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Auburn quarterback Hank Brown describes the ins and outs of the RPO offense

Hank Brown explains to Auburn fans the decision-making that goes into the RPO offense.

Coach Freeze brought with him to the Plains the RPO offense, which he loves to run and has succeeded in college football for many years, including his stop at Ole Miss.

Auburn quarterback Hank Brown joined the Locked On Auburn Podcast to discuss the RPO offense. 

Host Zac Blackerby asked Brown how quickly a quarterback needs to decide to either run or throw the football. 

Brown responded," It's a very quick window. You don't have time to be late, or else it will be a turnover in this league. So, you know, they always teach different ways to be able to process that, and a lot of stuff is pre-snap. You need to identify pre-snap what the defense is doing. Based on what RPO it is, whether you're looking at the corner, the nickel, the end, the edge, whatever it is, you have to have that idea going into it pre-snap what you're looking at. Post-snap, you've got a split second to see if he does what you want, and you get the throw look or if he stays out there and you're handing it off into a small box. So, you know, it's a really quick window, and there's a lot more that goes into it than a regular person would think. It's a very quick decision, and they do a good job of teaching us how to understand that based on the play call." 

This really puts into perspective just how much goes into a quarterback's head every play and why it is so difficult to learn this offense. 

Perhaps the short time Payton Thorne has had to learn this offense has led to the early struggles. 

Hopefully, as we get deeper into the season, Throne will start to figure things out, and this offense gets flowing. 


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