I think Chad Henne will be very good. I'm talking about good to the Superbowl good. He has shown enough to convince me. I don't know about anyone else but I believe we have a chance to win it all this year.

Regarding the Free Safety position, I think Clemons will eventually win out. I truly believe that we are better there than we may realize. IMO this is a good squad and it might take a game or two to see that but I think they will be just fine. Good thread.

 

I think Chad Henne will be very good. I'm talking about good to the Superbowl good. He has shown enough to convince me. I don't know about anyone else but I believe we have a chance to win it all this year.

Regarding the Free Safety position, I think Clemons will eventually win out. I truly believe that we are better there than we may realize. IMO this is a good squad and it might take a game or two to see that but I think they will be just fine. Good thread.

 

Im not so much worried about Henne. He has all the tools to get it done, and with Marshall he's being given a great chance. I think we're still going to see some growing pains out of Henne this year, still a few boneheaded INT's, still probably a few missed opportunities. But IMO, that's to be expected since he really doesn't have all that much game experience yet. Last year was huge for him, but lets face it, he's still relatively inexperienced.

As for the FS position... it scares the living hell out of me right now. Whoever wins that job, I hope theyre able to do a damn good job. Im very unhappy about what we've done to address our need there. Hopefully one of these kids on the roster will pan out, and step up bigtime this year.

 

I'm very upbeat about Henne and believe he will someday take us to the big dance, maybe even this season. However this is going to be a tough year, new people and DC, lots of game experience together needed to come together as a TEAM. We still have a few too many question marks to be expecting a SB appearance IMVHO, but I sure would love it!

IMO this season we find out if the team has taken the next step to a perennial upper echelon & contending team. Then NEXT off season we may need to add 1 or 2 more final pieces/players to tweak this team and get to the SB in 2011-12.

Very much rooting for Clemons at FS, that position and OLB are our 2 biggest question marks, even far more so than Henne IMO. Can Mike Nolan take this D to the upper tier or top 10 this season? If he can, I believe we have the pieces in place on offense to go deep into the playoffs, and with a little (no, LOTS) of luck, we COULD even get to the big dance.

 

1) Future HOF'er good :up:

 

I think any of us who says they are not worried about the FS spot is either lying to themselves, uninformed or just plain doesn't care....Clemons is the guy or at least it's his job to lose so we can only hope that he steps up to the plate....the fallback is Culver or Reshad Jones...but wow, they are even scarier than Clemons, IMHO...I'd feel better with Jason Allen at FS than Culver or Jones... Maybe you are right and this is the year that J. Allen takes the job by the horns and runs with it....but either way, it'll be answered in a month or so...

As to Henne....it's his time. He has had a full offseason, will have a full TC and they can build the O around his strengths (as opposed to Penny's strengths as it was last year). It's all in his proverbial hands right now...

 

As bleak as the FS spot looks right now, our success or failure, imo, is in the hands of the young and revamped linebacker corps... If the pressure comes against the QB, then the FS spot won't be as critical as you might think. That will be the blitz packages and the development of the two young OLBers along with the DL.

 

i'm more concerned with our front seven than our FS. WE have lost two key players before preseason has even started. another injury or two and we wont have an effective front seven anymore

 

Henne is a good young quarterback and we have good backups in Pennington and Thigpen so we are in a better situation at quarterback than we have in years. Having Marshall certainly will bring a new option for our QB.
The situation at free safety is fluid and our current options are young and untested.
The ideal outcome would be that one of the young guys steps up and if so our secondary is set for years. There could still be someone on the waiver wire when teams start cutdowns if needed.

 

I'm not that worried about our FS position like you guys are. I believe that V Davis will be a star this year. S Smith will be a solid stud across from him. Will Allen will give us a very solid 3rd CB. Y Bell (if healthy) will have a good year. C Clemons will be average at best IMO. You give me a secondary where 4 out of 5 players give you a a ton of ability and the 5th player is average, and I'll be happy as hell.

Given that, the more pass rush Nolan can generate, the less we have to worry about the secondary.

 

I think this, our front devensive line will be a bigger question for us even then our free safety position.

