Is leadership really a problem for Dolphins?
by Matty I on Jan 7, 2010 12:15 AM EST
in 2012 Miami Dolphins News
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PrintThere were two interesting stories in Wednesday's Sun-Sentinel that I wanted to highlight today to gauge your reaction.
The first was from Omar Kelly, who writes that the "lack of leadership hurt" this team in 2009 - particularly late in the season. Kelly points out how three of the four elected captains were on the defensive side of the ball. Chad Pennington, who was lost for the season back in week three, was the lone offensive captain. Jason Ferguson was also lost for the year in the middle of the season.
That left only Joey Porter and Jason Taylor was the captains. Both are obviously on the defensive side of the ball. And both were getting worn down late in the season in terms of being the vocal leaders of the team, according to Kelly and his sources:
According to two team sources, the weight placed on Taylor's and Porter's shoulders became too much for them at times, especially when it came to dealing with the offensive players.
"That was the side of the team that had a big void," one source said.
The loss of Ronnie Brown also played into this situation. While Brown is relatively quiet off the field, he's always firing up his teammates and the fans on the field. And even Ronnie could tell that this offense lacked emotion - even though he wasn't even on the sidelines after going down with his foot injury. Writes Kelly:
According to Brown, it became apparent the Dolphins lacked enthusiasm at times, and Brown insinuated that the hunger the team showed in 2008, when the Dolphins went from 1-15 to 11-5 and won the AFC East, wasn't always noticeable.
But Omar's coworker, Ethan Skolnick, doesn't buy this idea. Ethan writes:
Good story by Omar today, citing two players who said that the Dolphins' lack of locker room leadership was a contributing factor in the team's late-season slide.
Even so, I'm having a hard time buying the concept. It sounds like an excuse.
Like Skolnick, I'm not sure I'm buying this idea. My initial reaction after reading Omar's piece - before even seeing Ethan's piece - was that this was nothing more than an excuse. Sure, leadership is an important factor. But if you need a "leader" to emphasize how important the last three games of the season are or to fire up the offense late in the year when you're right in the thick of a playoff chase, then you have more issues than just leadership.
Since Dan Marino, really, have the Dolphins really even had a vocal leader on the offensive side of the ball? Other than Chad Pennington, I'd argue that they really haven't. Jay Fiedler was well respected by his teammates. But he did more of the "leading by example" than anything else. His toughness and heart was unquestioned - despite his overall lack of physical ability. But was he really a leader? I don't know.
In 2002 and 2003, Ricky Williams was the best offensive player on the team. But he's very quiet and soft spoken. In fact, he even admitted after this season that he wishes he would have responded to Tony Sparano's challenge to him of becoming more of a leader. But that's just not Ricky's personality. And there's nothing we can do about that.
The fact of the matter is that most NFL teams don't have great leaders on offense - outside of the quarterback. You have loud-mouthed running backs and receivers, of course. But that doesn't mean they're leaders. And while the offensive line is a critical unit on any offense, it's rare that a leader arises from those big guys up front.
Think about it. Great offenses really only have one leader - the quarterback. But it's just too early to expect Chad Henne to be the vocal leader on offense. When he was unexpectedly thrown into the starter's role, he had more things to worry about than being a vocal leader. However, he has shown the occasional early stages of becoming a leader. He even gave an emotional halftime speech late in the season to fire up his teammates. But until he accomplishes more on the field, there's only so much he can do. After all, leadership is earned.
But this is where you all come in. Like I said, I'm just not buying this idea that a lack of leadership late in the season played a factor in the Dolphins' collapse. But am I being naive? Do you think this theory actually holds some water? And if so, where will this offensive leadership come from in 2010?
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Good post matty
What game did henne fire up his teammates? I’m just curious. As for leadership, every time I saw Joey he was very quiet in the last few games. I feel he didn’t want to fire the team up web they needed it. And Jason Taylor was loud but sometimes it only seemed like he was yelling, but I wasn’t there so I wouldn’t know lol
"The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, and it's knockin' down Ted Ginn."
by Brettdolfan on Jan 7, 2010 12:24 AM EST via mobile reply actions
When*
"The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, and it's knockin' down Ted Ginn."
by Brettdolfan on Jan 7, 2010 12:25 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I was there in the game against the texans and not once did he
aproach a receiver, linemen, or running back in the whole first half.
i'll try to find the article later
but it was at halftime in the locker room. So you wouldn’t have seen it when you were at the game.
