Will Chad Henne be the reason Sparano actually stas for another year ????

No. Any coach, if we even make a change there will look to bring in a guy of his own that will fit his system to compete with Henne. Don't really see this as being a big issue IMO.

 

There's an entire mediocre & miscast offense surrounding the QB position, yet you single out young Henne as a reason a coach wouldn't want to come here? Would a coach "not" want to go to NY b/c the Jets have Sanchez?


How about us having an Oline full of holes that can't pass block for crap lately? Would that not factor into it? How about a non-existent ground game and 2 running backs who need replacing? How about a horrible OC?..... or no depth or speed at WR/TE position?....... How about an offensive playbook & skill players that don't really match up to our QBs skill set? How about our inability as a whole to not be able to attack the entire field? How about our easy to defend offense b/c this regime has hand-picked a cast full of slow, possession type guys to match their conservative offensive philosophy? How about the youth and inexperience on offense in general? How about the fact that if a new coach & OC aren't the conservative dink & dunk type, that it's most of our offense that will need to be scrapped and started over from scratch so that he has the personnel to match his desired scheme?

But I guess none of the above matters...... It's only the QB is keeping us back and preventing a great coach from coming in here. Coaches around the league can see the stuff that I mentioned easier than I could type it up. There's a LOT that needs fixing and addressing on offense, and it's not a secret.

If we get a guy in here who wants to open up the offense, then it's entirely possible that he might actually be partial to unleashing Henne and seeing what Chad can do when the scheme and surrounding talent all match each other, which right now they do not.

 

Seriously, we have an offense built on conservatism, playing not to lose, and lots of dinking & dunking....... yet we have a QB who's meant to wing it. Most of us are tired of this weak conservative garbage and want a coach who can kick it up a notch. Who's to say that a new, more aggressive coach wouldn't want to initially keep Henne while first choosing to scrap much of the rest of the offense outside of Long & Marshall so that he has the proper talent to match his scheme?

Sorry but IMO, if you have a coach who really wants to "take it to a defense", then Fasano, Bess, Hartline, Ricky, and Ronnie don't really scream "ATTACK!!". Not to mention there's no #2 TE or #4/#5 WR behind them, and these guys will have to be accounted for too.

 

since Cowher has already listed the PHINS as #2 on his list, i think not ... if the QB situation was dismal - he wouldn't be interested as the other 2 teams on his list also have QBs in the fold in the GIANTS and TEXANS .....

 

No way the Giants would hire him lol. You can take them off the list. The Maras probably laughed their *** off at that one. What about Carolina? You get to draft Andrew Luck

 

Yea, well I can see what the topic starter is saying here, and personally I have not liked Chad Henne as a QB since his college days, I think the offense needs more than a QB fix, but it is the biggest fix need IMO. I can sit here say all the things wrong with Henne, but my main problem with him is his passion. He just don't seem like he's all there. Like after he throws the INT that lead up to a Bills TD, I remember him jogging back on the field after the kick off like it was nothing. I don't see the hunger, and the sense of urgency in his play. The overthrows and bad timing might be fixable with this guy, but PASSION?...can't be taught, and any new coach will have to deal with that. I really don't see Henne back at starting QB next season regardless of who the coach is anyways. A new coach will have to have a big overall "plan" if he goes to Miami, and that usually consists of a choice of QB that will keep his job for the next 5 plus years.

 

The problem is less the QB and more of Sparano's desire to play for FGs. I'm not excusing Henne's poor play by any means but I was finished with Sparano's philosophy when they stopped trying to score at the Buffalo 30 with the game on the line. Let's all be honest, we knew it was a loss at that moment. I don't think Chad Henne will have anything to do with whether Sparano stays or goes. There are much more important things that will be considered - does Ross believe he can win? Is there a better guy available? Also I'm pretty sure he'd have to pay Sparano for the rest of his contract and pay another guy on top of that. I'm sure that's something he'll take into consideration.

 

Actually the guys on Sirius radio explained today that Chad Henne could very well be a big part of the reason Sparano could get the axe. Here's the problem:

This organization pretty much knows they have to find another QB. They also know Tony Sparano had a pretty awful year, and his home record is the kind of thing that really puts a coach into lame duck status. Let's say they are unsure about bringing him back. Pretty much goes without saying if he has another season like this year he gets the axe. Same thing with the entire front office that Bill Parcells installed. If that's the case, if they have any doubts about these guys and they know we need a QB, do they really want these guys to be the ones picking this team's next quarterback? Most likely not.

