I caught a bit of pre-season fin play but never fully saw how Henne was playing.

The play of Chad Henne this season is the biggest concern to me going into this season.
I want this guy to succeed so bad and be our star QB, I liked some of the things I saw from him last season but to all the fans who watched all the pre-season games, is he improved? did you like what you saw from him? or is pre-season play just to damn unimportant to say for sure.

Worse comes to worse I know we have Pennington and I love the guy, but I really want the Dolphins to establish a star QB to build around and I hope that guy is Henne.

Henne is for real. You can relax a little. And yea, preseason is too damn unimportant. It's basically "hey lets get tape on this guy".

How many drops did Henne get from his receivers in the 4 games? I believe it was 12. He also had a couple of 3rd down conversions that were negated by penalties. Who knows what happens if those drives are allowed to continue? And aside from the one long run last night, Ronnie and Ricky could not run the ball at all. It put the offense in a lot of 2nd and 3rd and longs.

dolfanmark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How many drops did Henne get from his receivers in
> the 4 games? I believe it was 12. He also had a
> couple of 3rd down conversions that were negated
> by penalties. Who knows what happens if those
> drives are allowed to continue? And aside from the
> one long run last night, Ronnie and Ricky could
> not run the ball at all. It put the offense in a
> lot of 2nd and 3rd and longs.

Very good points.

Sure Henne made one or two mistakes, but by no means was he a disaster. For all the stat-hounds out there, imagine Henne's stats without all the drops and penalties. Hopefully we got the dropsies and mental errors out of our collective system during the exhibition games.

I am not worried about Henne.

The ONLY drops that concern me are from Hartline. Only because with his little offseason "drama" I am wondering if he put in any work this offseason and if that mini-drama got in his head. How focused is he on football.

Marshall had a rough first game, since then has been fine. Bess has been a MONSTER this presason. Moore doesn't drop anything. Hartline is the only one that concerns me

I saw him making tons of throws warming up in the rain in Jax this pre-season. I was thinking to myself at the time that we'll be fine.

If you watched Chad Henne in college you know that he is simply a mediocre NFL quarterback. The guy has one of the strongest arms you will find, but the same can be said for Ryan Leaf. Henne's most glaring weakness has always been his decision making. Was at Michigan and it still is now.

Many of you guys see Henne as a potential elite QB, mainly as a result of the QB's the Dolphins have had on the field since Marino. Is Henne better than Lemon, Beck, and Rosenfels? Absolutely. But that does not make him a great NFL quarterback.

I think the Phins can will still be a competitive team, due to a strong running game. But Miami won't be a true contender with Henne. Might just take some time for you guys to realize that.

Here is a list of QBs that won the Superbowl...that many people would consider mediocre:

Trent Dilfer
Eli Manning
Brad Johnson
Mark Rypien
Jeff Hostetler
Doug Williams
Phil Simms
Jim McMahon

Interestingly enough, Parcells coached 2 of those guys. Heck, I'd even include Troy Aikman in that list!! Those guys all benefited from great defenses, O-Lines, and running games. I think pretty soon you'll be able to, easily, put Henne in that list. Sure, he's not Marino, Elway, Montana, Brady, but no one says you have to have a super QB to win the Super Bowl.

On the other hand, here's a couple GREAT QBs that never won the Superbowl:

Dan Marino
Dan Fouts

Hokie Phin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you watched Chad Henne in college you know that
> he is simply a mediocre NFL quarterback. The guy
> has one of the strongest arms you will find, but
> the same can be said for Ryan Leaf. Henne's most
> glaring weakness has always been his decision
> making. Was at Michigan and it still is now.
>

To compare him with Ryan Leaf is not fair. Leaf was a complete stinkbomb. Henne is showing potential, Leaf never did.


> Many of you guys see Henne as a potential elite
> QB, mainly as a result of the QB's the Dolphins
> have had on the field since Marino.

Well, that's two different metrics. I beleive he's potentially the best since Marino, that's why I'm excited and hopeful about him. I don't think he's elite, and I don't think we need a so-called "elite" QB to succeed. If we have a balanced enough running game and solid defense, then our investments in those areas would be proven as the right tactic instead of putting all the eggs into the passing game basket.



