Luke Braun's Film Room: Bo Nix Doing The One Thing He Does

Luke Braun is back with another film room — this time breaking down Bo Nix and the only part of his game that's easy to evaluate: the pre-snap read.

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

The Oregon Ducks are absolutely infuriating.

Trying to suss out anything about Bo Nix requires you to wade through a marsh of option plays, bubble screens and busted disasters. More than 37% of Nix’s passes went behind the line of scrimmage in 2023. NFL teams run RPOs too, so there is something to be gleaned from watching Nix on those plays, but it’s limited. The sheer volume of short game makes Nix not only hard to evaluate, but dreadfully un-fun to watch.

So in an act of civil disobedience, let’s not watch the Oregon Ducks play football. Let’s talk about what happens before they play football. A key, and entirely un-measured aspect of quarterbacking happens between the whistle and the next snap. Since so much of Oregon’s offense relies on the pre-snap read, he presents a good opportunity to learn its intricacies.

Take this pre-snap situation. It’s the first play of the game. They’re running a zone RPO. Nix’s options are to hand the ball off for a counter run to the left (in cyan) or throw a bubble screen (red).

What information do you see with the defense? Where is everyone aligned? What does that tell you? What do you think this will be: a handoff or a pass?

By the end of this, you’ll be able to see all kinds of factors that determine Nix’s decision, and you might even find it to be a debatable one. But first, we have to start from scratch.

What Goes Into A Pre-Snap Read?

When you think of a pre-snap read, what do you think of? It’s probably a specific key. Something like reading a cornerback’s alignment to determine whether you think your receiver’s route will work, or trying to suss out a blitz before it comes.

Those are important and we will get to them, but there is a lot more to the pre-snap process than specific keys. In general, it’s about gathering as much information as possible in the 40 seconds between plays. The pre-snap process starts well before anyone is aligned to the line of scrimmage. It starts immediately after the previous play ends.