There are occasionally things that happen that cause me to say "wow, that player has turned the corner" like Wake blowing past the Jags RT Tony Pashos in the preseason, or Bess playing lights out in the Ravens playoff game.
This is such a moment for me with Chad Henne, think about what Mike B just said:
"Henne hits Roberto Wallace on a corner fade over Sean Smith in the endzone"
A. that is a pass Henne rarely throws well in games
B. Sean Smith is what..6'4? and he is throwing a fade over him and on target?
C. did the same with Bess
Hmm, the Robot Reloaded? If he can throw that pass consistently the redzone issues maybe solved with BM and Wallace both 6'4 and Mastrud the rook Te 6'6...
A new Chad Henne??
dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member
With the height we have at receiver , we MUST be able to connecton some fade routes to score touchdowns instead of field goals.
To me , I think it comes down to practise , practise , practise. There is no reason we shouldn't be more succesful at this aspect of the game imo.
Henne has always struggled throwing the fade. Throughout TC and then early in the season he mentioned how difficult of a throw it was for him. If he's getting that down it could improve our redzone offense significantly. That's the thing about Henne. He's not great in some areas, but he's such a hard worker that I can never say he won't eventually improve them. I never thought that he'd get his completion percentage above 62%, but he's proven me wrong. I've also seen clear improvement in his touch, his pocket sense, not staring down receivers and his progressions. He even is showing improvement in his play action fakes. He's still inconsistent, but that's a step up from when all the fakes were bad. I've contended that Henne's upside was an Eli Manning level QB, that he could not potentially reach a Peyton Manning level. But if he continues to improve each area, there is nothing that physically prevents him from being Peyton. I really hope he proves my evaluation of his upside wrong and he reaches that Peyton level.
Disnardo, dolphindebby, SICK and 5 others like this.
Hmm an "s" in practice and a "c" for Offence?
:D
A player sometimes has sign posts they pass on their maturation as professionals, and throwing fades over 6'4 Sean Smith to me is one of them, Smith's wingspan is amazing so Henne must be feeling it to put the ball in there successfully.
Now if he could just do the patented Rich Gannon look right and pump fake then throw back to the left, the Defense will collectively shat on themselves if he pulls it off.
We'd be thrilled w/ an Eli-level quite frankly. Can't expect Peyton Manning at all .... guys like him come along once or twice every decade-plus, and we've already been blessed with our guy like that.
Its a tough throw for him, along with other touch throws in the redzone and against zone defenses, because the throws required go against his natural trajectory..
He is improving on his acrc though, that is obvious...
The reasons why the benching occurred are now easily identified..and Justified..imo.
Disnardo likes this.
Agreed, but Peyton is not special athletically. He's special b/c he works so hard. I don't see any reason that someone with similar athletic skill who works as hard as him couldn't reach his level. That doesn't mean I "expect" anybody to get there, just that I recognize its possible.
dolphindebby, SICK and ToddsPhins like this.
Wouldn't it though?
It is such a simple move I'm somewhat stunned we have not seen it from Henne, especially with the way Henne likes to be under center.
There's a difference in Brains, HUGE difference
I disagree in this instance and on a general principal. All the research on intelligence and success basically finds that once you have enough intelligence, success is determined by work not additional intelligence. As an example if you have two nuclear scientists and one has an IQ of 80 and the other has an IQ of 160 you will probably have a big difference in their success levels. But once you get above say the 130 IQ level then additional intelligence above that has little baring on success. The more successful one (between the 160 IQ person and the 130 IQ person) will be determined by the guy who works harder. In Peyton's case I think he's smart but not necessarily smarter than most NFL QBs. I think he knows the game better than most any QB out there though. The reason for that is his level of work, not his intelligence. I don't have any reason to believe that Henne isn't as intelligent as most NFL QBs. So if Henne has enough intelligence, the determining factor for his success will be how hard he works.
SICK, Two Tacos, Stitches and 1 other person like this.
I keep sayin we just need to be patient with Henne, and give him the time he needs to develop. All the physical tools are there, it's all just mental at this point. The game's just gotta slow down for him, and it will IMO. There are bound to be bumps along the way, but I've already seeing enough improvement to be very optimistic about his future and his potential.
ToddsPhins likes this.
vt_dolfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member
want to see it Sunday & then the next four games
Maybe the benching did more good than harm afterall. It seems to have lit a fire under him. We all know he is a very capable QB. Last game I saw a QB who learned from some of his mistakes, throwing touch passes with more precision, and firing the ball without second guessing himself. If he can continue to do that, I like our chances down the stretch. I'm predicting that the Jets lose 4 or 5 in a row, and Miami sneaks in to snatch the Wild Card from them. Leaving the Jets out of the playoffs. Nothings impossible.
sounds like a plan
That is the difference between Chad Henne=Gus Frerotte and Chad Henne=Eli Manning, those touch passes and a willingness to take more risks with the football by throwing into smaller windows and to get the ball up and down over defenders.