>
> I think the Phins can will still be a competitive
> team, due to a strong running game. But Miami
> won't be a true contender with Henne. Might just
> take some time for you guys to realize that.

I hope this doesn't mean you're going to pat yourself on the back and effectively celebrate if he doesn't have a good year. During the years of those other QBs you mentioned, we had hundreds of posts saying things "See? I TOLD you all he was going to suck, we were going to suck, I knew it I knew it! I've been saying that since last year, I WAS RIGHT" Your final sentence reminds me of those years.

I'm not saying you're going to gloat if Henne performs poorly, just that you reminded me of those types of threads I hope never happen again!

My overall point is that it looks to me that the current regime is making great(er) strides to balance the entire team. JJ and Wanny were more defense oriented, and the overall ineffectiveness of our offense during those years was a result. Maybe I'm just overly optimistic here but I think that our resources being allocated to both sides of the ball takes the heat off the QB.

Pulling out a cliche here but if Henne can be an effective Field General/Game manager type, who can complete a reasonable number of throws per game, we'll do well.

I think the field general stuff has to come with time. It is still early in his career. I think he will be more than that because he has the tools to do so much more.

He can make all the throws...including the "out" which is one of the hardest to make. He has shown the ability to move the offense and to come back from a deficit late in the game.

The problem has been the drive killing red zone turnovers but that too will come with time as he gets more comfortable with the personnel and the offense. Once he develops a chemistry with Marshall...look out.

Also, these preseason games have no game planning involved. It will be a totally different story when they get a chance to play the scout team in practice throughout the week, that replicates the opposing team's defensive schemes. The intensity will be there as well as I'm sure it is not as easy to get "up" for these meaningless games.

The only players that are really pumped for the preseason are the ones on the roster bubble.

If we get thumped by Buffalo, then you can worry but I don't see that happening. We will be fine. We were 4-0 last preseason and how did the year turn out for us? Not too well.

.....................................................................................
“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers

eesti Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> If we get thumped by Buffalo, then you can worry
> but I don't see that happening. We will be fine.
> We were 4-0 last preseason and how did the year
> turn out for us? Not too well.

Lions 4-0 preseason in 2008. 0-16 regular season. Nuff said!!

If we lose to that garbage Buffalo team then the problems go further than the players. And you then have to look at the overall philosphy of how we practice, the players we draft and sign , and the preperation the coaching staff is doing must be evaluated. Because on paper we are light years better than that team at almost every position.

Hokie Phin Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------
> The guy has one of the strongest arms you will find, but
> the same can be said for Ryan Leaf.

To compare Henne to Ryan Leaf is one of the dumbest things I've read. Ryan Leaf's wasn't an accurate passer, and he was a complete head case that had no respect from his teammates. Henne is cool cat, great leader, and can make all the throws on target.


> Henne's most glaring weakness has always been his decision
> making.

Right now, this is Henne's ONLY weakness. It kind of sticks out when you look at Pennington and the quickness of his decisions. Also unlike Pennington, Henne can take a sack without his arm falling off, and then on the next play throw a 20 yard strike for a first down.

Henne he has only started for less than a season. If by the end of this season his decision making has gotten quicker, we have an elite QB. If not, we should start considering another options. But that is a ways down the road, and this QB still has some learning to do.

The Henne bashing I don't get.

Peyton Manning didn't become Peyton Manning overnight. Same for Drew Brees. It takes a couple years. As long as the improvment on Henne's part continues I am fine with him.

We aren't a Super Bowl team this year. Far too young on defense. Young QB. Young WR's after Marshall......we are a year or two away. That is a tough pill for some Fin Fans to swallow, but its the truth.

JC, I agree that the "told you so" posts are annoying. I would love nothing more than to be proven wrong about the potential of Chad Henne.I just never thought highly of him at Michigan and was disappointed to the Dolphins draft him.

