It feels kind of like graduation. You think about it and how it’s eventually coming, but it’s always “down the road” sometime. Then BAM, it hits you. It’s here—Chad Henne is our starting QB. Weird, but definitely exciting.

At least now we can assess our options. If he sucks and doesn’t look like he has an array of hope, there’s always Sam Bradford.

what are the chances he actually enters the draft?

Matty i respect you very much b/c of your quality writing and the time you put in here at the phinsider. I know your not sold on henne yet and none of us should be but what i admired most about this article is how you never really had anything “bad” to say about Henne. To me he is a question, thats it. He is not an answer (yet) but on the flipside he has not been able to become that “answer” we have been looking for at the QB. Most importantly you did not write off this guy and its idiotic that some people here have already said he cant be the future.

I hope he (henne) plays great (maybe as great as that last game he played as a michigan wolverine against the gators) and i also hope he can lift ginn to a higher level because i also believe ginn needs more time then what we as fans are giving him. Ginn is still young and really needs a compliment WR.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/miami-dolphins/09000d5d812e2918/Hanging-with-Chad

Do it – a great 12 minutes.

Based on what I saw Sunday with Chad Henne, he can be the guy we’re looking for. The one major issue that I saw, which also happened in the pre-season, is that he’s locking on to his targets. He needs to work on looking off the receiver and progressing through his reads more to fool defenders. This, however, is something that can be learned over time. The only thing I’m concerned about is what I’m always worried about with young QBs on losing teams, line play. You saw it with Beck, he didn’t have the protection, and learned some bad habits. As long as Henne doesn’t develop bad habits that will erode his skill set, he will be okay.

As for Pennington — be careful what you wish for? Some of us(myself included) were calling for a benching, this is not what I had in mind. You always hate it to see a player go down for any reason. Last season was a hell of year, and thanks for an enjoyable season.

i want to let you know as a cowboys fan…he was and is a very very good Q.B. and i also think you guys have an outstanding coaching staff and a very talented team..i would much rather play the 3-0 vike’s. over the 0-3 phins….no joke maybe a little less right now that chad’s out..but i think you guy’s have alot to look forward to. anyway good luck and once again sorry to hear about chad..

But he cannot do it all by himself.

He’s going to make mistakes and the guys around him are going to have to step up as well. That means Brown and Williams have to take some of the pressure off him by continuing to play well and the receivers have to do their job and made the plays they haven’t been making the first three games.

Ginn is #1 on that list. He dropped two catchable passes from Henne on Sunday and he missed the TD pass last week against the Colts at the end. Good receivers make those catches, but Ginn continues to disappoint.

Fasano was great last season but he hasn’t stepped up in the absence of Martin.

As a Michigan fan, I watched every game of Henne’s college career. He can throw the long ball with the best of them and he’s perfectly capable of handling the starting job and performing well.

Watching Chad Henne at Michigan. I saw his very first game that he started as a rookie and I was pretty impressed at the time with his poise and natural ability. Now here we are; The thing about Henne is that he has been a stud on every other level, and this was the first time that he had to sit and wait his turn. He was drafted by this regime so there are no excuses he has to “put up or shut up” and if he sux he can get ripped by fans and the media and its ok.

One thing that I love about football is when a guy gets hurt even though it devastating for him, it gives another guy opportunity to sometimes show that he is better than the sarter was. I’ve seen it many times. I like how it adds to the excitement and anticipation of the next game because no one, not even the coaches know what’s going to happen.

I’m not happy to see Chad P. go out like this, however I’m looking forward to the next few games to see how this turns out. If Chad Henne can take the reigns from an 0-3 season and make this season respectable then we may have a “keeper” for a change.

I always liked Pennington a lot. He had problems staying healthy, but when he was, he always gave his team a chance to win. I never understood why Jets fans didn’t appreciate him more – just like I don’t understand all the crap Eagles fans say about McNabb. If he retires now, he should be happy about what he has accomplished.

For the rest of the year…it’s going to feel like there’s emptiness in the team.

I will agree with you thought Matty. Give Henne a week or 2 with the first team and he should be good enough.

cant say enough about pennington. hopefully one day we’ll hold the same sentiments for henne. i think keeping penne in miami under any title or capacity is the key

if penne decides on surgery and rehab, that he would now be willing to be a 2nd or even 3rd string QB? Getting paid more than a normal back up, but giving invaluable mentoring to the younger guys?? that might be a little far fetched, just wondering.

I live in jersey and go to the dolphins/jets game up here every year. ive always liked chad because a few years back i had my baby nephew and chad held him for a picture on his way to the stadiium even after the jets pr people told him not too. he replyed to them he has children of his own and thats he knew how to hold a baby…he was a class act and i was thrilled when he came to our club. i hope for the best for him, his wife, and children in the future…im glad he’ll be coaching henne through this also.

