I think the biggest contributor to the apparent death of the option is that defenses are too fast now. The game is two one dimensional for modern defenses. I think the quarterback reason isn't that great of one. It's not that you would need 15 of them, it's that you would need 2-3 tough ones.
Also, the lack of a good O line recent years has really hurt. However, that would hurt in any offensive scheme, I believe.