As an aside, "if" this works out, it is like the Football Deities saying:
"Stick with Henne stoopids, you have been through Pennington and Thigpen and 13 other guys, what else do you want me to do get you a good young starting Qb..sheesh..take "yes" for an answer Dolphins fans"
Disnardo and ToddsPhins like this.
vt_dolfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member
No....I would disagree....its not a difference in Brains....
Its more a difference in creativity.....Peyton Manning really takes an artists approach to how he plays football. Its actually why he's a pretty damned good commercial actor....he's a very creative person.
Henne is more black and white.....do this, practice that, and with the right Offensive Co....who brings the creative approach to his practice and QB'ng....Henne will be a very good QB.
But he wont be a Peyton Manning....Peyton will fake the crap out of an opponent when he see's a weakness he thinks outside of the box on his own, on how to do it. Henne just doesnt think like that.....he needs an OC to do that.
So this is how I see it......
Henne + Creative OC = or may = something resembling Peyton Manning, where as Peyton Manning is the QB and the creative OC all in one.
If you wanted to ever find a QB who had the best chance of being a Peyton Manning ... it would have been a fusion of Chad Henne and Chad Pennington.
i agree. the benching was needed to snap him out of his funk. It took alot of balls from this coaching staff and you could see they tried to avoid it for as long as they could but in the end he needed the slap in the face to realize that being scared to make mistakes means you will be scared to make plays and we didnt draft you to play scared
Scared money don't make money.
Well it did take Brady about 5 or 6 years to become the Brady he is now, and it's plausible to say that if they were playing together at Michigan, Tom might've been sitting the bench behind Chad. Brady wasn't a heralded #1 overall pick either, so I don't think Henne can be completely excluded from similar potential.
I agree that Peyton has a level of creativity considerably above what Henne currently has, but I see that as a product of experience and practice. The analogy I draw is from martial arts. There is a big difference between knowing how to punch and kick and being good in a fight. You'll often see martial arts students who are good at techniques but not good in a fight. Likewise you'll see people who are good fighters but are not great at technique. They are naturally creative. That martial arts student with good technique just needs to continue to practice and gain fighting experience to become a good fighter. I see Peyton as that type. He had great technique coming in but needed to continue to work and gain experience. Eventually, he was able to not be a slave to his technique and be creative. That was when he became a great player.
Nice to hear about those passes in practice, let's hope it can be re-produced on Sunday.
The one area Henne didn't show improvement against Oakland was in the red zone... the two TD passes, both very good plays, were longer YAC plays. Those plays need to continue as well, go for the throat when in opponents territory.
Getting inside the 20 needs to end with seven points. Whether it's on Henne's arm or Ricky & Ronnie's legs. That alone can improve our offensive output from 10-25 points to 25-40 points.
I agree with you. It's not that he's completed a successful fade in practice over SS; it's that he's completed 3 successful fades in a short time frame. We all have those moments where we go from not being good at something to where, after lots of repetition, it all of a sudden clicks. I remember having a few of those moments when I was a QB (granted it was in JV & high school but it still happens the same way IMO). Henne could've very well experienced the same thing with his fades. I sure hope so!!!
my boy is an orange belt, 7 years old, looks good goin thru his stages and technique, gets his butt kicked when he spars, lol..wonder when its the right time to show a 7 year old his first bruce lee movie?
ToddsPhins likes this.
I have no doubt of Henne's work ethic, intelligence, or his talent. IMO, a QB is made in overcoming adversity. Henne showed me a lot in how he came back from being benched, as well as being blasted by Sparano.
His next step is leading his team to a 4th quarter comeback for a big win. IMO, that is the missing piece.
To be fair, we're not going to be seeing how creative or "non" creative Henne actually is until the game has entirely slowed down for him. He's still consciously trying to make sure he does A & B correctly, so he doesn't really have time or the mental ability to worry about C & D until A & B become 2nd nature IMO.
djphinfan likes this.
Has he surprise kicked you in the biscuits yet? :lol:
I have a 10 year old who is a purple belt. He's been watching Bruce Lee movies since he was 6. I thought he would complain about the cinematic quality (newer movies just look slicker), but he picks them out to watch on his own.
My son is actually awesome at sparring, but I don't know if he would be good in a fight. That's a big step. Right now he's basically good at tag. His technique hasn't reached that level where he can make enough of those "tags" really hurt someone if he needed to. Once you develop that ability, you can reasonably defend yourself against bigger opponents and multiple opponents.
Page 1 of 3
- Thread Status:
- Not open for further replies.