Critics of Miami Dolphins' Chad Henne need to back off

Loved this part:

It just shows that a lot of Dolphin fans have these unrealistic expectations of what a good or great QB is. Good and Great QBs make mistakes and throw terrible INTs too.

 

I think Dolphin fans have a tendency to compare QBs to Dan Marino who was a phenom as a rookie .

That type of development does not happen very often.

There have been some great QBs who struggled early in their careers including Drew Brees .

The Chargers had so little confidence in him that they drafted Philip Rivers .

Henne may be a late developer so its premature to bury him at this point IMO.

 

I am not worried about other teams, their QB's and their stupid errors....I am worried about Henne's....

 

It's a good thing the Canes lost this past weekend so the media can concentrate their hatred elsewhere. Every time I tuned in to QAM or 790 this week it has been Canes bashing. Take some heat off the Dolphins for a change.

 

Marino yes but every QB since he was here? I think that's what warped the minds of some of the Phins fans who are unhappy with Henne. There has been so much turnover and turmoil with the QBs we've had here (Fiedler, Lucas, Frerotte, Green, Beck, Lemon) that I can't 100% blame people for being a little wary of a young QB who makes mistakes.

I don't side with those though. I support Henne.

 

I understand it very clearly actually...You'll never see a post on here of me wanting to see Henne benched, I want him to finish the year, I am not a negativity hound or wish that upon my team and/or its players....I want him to succeed, I want him to be the next Henne, and could care less about the next Marino.....I realize his numbers are good, you can surely win games with his numbers....however what I am saying on these boards is what I see...plain and simple....that until he fixes some fatal flaws IMO, he will never truely realize his full potential, and if it presist (throughout this AND ALL of next year, so I want a run of Henne having 2 full seasons at the position) I would look to bring in some competition..thats all...please dont confuse me with the people on here calling for his head, and want him bench in favor of whoever.....

If in the next couple of weeks, he starts developing some of things, I will simply go from (like I say now)..."He doesnt do x,y,z.....to He did x,y,z a couple of times, and thats positive"...but screw me if I sugarcoat anything I see on the field from any of the players......and until he does he will be the inconsistant head scratcher with the decent numbers, with a .500 winning percentage....

However to compare him to Schaub, Favre, Brees etc and say "look guys these guys took a while, Henne just needs some time too, so lay off" is foolish, I would hope thats not how this FO runs their team....they need to look at Henne and Henne's progressions only....not some other successful development projects at QB, because there are probably the same amount or a greater amount of them that didnt turn out...

 

I'll nevar stop hating him. NEVAR.


He sucks and he should feel bad.

 

Greg Cote wrote a good article...just goes to show you there is a first time for everything

 

I heard Pat White can be had on the cheap Killa??

You might actually go nuclear if that guy comes walking thru the door again...

 

I gotcha...it was just a knee-jerk strike by me because I've seen so much negativity lately (not from you, just in general).

How our FO evaluates Henne in one thing, but as fans really the only thing we have to go by is how he plays on the field compared to other QBs in the league at similar positions to their careers. From where he is now, things look promising.

 

Funny you mention Cote, I have an old newspaper here that someone wants framed from Marino's record breaking TD game against Indy, where the Phins lost 36-28. It was written by Cote. I had forgotten just how horrible that guy is.

As for Henne, he reminds me of a pitcher in baseball who has good numbers but just isn't winning games, or enough games to satisfy the fans. I'm still waiting for someone to say "Chad Henne just doesn't know how to win"

 

i just dont understand what's happened with fans. its like there's a certain percentage that cant comprehend that young players need time to grow. they want instant pro bowl quality or they declare them busts. hell i remember people dissing vontae in last year's preseason. somewhere something got really screwed up with people's expectations

 

Madden...blame Madden

 

part of that is true I think...

 

Well said FY.

Only thing I would add, or maybe differ with you slightly on FY is I think we need to see something significant in his development and consistency by the end of this year. Because if we go into another season not sure if we have found the answer at the QB position, then I think we may need to address it in the off-season. JMHO.

Great post though.

 

says the guy who is a Yankee fan.....

just joking prez.....speaking of Yankees......




off to the Yankee Forum!!

 

he is young right now, just turned 25 I believe, things should start to come to him however by years end, other than Marshall aided 300 yard games...

although I believe you will see some, remember how in the beginning of last season, they werent very good on offense, and then by years end, they were actually decent....Offense take a while to get going...

 

thats why I hate this fo. Seriously each player should be going up at least 5 points every offseason............

 

Agreed. Let's give him a chance. He's shown flashes of brilliance. Just need to give him time to marinate and develop.

I expect a huge game out of Henne this week.

 

I've been critical of Henne but never called for his head. He is the starter unless he gets hurt, and that's through the end of the year.

 

I guarantee the Dolphins are keeping in mind tendencies that QBs have historically shown in their developmental process. Guaranteed.

 

sure I agree. Is it the blueprint they will follow though?? Question CK, you think Henne is nervous of Tuna?? I mean it is out there that he is upset with Henne, whether that info was true or false...