I think it was either Bess or Camarillo who said it to the media. I’ll look for it later.
I think Grove going down hurt Henne's potential to be the leader.
The O needs a leader in the QB but has got to be supported by the OL in some form/fashion. That allows the RB’s & WR’s to go for the glory.
goo goo goojoob
there's only so much a "leader" can do with this level of talent.
We lost our leader and season when he went down in the 3rd quarter of week 3..Miami absolutely fell apart after that play. Chad Pennington is a one of a kind player. Everytime he stepped out onto that field. You felt like you were in safe hands! Not saying Henne wont be that player. But It takes years to get that respect and Pennington did it in New York and Miami. I never viewed JT as a leader especially after he left the Dolphins last year. How can you be a captain after you werent here for the season we had in 2008! Porter is a adequate leader but he wasnt that good that year and leaders tend to be good on the field and off the field. Porter wasnt at all! The person we should be pointing fingers to is Dan Henning passing play calls. He never utilized Ronnie’s catching ability. No Screens Ever! Anybody remember Ronnie’s catch versus San Diego? Did we ever use that play again in the season? I understand Ronnie was the Qb in the wildcat but Lex or Kory couldnt be taught Ricky’s role in the wildcat? I just was flabbergasted when we stopped using it!
I like Brian Hartline as a future leader of this team! He always looks like he wants to get into someone’s face and tell him to do his job! Love this young kid!
i disagree on your first point
we didnt lose the season in week three… in case you remember we were 0-3 after that game, i dont really feel like winning 7 out of the next 10 games counts as losing the season at that point
lol if anything
Henne coming in saved the season, because Pennington was really struggling
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by Little Nicky 21 on Jan 7, 2010 6:11 PM EST up reply actions
Yep.
"I hope you know a lot more than you believe in"-Gram Parsons
"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."-Steve Earle
i think henne will emerge as a leader next year
omar’s article def holds weight in my book. when you lose that many leaders especially on the offensive side its hard to keep every one focused. i wouldnt say they werent pumped about the last 3 games, but there may have been times over the course of the last few games where they lost focus watching tape or during a practice. thats something pennington and even brown might have fixed. id look for henne next to really start becoming that guy. its tough for a 1st year qb, but with a solid start this past year, next year will bode well for him. when (and im just predicting) he is elected a captain of the team next year, hell fit the role well. he did a nice job at michigan just a couple years ago as the team leader
start clemons over gibril
sign ronnie to a long term deal
the lousaka monster should be a pro bowler
"We liked a couple of those receivers up there, but we didn't feel there was a guy that was going to come in and make more of a contribution than a linebacker." — Dave Wannstedt, on why he chose Eddie Moore over Anquan Boldin in the 2003 draft
by ronnie brown for president on Jan 7, 2010 12:56 AM EST reply actions
I do think he is right.
At the end of the season sometimes it’s more about guts than it is about talent. This team proved that right when they failed to show courage or any emotion at all during the 1st half of both the Titans game and the Texans game. Undoubtedly it was the lack of both this traits that ultimately cost this team a shot at the playoffs, dating back to that game @ Buffalo. I do believe that at the end of the day this is all on Sparano, who ironically prides himself as a great motivator. So to answer your question. Is leadership the reason the dolphins didn’t make the playoffs? No. Is leadership really a problem for the Dolphins? Hell yes.
