Jim Harbaugh is a crazy, crazy man with a crazy, crazy plan. He's the kind of guy who will respond with "like a fox!" when confronted with the term. You know the kind of crazy - the kind that generally gets things done in the end and not the kind that steals peoples' scabs for fun. I am filled with equal parts admiration and confusion, though I don't exactly want to figure out what makes him tick.
Part of me feels like he's the kind of crazy that will fold in on itself in a divide-by-zero situation if self realization ever happens. All Harbaugh needs to know and all we need to know is that his brand of crazy works. He brought something new and innovative and isn't likely to flame out. You'd buy shares in Harbaugh's brand of crazy (Apple). You wouldn't buy shares in, say, Mike Singletary's brand of crazy (Facebook).
And though we've heard about everybody and their mother lining up on offense during these early organized teach activities, I firmly believe we'll see less of the crazy and more of the still-obvious innovation in 2012. One of those reasons is the return of tight end Nate Byham.
The 49ers brought guys like Joe Staley and Alex Boone onto the field a lot to be used as a third tight end. Staley in particular had a couple receptions that caught a lot of people by surprise. Some feel that it was just Harbaugh changing things up, but I do honestly feel that it was, at times, out of necessity. I also believe that the team really likes what they see in Byham and they want him to become a bigger part of the passing game.
At the end of the day, I believe there will be less changes at the actual line, with some other folks being mixed in at fullback. The 49ers will likely be a better team in 2012 when Byham on the field, and Harbaugh isn't going to sacrifice that aspect to get creative with his formations. Byham will block and he'll catch and as a result, we'll see less and less of our offensive and defensive linemen fielding receptions. We'll be better off.