Bill Lazor can help Chicago Bears improve RPO
Bill Lazor has a steady background of running RPOs. The Chicago Bears have been looking to increase their RPO usage
When the Chicago Bears hired Bill Lazor it was met with plenty of questions regarding who he is and what kind of impact he could have on an offense when he does not call the plays. Mark Helfrich was brought in to improve the running game, and when that did not happen, he was let go.
Lazor will bring a similar mentality and will focus on getting the run game off of the ground. However, beyond that, Lazor has a lot of experience when it comes to the RPO game. This is another area where the Chicago Bears have struggled.
Lazor got into the NFL after being hired by Chip Kelly to be the Eagles QB coach. If you remember, Kelly was looking to bring college offenses to the NFL, and he specialized in the RPO. It is worth noting that Kelly saw the work Lazor was doing with RPOs and wanted him apart of the offense.
Lazor then worked with Ryan Tannehill and Andy Dalton in the NFL. Tannehill, similarly to Trubisky was inexperienced at the time. RPOs were a way to get him acclimated to the NFL.
With Dalton in Cincinnati, Lazor had plenty of success teaching an NFL veteran a new trick.
“Lazor has an extensive collection of RPOs in his playbook.”
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) January 14, 2020
Here’s a great breakdown by our @FB_FilmAnalysis from 2018 on the new Bears OC’s RPOs that he used with the Bengals https://t.co/95UgT3kts8
So, while Helfrich had experience with RPOs and Chip Kelly at Oregon, Lazor has shown he can translate this to the NFL.
Going back to the Chicago Bears Week One loss to the Packers there were questions about Trubisky and his understanding of RPOs. After a pass on third and 1 when he could have elected to run for a first down, Nagy had this response.
"“I think as we go here we would love to get to a point where we are really thinking exactly the same way, as far as situationally. Even if it is gray maybe you do this, maybe you do that. I’m not saying 100 percent to run it every time but maybe you just in a third-and-10 or a third-and-7 let’s be thinking exactly the same. And I think over time as we keep forming this offense and our mindsets together, we will get to that. That’s an example of us and that’s OK, there is zero blame on him, that’s just a part of our offense.”"
As the season went on this issue never resolved. Trubisky consistently struggled to make quick and accurate decisions.
Next. Bill Lazor can increase RB passes. dark
This is what Lazor was hired for. He is expected to simplify a process that has been troubling Trubisky, and make the RPO a staple element of the Chicago Bears offense.
Whether he can reach Trubisky remains to be seen.