Is Chad Henne on a Short Leash? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Is Chad Henne on a Short Leash?

FinAtic8480

FinAtic8480

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1.Chad Henne missed a wide-open Brian Hartline for a probable touchdown on Thursday night's first play. He either missed Brandon Marshall in the end zone or they weren't thinking the same route a little later. His offense didn't put up a touchdown against reserve Dallas players.
So Thursday continued a preseason from Henne in which you wanted to see more. If he was a five-year veteran with a proven body of work, it wouldn't matter. Maybe it still doesn't. It's preseason, after all. And preseason is full of false hope in players (remember John Avery?) and false worries (one columnist - not me - once wrote to bench Dan Marino when he struggled coming off his Achilles repair. He naturally threw five TD passes in the opener.)
But this is the first season the keys really have been handed to Henne and you wanted to see something more than a very good second quarter at Jacksonville this preseason.
At least Tony Sparano did.
And that tells you something about his thinking on Henne and the first-team offense right now. It's not all Henne. The running game has been bad this preseason. The offensive line hasn't been very good. Receivers have dropped passes. Again: It's preseason. Again: Let's not overdo it.
But Sparano kept Henne and the first-team offense in the game into the second quarter - rare for the fourth game of preseason. That ended with tackle Jake Long getting hurt (though he looked fine afterward), Henne sacked and a fumble recovered by Dallas.
But Sparano evidently is worried enough about this offense to run the risk of injury in the most meaningless of preseason games. That says something.
Then Chad Pennington entered the game and immediately completed 7 of 10 passes for 40 yards and a touchdown. Which means ...

2. Sparano has to be asking privately, "How long would I stay this season with a struggling Henne?" The season's first half is a tough schedule starting with at Buffalo, at Minnesota and the Jets. Pennington is no long-term solution. History says he'll get hurt. And, at 34, he has a pop-gun arm -- though one that still could work in this offense like it did in 2008. Brandon Marshall works the short and middle routes and busts big gains from them. Pennington's accuracy, in fact, is an asset to that. Plus, some veterans still view him as a leader in the way Henne hasn't risen to.
Bottom-line: You've invested a lot in Henne for good reason. He showed last year he can be a good NFL quarterback. There's no reason to cast all that aside off a preseason. But it's a performance-based job and if this shoddy preseason leaks into the regular season there will be an unwanted decision to face. And quicker than you might expect.
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http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/spo...g/2010/09/hyde5_is_henne_on_a_short_leas.html

This BS needs to stop
 
No, he is not on a short leash. If the team yanks Henne at any point to go with Pennington, the coaching staff likely will have signed their pink slip. Giving up on Henne will destroy what this team has been trying to build the past three years. You finally get a big time wide receiver and you insert Pennington? Doesn't make sense.
 
Nublar7 said:
No, he is not on a short leash. If the team yanks Henne at any point to go with Pennington, the coaching staff likely will have signed their pink slip. Giving up on Henne will destroy what this team has been trying to build the past three years. You finally get a big time wide receiver and you insert Pennington? Doesn't make sense.
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Best thing I've heard all day. There were people who were ready to make Penny the starter.
 
A struggling Henne? Dude, it's preseason. It's hard to get in a rythm when you only play a part of the game, have no game plan and the running game wasn't even a focus of the preseason. If he has 3 or 4 bad games in a row during the season then we can say he's struggling. Are they saying Peyton Manning is struggling in Indy? He hasn't looked very sharp to me.
 
que retarded pennington lovers......hes a great guy, leader, and backup plan.....but he is not taking this team where we want to go. Get over it, Henne is the guy.
 
I just wish the 12 th would come so we can stop debating this crap!
 
Snap out of it folks.. This is what myself and Fish-Head were just talking about less than 2 days ago...

It's not Henne you have to worry about not being able to handle Pennington looking over his shoulder.. The question is whether or not the people making the decisions can handle it.. And hold off on hitting the 'easy' button when the young quarterback is struggling in favor of a few token wins...

You're going to pay the price one way or the other....


