juicifer1269
Starter
I really don't get why so many complain that the front office hasn't tried to fix the QB situation in Miami. That is not true at all. I will agree it hasn't been fixed and am disappointed about that, but it's not for lack of trying by the front office. Over the last five off-seasons (2007-present) the front office has tried to fix the situation. In the '07 draft, I was as shocked and disappointed as I ever have been as a Dolphin fan when the Fins passed on Brady Quinn for Ted Ginn. Later in the draft, they did use an early 2nd round pick on John Beck. If you believe the front office and scouting department at the time, they said they had Beck rated similarly to Quinn and figured Beck in the 2nd was better value than Quinn in the 1st. Just because Beck didn't work out doesn't mean the front office wasn't trying. The next offs-season, with the 1st pick the Dolphins passed on Matt Ryan for Jake Long. To this day, I still agree with this logic. The '07 Dolphins were one of the worst teams off all time with one of the worst offensive lines of all time. One of the reasons for Beck's failure was the horrible offensive line. Who is to say Matt Ryan would be the same QB playing behind that horrible offensive line? Atlanta had a very good offensive line and it ended up being the perfect fit for the perfect team. So, after taking Long in the 1st, they spent a 2nd round pick on Chad Henne. That same year, the Fins brought in Chad Pennington with the intentions of having him mentor and help develop Henne for 2 to 3 years. After and 11-5 year and a playoff birth, the Dolphins continued the rebuilding project and didn't address the QB position in '09. Why would they? They had a veteran QB who had just led them to the playoffs and a 2nd year QB who was a 2nd round pick who looked promising the little he played in 08. In '09 Chad Pennington got hurt in the 3rd game and the Henne era began. He went 7-6 as a starter that year despite losing the team's best offensive weapon on the team in his 6th start when Ronnie Brown got hurt vs the Bucs. Although he didn't look great, Henne played well at times and played well for a 2nd year QB who had no offensive weapons. Henne was started 4-2 with Ronnie Brown and was 3-4 without him to end the year. The following off-season, the front office did everything they could to help Henne out. They traded two 2nd round picks for Brandon Marshall, a top 5 WR. The problem was, Henne seemed to regress in 2010. At times, he would look very good. Then out of nowhere, he would make a bad throw and be picked off. His problem was that he made mistakes in crucial times of games. Also, his mistakes all seemed to hurt the team enough to cost them games. Unfortunately, this past off-season, the NFL players were locked out, handcuffing teams and not allowing them to do what they wanted. At the 15th pick in the draft, there were no 1st round QBs left. I believe filling a need position (center) rather than drafting a QB a round too early was the right move, especially with the recent track record of 2nd round QBs taken by the Dolphins. Most people complain that the Dolphins haven't taken a 1st round QB since Marino so when none were available this year at 15, thankfully they didn't reach for one. They traded back into the 2nd round and drafted one of the highest rated RBs in the draft. Yes, they could have drafted Ryan Mallet there. Honestly, how effective do you think a rookie QB who would have no access to a playbook and not take part in any OTAs be this year? Since the players were locked out until about two weeks ago, they couldn't bring any QBs in. Also, who did the complainers want anyway? There were three or four 35+ year old QBs who were available, but signing them wouldn't make sense there in no young QB to develop behind them. Did you want to trade for Kolb? It pretty much would have taken Vontae Davis and next years 2nd round pick to get him. Trading a 3rd or 4th round pick for Kyle Orton actually made a lot of sense because he is in his prime and he is young enough to draft a QB next year and let him develop for a few years.
The Dolphins definitely need better QB play than they had last year, but the fact is that the front office HAS tried to upgrade the QB position and it just hasn't worked out. They have steadily been building a solid team over the last 4 years and this is the type of team where a rookie QB would maybe be able to succeed in.
I know this has been a long post, but I tried to show a lot of the front office bashers that the team hasn't ignored the QB position over the last few years. If Henne improved last year instead of regressing, I don't even write this post.
The Dolphins definitely need better QB play than they had last year, but the fact is that the front office HAS tried to upgrade the QB position and it just hasn't worked out. They have steadily been building a solid team over the last 4 years and this is the type of team where a rookie QB would maybe be able to succeed in.
I know this has been a long post, but I tried to show a lot of the front office bashers that the team hasn't ignored the QB position over the last few years. If Henne improved last year instead of regressing, I don't even write this post.