Tuna is like a chess player, you cant read him...

 

Every quarterback has his negatives. Every single one. Hall of Famer, not Hall of Famer, franchise QB, doesn't matter.

Look at Brett Favre. What has every single defense said about this guy for the last 15 years? That a number of times a game, if you stay disciplined, he's going to look you straight in the eye and inexplicably throw the ball right to you as a defender. It's his way. You have to capitalize on those opportunities.

And yet if he was in his 3rd year, an astute observer might point that tendency out. And then he might say "If Brett Favre does not cure himself of this tendency, it will always prevent him from fulfilling his potential."

And that person would have been...kinda wrong.

Chad Henne has weaknesses that are going to show up consistently because they're a function of the way he plays football. Every player has them. How ticked off do you think New England fans were in that second game last year when Tom Brady held onto the ball until Cam Wake launched at his ankles and then instead of holding onto the ball or throwing it away, lobs the game away to Channing Crowder as he goes down? He is a GREAT player, but he does that. Consistently. How identical did that play look to how Brady ended a loss against the 4-12 Miami Dolphins in 2004?

How many times a game does Eli Manning look like a throbbing vagina as a result of the way he plays football? Five? Seven? Yet, that guy is considered a franchise QB and he wins games for them, puts up numbers, and even won a Super Bowl against the "perfect" team.

I don't know if the guy has a true fatal flaw yet. I don't think we've seen it yet. I haven't seen defenses start to write a book that turns one of his flaws into a fatal one, not yet. I see a guy that should have a 94 QB rating right now if not for two unearned interceptions. I see a guy that throws 77% of his aimed passes to a place where they're either caught or dropped from a receiver's hands. I see a guy that despite getting sacked has not shown the ball security/fumble problems you see out of other QBs. I see a guy that is 9-8 as a starter. I see a guy that was better in his second season than he was in his first, better in his third season than he was in his second. And when you get right down to it I see a guy that was better in the second half of 2009 than the first half, and better in the first half of 2010 than the second half of 2009. I see a guy that has shown steady improvement against defenses that are aggressively spaced to the line of scrimmage and the middle of the field and highly prone to the blitz. I see a guy that is starting to get more that just a toe in the water against more conservatively spaced shell coverages

So we don't know where the guy is going yet, and I don't think he's even close to being sat unless he has a number of very serious setbacks. And I really didn't see the New England game as a setback, actually I saw it as a step forward.

 

I know you didn't ask me, but I'll throw out my 2 cents anyway. I don't think Henne give a damn about Parcells. I bet he only cares about what he has to do to be a better QB and lead this team for the next decade...
..ok..at least that's what I hope he cares about

 

I don't think anyone in the organization fears Bill Parcells anymore. He is all but checked out completely. He doesn't show up at practices, he doesn't travel for games. He's on the payroll but he'd be on the payroll even if he quit because his contract is guaranteed.

 

l.o.l.

 

Yea well I'm gonna call a spade a spade and I see a guy who is so slow through his progressions, has yet to develop a touch pass, making subtle moves like stepping up in the pocket(although I guess that keeps with experience), and looks so uncomfortable out of the shotgun. I mean anybody can say what they want but Marshall and Bess saved Henne quite a few times with his poorly thrown throws. It's the same story week in and week out. Hate the Dolphins all week and Iove them come game time.

 

That's actually something I've seen him improve since last year. I noticed it in the Jets game.

 

And so it begins

 

I never once criticized Henne. Yes he has made some mistakes and made some bad throws but he has also made some tremendous throws and some really good decisions. But for all the naysayers and people calling for Henne to be benched, give me an example of one QB who didn't make any mistakes when he first came into the league. You look at guys like Peyton Manning. Not comparing the two but his early numbers weren't that great, were they? It takes time for QB's to develop. It's this whole mentality of we need results RIGHT NOW that is the reason why so many promising QB's get chased out of town. Maybe if they had time to develop things might have been different. For example, a few years ago I thought a guy like Brock Berlin had big time potential to be a starter in the league. He showed flashes of brilliance. Never got a real shot though. I think there are many many QB's who come and go and never really get a good shot. It takes time and I like what I see from Henne for the most part. He is going to make mistakes every now and then but I think in the long run he is going to help win more games than lose.

 

I can dig it CK.......sheet bro I hope your right, and undoubtably QB takes the longest and is the most complex to come to fruition, and rightfully so.....

Above bolded is where I may disagree a bit with you on, just this year alone after the Bills game Whitner, and then after the Pats game Ninimovich both said esstentially that he will hone in on the receiver he is going to go to...so yes while the book totally isnt there, because the book is brand new, the chapters are starting to build rapidily....word gets around pretty quick, and Henne isnt the new guy anymore...he will need to adapt this, because I dont think the man turns into Favre anytime soon, a guy who relies on his arm, and his balls, and honestly CK I wouldnt want him too either...