I was there a couple of rows back from Miami’s sideline in the Texans game and it really was PATHETIC the lack of leadership or emotion at all in the sidelines. I mean, this was basically a “playoff” game, but I guess the players missed the memo, since they were down 20 something points in the first half and everybody at the sidelines was just living the life. Some may say there is “so much” leadership can do, but ask people like me and Nicky that can’t stress enough the absolutely amazing atmosphere Miami Stadium had last year in the similar “playoff like” game against San Francisco, and you’ll get a different answer. Last year on that game the players were standing on the bench facing the crowd and imploring them for noise and support on that last 49er drive. I remember Brandon London going nuts with towels and anything he could possibly find. That, that was missing this year, and a blind man could see that it was a big factor of why this team played so lousy down the stretch. Does that have to do with leadership? I’d say that when there was only one single player on the sideline trying to pump his teammates up (Jason Taylor) our of 53, the answer is yes, right now leadership is an issue for the Miami Dolphins.
by MauMontaV5 on Jan 7, 2010 1:01 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Nicely Done Mau!
I am finding myself agreeing with you more and more! Don’t know if I like that or not? :)
Leadership starts at the top and that’s Sparano. Leadership instills confidence and that’s Sparano. Leadership is knowing the your leaders aren’t going to mess something up at critical times and that’s Sparano. This team didn’t play with confidence at the end of the year. They look unprepared at the beginning of games. Mistakes kept being made in clock management and game time decisions. In essence, they lacked leadership!
Rec’d
The offensive side of the ball is still too young.
Who do you expect to step up and lead?
Henne’s only in his second year, so he’s still trying to learn the ropes and become comfortable leading the offense. I think next year we’ll see him take a more vocal role in leading this team.
Ricky’s always been a quiet guy who goes out and does what he’s told. He’s always been a follower, not a leader.
Our WRs are all too young and inexperienced to be giving anybody advice.
Give Henne a full year as starter, with all of our offense available to him and I think you’ll start to see him become a leader of this team.
The defensive side of the ball has plenty of veteran leadership, and they’ve proven when absolutely needed they can buckle down and step up. Unfortunately, they’ve been limited at how effective they can be because they were playing with a very green secondary. With a year under their belts, they can open up the defensive playbook and make things easier for themselves.
It wouldn't have surprised me if Camarillo
had stepped up to become a leader, but alas it didn’t happen.
Driver of the Make David Lee OC Bandwagon
Repentant Former Driver of the Trade-Ronnie-Brown Bandwagon.
It was only his 4th year in the league.
So even he was pretty green. Other than Ricky, the most seasoned vet we had on offense was Jake Grove at 6 years. So it will take some time for an established leader to develop on this offense.
Camarillo may be green by years,
but he is an established veteran by experience and he already leads by example. Camarillo NEVER gives up on a play. He always fights for every single yard and if he could verbalize his tenacity, there wouldn’t be a player in the locker room that didn’t have a fire burning both under their ass and in their soul.
Driver of the Make David Lee OC Bandwagon
Repentant Former Driver of the Trade-Ronnie-Brown Bandwagon.
agreed
there’s a reason it’s always referred to as “veteran leadership.” You have to earn the respect of the guys you are playing with, and young guys typically haven’t done that yet. Guys with battle scars are the ones that people listen to, and we really don’t have those guys on O. I would say a guy like Carey or Smiley on offense would’ve stepped up, but I don’t think either of them have those leadership qualities. It should come from the QB, and I truly believe Henne will pick that role up next season.
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Winner of Four 2008/2009 Matty Awards
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by Little Nicky 21 on Jan 7, 2010 6:14 PM EST up reply actions
Exactly. As a matter of fact there are many veterans that can walk in to a locker room on
a team of guys and they have never played with and have instant respect because they have been there and done that. Look at the effect of Keith Brooking on the Cowboys. This is his first season and everyone on that team says hes the leader. Thats a D that has basically the same guys they have had but are not playing there best football.
"I hope you know a lot more than you believe in"-Gram Parsons
"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."-Steve Earle
Definetly not my place to judge
But what do you guys think about Tony Sporano’s decision to not allow the IR players to be on the sidelines
I think it’s very awkward personally and i felt that those leaders could have been there.
They definitely could've and should've. I'm starting to doubt a lot of these guys
“motivational” policies. Including not naming Henne the starter for “motivational” reasons. Lol like he is an 8 year old.
haha
If Pennington hadn’t gotten injured than i probably wouldn’t have made henne the starter out right but i mean now that he is out who else do you have left?
