Draft Quirks: Henne Might Have Been Starting Sunday for GB

[Vaark]

Henne and Brohm have been lumped together up to and through the draft. Both were highly regarded, projected to go late first to early second rounds, and ended up being picked consecutively at 56 & 57. Of course GB selected Brohm over Henne, the reason probably being Brohm's comfort with a WC offensive.

Henne has more than exceeded expectations while Brohm fell to #3 on the Packers' depth chart, losing out to 7th rounder LSU's Matt Flynn. Haven't read too much on that competition other than Brohm was disappointing, so I can't really say whether the decision was based on Flynn performing lights-out or winning by default.

Either way, as someone who would have preferred Brohm going in, I'm now shaking my head and quite thankful GB pulled the trigger on Brohm instead of Henne. I do wonder though, if Jeff and Bill would have grabbed Brohm if GB took Henne off the board.

There's speculation that Rodgers may not be able to start this Sunday and that it'll be Flynn who either takes the field or relieves quickly if Rodgers can't throw. Had the draft picks flip flopped, I'm inclined to believe that it would have been Henne under center this Sunday if AR can't play. While Flynn (who I did like at LSU.. also liked the FB Hester who we'll be seeing Sunday) may turn out to be a "diamond in the rough," I just shake my head over the vagueries, twists, turns and decisions, many of them reactive, which make every draft a crapshoot and luck lottery with the impact to make or break a team's season and future prospects. What a difference one draft slot can make!

 

[Rhody Phins Fan]

From what I remember after the draft, a cheer went up in the Miami War room when Brohm got picked instead of Henne.

 

[juniorseau55]

I don't think Chad Henne is a west coast Quarterback. That is probably one of the reasons why Brohm was picked before Henne.

 

[ADavieDolphin]

yeah i was wondering why flynn is gettin the job behind brohm, i dont follow the packers much, the favre saga made we lose all interest...
glad too see brohm is sucking and we got henne, he seems to have more NFL potential with that cannon arm and release..

when aaron was out, in the TB game which i watched cuz i do follow the Bucs, i saw Brohm warming up, so i thought he was gonna play but this week its been all matt flynn talk...

good for us.. Go Henne in 09! and Dolphins Forever

 

[kilgore Trout]

I saw Brohm look pretty good at Louisville, but I've heard that he was so bad in Green Bay that he would've been cut if he was a lower draft pick.

My feelings are that Matt Flynn is not an NFL QB, but moved up on the depth chart by default.

Hester was very productive at LSU, I can see him doing well in SD.

 

[CitizenSnips]

If I had to bet, Flynns moving up to #2 on GB had everything to do with his brain and nothing to do with his physical play.

I imagine that Flynn made every smart throw in practice, where as Brohm made every wrong throw. Flynn worked hard during the offseason and Brohm kind of phoned it in. Flynn knew the playbook inside and out, and Brohm probably just knew most of it.

As an LSU fan, Flynn doesn't have the skills to be an NFL qb, but he has the brain. I imagine he simply outclassed and worked harder than Brohm.

 

[Aqua and Orange]

I've been following Brohm closely since I really thought he would be a star in this league, akin to Jeff Garcia (not a super strong arm, but all the mental skills to do well). Brohm struggled mightily in the preseason, which is an understatement. He was manhandled by defenses, and consistently lost fumbles and threw into double coverage. Both him AND Flynn had awful preseasons, but Flynn seemed to pick it up near the end, whereas Brohm did not. During one particular preseason game on August 23rd, where both QBs were really showing which could be the backup this year, Brohm looked DREADFUL in going 0-4 and the team just yanked him and pulled the plug.

So, to answer your questions, the Packers are locked into a multi-year deal with Brohm, and Flynn has won the backup role more as a result of Brohm being bad than him being good. The future is still possible and bright with Brohm on the Packers, but early indications are that he has a looooong way to go.

-Also, many Packer fans during the preseason were so aghast that they said to just dump Brohm, call it a bad pick, and get an experienced backup in case Rodgers went down. Those same guys must be shaking their head at the situation they're now in.

 

[NorFlaFin]

Parcell has always valued arm strength in his QB, Henne was slam dunk from that viewpoint.

Brohm is what Brohm is, the second coming of Chad Pennington.

 

[Nublar7]

From what I remember after the draft, a cheer went up in the Miami War room when Brohm got picked instead of Henne.

I remember hearing that also. I think it was Adam Schefter on NFLN right after Green Bay made their pick and Miami was on the clock.

If Green Bay would have taken Henne, I doubt Miami would have taken Brohm. From what I have heard and read, Parcells/Ireland/Sparano were real high on Chad Henne.

I also think if Merling hadn't dropped out of the first round, that Henne would have been the 32nd overall pick. Miami was very fortunate that they were able to pick Merling and stilll land Henne with the 57th overall pick.

 

[Cobra84]

I've heard that he was so bad in Green Bay that he would've been cut if he was a lower draft pick.

I remember people said he could have gone #1 in the draft a while back if he came out. Now he's barely employed.

 

[3rdandinches]

Flynn played really well in the pre-season for whatever that's worth.

 

[Vaark]

I've been following Brohm closely since I really thought he would be a star in this league, akin to Jeff Garcia (not a super strong arm, but all the mental skills to do well). Brohm struggled mightily in the preseason, which is an understatement. He was manhandled by defenses, and consistently lost fumbles and threw into double coverage. Both him AND Flynn had awful preseasons, but Flynn seemed to pick it up near the end, whereas Brohm did not. During one particular preseason game on August 23rd, where both QBs were really showing which could be the backup this year, Brohm looked DREADFUL in going 0-4 and the team just yanked him and pulled the plug.

So, to answer your questions, the Packers are locked into a multi-year deal with Brohm, and Flynn has won the backup role more as a result of Brohm being bad than him being good. The future is still possible and bright with Brohm on the Packers, but early indications are that he has a looooong way to go.

-Also, many Packer fans during the preseason were so aghast that they said to just dump Brohm, call it a bad pick, and get an experienced backup in case Rodgers went down. Those same guys must be shaking their head at the situation they're now in.

Have you read whether there's been any Cheeseheaded second-guessing or grousing over Thompson's not selecting Henne?? (Hindsight always is an inevitable luxury of savants and geniuses:err:).

 

[Aqua and Orange]

Have you read whether there's been any Cheeseheaded second-guessing or grousing over Thompson's not selecting Henne?

For the most part, I think the Packers fans have been more upset that the Packers didn't bring someone in with more experience with an unproven QB as a starter. They have been lucky that Aaron Rodgers has looked good, but now that he is facing injury time the team is faced with the dubious prospect of throwing rookie QBs out there who have learned under...well...an unexperienced young guy.

For more on how Brohm's offseason has gone, check out this link:

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_previousnews.aspx?sport=NFL&id=4672

 

[Myles Fynch]

Have you read whether there's been any Cheeseheaded second-guessing or grousing over Thompson's not selecting Henne?? (Hindsight always is an inevitable luxury of savants and geniuses:err:).

I would expect it if GB underperforms this year, and the jets make the playoffs. The Cheez-Wiz will say "we're better than the jets, if we still had Brett it would have come down to us and Dallas. He only wanted one more year--damn you Ted Thompson!"