I Am Becoming A Believer In Henne

[Fin #10]

Something last night changed my perception of Chad Henne. It wasn't the TD throw, it wasn't the bullets that he threw for a few 3rd and long conversions, it wasn't any one play at all. It is a culmination of alot of things that I have seen and heard from Henne since Pennington went down in San Diego.

We all have always known that he could make any throw on the field, that was never in question. What I've seen is that the kid NEVER gets rattled, is making very good decisions, and very importantly has learned and is continuing to learn a wealth of knowledge from Chad Pennington.

I keep waiting for him to make some stupid mistake and fall flat on his face, but he just hasn't done that and I don't think he will. Plus, I just kinda like the kid. He isn't a typical QB pre-madonna, and he seems to respect and love the game. He has really grown on me, and is starting to win me over.

Those of you who have read my posts here before know that I am a HUGE Pennington fan, always have been and always will be. But I am also starting to become a big Henne fan too. I see alot of the qualities in him that I have always respected about Penny, plus he has a freakin rocket for an arm. I think he's gonna be a good QB here for a long time to come.

 

[pags77]

IMO the best thing that could have happened to Chad Henne this year is to have Pennington go down. With the Dolphins heading into the 3rd year of rebuilding this team under the trifecta we should be in a position to be a serious playoff team next year and there is NO more important position on the field than the QB.
Henne is learning how to play in the NFL a year earlier, and reading defenses to make good decisions is key to his success. He is a tough dude, that head snapping hit he absorbed against the Patriots was amazing. He has the physical tools, big guy with a great arm. Just needs to work on his touch passes and he has the potential to be awesome! We know there will be upgrades to the receivers next year which will help balance this offense out.
The future looks bright for the Dolphins!

 

[twohype]

IMO the best thing that could have happened to Chad Henne this year is to have Pennington go down. With the Dolphins heading into the 3rd year of rebuilding this team under the trifecta we should be in a position to be a serious playoff team next year and there is NO more important position on the field than the QB.
Henne is learning how to play in the NFL a year earlier, and reading defenses to make good decisions is key to his success. He is a tough dude, that head snapping hit he absorbed against the Patriots was amazing. He has the physical tools, big guy with a great arm. Just needs to work on his touch passes and he has the potential to be awesome! We know there will be upgrades to the receivers next year which will help balance this offense out.
The future looks bright for the Dolphins!

Nice post you said it right :buds:

 

[SwimminInIndy]

Henne is just so cool in the pocket. He has amazing presense, and it makes me not dread 3rd downs as much as I used to.

He has a cannon, and I am begining to really like the kid.

I couldn't have said it better myself that it is good that Chad got the opportunity to come in so early in the year. This is getting him confidence, not to mention that it avoided the awkward "ex girlfriend going away to pave way for the new girl in town" stage that we would have gone through either this year or heading into next.

Things just happened nicely and fell into place. Gotta love it. Everything happens for a reason;

 

[Awsi Dooger]

The play in which he rolled right and then adjusted his footwork to hit Bess for the vital first down was an eye opening play. It's easily his high note in terms of rescuing a play. Normally Henne would have continued to roll right and stuck himself in a no chance situation, merely winging it out of bounds.

So that was an extreme highlight. But it's silly for posters to deny the weaknesses. Heck, there are at least 5 or 6 sigs on this forum that display Henne's long delivery. Then I read posts above the sig saying it's traitorous or ignorant to doubt Henne.

I'm probably unique in this case because I was a big Henne supporter in college and leading into the draft, but now I'm not as high on him. No doubt he has the ability to be a playoff caliber QB. That's not what I'm looking for. It's been 35 years since I've seen a title from this franchise and admittedly I'm itchy for one. In those days we had the silly idea that the Dolphins would be champs or near champs every year. To get back there you need to have the foundational aspects in place. Henne' combo of long delivery, lack of ideal touch, poor pocket awareness and subpar ability to rescue a play are regulators. That's all I'm saying. The question is not can he beat 4-5 Carolina in November. Does his skill set translate forward to winning toss up games in December, January and hopefully early February? I would have said yes a year ago. Now I think no. Not unless we forge a powerhouse team around him, flagrant margin for error.

 

[CW_McGraw]

I was really expecting a much more erratic turnover prone offense with Henne at the helm, but Pennington and our coaching staff have got him protecting football as well as any QB in the league. Once we get him a solid supporting cast on offense, the numbers will come, but for now I'm satisfied.

 

[SabanHater]

He's 5-2 as a starter.
Think about that for a minute...
What's not to love?

 

[Akronfinfan36]

If people aren't sold yet that Henne is our 'franchise qb' I don't know what else they need to see. He has tremendous poise and command for being, essentially, a rookie.

I can promise you that he already has the respect of his teammates.

 

[Fin #10]

If people aren't sold yet that Henne is our 'franchise qb' I don't know what else they need to see. He has tremendous poise and command for being, essentially, a rookie.