Personally i like the current pennington more than Henne but of course Henne has amazing potential and we have unleashed the “Robot” so it would hinder his development if we didn’t start him
This is a side question but Sporano at least lets them be in there during practice and etc. right? Or does he just tell the players to F off once they are on IR?
hahahahaha uhmm I'm not sure about that. I'd suppose he
encourage them to be around the facility, for example Pennington breaking down film with Henne and stuff like that. But I’m not sure to tell you the truth.
And by the way…. You HAD me at “I like Pennington more than Henne”.
They're allowed at all meetings and practices.
I think it really depends on who the IR player is, whether they would be effective on the sideline or not. Pennington could help out quite a bit. Crowder…….not so much. But I’m looking at it through a coaching perspective, not a cheering section perspective.
Yeah I think it had to do with focus
These are the guys we are going to war with, we aren’t gonna dwell on who’s not here. Last thing you want is a play going wrong and guys looking over at a player on IR going “if only he was playing.” As far as I’m concerned, if a guy is on IR, suspended, whatever, he doesn’t exist on gamedays. I don’t think it had anything to do with the outcome of the season or any particular game, and I think people are making a whole lot out of absolutely nothing because they are disappointed with how the season ended.,
Phinsider HOF C/O 2009
Winner of Four 2008/2009 Matty Awards
LN21 and MHTD - Goin Commando
Draft CJ Spiller
by Little Nicky 21 on Jan 7, 2010 6:17 PM EST up reply actions
Pennington and Brown are exactly what we needed on the sideline.
That is a STUPID policy. How can you justify not allowing injured starters/leaders/veterans to support their team?
Driver of the Make David Lee OC Bandwagon
Repentant Former Driver of the Trade-Ronnie-Brown Bandwagon.
I agree, i know Chad Pennington has been hanging around the TC all year helping Henne out and adding his input to the gameplan
So how would he be a distraction on the sidelines?
For every woman masturbating right now, there is a guy masturbating while imagining that woman masturbate.
2009 NY Phin PhansFantasy League Champion
2009 Best Regular Season Record in NYPPL.
If I ever see them on the sidelines during a game I think I will loose my mind.
"I hope you know a lot more than you believe in"-Gram Parsons
"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."-Steve Earle
I heard an interview with Pennington earlier this year
He said the reason he’s not there on the sidelines is because he doesn’t want to put any more pressure on Henne. He says that the coaches say he’s under enough fire at every game from the head coach, offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, etc. etc. and so he doesn’t need that extra advice in game time.
I think it's exactly what he needs though.
“Advice” from a coach/coordinator is not the same as advice from someone who has been there and done it. And they also don’t offer advice on how to DEAL with all the coaches “Advice” in a highly stressful situation. Pennington should have been on the sidelines for Henne. I understand he thought he was doing what was best for Henne, but I don’t think it was.
Driver of the Make David Lee OC Bandwagon
Repentant Former Driver of the Trade-Ronnie-Brown Bandwagon.
Amen!!!!
Ronnie is one of the greatest players to have on your sideline. Hes always getting the crowd fired up and into the games and has a lot of heart and soul. Plus Imagine some of the speaches Pennington could have given down the streth to the offense. For a young team I think our locker room is fairly tight and they all have bought into what the team is trying to do, so keeping a lot of these guys off of the sidelines seems more harm than good in my opinion. There is no replacement for raw emotion, and guys like Ronnie bleed the game and you know he would be doing everything he could emotionally to will the team to win from the sideline. I say its a mistake.
As far as the leadership question goes, its a tough call. I see a lot of future leaders on this team, but for the time being its limited. I know Ricky isnt a real verbal guy, but I don’t think it would a terrible choice to make him a captain. The guys out there working twice as hard as most guys for peanuts, and you wont hear him gripe one bit. As a matter of fact he is just thankful to be playing the game. I know he has had his issues, but currently I don’t think you’ll find a better example of a leader. If he ever did get fired up and speak imagine what it would do to the team? I think what he does on the field is enough said, but thats just me. Being 32 and averaging 4.7 yards a carry is pretty damn good. As far as future leaders, I still think guys like Hartline will step up. I think Henne will step up and lead the huddles and if Ronnie comes back(and god I hope he does) captain or not I think he will continue to be a leader on the team and get them fired up. Only time will tell, but this being a young team for the most part there will plenty of chances for guys to step up and take the reins.
