Pick plays are a touchy subject for Notre Dame fans this year.
The offensive pass interference call that negated the Fighting Irish’s go-ahead touchdown against Florida State earlier this month cost them the game, and the subjective call has drawn the ire of many NFL teams this year, as well.
Former NFL quarterback and current Football By Football contributor Brady Quinn broke down what exactly a pick route is, why they won’t be going away anytime soon and how difficult it can be for referees to determine the legality of the play in this week’s post.
“Pick plays are always going to be controversial because referees are forced to interpret whether receivers in these stacks or bunches are actually blocking, when in essence they are running a route designed to create a traffic jam to allow the other receiver(s) to get open,” Quinn writes.
Quinn added that although pick routes are prevalent in today’s game and are implemented in every team’s offense, there is so much of a gray area that forces referees to get into “interpretation mode.”
“Every offense has them in their system, and will continue to run these plays in order to use a schematic advantage over their opponent,” the former QB writes. “Don’t expect the controversy to end, because routes are going to continue to be ran near one another to create an advantage, forcing officials into interpretation mode.”
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