The NFL is a league full of copycats, and so when a read option team managed to make it all the way to the Super Bowl, the rest of the league stood up and took notice.

With Colin Kaepernick at the controls, the Niners came within one drive of winning it all last month, thanks in part to their unique offensive set. Now, as the search for the next great quarterbacking talent begins, everyone wants to know how to find the next Kaepernick ... or the next Russell Wilson or Robert Griffin III -- that is to say, a mobile quarterback who can also throw.

While there are many different elements to the read option, fundamentally, it boils down to a large set of plays where the quarterback is able to read the keys of an opposing defense, and then makes the decision to either hand the ball off or keep it and run. (The Niners were able to do much of it out of the pistol, a shorter shotgun set that presented its own unique offensive wrinkle.) While Wilson and Griffin had success with the scheme, it was the work of Kaepernick -- who emerged as a star midway through the season after taking over for Alex Smith -- who has really caused the phenomenon to take off.

Of course, finding a quarterback with that sort of skill set is easier said than done. Kaepernick not only had great wheels, but the requisite arm strength needed to make defenses respect his abilities to both throw and run. Kaepernick was special, but at the same time, the successes of all three have caused ripples throughout NFL personnel offices this offseason as teams search for their own version of Kaepernick. 

While there are several intriguing quarterback options available in this year’s draft that have some of the same physical abilities as Kaepernick, Wilson and Griffin, the closest comparison in this year’s draft might be Florida State’s EJ Manuel, who ran some of the read option as a collegian, and said “it’s not a very complex thing.” In his four seasons with FSU, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Manuel completed 67 percent of his passes for 7,741 yards and 47 touchdowns. In addition, he carried the ball 298 times for 827 yards and 11 touchdowns.

“Coach Fisher would wrinkle it in whenever he felt we would be good doing that against a team. So it wasn’t like we did it the whole time, but I know we can do it,” Manuel said of the read option. “It’s not a very complex thing. It’s mostly reading the end, and also reading the big picture as far as the linebacker playing outside the end.”

It also depends if you have a quarterback who comes into a system led by a coach who isn’t as dogmatic as some old-schoolers. One of the reasons that Kaepernick, Wilson and Griffin succeeded as rookies was because they had coaching staffs who were able to work with them and play to their strengths instead of trying to make them fit into a system that was a bad fit.

“I think RG3 and Kaepernick and Russell Wilson had more success early on because the offense was catered to what they do,” Manuel said. “As a QB, that makes it a lot easier for you. You just go out there and make plays and make things happen and go through your reads.”

How does this affect the Patriots? Right now, the only read option team on their schedule for 2013 is Carolina, but with free agency and the draft, things can change between now and the start of the season. (Based on last season’s success, expect them to keep running some variety of the read option in San Francisco, Seattle, Washington and Carolina. In addition, Philadelphia and new head coach Chip Kelly -- who pioneered a lightning-fast offense as a head coach with Oregon the last few years -- will likely have some element of that in 2013.)

However, when it comes to slowing non-traditional offenses, New England does have some experience in this area -- it was one of the first teams in the league to be surprised by the Wildcat in 2008, but by later that same season, the Patriots were able to diagnose the situation and figure out a solution. (The first game, the Dolphins had 216 rushing yards. The second game, they were limited to 66.)

And if they are faced with the read option in 2013, maybe they can take a page from Green Bay’s book -- Packers coach Mike McCarthy said they will visit Texas A&M and coach Kevin Sumlin this offseason in hopes of figuring out a way to slow down San Francisco’s read option, which gashed Green Bay for 579 total yards in a divisional playoff game this past season. While Sumlin and the Aggies didn’t utilize a lot of the read option this past season (despite the success of scrambling quarterback Johnny Manziel), they have faced a few read option teams in the SEC.

“Our defensive staff is going to take a trip to Texas A&M -- Kevin Sumlin is someone I have great respect for, and with his ability to share from both the offensive side and the defensive side his experience in the read option,” McCarthy said of the Aggies, which used it to great effect in 2013. “It’s something from an education, preparation standpoint that we will grow as a staff and be better prepared for in the future.”

While many believe the read option, like Miami’s Wildcat, will be quickly diagnosed, the future of that style of offense is likely in a combination. That is to say, you won’t see teams rely exclusively on the read option -- instead, it’ll be one facet of an offensive attack that will also include more of the traditional elements of the old-school approach to quarterbacking. It will be the threat of the read-option that will keep opposing defensive coordinators up at night.

“To me, the whole key to the read option -- to make it really simple -- is you don’t need to run read option 20 times a game; as a matter of fact, your quarterback probably gets hurt and that’s what all defensive coordinators talk about,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. “But just the threat of it -- you run it four, five, six times a game -- changes the way a defensive coordinator calls his game, and there is an advantage to the offense for that. A guy like Kaepernick, who, on a planned quarterback run can beat you and on a spontaneous quarterback run like an Aaron Rodgers can beat you.

“I’m a fan of all of it. And the quarterback option, the zone read -- that’s here to stay for a while.”

In the end, it’s one thing to try and find another Kaepernick (or Wilson or Griffin), but important to remember the young read option quarterbacks had many other things working in their favor. They came into systems with dependable running games, good receivers and excellent offensive lines. They also had coaching staffs that were willing to tweak their offensive philosophies in order to maximize their talents. And finally, for the most part, they had good enough defenses to make sure they didn’t have to spend a lot of time playing from behind.

It’s a tall order, to be sure -- and many things have to align to ensure that Manuel could follow the same career path as last year’s group -- but Manuel is confident that he can be the next guy.

“When I saw those guys having success this year, it gave me a lot more confidence going into the draft,” Manuel said. “Knowing that that kind of quarterback, a guy who can run and throw -- not necessarily run first, but who can throw the ball and also have that run threat -- it’s more accepted now. Whereas five to 10 years ago, it really wasn’t accepted. And you definitely didn’t want to act like you [wanted to] run. You just wanted to sit in the pocket the whole time. Now, it’s more embraced as a QB.”