I agree these type of players you don't kick off the sidelines
once they hit IR.
The only wisdom is the knowledge that you don't know
Agreed. Bad rule!
I dont understand why a guy should not be there. In fact I think it should be the other way around.
"I hope you know a lot more than you believe in"-Gram Parsons
"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."-Steve Earle
CONFUSION
I dont understand why Ronnie was not chosen as a Captain. he has been there longer than Joy and Chad. And when healthy has always been an X factor. Not to mention hes a leader on and off the field.
QBs are usually captains and I think they split up the captains into Offensive Captains and
Defensive Captains
The only wisdom is the knowledge that you don't know
I think it makes sense to make the QB your only captain
so long as your QB is a veteran. That was definitely Pennington’s team, heart and soul, and Pennington was expected to play out the year.
Driver of the Make David Lee OC Bandwagon
Repentant Former Driver of the Trade-Ronnie-Brown Bandwagon.
Did lack of leadership cost us to lose that last three games? Yes
I totally understand where Omar was coming from. I know why a lot of people on here don’t want to hear that because it sounds like excuse but it’s the truth.
How can you explain the Texans game? Simple, leadership. Now don’t take this the wrong way, there will be leaders at the start of next season but you have to understand this past season was hurt with the loss of so many captains.
Henne couldn’t become the leader due to this was his first time starting. And add to the fact that Grove got injured that compounded the problem.
With Ferguson and Allen going down Bell became the leader for the first time in his career. Compounded by the fact that he had to supervise two rookie CB’s a piss poor FS in Wilson and another rookie FS in Clemons.
So yeah, I see where Omar’s coming from. But this will all be settled come the 2010 season. I had recorded the last six games of the season and watched them all. And every time you saw the sideline after the momentum was taken away the dolphins would look so aimlessly. Especially in the Titans game, Henne couldn’t muster the team to fight for their playoff lives in overtime. If you watch the interception he threw to end the game you can just clearly see Ginn and co. just start walking to the sidelines not even trying to tackle. That’s a clear sign of lack of leadership. Cause if CP10 was there he would’ve decked all of the players who just quit on the play!!!
leaders are created, they emerge -- that's what leaders do. but they also need allowance ---
the soil and context to emerge. jason spent the first part of the season coming back so to speak, saying how great and ‘seamless’ the leadership of the trifecta is. he had to show the crap with parcells was over, and humble himself. he’s one guy. porter obviously had issues we didn’t know about. he was fairly silent in the games after suspension from starting for ‘coaches reasons.’ chad h — i’d rather he be relatively silent and let his play do the talking to other veterans rather than looking like a first lieutenant whose never seen real combat taking control. it would be rare if it were really his hour.
the leadership thing will come if we are a team that is maturing properly. i know we’ve been told it is on the players. and why nfl pros are allowed to yuk it up on the sidelines in the midst of losses and bad play and failed series and three and outs, is beyond me. in the old days, if you f-up on the field, you feel it on the sidelines. you don’t need jason taylor performing motivational life support on the sidelines in a crucial game. wtf??? could be the natural result of a league where money and players now carry more weight. i’m trying to imagine cszonka or anderson lacking motivation. having said that, i have to think in the end that coming out flat is also a coaches thing, and it needs to work itself out between now and next year. go fins!
Performance not leadership wins games
This is nice chatter, but come on, 50 yd touchdown passes can take the wind out of any team’s sail, no matter how good of a “leader” you have. How can you convince a team to rally when you have Ricky throwing a INT from the 3 yd line, Gerbil missing another tackle, Ginn dropping another catch or Pat White running backwards for 12 yds? The players (and team) are only as good as their performance and the coaching decisions. We came up short on both. If we were having “give up” games, then maybe this would be a good argument, but we fought back too many times only to be dashed by another INT, poor clock management or poor play calling. You don’t get beat 9 times just because of too little emotion… Not buying it. Everyone wants to win.