Also I see your point about the game manager QB who you think can lead a team to a Super Bowl. However I think that was more true in the past than it is going forward in the NFL. The game is changing. I don't think it's a coincidence that the big game last year featured Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. I think the Jets will be the perfect example of how a great defense and running game is simply not enough to win it all with mediocre QB play.

montequi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here is a list of QBs that won the
> Superbowl...that many people would consider
> mediocre:
>
> Trent Dilfer
> Eli Manning
> Brad Johnson
> Mark Rypien
> Jeff Hostetler
> Doug Williams
> Phil Simms
> Jim McMahon
>
> Interestingly enough, Parcells coached 2 of those
> guys. Heck, I'd even include Troy Aikman in that
> list!! Those guys all benefited from great
> defenses, O-Lines, and running games. I think
> pretty soon you'll be able to, easily, put Henne
> in that list. Sure, he's not Marino, Elway,
> Montana, Brady, but no one says you have to have a
> super QB to win the Super Bowl.
>
> On the other hand, here's a couple GREAT QBs that
> never won the Superbowl:
>
> Dan Marino
> Dan Fouts

I would argue Manning and McMahon. McMahon was a great QB until he got injured. The only reason why Eli Manning is under rated is because he lives in his brother's shadow.

But I get your point, to some degree. Henne has a better arm than any of the QBs on your list. And so the potential is there to be great. What he lacks is the quickness in making decisions, which is what all of those SB QBs had.

If Henne is going to be a SB QB, he will have to increase the speed at which he makes decision. If he does that, we will have an elite QB. I've seen signs - the one TD to Fasano against the Jags where he looked at Marshall on the left, and then turned to Fasano and let it rip. That was an Elite play.

MikeO Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Henne bashing I don't get.
>
> Peyton Manning didn't become Peyton Manning
> overnight. Same for Drew Brees. It takes a couple
> years. As long as the improvment on Henne's part
> continues I am fine with him.
>
> We aren't a Super Bowl team this year. Far too
> young on defense. Young QB. Young WR's after
> Marshall......we are a year or two away. That is a
> tough pill for some Fin Fans to swallow, but its
> the truth.

Right. Henne is a young QB that has all the tools. If his only problem is the speed of decisions, then that means he's young. If he doesn't improve that over the course of this year, then we have to worry. But that is a long way off, and I've already seen progress from last year so I don't think it will be a problem.

MikeO Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> If we lose to that garbage Buffalo team then the
> problems go further than the players. And you
> then have to look at the overall philosphy of how
> we practice, the players we draft and sign , and
> the preperation the coaching staff is doing must
> be evaluated. Because on paper we are light years
> better than that team at almost every position.

Yup.

Hokie Phin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JC, I agree that the "told you so" posts are
> annoying. I would love nothing more than to be
> proven wrong about the potential of Chad Henne.I
> just never thought highly of him at Michigan and
> was disappointed to the Dolphins draft him.
>
> Also I see your point about the game manager QB
> who you think can lead a team to a Super Bowl.
> However I think that was more true in the past
> than it is going forward in the NFL. The game is
> changing. I don't think it's a coincidence that
> the big game last year featured Peyton Manning and
> Drew Brees. I think the Jets will be the perfect
> example of how a great defense and running game is
> simply not enough to win it all with mediocre QB
> play.

I couldn't disagree with you more.

The Only thing that concerned me in the preseason is the tipped passes, I don't put allot on Preseason, but just think he needs to work on getting the ball over the line... I am behind him 100%...

Hokie, would you be able to say the same thing if Henne had Marino's "Magic MARKerS" or Griese's Paul Warfield and Nat Moore catching those hot balls from that strong arm?

dolfanmark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would like to see us get him some more explosive
> weapons. I would like to see a WR opposite
> Marshall that has the potential to be a great NFL
> player, not just solid.


This I agree with and it's also why I was so wanting us to draft Demaryius Thomas.

I still maintain that Marshall can't do it all by himself...Next Season a D. Thomas with a year of learning from Marshall under his belt would have been a great situation for us especially with a guy like Hartline playing the slot position. A steady player like Bess would have rounded out the top four players at the position quite nicely.

Marlon Moore might end up being a better player than Demaryius Thomas. Don't laugh, Moore has all of the skills needed to play in the NFL and on the field runs routes like a 5 year vet