Colt McCoy talks pistol, read option

Earlier this week, recently acquired 49ers quarterback Colt McCoy made the rounds of Bay Area radio. He made a stop at KNBR and talked football with Eric Byrnes and Ray Ratto, which seems like a bit of an odd couple pairing. I don't listen to a ton of radio so I don't know much about their chemistry, but on paper it's definitely random.

Naturally, McCoy was asked about the pistol and the read option. You can listen to the whole conversation HERE, but here are a few quotations courtesy of our friends at SportsRadioInterviews.com:

On being comfortable with the pistol offense:

"I ran some of the zone-read, I ran some of the pistol stuff at [Texas] back in college. I feel comfortable with that."

On why he likes the read-option and the advantages it brings to offenses:

"I loved running it in college because it just adds another dimension to the game. If you can run the ball off the read-option game, then your play-action's gonna work well. I think that's as effective as can be. When it's going, when it's clicking, you kind of have two options."

Matt Barrows discussed McCoy's fit in the 49ers offense and compared the potential play-calling to Alex Smith rather than Colin Kaepernick. Some folks were calling for a backup who was similar to Kaepernick, but really it's about finding the best option out there. The 49ers offense is versatile enough that it can be molded around a variety of quarterbacks.

More importantly, Colt McCoy has some sneaky athleticism, similar to Alex Smith. Neither will be putting on running displays like Kap, but both Smith and McCoy can move when needed. Although both are more likely to do their damage through the air, both can move when they have to. I imagine during the preseason, McCoy will get some chances to run with the ball in the read option. I don't expect a ton of it, but I have to think the 49ers will want to see if he can be effective when those plays are called.