 

key players may be a bit of a stretch. ferg was going to miss half the season anyways and who knows what he would have had left (see traylor at end of career) and merling has been a bust who has made one play as a Dolphin.
I don't think you panic because of these two losses.:up:

 

I think Henne can be very very good this year, if he learns how to win the game at the end...ie.....4th quarter comes, no mistakes, good clock managment, creates opportunites, and when some refuse to show up, make your own opps.....I still cant get over my brother-in-law telling me while he was at Michigan (the sametime Henne was) that I will fall in love with his arm, but get equally as pissed when he makes boneheaded plays......and I think we all saw that last year with Chad....

as for FS, its Clemons for lose, and call me crazy I think Culver is next in line for a crack at it....Allen I dont think has a shot, and Jones is too raw...

doest really answer any questions 2-3, but just my IMO

 

if you let the qb have all day to throw the chances go up they will be able to control the clock, move down field, wrs have al onger chance to get open, etc.
I don't understand how you can say the dl is fine when we have lost personnel, and will be attempting to move one of our better players to a new position.

 

How is #1 different than burning one of your CBs for a TD? FS can't play the whole field.

I think our own history shows that a great MLB can make the defensive adjustments/calls without a problem.

We were not the only teamed burned by Payton and Brees last year. I watched multiple games where Payton took control and marched right down the field last year to win games in the final minutes and there was nothing those defenses could do about it. We were no different. The only defense that saved their asses was the Saints.

We keep saying how we completely lost that game because of our bad FS play. And while that contributed, other defenders missed tackles on that play. Plus, maybe we should just give credit to some of the incredible offenses we played against last season.

-subtract Wilson, add Clemons is an improvement. We will be fine. As long as Unlucky's worries about lack of a pass rush don't come true.

 

You think they replace him by game 4 23rd?? IDK, I can see them giving him a shot longer than that....lets say they go 1-3 in four games, and it isnt totally Hen-Dog's fault....that could be very possible with that schedule too....Henne, I can picture like Favre, or Peyton, it took them a while to settle, but his talents eventually won out you know?? Remember the kid is only 25, think about that...

 

QB's develop, and maybe take the longest to do so....I'd be happy with no bs....62-64% comp rate, 35-3700yrds, 29-33 tds, and no less than 15 ints....if he got that stat line 2 years into a full time gig....I would be happy...

however I think they are going to give him EVERY opportunity to be that guy....only way they sit him is if he has more pics, then tds IMO....

 

I seriously doubt it. Even if Henne shows no improvement over last year, I don't see Penny replacing him. And Henne last year is still better than Thigpen at his best. While I hope Henne shows improvement so we can go to the playoffs, the idea that the regime has a quick trigger finger to replace him with Penny, just because Penny looked good 2 years ago is absurd. I love Penny, but he sucked eggs beginning of last season.

 

I love your enthu bro, believe me, and they will ride or die withnout him, unless an injury happens, but they are going to stick with him I believe, they LOVE this kid, they will let him develop....and if Henne is out, it isnt Penny that replaces him, his is there as a playing QB coach.....

Chad Pennington is not in the mix for the Dolphins backup QB job, according to coach Tony Sparano.

Pennington's shoulder issues leave him as a mere veteran presence for Chad Henne to lean on right now. The backup job is Tyler Thigpen's thanks to Pat White's lack of development.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...-camp-questions-0725-20100723,0,1105856.story

 

Pennington isn't healthy, so it's a moot point. Even if he was, his arm is two years older. While I'm sure he could do fine if he was healthy, it would not be good enough to take us very far.

yes, we need a franchise QB to go to the superbowl. If you think 35 year old Pennington, even when healthy, is our franchise QB, than you're not only the one that's sadly mistaken, you're delusional (in a overly-optimistic way).

And Thigpen has shown absolutely nothing to me to make him anything more than an exciting backup QB on our team.

 

1) Can't say. We'll find out early though in pre-season if he is going to be what we want him to be or not this season so at least it won't take long.

Some might argue that but honestly what has really changed if not just his #1 WR. All the other WRs, TEs, and RBs are the same.

So if he isn't somewhat in tune already come pre-season then it might not be a good sign. Doesn't mean the sky is falling but it would be highly discouraging.

2) This is what I am most disappointed about. I just have a gut feeling we will see Ted Ginn drama all over the place, but this time concerning the FS position.

I guess the Tri-Fecta needs to get its lumps in the head before they ever really address issues?

Oh I know they tried to land a few top FS in FA but they ultimately didnt think the money was worth the upgrade.

Reminds me of the drama over Ted Ginn and upgrading the WR corps. I think they will be proven wrong once again. Although I hope I am the one that is wrong of course.

Watch this position get destroyed and struggle like Ted Ginn last season....and just like that situation, get a major upgrade next season.

 

The answer to question number one is yes.

The answer to question number two is maybe.