I can promise you that he already has the respect of his teammates.

The only thing that we haven't seen are big numbers. I think that is the one thing that is keeping people from being totally sold on him. Plus, we really haven't had many if any bigtime explosive plays in the passing game, except for the long Ginn TD against the Jets. Alot of people, including myself, expected more of those kind of plays with Henne. The passing game was acutally much more explosive last season with Penny than it is this season with Henne. No one would have EVER thought that would be the case.

 

[Pinkboy]

5-2 as a starter with not many receiving weapons to speak of... the 2 losses coming against Brees/New Orleans, and Brady/New England

The guy is working with a rookie receiver in Hartline.. A total bust in ted Ginn who only had 6 catches in his last 5 games coming into yesterday, and an undrafted 2nd year player that lacks outside speed in Bess.

And of course no real pass catching tight end.. Tons of other teams have those weapons. A good TE is supposed to be a QB's best friend, especially for a 1st year starter/rookie.. And Henne doesn't even have that to help him.

Not too shabby for the kid to be 5-2.

I guarantee you a guy like Sanchez would be 2-5 or 1-6 on our team with that lack of weaponry.. Edwards and Crotchery are better and more talented than our receivers.. And Keller is far better as a pass catching TE than anything we have.

Let's give Tom Brady our weapons and we'll take Randy Moss, Watson, Tate, and Welker... Thank you very much.

5-2.. Not shabby at all.

 

[DiepatriotsDie]

I'm becoming a HUGE fan of this guy. I can't wait to see what he looks like with some extra receiver talent next year.

 

[Ricky_Fan34]

I too was a big pennington fan. I now am a huge Henne fan. I don't care what your stats looks like, when you're 5-2, you're obviously doing something right.

 

[DolfanDuBbZ~]

The only thing that we haven't seen are big numbers. I think that is the one thing that is keeping people from being totally sold on him. Plus, we really haven't had many if any bigtime explosive plays in the passing game, except for the long Ginn TD against the Jets. Alot of people, including myself, expected more of those kind of plays with Henne. The passing game was acutally much more explosive last season with Penny than it is this season with Henne. No one would have EVER thought that would be the case.

Pennington and explosive offense? Don't think so....it being the 21st ranked scoring offense last year. This year? Go look it up....your bias against Henne is still there.

FYI: Henne is LEADING the 13th ranked SCORING OFFENSE. As a second year player who has all of 7 starts, is managing the games well and learning snap to snap. With Penny you got what you got, lollipop and turnovers.

 

[DolfanDuBbZ~]

The play in which he rolled right and then adjusted his footwork to hit Bess for the vital first down was an eye opening play. It's easily his high note in terms of rescuing a play. Normally Henne would have continued to roll right and stuck himself in a no chance situation, merely winging it out of bounds.

So that was an extreme highlight. But it's silly for posters to deny the weaknesses. Heck, there are at least 5 or 6 sigs on this forum that display Henne's long delivery. Then I read posts above the sig saying it's traitorous or ignorant to doubt Henne.

I'm probably unique in this case because I was a big Henne supporter in college and leading into the draft, but now I'm not as high on him. No doubt he has the ability to be a playoff caliber QB. That's not what I'm looking for. It's been 35 years since I've seen a title from this franchise and admittedly I'm itchy for one. In those days we had the silly idea that the Dolphins would be champs or near champs every year. To get back there you need to have the foundational aspects in place. Henne' combo of long delivery, lack of ideal touch, poor pocket awareness and subpar ability to rescue a play are regulators. That's all I'm saying. The question is not can he beat 4-5 Carolina in November. Does his skill set translate forward to winning toss up games in December, January and hopefully early February? I would have said yes a year ago. Now I think no. Not unless we forge a powerhouse team around him, flagrant margin for error.

Touch will come with snaps and reps. But the other things you point out have been proven to be absolutely false.
Poor Pocket Awareness? BS.
Subpar ability to rescue a play? BS
Long Delivery? BS, it isn't Marino like, but it isn't terrible either.

You see what you want in Henne when he plays. Too bad everything you said about him is BS. People everywhere are taking notice of Henne....and he is a franchise qb, with 7 starts. BTW, hows Flacco and Ryan doing this year? Some struggles for both this season....skids an errors will happen. Henne has done a stand up great job for this team and franchise.

 

[MD]

Henne' combo of long delivery, lack of ideal touch, poor pocket awareness and subpar ability to rescue a play are regulators.

I had to re-read this to make sure I got it straight. Wow. I respect your opinion but last night alone disproved what I highlighted. If you are looking for the next Marino with his delivery in a Dolphins uni, that comes only once in a life time. His touch has improved remarkably since the Chargers game. He threw a couple of nice touch passes last night.

The roll out to Bess was remarkable in making a play. Most rookies would have thrown it away. He found Bess, who also made a nice play, side stepped pressure, squared up and hit him. That was probably his best play thus far.