Greg Roman was an assistant coach at Stanford in 2009 when current Western Kentucky coach Willie Taggart first schooled him in the art of the read option.
Conceptually, Roman was a fan. He felt that by keeping the quarterback as a viable ball carrier, defenses were forced to account for them when usually they would not.
The Cardinal's offensive brain trust, which included coach Jim Harbaugh, current Stanford coach David Shaw and Roman, used the read option with Andrew Luck and would sub in athletic backup Alex Loukas in 2010 specifically to run the play.
With Colin Kaepernick backing up Alex Smith, Roman has that luxury again.
Kaepernick impressed with the read-option look throughout the preseason and could make spot appearances against the Packers on Sunday specifically for that purpose.
“I think we’ll definitely discuss it,” Roman said. “We have full confidence in Alex and we like when Alex is out there leading us. I think [Kaepernick] gives you the flexibility to be able to talk that and feel good about it and plan for it. I think it’s a good change of pace and to give defenses something different.”
Kaepernick carried seven times for 122 yards in the preseason, which included a 78-yard TD in the first game against Minnesota.
Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy has taken notice, but pointed out there are a lot of unknowns going into an opening-week game.
“[The read option is] definitely something different and something you have to prepare for so it’s like any other scheme and you have to put your time in,” McCarthy said. “We’ve been fortunate to have some extra time to prepare for the 49ers and were confident with all of our adjustments that we’ll be able to go.”
The play isn't limited to just Kaepernick, Smith ran it at time last year with varying degrees of success.
When Kaepernick ran the play in the preseason, rookie running back LaMichael James was usually lined up next to him in the shotgun. At Oregon, the second-round pick made a career of busting big runs on read-option plays, so pairing him with Kaepernick to do the same thing for the 49ers was a natural progression.
Just how quickly that pairing translates to the regular season remains to be seen. Listed behind Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter and Brandon Jacobs on the depth chart, James is a strong candidate to be inactive on game days.
The coaching staff won’t play James -- or first-round pick A.J. Jenkins -- just because of how high they were drafted.
“We’re more worried about the development of the players in the National Football League,” Roman said. “We try to think big picture with all our young players.”
Follow 49ers reporter Kyle Bonagura on Twitter: @CBSSportsNFLSF and @KyleBonagura
