>Chad Henne
Probably the biggest wild card ever to come along in Miami sports. Henne was drafted in the 2nd round in 2008 and initially had expectations to sit behind Josh McCown (and later, Chad Pennington) for a couple years while he was molded into a capable NFL starter, and once again, be the next attempt at a franchise quarterback. The plan seemed to be working with Chad Pennington's career year in 2008. Not to mention Pennington is arguably one of the most intelligent players overall in the NFL, not just quarterbacks. He's much better as a potential mentor for a young quarterback than any other quarterback would be. Cerebral is his middle name.
Pennington ended up getting his shoulder ****ed up again against San Diego in '09, forcing Henne into the spotlight for the remainder of the season and forcing the trade for Chiefs quarterback Tyler Thigpen. After a rough three quarters against San Diego and a pedestrian first start in a Buffalo victory, he was given baptism by fire on Monday Night Football against Rex Ryan's brand new New York Jest. Braylon Edwards had just been traded to the Jest and Fatty Rex was slinging his McDonalds swagger (about 400 pounds worth) across the National Football League. The Jest were riding high on that Monday Night, and Chad Henne responded with his best performance of his career thus far. His passes were magical, his deep ball was incredible. He led the 4th quarter comeback that ended with Ronnie Brown scoring the winning touchdown with 11 seconds remaining. Henne was picking the Jest apart that night, and the feel around Dolphins land was that the best was yet to come.
Unfortunately, since that first night, we haven't seen that kind of magic from him. We've seen flashes of brilliance and plenty of moments where you do a JAGUARS FAN pose for. He's almost like a Jekyll and Hyde case for quarterbacks. Two big exampes from last season was Week 12 against the Raiders in Oakland. Henne had a great game where he threw over 300 yards. His passes were accurate, fluid. He had touch on the football. He was slinging the rock fairly efficently and it led the Dolphins to a good win. Then the next week at home against Cleveland he lays a complete ****ing egg. Joe Haden made Chad Henne his b**** with a spectacular first quarter interception and Henne retreated back into his shell. He ended up throwing two more interceptions, the third one being on a third down play in our own territory, late in the 4th quarter with the game tied at 10, that was deflected off a lineman's shoulderpad into the arms of Abram Elam, who returned it to near the goal line. Cleveland kicks a field goal, wins the game.
The subject of Chad Henne is a hot topic among Dolphins fans. After going through 13 other starting quarterbacks and a midget (Pat White) over the past 10 years since Dan Marino retired, fans are getting rather impatient with both Henne and the current organization. They have been spurned by the likes of Dave Wannstedt, as they have seen a regime last for multiple years only for the organization as a whole to decay from the inside-out like a disease. Certain people believe that is what's destined for our current organization after three years of frankly marginal success. Fans of the Dolphins are also left to question the moves made by the current regime of Tony Sparano and Jeff Ireland (Parcells quit, what a hack), especially when two other teams in their division are the Jest and the New England Patriots, perrenial playoff contenders and media favorites to win Super Bowls year in and year out (even though the Jest won't win one lolololol). Fans have been severely divided over the moves made within the past week. Why trade for Reggie Bush? Why are we trading for Kyle Orton? Fans are going to be fans, and they're allowed to question the leadership of their team if they want to. But unfortunately, according to our fanbase, it seems like a dark cloud has been placed over the Dolphins as a whole. And most of this pessimism is ultimately linked back to our now-currently starting quarterback, a one Chad Henne.
This year is make or break with Chad Henne. He's got a new offensive coordinator (Brian Daboll) who plans to incorporate a pseudo-spread offense. I don't believe that s*** for a second but we'll see what happens. The Kyle Orton attempt of a trade was a clear shot at the bow of Chad Henne. It's time to prove yourself to see if you can take that next necessary step to be a starting caliber quarterback in the National Football League. If he does, then maybe the Dolphins can make that next step and try to return to the Super Bowl for the first time in nearly 30 years. If not, then you wipe the slate clean and start over with a new coach and a new quarterback. Hey, you never know...maybe we'll still be having this same conversation three years from now. I hope not, for our fanbase's sake.