The guys on Sirius, I think it was Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan, although they both like Sparano, seem to think it's a foregone conclusion he's gone after this season. Not that they are the be all end all on the matter, but they were making a lot of sense.

 

I do agree with part of your other post about how the offensive line needs fixing.

However, I totally disagree with saying Bess, Ronnie and Ricky do not scream attack. Hartline and Fasano not so much disagreement there but still. They can attack any defense and move the ball up and down the field. I'm not talking about big TD strikes either. I'm talking about moving the ball at will. Last season, with a much better line, they moved the ball very well. Most of this was without a Marshall but last year they could run block very well which opens things up.

This year the line sucked at run blocking. Sucked! They pass protected pretty decent at times but the run game was pretty nonexistent so there was no balance.

The blame is squarely on Ireland and Sparano for the lack of an offensive line but..

Chad Henne, (if he is built to wing it) was the one constantly checking down to shorter routes, and when he did try deep, his accuracy was horrible. His completion percentage is pretty damned good and that may indicate that he is not wing it Qb that we thought. Sure he has great arm strength but that means nothing if the light upstairs does not always shine bright.

I do admit that he improved slightly in some areas he lacked before so working hard is paying a dividend or two but one area he showed no improvement in was throwing the stupid int's.


So if someone were to ask me to evaluate my Miami Dolphins this season the first two things I'd think of would be the Qb first then the GM and Coaches. Chad Henne is a young Qb in the NFL, and that's something that can be valid when trying to excuse him but he's not exempt from being criticized or being the first one criticized.

I never liked Henne in College. Did not want him here. BUT last season, I grew to like some things about him. This season, not so much. The Coach, not so much either.

I want Henne on this team next year. For sure about that but I want them to find someone better or almost as equal to compete for the starting job next year. Henne, to me, is not the answer unless he makes HUGES strides this offseason, and that, I don't want whomever is calling the shots, to bank on...

 

Ozzy, I can agree with much of your post, but we're on a different page regarding the receivers "attacking" etc. I agree with you that Bess can attack teams, but it's not the kind of attack that I was referring to. IMO he's a possession type guy who's is good 10 yards at a time, which doesn't scream "attack" to me. It says we can move the chains with him, but he's not a down field attacking WR who can take a quick slant & split the defenders for an 80 yard TD, take a dump pass, juke 3 guys, then take it 60 yards to the house, or go up top for a 50 yard bomb. He's a guy who can take a 5 yard pass, make 3 guys miss, and turn it into 15 yards. IMO that's not the same thing as attacking. That's relying on precision passing and lots of accurate dinking and dunking.

Hartline doesn't "attack" teams either IMO. He's another possession guy and was drafted as such. As a #2 on the perimeter, we're not gonna see him high point balls over DBs; he's not a physical stud in traffic who can out play his DB (or DBs); he doesn't have enough length to really create a few feet of extra separation with his body; he doesn't have the hands to make the crazy acrobatic catch; he doesn't have the wheels to blow through an entire defense at any given moment; and he doesn't have the elusiveness to pose a big play threat once he has the ball. He's not dominant in any 1 area, but as a whole he does a lot of things good so it makes him a quality receiver...... a quality possession WR who can occasionally get deep but is not a Vincent Jackson type threat once the ball is in the air.

IMO Fasano doesn't "attack" teams either. By attack, I mean that he's limited in his abilities and the routes etc he can run and the damage he can do once he has the ball. He's not an Owen Daniels, Dallas Clark, Vernon Davis, Antonio Gates, Dustin Keller, Kellen Winslow, Aaron Hernandez, Greg Olsen, Jeremy Shockey, Jermichael Finley type playmaking TE. He doesn't have crazy hands; won't make the amazing catch in traffic look routine; won't run by people or split the defense; wont run around them either. He's like Hartline--- he can do a lot of things good but doesn't really excel in any 1 area. He's a possession type guy through and through IMO.

I disagree about R&R too. How many plays do they break after they've had an initial hole to run through? How many guys are they blowing past?..... or juking around? They've lost their speed, and with that, lost their ability to truly attack IMO. Now they're possession type guys who are good for 2-6 yards per carry with an occasional 10-12 yarder. I don't really see that screaming attack. To me it says, "let's hope this doesn't lead to a 3 and out or a long drive that stalls in a FG b/c we no ability to pick up chunk yardage."

"Attacking" to me means having the ability to dictate the game to a defense & keep them honest, the ability to threaten every blade of grass on the field, and the ability to break a big play at any given time from at least 1 player from each position (RB, WR, TE). Right now IMO we can't do any of this..... as well as not having any guy who meets this standard. Marshall is the closest thing, but in Miami he's reduced to a possession receiver with little YAC b/c defenses can afford to drape coverage on him. He's basically like having an extra Bess here, only taller and bigger. lol.