To me, it is simple with Henne, this is all I want to see from him in due time in no particular order, and we can put this franchise qb talk to bed:

1) Take a ball from the shotgun, and be comfortable with it, eventually he will need too. Whether it is that one play late in the game in the playoffs against the Jets in 2 years from now, where he needs to have that half to one second extra. He needs to develop it.

2) Tuck it and run sometimes....with this comes the other aspect throw it away....which I am thrilled with Henne's progression with this, the man WILL throw the ball away, as well I am impressed with his ball security...however I know he is slow, and big...but he is stationary, and defenses are starting to pick that up...they give him that part of the field as they know he wont run...even if it is for 2 yards....keep the defense guessing...thats the name of the game no?

3) Looking guys off.....nuff said it will come, and it is usually one of the last most complex to develop in a young QB, no use in talking about it now....

4) Develop a hardcount......this is so underrated, not many Qb's do it well, as it is difficult, however you can expose blitz heavy schemes (Jets), and in general any blitzing down for that matter....then you need to read and react...who's coming, who's staying....what side are they coming from...yada yada...which I know he is smart enough to process, but right now he is blind guessing...

5) Continue the development of the touch passes....I have seen them less this year so far, so he is catching on with this...but from time to time he bullets one in there from 2 yards out....

Honestly all of this stuff doesnt happen over night, reading, reacting to defenses pre-snap comes with reps at game speed.

Lastly, and this isnt Henne's fault, but please can they let the guy audible out of a play, if the look sucks...?? He isnt 22 and a dope, he is 25 and smart...let the man work with some audible packages....again keep the defenses guessing...like he doesnt like what he sees, outs it for a 5 step out pattern...easy...or the slant route the Jets did EVERY time they needed a 1st down on 3rd down the other night...quick....easy....precise, this is where you can utilize Henne's arm...it is practically uunstoppable...especially to the beast....

My guess is will see all of this and more this Sunday ....however didnt they break the cat out the game after a bye week, maybe they are working on some new and improved stuff...

 

That's like a defender noticing that Drew Brees gets his passes batted down at the line every now and then or that he generally has to move around a little to see targets deep down the field, or that Brett Favre will every now and then make a really chancy throw, or that Tom Brady will do the same, that Dan Marino couldn't escape the pocket, that Chad Pennington can't get the ball to the perimeter of the field. It's like, GREAT. You've IDENTIFIED one of this guy's weaknesses. Now, go exploit it. I dare ya.

Every player has weaknesses. And this particular one is a weakness that every coach facing Chad Henne has known about since the first time he started a game. Awful fun of Donte Whitner to talk about how Henne can lock in on his targets when neither he nor anyone on the Bills were able to intercept him this year.

As for what he needs to get better at, he needs to get better at a lot of things. But I will say I disagree with the shotgun thing. Many coaches do not like the shotgun because they spend that extra half second or so focusing on securing the snap instead of reading the safeties. Henne agrees. This is what you want.

And as for tucking the ball and running I think that's kind of a red herring. You don't see Manning (either of them), Brady, Warner, those guys really tucking the ball and running. It's just not necessary.

Again, there's not much to complain about from his performance this year, nor is there anything to complain about with his growth, so what's with pretending that he NEEDS to do these things in order to perform well? He's either already doing them to an extent that you're not giving him credit for, or they're not as necessary as you think they are.

 

I have, Henne is tied with Schaub for tipped passes with 7 in four games, the same problem he was having in the preseason.

Per OmarK.

 

Listen if you want me to sit here and identify all of Chad Henne's weaknesses trust me I could go on about them for half a day. I could isolate them, identify them, provide examples, etc.

The point is, can you as a defense CONSISTENTLY exploit these weaknesses to where Chad Henne is performing poorly?

And if that's the case, how come only one defense so far this year was arguably able to do that? And even that defense was still getting picked apart and taking on water the whole night before being bailed out by mammoth special teams miscues. For every interception that defense earned, there was a touchdown pass that the defense also earned.

 

He's a robot, but he's our robot...

 

I don't understand the logic that we NEED to switch QBs to have a chance to win this year. I have two problems with this -

1 - Pennington would not have won either game we lost. Neither game fell on Henne and he actually played well in both of them (other than the 2 picks). He really put points on the board when given the opportunity.

2 - The reasons we lost those games are the reasons we aren't ready to compete for a SB this year. Where is the outrage about our running game? Our special teams? Our defense has been solid but let NE gash us for running yards in the 2nd half when we needed stop and they let Mark Sanchez pick them apart at home.

Pennington is not god. He had a very efficient, safe year in 2008 and it was what that team needed. We do'nt need that now. We need a QB to go out and make big throws - Henne has done that. Look at Pennington's career numbers and they are fairly similar to what Henne is giving us this year.

 

Sure, take away Beast, man on Bess, ignore the Te and #2 wr, works fine as Henne will throw to either one, and Bess is not taking a short pass to the house, and Beast is not going anywhere triple covered.

Henne focuses to strongly on one side of the field, if there is nothing there, he checks down to Bess, Hartline simply has to do more than he has been doing, now that could be Henne's fault.

That and well, I'm not sure Henning trusts Henne very much.