Now, onto Henne. Gotta cool it with the pat white,sam bradford,and everyone else you can think of talks. all they are is the same thing as henne. An unproven player. Chad Henne is esentially a rookie so lets treat him that way…we have 13 games to evaluate him so lets use all 13…hes going to have rough spots and hopefully more bright ones. The most exciting part to me will be to see how the field stretches with him in the game….a couple of connected deep balls off play action and we’ll be seeing alot of ronnie and ricky running over players deep in the secondary. Lets hope for a win this week then a coming out party against that fat slob rex ryans jets!

1. I’m not glad this happened, but I’m relieved because now Pennington can go out relatively on top. I know he’s 0-4 in his last 4 as a starter, but no one is going to remember that. I for one will remember 11-5 and that’s the bottom line. Now he can’t have the opportunity to sully that image by throwing up a bad year.

2. This works for the Dolphins becuase I’d much rather test Henne/White through a bad season, one in which there’s no hope of winning anything great, but still have a team capable of winning each Sunday. This is much better than waiting for 2010 when, if it goes bad THEN, we now have 2 lost seasons instead of just one. Find out what we have right now.

Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today, right?

here’s some food for thought. ted ginn dropped a couple of henne’s passes sunday. how about this, ginn has gotten used to pennington’s, softer, arching passes. while henne slammed the ball in there on a rope. give a week or two, to get used to the way henne fires the ball and ginn will be more used to it. i remember when marino would get a new reciever it would take a while for them get used to how fast the ball got there, and how hard it would hit thier hands. no comparison between marino and henne but just something to think about…..

it is hard to explain why ginn dropped penningtons pass in the endzone, against indy though

lets see what the kids can do……….

thann CP10 for all ya did, get well soon

Now to Henne…I can’t shake the false hopes of: Lucas, Feely, Culpepper, Harrington, Beck. Jesus, I think we are really going to know Pennington’s value now. No proven starter at QB and a Defense that should be named the “I can’t believe it’s not butter” defense. Back to rebuilding. Maybe next decade.

He gets his first career start against the Bills, a division rival and a better Bills team then I though going in. But its not the defense thats all improved its the no huddle defense that worrys me a bit. All in All I think he comes out victorious this weekend…. I hope.

We finally get to see him play, and see if Ted Ginn is the real deal. Just a side note before I get to my main point. We lose Pennys accuracy but gain Hennes arm strength, so I am not giving Ginn another free pass to wait to break out next year…. this is his year he needs to show something.

I have said this since the Fins drafted Henne. I met Mike Tressel (LB’s Coach for MSU, former LB’s Coach at Cinncinatti University) He coached against Matt Ryan, Brian Brohm and Henne. Said Brohm was a product of the system, Ryan could make big plays run one way throw back the other and score a TD, and Henne was the most sound QB, could take the team on his back and win the game… give him some time and I think, hope, he will be good.

I agree about Pennigton and that he gave us a great season last year. This is probably his last season ever and I hope he continues doing football because it’s what he loves.

I have faith in Henne but my faith in the recievers are a little weary because I havnt seen any BIG plays yet, I hate seeing dropped passes from Ginn, even if the ball was thrown behind or ahead AS LONG AS BOTH HANDS TOUCHES THE BALL IT IS CATCHABLE. We need a leader in the recieving corps not just a possesion reciever. We need a Steve Smith or Anquon Boldin, Its really hard to wear my dolphins jersey and get critized by these dumb ass raiders fans, chargers fans, cowboy fans. Mr. Tuna we need a playmaking reciever and a middle linebacker

as a coach or something to that affect. Listening to this guy talk, watching him lead (outside of the deer in the headlights look latley) Listening to the speech he made at Marshal last year was just amazing. The guy has a head, and the heart to win. This team needed a heatbeat last season and we got it in CP10 I want a custom jersy with a simple CP10 on the back.

Unless you hold to the “it came from the internet, so its gotta be true” thought…

Check this out… maybe Henne aint so bad, maybe he will be as good as “they” say… I don’t know, but I like this quote… “Henne played his final college game against Florida in the 2008 Capital One Bowl. Henne was named the MVP of the game after he led his team to a 41-35 victory over the Gators and reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow.” I’m not sayin, but I’m sayin….

