Mike Holmgren Has Two Options with Brady Quinn

When Brady Quinn was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, there were many mixed feelings on whether that was a good pick. Three years later there are still mixed feelings as to whether the Browns should move forward with him.

Some feel that he should be gone and others feel he should be the starter. Then there are some who feel he should be brought back to be the back up. Another option is to bring him back, draft a guy, and have Quinn help bring him along.

Let's just scratch those last two options right now. If Quinn were in Cleveland as a backup, fans would scream for him everytime an interception was thrown by whomever the starter is.

In the other option, if the Browns were to draft, let's say, Colt McCoy, Quinn would begin the season as the quarterback until McCoy was ready. Quinn would be expected to help groom him. Well, put yourself in his shoes. Would you want to prepare a new guy for a job you never really had a fair chance at?

That really only leaves Holmgren two options which we will look at. Holmgren knows quarterbacks and has said that he doesn't want another controversy this year. He knows that a quarterback controversy can really divide a team and a city. That happened last year.

While I don't claim to know as much about quarterbacks as Holmgren, I know you don't judge how good a quarterback is after 12 starts. The number of starts a quarterback gets before you do judge him is debatable, but it is certainly more than 12.

I also know that the team a quarterback goes to is a big factor as to how successful he will be. The Browns were so bad for most of the year that I don't think it is fair to judge him based on this season. To be fair,the same thing can be said for Derek Anderson.

Nobody really knows how Holmgren really feels about Quinn. There has been speculation both ways, but only Holmgren knows for sure. The rest of us will find out soon enough. Like I previously mentioned, Holmgren really only has two options that are fair and practical to everybody.

Option #1: Trade him

This would be an option that would make sense for many reasons. Holmgren was never around when the Browns drafted Quinn. He may want to bring in a guy that fits his system which is a west coast offense. One misconception about Quinn is that he is good fit for this type of offense.

Well, he did run that offense his first two years at Notre Dame under Tyrone Willingham. The reality is that he wasn't horrible but he wasn't anything special in that system either. It really wasn't until Charlie Weis came in and implemented the Patriot offense when Quinn took off.

Based on that trading him may be a good idea since this really isn't the offense he is best in. A major part of me wants to see this happen. I would love to see him get a fresh start on a better team where a coach knows how to use him correctly.

I wouldn't even mind seeing him going to Denver or New England as a backup. At least he would be in a good situation whenever he does get a chance to play.

Option #2: Let him be Brady Quinn

As much as I would like to see Quinn get a fresh start elsewhere, I know at the end of the day he wants to be a Brown for better or worse. Therefore, I would like to see him live out his dream.

If Holmgren decides to hang on to Quinn, he has to go all in. What I mean by that is no more trying to change his mechanics like Mangini and Daboll did and no trying to make him fit into a system that doesn't fit him.

Quinn's critics would say that the red flags regarding his ability to complete the deep ball have shown up in the NFL. That is true and I will not dispute that.

However, there are other things that have shown up. That is what he did well in South Bend. He thrived at Notre Dame whenever he was asked to run the no huddle. He can see what defenses do before they do it. That is why he is effective out of this style and he was at his best this season in the no huddle.

He was also known for his ability to improvise and be effective on bootlegs, those have also shown up at the NFL level. While Quinn would never be mistaken for Michael Vick, he can make a play with his feet.

If Holmgren does decide to bring Quinn back, he needs to hire an offensive coordinator that can take what Quinn does well and build the offense around it. I would recommend that the no huddle be their primary attack.

When Mangini and Daboll figured that out last year, we did start to see some growth from Quinn before he had the bad game against Kansas City and got injured.

When Urban Meyer first took over at Florida, he inherited players that didn't fit his system at all. That included a quarterback named Chris Leak. Yet Urban Meyer found a way to win a national championship with these players.

When asked how he did it, Meyer replied that a good coach adjusts his philosophy to the players he has. It doesn't work the other way around.

I also remember Jim Mora trying to make Michael Vick into a west coast offense quarterback. That was just ugly. A similar situation happened in Tennessee with Vince Young. That was until this season when they adjusted a little and were even able to sneak a few options in. As a result, Young looked way better.

Holmgren will have to do this too if he does want to bring Quinn back as the starter. That doesn't mean you don't try to improve the areas he needs work on. Just don't change him to do it.

None of us know what Holmgren will want to do with Quinn no matter how much we think we do. I know that he has to make decisions that are the best for the Browns and not one player. All I ask from Holmgren is that one way or another, just don't hold Quinn hostage.