As far as Henne goes, IMO he's the kind of QB who needs the players around him (and playcalling) to be able to throw the ball downfield (25+ yards) 6-8 times/game and let him get into a rhythm and hit on 40% of those rather than being a guy who's asked to hit on 70% of 5-10 yard passes ala Pennington for the same amount of yardage totals. His completion % might drop, but I think we'd see his overall play increase including his TDs and yards per attempt.... and he might even throw less INTs b/c the longer he stays on the field <in a Penny type role>, the greater his potential for mistake becomes IMO. When he has a chance to wing it, his medium to deep accuracy seems to vastly improve IMO compared to when we watch him dink and dunk it all game with an occasional downfield pass thrown in.

 

There is nothing worse than a quarterback who is meant to wing it, but cannot.

 

We will see how things break out, personally imho they should keep Sparano and bring in a veteran Qb at minimal level to compete with Henne, at a optimal level, to replace him, the thing with Sparano could go either way as this has been a yr of two steps forwards, one step backwards to often for a third yr Head Coach.

For all the world, Sparano is reminding me very much of Mangini's tenure in NY, started out great, fell back, went mediocre in losing 5 straight games to end the season, but at the end of it all, stocked the cupboard for Rex Ryan's current success.

The problem with trying to predict what will happen with Sparano is there are two currents working for and against him:

For:

-There will be a lockout, bringing in a new head coach will do no good as he will not see the players until August so all of their plans and schemes simply will not be installed in time for the 2011 season

Against:

-It is rare to have a head coach go into the final yr of their deal, typically they are signed to another deal, or fired, occasionally they do finish their contracts:

-Marvin Lewis
-John Fox
-Lovie Smith

All went into 2010 in their final yrs, two had terrible yrs, one had a resurgent yr, which one is Sparano?

 

I thought, going into the season, that this was a run it down their throat team, but cannot.

 

TP, how do you explain the difference team wise from the 2008 team compared to the 2010 team..

2008 team had less talent as well....

same cordinator....same coach..different QB?

Please don't pull out the strength of schedule thing..

Pennington had the same guys executing for him without Marshall, with the same man calling the plays, with a completely different result..

The fact that we saw our team execute at a very high level that year, while this year watching them be just about the worst in the league, puts holes imo in your analysis of henne..

All signs point to the QB my brother.

 

Well, the thing is they tried to insert Pennington back into the starting lineup, that lasted 53 seconds, that sort of was the death knell of the offense as Sparano keeps trying to give Henne a chance to show he is "the guy" he just hasn't done so.

Recall a couple of weeks back when I said I no longer trust Chad Henne to be our Qb?

Apparently that is why they Staff no longer calls deep passes either, Henne won't throw them, and when he does, he misses them.

 

yea, the running game has been disappointing as well.

 

I always appreciate a well-thought out post, but I feel like this topic is mostly rubbish.

I have spent a good part of my adult life as a "fixer." Heh, and not that kind of fixer...I've never owned a gun in my life. Businesses would hire me to come inside and make them more profitable, and the first thing I'd look at was the employee morale. In struggling businesses it almost always sucked, and that alone makes all the difference in the world. Next, I'd look at costs and the management to find areas of waste; there was always plenty of that because the owner almost always had no idea what was really going on. Then, I'd fire the manager, train the most motivated employee to take over his position, and teach him or her how to be a leader. In 99 out of 100 cases, the business itself was fine....after a quick attitude adjustment and some cost training the store did well.

First of all, they're not going to hire a nobody to take over in Miami. It will be a proven football veteran and they will be ridicolously compensated. The weather and the money is why a coach comes to Miami, and Ross loves spending money.

With that said, any potential coach is not going to look at what the media has said about Henne. He's going to throw the statistics straight out the window and sit down to watch some film, then he's going to decide if he has a QB or not. For example, we lost last week on a foolish last drive...but Henne marched us straight down the field while using the clock efficiently. Drives like that are a huge plus in his favor, but as fans we see them as huge negatives because we didn't score 3 or 7 points. The new coach isn't looking for what the score was; he will want to see only the plays that Henne executed (or failed) on.