Whether it’s business, politics or football, the responsibility lies at the top – get better people, train them better and make better decisions or be replaced. There is one CEO, one President, one Coach – one leader. And their performance is judged by their results.
This was a big learning year after our Cinderella season in ’08. Next year will be a true test of this leadership on how well they adapt to the failures of ’09. I still believe that the Triad will rise to occaision and make the changes necessary to become the team to beat.
Go Phins!
we dont need to worry about the offense having a leader because
Henne will take over in the offseason. Don’t u guys think all the work that he and the recievers will put in naturally make him the leader???
by Superzoe92 on Jan 7, 2010 11:16 AM EST via mobile reply actions
LOL
Draft Tebow and you will get all the leadership you can handle and more haha
IMO it is easy to confuse a lack of leadership
for what is actually a simple lack of talent (in some cases) and the typical nature of young player’s performances which tend to be more inconsistent.
Everybody here knows we lacked a true play-maker on offense. We also had a young QB who had a promising but typical season for a player of his development – up & down. Similarly we had young receivers (Hartline, Bess) but here the lack of talent (in terms of no true #1) is more obvious.
On defense we had the stereotypical ‘leaders’ in Porter & JT yet does anyone think our D was strong down the stretch? I don’t. So clearly it wasn’t leadership that cost us the last 3 games.
Leadership & leaders are great things, everybody notices Peyton Manning yelling, etc, and thinks, wow, what a great leader. But guess what? If it were Derek Anderson or any other fringe player yelling at teammates people would laugh.
Peyton Manning is considered a leader sure because he’s vocal but also because he’s an amazing QB and so you better respect what he says!
With all due respect Nat
The Phins didn’t lose the last 3 games because of lack of overall talent, they lost because of coaching and leadership. If you want to point to individual postions where some teams have more talented players than the Phins, I would agree. But that arguement cuts both ways because I can point out other positions that the Phins are more talented.
I am of the opinion that every year there are 3 or 4 teams (Vikings, Chargers) that have more talent than the rest of the league. There are also 5 or 6 teams (Rams, Lions) that have less talent than the rest of the league. That leaves about 20 teams of equal talent. What is the difference that makes some of those 20 teams playoff teams (Bengals, Ravens, Jets) compared to some who miss the playoffs (Phins, Titans, Texans)? IMO it is coaching and by way of coaching, leadership.
The phins didn’t make the playoffs this year because of lack of talent. That is an excuse. Just like injuries (Pennington, Grove, Brown), tough schedule (hardest schedule at start of the season), and being young (Henne and the CB’s played most of the year) are all excuses.
CT...
let’s talk about this more specifically.
The coaching angle is one to be looked at and let’s be honest, Sparano & the coordinators did not do as good a job this year. They cost us points several times with ill-used timeouts & calls.
I can accept that but you did say leadership – and in that I’m not so sure. Do you mean you feel we lost because of a lack of leadership as in from the coaching staff or from the players on the field or both?
Because it seems to me that we do have some leadership on the field – especially on defense and yet the defense was hardly impressive down the stretch.
I don’t see injuries as being an excuse at all – not in a salary cap era + one where we all know there aren’t nearly enough talented players at certain positions like QB namely.
Look at the teams in the playoffs: Arizona, Cincy, GB, Indy, No, and others.
Now tell me any of those same teams make the playoffs without their #1 QB & top offensive player seeing as we lost our #1 QB & top offensive threat (Ronnie)?
That doesn’t sound like excuses to me but the reality of the depth of talent in the NFL in 2009.
As for the youngsters – Chad Henne had a nearly identical QB rating in this, his first year as starter, as Drew Brees did in his first year as a starter back in SD (75.1 v 76.9).
What exactly were you expecting out of Henne with a bunch of glorified #2 receivers around him masquerading as #1’s in name only & a 32 year old RB as the top back & a combination of Haynos/Fasano at TE?
I thought overall he did well and had the expected ups & downs that almost all young QB’s have.
