Here is an article in the Palm Beach post yesterday that I haven't seen posted here yet.
Commentary: Chad Henne will wait his turn with Dolphins
By GREG STODA
Palm Beach Post Staff Columnist
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
DAVIE — The Dolphins keep looking for their quarterback of the future, and the future keeps getting further and further away.
Until now.
Miami likely won't throw rookie Chad Henne into the starter's pit right from the outset, because they have veteran Chad Pennington - serviceable New York Jets(am) from the wreckage of the Brett Favre Episode. Whether it's wise or overly protective to keep Henne on the bench for a while is a matter of legitimate debate, of course.
But this particular August has the look of long-term promise at quarterback for the first time since Dan Marino stopped the clocks in these parts almost a decade ago.
Henne offers Miami its best chance to throw away the list of hopefuls and hopeless who have played quarterback for the Dolphins in recent seasons, and - this is a very important part - he seems to know it.
"I definitely feel comfortable," Henne said. "I have all the playbook. I have all the checks. I have all the reads."
That's what Henne told me less than 24 hours before Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said what he said Tuesday about the kid's standing in the competition with Pennington, which was this: "Two. One. I'm not sure where they are right now. It's hard to tell. Chad (Pennington) hasn't had a lot of work, but I feel really comfortable with Chad Henne and where he is right now."
If that was a tease, it was a dandy.
"I think he's developed a bunch since the start of rookie camp," Sparano said. "He's playing a little bit more comfortable in the pocket. He's starting to see the field a little bit clearer. He's making some faster decisions out there in some critical situations.
"This guy's really shown me great poise. He's probably made the most heads-up plays at that position right now."
The only disclaimer from Sparano was when he pointed out that Henne has had the most opportunities to make a good impression.
OK, fine.
The bottom line is that Henne has the talent and attitude to emerge as a No. 1 quarterback. He played linebacker and fullback before being switched to quarterback as a freshman at Wilson High School in West Lawn, Pa.
The last time he wasn't a starter at that spot? "Never," Henne said.
Now, he'll wait his turn if he must, but only if he must. Because it's easy to get the sense that Henne is every bit as confident about staking a claim to the Dolphins' starting job as he was when he was a freshman at the University of Michigan.
He won't say so beyond the aforementioned expressions of confidence, but rookie Jake Long - Miami's pick as the No. 1 player in the NFL Draft - will, and he was Henne's four-year teammate with the Wolverines.
"He was a great leader from the first day," Long said. "He stuck his head in the huddle right from the start and said whatever needed to be said to anybody, and it didn't matter who they were or how old they were."
Long said Henne also was a diligent student of the game.
"If he told you he knew the whole playbook, then he knows the whole playbook," Long said. "If he says he has it, he has it."
Henne might get a chance to show some of that knowledge Saturday night, when Kansas City visits for the Dolphins' third exhibition game. Meanwhile, Dolphins fans try to divine the pecking order at quarterback. A guess is that it's Pennington, Henne and Josh McCown with John Beck on the way out.
That makes sense if only because the first three players have been gathered by the Bill Parcells regime, and Beck, a second-round draft pick last year, was not. McCown, too, offers a veteran back-up if Pennington gets hurt, and Sparano doesn't really want to play Henne too quickly despite the glowing things he has to say about him.
"If he's the best guy, I play him," Sparano insisted. "(But) you have to think about it. When is the right time?"
He made reference to how Dallas quarterback Tony Romo - Sparano brings Cowboy pedigree to his job as first-year coach - required two or three years of grooming, but has ascended to greatness. Please excuse Miami's drooling in hoping Henne turns out to be as good as Romo.
"Seeing those signs for the future is tremendous," Sparano said.
Ah, the Dolphins' quarterback future.
It hasn't seemed so close - close enough to touch - in a very long time.
Commentary: Chad Henne will wait his turn with Dolphins
By GREG STODA
Palm Beach Post Staff Columnist
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
DAVIE — The Dolphins keep looking for their quarterback of the future, and the future keeps getting further and further away.
Until now.
Miami likely won't throw rookie Chad Henne into the starter's pit right from the outset, because they have veteran Chad Pennington - serviceable New York Jets(am) from the wreckage of the Brett Favre Episode. Whether it's wise or overly protective to keep Henne on the bench for a while is a matter of legitimate debate, of course.
But this particular August has the look of long-term promise at quarterback for the first time since Dan Marino stopped the clocks in these parts almost a decade ago.
Henne offers Miami its best chance to throw away the list of hopefuls and hopeless who have played quarterback for the Dolphins in recent seasons, and - this is a very important part - he seems to know it.
"I definitely feel comfortable," Henne said. "I have all the playbook. I have all the checks. I have all the reads."
That's what Henne told me less than 24 hours before Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said what he said Tuesday about the kid's standing in the competition with Pennington, which was this: "Two. One. I'm not sure where they are right now. It's hard to tell. Chad (Pennington) hasn't had a lot of work, but I feel really comfortable with Chad Henne and where he is right now."
If that was a tease, it was a dandy.
"I think he's developed a bunch since the start of rookie camp," Sparano said. "He's playing a little bit more comfortable in the pocket. He's starting to see the field a little bit clearer. He's making some faster decisions out there in some critical situations.
"This guy's really shown me great poise. He's probably made the most heads-up plays at that position right now."
The only disclaimer from Sparano was when he pointed out that Henne has had the most opportunities to make a good impression.
OK, fine.
The bottom line is that Henne has the talent and attitude to emerge as a No. 1 quarterback. He played linebacker and fullback before being switched to quarterback as a freshman at Wilson High School in West Lawn, Pa.
The last time he wasn't a starter at that spot? "Never," Henne said.
Now, he'll wait his turn if he must, but only if he must. Because it's easy to get the sense that Henne is every bit as confident about staking a claim to the Dolphins' starting job as he was when he was a freshman at the University of Michigan.
He won't say so beyond the aforementioned expressions of confidence, but rookie Jake Long - Miami's pick as the No. 1 player in the NFL Draft - will, and he was Henne's four-year teammate with the Wolverines.
"He was a great leader from the first day," Long said. "He stuck his head in the huddle right from the start and said whatever needed to be said to anybody, and it didn't matter who they were or how old they were."
Long said Henne also was a diligent student of the game.
"If he told you he knew the whole playbook, then he knows the whole playbook," Long said. "If he says he has it, he has it."
Henne might get a chance to show some of that knowledge Saturday night, when Kansas City visits for the Dolphins' third exhibition game. Meanwhile, Dolphins fans try to divine the pecking order at quarterback. A guess is that it's Pennington, Henne and Josh McCown with John Beck on the way out.
That makes sense if only because the first three players have been gathered by the Bill Parcells regime, and Beck, a second-round draft pick last year, was not. McCown, too, offers a veteran back-up if Pennington gets hurt, and Sparano doesn't really want to play Henne too quickly despite the glowing things he has to say about him.
"If he's the best guy, I play him," Sparano insisted. "(But) you have to think about it. When is the right time?"
He made reference to how Dallas quarterback Tony Romo - Sparano brings Cowboy pedigree to his job as first-year coach - required two or three years of grooming, but has ascended to greatness. Please excuse Miami's drooling in hoping Henne turns out to be as good as Romo.
"Seeing those signs for the future is tremendous," Sparano said.
Ah, the Dolphins' quarterback future.
It hasn't seemed so close - close enough to touch - in a very long time.
