They aren't the first to do so, but the New York Giants are reaching into the college ranks for help on solving the read-option. Coach Tom Coughlin confirmed it Tuesday at a New York public signing for his new book, "Earn the Right to Win," something the Giants didn't do against Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins in Week 13 last season.
The Giants held Washington's read-option attack to 17 points in that Monday night showdown, but Coughlin would like to cover his bases heading into a 2013 campaign that includes another double dose of RG3 and two games against Chip Kelly's presumably option-heavy Philadelphia Eagles.
"If you're talking to a defensive staff, you want to know what they thought were the critical issues in terms of defending," Coughlin said. "Not only how did they go about it, (but) how good was it, what would you have done differently, how do you assign responsibilities to the option game? And then you take for example what we've faced, and very few times is the ball pitched, but the dive kills you. So how do you defend it; how are you defending it?"
The Giants were an all-around disappointment on defense in 2012, following up their Super Bowl season with a unit that couldn't rush the passer and wound up 31st in the league.
Coughlin told told Jenny Vrentas of The Star-Ledger his strategy is to ask college coaches "the whole deal."
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Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano said last week that NFL defenses would improve against the read-option after a full offseason of study. Coughlin also expressed confidence that New York will be ready. We'll find out soon enough if that's the case.
"We'll definitely be better. We'll definitely have our thoughts about how we are going to scheme to defend," Coughlin said. "But again, it's a difficult scheme, and the people who do it have good players, whether you are talking about Carolina, whether you are talking about Philadelphia, whether you are talking about Washington. They've got good players doing it. ... Do I think we'll be better? Yeah."
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.