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_Henne

“Chad (Henne) will be fine,” Pennington said. “He’s supported me and I’ll support him and he’ll be fine.”

i was skeptic when we got him. i never liked him prior. maybe cuz he was a Jet, maybe because it was so fruatrating to watch a QB with little arm strength beat the Fins all the time. i would always be saying, “how the hell is he completing that garbage?!?” but in the end, over the course of last season, i learned to respect CP10 and recognize him as a great QB in this league. not elite, but def underrated. i’m 28, so i have never had anything to celebrate for the Fins, but CP10 helped provide me with something to cheer for with this team last year. and even on that first drive on sunday, he was still earning more and more of my respect with that run, putting the helmet down, moving the chains, bloody nose and all, and just continuing to lead the team. no timeout, no wave to the sideline, just kept trying to get the ball in the endzone. i love that that is going to be my lasting image of CP10. a winner to the bitter end.

Why am I not more upset?

I thought this would be the ultimate doomsday scenario before the season started. Experts across the pro football world were expected a down year. Pennington, as I and many others, kind of thought this would happen to him. It always does.

Well doomsday is here.

Not worried. But I don’t expect an amazing rebound. Just looking for the rookies and 2nd year players to improve. Start looking at the college scouting reports. Just savor the wins because they might be coming few at a time.

As long as we don’t touch 1-15 I can manage.

Oh yeah, the Broncos are still assholes. I expect I major fall from 3-0.

One of my co-workers is a Steelers fan and pointed out to me that When Ben Roethlisberger took over for the Steelers, they were 0-3 and went on to finish the season 13-3. And he didn’t look too impressive in his pre-season work either.

I just thought it was an interesting note.

Apparently already some dolfans are giving the boot to Henne and the guy hasn’t even scratched the surface. Jeez lets give the guy some time and please judge the total package because apart from our running game, our receivers stink, this is the reason why have struggled so much. We need playmakers, or at least change the play call to offset some weaknesses in the receiving core. Hell at least play Turner and Hartline more now that CP is out.

Regards to CP I take him as my QB any day of the week, don’t give a damn if he’s arm strength is not strong, the guy is a winner, a true leader and he really made an impact last season. Too bad and i hate to see him get injured like this. A new era begins perhaps good, perhaps bad, who knows.

…about Kurt Warner, Jake Delhomme, or Tony Romo in their college careers that impressed me too much either. Nor did Tom Brady distinguish himself during his tenure at Michigan. So much of what makes a great QB in the NFL has little to do with their college career. Even if you look at the schools with supposed “pro style” offensive schemes, the results are still very hit and miss when it comes to finding a QB on draft day (or the day/week/month after the draft). I think the best thing Chad Henne has going for him is David Lee, Dan Henning, Tony Sparano, Jeff Ireland, and Bill Parcells. And Chad Pennington. After Pennington went down, there was a shot of him whispering into Henne’s ear before the new QB took the field. I would love to know what he was saying at that time. I have a feeling it was something that would make us all respect and miss Pennington that much more.

As for me, the season starts this Sunday in Miami, against Buffalo. I’m taking the same attitude I took during week one of last season. Just show me steady improvement, a competitive, physical team, and an attitude that conveys the expectation to win every game they’re in, and I’ll be happy…for now.

Go Dolphins.

Honestly, I’m still more concerned about our pass coverage. Our running game is solid enough that Henne can play at an average level and we will still make progress. We just picked up Tyler Thigpen apparently, interesting move.. good to have a back up plan

I just want to thanks CP10 for all that he has done for this team and for the fans. The guy is a class act all of the way, especially in the way that he has tried to help Henne since day one knowing that Henne would eventually be taking his job…..and did he ever complain? Did he ever say how it didn’t matter who the other QB’s on the roster were? Did he ever complain when his role was some-what limited by the Wildcat? NO! Why is that? Because he was, and is, a true leader on and off of the field. The guy would even stay after practices with his WR/TE’s just to try and keep building chemistry and to make them all better. Take sunday for instance, guy just got smashed near the goal line and blood is running down his face….it never even fazed him, he simply wiped it away and went back to doing what he tried to do best in trying to lead them to a victory. I can name all of the QB’s we have had since Marino retired, but I can only put CP10 in a different category from the rest. I havent truly enjoyed a finz season in a long time until CP10 arrived last year. I know he will continue to help PatCat and Henne for the rest of the season, and I am sure that we should expect nothing less from him. Thank you Chad for bringing the sun back to Miami when it had been so overcast for years! Whether he plays again or not, I hope this organization will keep him around….whether it is a #3 QB or a coach, CP10 can only help contribute good things to this team…as he has since his arrival last year. Best of luck in your recovery and I hope to see you in Aqua again!

and he was one of the greatest things that could have happened to our team.

You brought us Fin Fans some great memories!!!

best luck to Cp

After all I’m a woman. I will really really miss Chad Pennington. when you get better, the Fins should hire you.

Just wish the “haters” would show up here and show a bit of class toward such a classy QB.