis suggested. Geno Smith is no shlub at running the ball himself, and in fact, the team won every game that he had a rushing touchdown last year, but he obviously doesn't have the speed of a healthy Vick.

Even if Smith wins a quarterback competition, it doesn't prevent the team from bringing Vick and Johnson in occasionally to run this sub-package. Unlike the wildcat, it doesn't remove the quarterback from the play, so the threat is much more dynamic and real. With the addition of Jacoby Ford as well, I could see the team trying some triple-option sub-packages with Ford on the end around and Vick/Johnson in the pistol formation. Either way, there's an additional threat that Revis noted: hot, nasty speed.