They need to trade Pennington before the deadline... Otherwise, just go ahead and start Pennington, get your 9-10 wins and 1st round playoff beatdown out of the way... and hope a quarterback falls to you in the latter part of the 1st round next year.

This isn't a video game where the "90" QB rating for your backup quarterback looks good... this is real life.. and when your 'backup' QB is better than your starter in REAL football and all the players know it, you've got problems...




I said it a while back.... things aren't NEARLY as rosy as everyone thinks they are....
 
This is what I been saying all along. Im awilling to give Henne his due time and respect BUT...can anyone honestly say he has improved? I say he has but only in the mistakes department which is great. But still for a guy with the touted arm we all talk about, he barely stretches the field and when he does, his accuracy is horrible. He passes alot to the full backs, and running backs. When pennington and or thigpen goes in they move the ball north either with their legs if there is no one open or by making the right choices. Their awareness seems to be better than henne. However there was one instance in last nights game where I gave henne some props when he hung in the pocket and slung it to fasano..He pretty much looked at every reciever..But thats rare. He needs to improve quickly. Improve in scoring and moving the ball.
 
The only way they bench Henne is if his arm falls off. The guy was the second coming of Marino after Jacksonville, now people want to see Pennington. Unreal. If they benched Henne, it would totally send the opposite message that they've been conveying. The front office has been rebuilding and getting younger on both sides of the ball. Why would you bench the guy that you want to be your QB for the next ten years for a guy that may lead you to the playoffs in 2010, but then what? The short term benefit definitely does not outweigh the long term benefits of having Henne as your starter. Not everyone cones into the league and lights everyone up. Henne is going to have growing pains. It's part if the process.

PS. It's the preseason.
 
napsndreds said:
This is what I been saying all along. Im awilling to give Henne his due time and respect BUT...can anyone honestly say he has improved? I say he has but only in the mistakes department which is great. But still for a guy with the touted arm we all talk about, he barely stretches the field and when he does, his accuracy is horrible. He passes alot to the full backs, and running backs. When pennington and or thigpen goes in they move the ball north either with their legs if there is no one open or by making the right choices. Their awareness seems to be better than henne. However there was one instance in last nights game where I gave henne some props when he hung in the pocket and slung it to fasano..He pretty much looked at every reciever..But thats rare. He needs to improve quickly. Improve in scoring and moving the ball.
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So you want to see Henne force the ball down field for your pleasure? That's how turnovers happen. Then you'll complain that he's forcing the ball downfiled when the running backs are open for a check down. Part if the problem is Miami doesn't have players that stretch the field. No one has blazing speed. Marshall can make big plays, but it's because he uses body position and his hands not because he burns his DB and sprints 50 yards downfield. Henne dumping it to the RB is a much better choice than airing it out, just for the heck of it.
 
Nublar7 said:
No, he is not on a short leash. If the team yanks Henne at any point to go with Pennington, the coaching staff likely will have signed their pink slip. Giving up on Henne will destroy what this team has been trying to build the past three years. You finally get a big time wide receiver and you insert Pennington? Doesn't make sense.
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I don't think so. I expect Henne to do well. However, if in game 7 he is having a bad day, then I don't have any qualms in handing the ball to Pennington in the 4th quarter, to see if he can get the team rolling. I know the media would have a field day, but sometimes good players have bad days. We have seen it before in Philadephia when McNabb had a bad day and the ball was handed to a backup and then came back well the following week.
We are actually lucky that we have one of the very best backup QBs in the league. On his day Pennington is still a winner, but that doesn't mean that Henne is no good.
 
Nublar7 said:
No, he is not on a short leash. If the team yanks Henne at any point to go with Pennington, the coaching staff likely will have signed their pink slip. Giving up on Henne will destroy what this team has been trying to build the past three years. You finally get a big time wide receiver and you insert Pennington? Doesn't make sense.
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Yea why give up on Henne this early if at all? Dude need to keep battling in there and the offense will follow along. Rome was not built in a day.
 
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