Honestly, I can not understand why anyone would say that Henne has to go. We all agree that Sparano has killed the offense by standing behind Henning for far too long, and the first thing a new coach is going to look at is missed scoring opportunities. Whoever it is will say, "Wow, they were inside the 20 on seventeen plays, yet they only passed twice. Why the heck did they run the Wildcat on 1st down (and pull their QB) when they just had 4 completions in a row? Then they follow it up with a handoff and only give their QB 1 down to make 10 yards?"

Football is not about statistics...it's about playing football. I think so many of you have thrown Henne into your fantasy league that you're not seeing the actual games being played....instead you're seeing statistics and automatically assuming that our young QB is horrible. We definitely need a coaching change, and when that happens I think you'll see that Henne can outperform anyone they can bring in for 2011. Henne is not going anywhere, and he's a plus for anyone thinking about taking over a coaching job in Miami.

 

Read all the way too the end before you think I'm totally disagreeing with you. I am but I'm not totally.

To attack a team, imo, is too go head to head with them, and consistantly beat them to the point of attack. Sounds like you want homeruns to me?

So many of their 2 and 3 yard runs are the fault of the offensive line. Now I do agree that both Rb's did not help the line enough this year.

The group (oline) last year beat the hell out of defenses upon the snap. Then they pushed them, for the most part, 2-4 yards backwards or when the blocking was designed to direct them to open a gap, the holes were wider, and almost always we saw the lineman getting to the second level by mauling the defensive lines. This year not so much at all...

Having a Rb that can go 80 yards to the house is a luxury, I'm sure we all would love one but it's not a must. Of the top 47 ranked Rb's right now there are only 15 with a longer run than Ronnie Brown under their belts. Does not mean anything but that he can gain chunks, I know he's gotten run down a few times in the past but that does not kill me as long as they score. I'd rather run time off the clock anyway but sure, a TD like that would be nice now and then. Not a must though.

OK, you explained what you mean by attack so I will not nitpick you by saying over and over you seem to want homeruns. I'll go with it here.

This is one part where I do disagree though. Marshall, Ronnie, and Ricky can break tackles and on any given play it can be a big gainer . Even Hartline because he's faster and showed it at times this year as well. But breaking a big play, to me, does not HAVE to be a touchdown.
The playmakers on this team are good enough to win but execution, scheme, the offenisve line, penalties, and inconsistant play from the Qb at different but crucial points in games has been very costly to this years team.

Teams do not throw the ball 25 plus yards in the air, 6-8 times a game, very much. The deep pass, even ones that end up an 80 yrd TD, are mostly thrown between 15 and 25 yards (travel distance) with the rest being YAC. It is moreso nowadays but still it's not like all teams are throwing deep like the Greatest show on Turf did. That's just not what the Scheme that Dan Henning runs is taught. The scheme from whch he learned is one of the better used by the way. It's just that the old man Henning has gotten away from it more and more these last few seasons. Now lets say they get him what you ask for, run a lot more deep passes, make him throw it deep as well. There is still a problem with his underneath throws. His percentages are high in that regard but his throws are, for the most part, thrown more in the area of his target, instead of leading him exactly as he should. His touch improved ever so slightly for about 3-4 games this year but has since vanished completely.

This team is really no different than the disrupting wildcat plays. Less probably but not far off. Plenty of plays have been called where the hot route is a fly pattern. Plenty of times the pattern was open. Not enough times was the throw made, and when it was, the percentages were not good. Rhythm is a word that is used a lot. I'm sure it has good meaning and is accurate to a point. But to me, it's not all about throwing in rhythm. It's about being confident in what you do. Confidence builds rhythem more than anything else. Henne has lacked that big time this year. Moreso towards the end of this season and a huge drop from his first start last season until now.

I'm not saying I'm done with Chad Henne. Of course Dan Henning can't leave soon enough but I don't like what I'm seeing from Henne this late in a year, With 20 something starts under his belt he went from rookie to looking like he was learning some small things to looking totally lost more oft than naught.
Get me a veteran who can run an offense. Draft one too. But either one should be one who can disect a defense at the line. One who can dictate what a defense has to do at times. One that can actually run a play action pass or throw a great screen. That's what they need and the ones who will most likely be available are nothing GREAT but could be serviceable. DO NOT give him the starting Qb job but get him. Let all the Qb's in camp compete fairly and may the best one win. I hope Henne proves me wrong but for now I'm skeptical.

I do think they need an upgrade at running back and at tight end but unless they upgrade the offensive line, and make an effort to upgrade the Qb (and yes next years Henne could be an upgrade) then all is fruitless to me. I don't concern myself with wishing for homeruns. My form of attack would be to run an offense that can run the ball to get first downs, and throw the ball effectively, consistantly and accurately. Especially in the RED ZONE

One really fast, and dependable Wr would be nice to. One that maybe can return kicks. But if they can get one of the youngins, that are on the roster now, to BE that guy, I'm all for it. But not willing to wait around half the season more while he develops.

