About the Jake Delhomme acquisition.

Jake Delhomme makes sense to me under one set of circumstances and one set only. Mike Holmgren as resolved himself to find a developmental quarterback this year. He has a guy in mind that he thinks could be a very good quarterback in the NFL but probably needs to sit out at least one if not two full seasons before he is ready to start.

Now I am not campaigning for this. I don't even know if it's a good idea, but the guy that I am betting Holmgren has targeted is....

Tim Tebow

Yeah. I know what you are thinking. I know you will be running the car in the garage if you hear Tebow's name called. I know what the pro scouts are saying but... Keep this in mind: The NFL has a lot of coaching incest. The NFL is xenophobic strategically and offers little incentive to anyone thinking outside the box. Unless you have a reputation that is above reproach (like Holmgren's) you just can't do anything too wacky or you will get fired.

If you have read this far, well I'll give you credit, you didn't abandon me as soon as you saw that picture. Before you present the same reasons why we all know Tebow will have trouble adjusting to an NFL offense, consider the slim and interesting possibility that Mike Holmgren might just have other machinations for the Browns. He might just be more ambitious than we all think.

With the success of the wildcat, teams have been more and more open to the idea of bringing some aspects of the slightly more varied college game into the professional ranks. With the number of teams running spread offenses in the college game, pro style quarterbacks and receivers are becoming less and less available in the draft. Sooner or later the spread offense will worm its way into the NFL. For a more in-depth explanation of the NFL offense and why things that don't look like the NFL offense aren't gimmicks. Take a look at this article. (smartfootball.com awesome resource for learning about the finer points of football strategy)

All it takes is one aggressive organization to dare to be different. Why not now? Why not with Tebow? After all he is easily the most accomplished and talented spread QB ever. If a team showed that it was willing to design its schemes around Tebow's talents and use him the way Urban Meyer did, there could be a whole lot of analysts and scouts with egg on their faces.

Now I know you think I'm crazy by now, but the scenario isn't as far-fetched as you might think. Mike Holmgren learned under Bill Walsh, who is exalted for being an offensive innovator because he dared to go against conventional wisdom. Holmgren is the kind of guy who is established enough and who is confident enough to make such a bold move. After all, former Holmgren disciples Jon Gruden and Andy Reid are the most high profile NFL guys who have openly supported the spread offense. Jon Gruden has expressed on several occasions that he would select Tebow with the #1 overall pick. Andy Reid went against conventional wisdom and signed Michael Vick last year. The success Reid had running the zone read and shovel option is one of the big reasons why the Eagles' offense was so good a season ago.

Jake Delhomme could buy Holmgren the two seasons he needs to both develop Tebow as a passer and surround him with talent on this roster. Delhomme and Wallace are west coast offense guys who could step right in and run this team with minimal coaching. Holmgren would be free to develop his new guy.

Cleveland might be the ideal place to try such an ambitious plan for several reasons:

1. Our franchise is so starved for winning we could be desperate enough to try something that other teams would consider outrageous, even if it really isn't.
2. Our coaching staff are some of the most competent defensive minds in the league. They could be much more agreeable to allowing Holmgren to shape the offensive side of the ball, while they themselves are trusted with the defensive side.
3. We have some interesting personnel for the scheme: Josh Cribbs is the perfect player for that "Percy Harvin" position, where he can be a hybrid RB Wideout with great skills in space. Ben Watson is a versatile "Aaron Hernandez" guy who can do a lot of good things on the zone read playaction to beat the crash/scrape.
4. And most importantly, Randy Learner wants nothing more than to not interfere with Holmgren. Other owners might not buy into his ambitious plan.

I know you are still skeptical, to say the least. Keep in mind that Tebow has elite physical tools, and perhaps the best "intangibles" the draft has ever seen. Except for his release and the system he played in being so dissimilar to the NFL in terms of what it demands from the quarterback position, this kid would be one of the most sought after prospects of all time. One could argue that the reason the quarterback class is so poor this year is because of the perception of Tebow; he was easily the biggest difference maker at the QB position in the country the last 3 seasons.

Now, when Holmgren was hired, this kind of radical plan is the last thing I would have expected, but with the acquisition of Delhomme, the seed has been planted in the back of my mind. Holmgren might actually have a master plan. His most ambitious turnaround in a career of big turnarounds could just start with a couple of 7-9 teams led by Jake Delhomme. It is just crazy enough to be true. All I know for sure is that this season going to be interesting.