 

Everything you just said reminds me of a quote by Ireland lauding Henne's comeback drive against Florida for a TD as the reason they chose to go for Henne, thus take Long first, rather than go for "Matty Ice."

Sorry but one drive or one half of good play do not a QB make! I certainly can't speak to what the new HC will or will not do because #1 we don't have one yet and #2 we have no idea what his philosophy is on the type of QB he wants on his team. I will say this concerning your comments; yes he will SEE Henne's good sidebut he will also SEE the side of Henne you seem to want us all to over look imvho!

The new HC, if Ross desides to throw even more money at a HC, remembering that even a billionaire's pockets are only so deep. He is on the hook for Bill's 4 Mil and most here are suggesting he will flip on not only that 4 but also Tony and Jeff's last year while adding to that with maybe 6 or 7 a year for a "Name!" Wow some here are really free and easy with Ross' money! Which one of you would do the same if it was your money you were spending?

I'm not saying he won't but to claim its a foregone conclusion is a bit much if you ask me. Of course you didn't but thats ok too.

 

The 2008 team ran up 11 wins vs. Buffalo (x2), San Fran, Oakland, Seattle, St Louis, KC, and Denver. Our only wins vs respectable opponents was NE (no Brady) in the WC game, San Diego a week later, and the finale vs the Jets (Favre hurt). I don't know how you can just dismiss schedule strength, it was a MAJOR factor in how we won 11 games.

Another factor is surprise. Coming off of 1-15 we were able to sneak up on teams. Henning had been out of the league for two years. No one had any recent film on his offense, tendencies etc. No one knew about the WC. Our turnover margin was thru the roof, we set an NFL record for least turnovers. We were remarkably injury free. A laundry list of things happened in our favor that year that cannot be depended on from season to season. We got lucky.

 

Yet the play of the Qb was without a doubt the main reason they won 11 games that year. Period! This year, the play of the Qb was a good part of the reason why they sit at 500 with no chance at the playoffs. Not just because they couldn't beat the really good teams but because they lost two games that they should have won. A healthy Pennington probably wins those. Or he may have gotten killed because he is frail but a damned good Qb none the less..

 

Well, he bought the orginization so he could have the ultimate night club in Miami...that's all the team is to him. He wants the celebrities to show up in droves and say, "Gee, you're super cool,"......I haven't seen anything that says he won't throw a bunch of money at anything that could improve our reputation.

As far as Henne goes, you're absolutely right.....one drive does not define a quarterback. Forget scoring and statistics though; how many times did Henne get us into the redzone this season? It's a QB's job to complete passes; it's a coaches job to keep the drive going.

Forget about the average drive-ending pattern of run up the middle, wildcat, short pass, fist pump formation once we're in the redzone, and look at almost every other team in the league. They create ways for the offense to score, and that's 70% coaching and 30% execution. Henne should be lighting up Marshall in short yardage and letting the Beast earn his paycheck....but we haven't seen it all year. If anything, we've become more conservative....and that's why we're nearly last in scoring.

 

I think being STUCK with Henne will eventually cost TS his job, and when that happens I hope they seek a better coach option than Gruden.

 

I think Dan Henning may have cost Henne his career, David Lee his development, and Tony Sparano his confidence. They bastardized this kid when the team's ahead. No wonder we can never run away from teams. It was the same in 2008. They couldn't run away from anyone. Chad Pennington at his best was FAR worse when ahead and that was with an excellent running game he could use the play action off of.

 

Further little snippets:

Remember how Tom Brady was in 2002 in his second year starting, when we were all saying he was overrated and a fluke? He had a 86 QB rating (albeit with slightly harder pass rules). That rating was heavily influenced by his over 100 QB rating when ahead. The Pats keep passing when they're ahead. They surprise you, they pile numbers on. Behind? He was a 72 in QB rating and his options although perhaps not as strong as Henne's this year were still solid, the O-Line was solid, and he was being coached far better than Henne is.

Chad Henne's passer rating out of 3 WR sets by the way is also 84. Out of 2 WR sets it's 69. It's things like this (some things we've talked about, some things we haven't) that drive me crazy. How can you get an effective evaluation of this guy at this rate? I can tell you Alex Smith is a poor quarterback plain and simple. He fails in the toughest spots especially when the game is tight. Henne though? He's been coached into this half-assed Pennington.