The only part I would disagree with is that I think we miss the playoffs this year
If Penne stayed in. I know this will be unpopular but his arm streength would be used against us in games where we faced better defenses and also I don’t think he can throw to win high scoring games. He has great leadership and accuracy but that can only take you so far in this league.
The only wisdom is the knowledge that you don't know
This is of course my opinion
But Throwing downfield is more about accuracy than arm strength. The only time you really need arm strength is if you want to throw a hail mary. Pennington could thread the balls between defenders (it comes with experience not knocking on Henne) and the down field passes worked. Also Ted Ginn Jr. got more catches with Pennington.
let me say this
Ted Ginn Jr. is not a man of a reciever (i don’t know if that makes sense) he has speed and soft hands. I think that Henne needs to treat him like a running back throw him easy balls if he can. I know that he shouldn’t throw him easy passes and that ted Ginn SHOULD be able to catch those bullets. But he simply can’t Pennington knew this and threw the balls soft and with accuracy for big plays and it increased Ginn’s numbers.
I think that the downfield passing is fun but it’s not really neccesary. Because to relieve pressure in the box throw 20 yard post patterns etc. I mean it’s not a bomb for a touchdown but it’s a pass play that i think should be in any offense and makes the defenders more wary.
Many throws in the NFL require some serious arm strength
because you have to fit the ball into tight windows, or get the ball a long distance in a short amount of time. Anyone can throw a rainbow to a guy behind the defense, but for those sideline routes in the cover 2 windows, or deep comebacks, slants between CB and LB, I can go on and on, you need a guy with some arm strength. I don’t think Pennington CHOSE to throw soft to Ginn, he threw it that way all the time. Ginn took some time getting used to the zip on Henne’s ball, but the second half of the year he was fine. And downfield passing is about arm strength, because if the ball flutters and floats, the DB’s are waaaay too good to allow that thing to come down with a WR. You have to be able to throw it out there with some umph, because if your WR has to slow down at all, it’s a mess.
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by Little Nicky 21 on Jan 7, 2010 6:23 PM EST up reply actions
Henne made 2 throws to win games this year that Pennington would not have been able to make!
And those two throws were all about arm strength. The 4th down conversions against the Jets and the Pats at home are the throws I am talking about. Both routes were 18 yd comeback routes to Camarillo. Comeback routes require a tremendous amount of arm strength. Pennington doesn’t complete those passes. Pennington doesn’t even attempt to throw those passes because he knows that with his arm strength he can’t complete them.
I think that the players at the end of the year lost confidence in the coaching staff
and therefore they were leaderless. Like it or not, the team takes on the persona of their coach and follows his lead. If a player losses faith in the coaching staff, no amount of team leadership gets that back.
Now tell me any of those same teams make the playoffs without their #1 QB & top offensive player seeing as we lost our #1 QB & top offensive threat (Ronnie)?
Probably none of those teams make the playoffs without their #1 QB and top offensive threat. But I don’t necessarily think that applies to the Phins. Henne outplayed Pennington and at one point was 7-3 as a starter. WR production picked up when Henne became the QB. He made the passing game better. The running game suffered but not significantly enough to automatically say the phins couldn’t make the playoffs.
What exactly were you expecting out of Henne with a bunch of glorified #2 receivers around him masquerading as #1’s in name only & a 32 year old RB as the top back & a combination of Haynos/Fasano at TE?
I was expecting production and they did for the most part. I think that the phins need playmakers on offense. A change of pace RB and and difference making WR are top priorities. But even with those limitations on offense, they proved throughout the year that they could produce.
Overall, I look at this phins season differently than most people on the site. I don’t think the phins are rebuilding. I think they are in the pool of 20 odd teams in the league that are talented enough to get to the playoffs. So why didn’t they get in the playoffs? IMO it falls back to coaching and getting the most out of the players on the roster. I just didn’t see enough of that out of the coaching staff this year.
I would really wish the dolphins players and staff would read our blogs and just be fired up by all of us fans supporting writting about them. I can personally say that if anyone would write about me or talk about me and that right there would give me the confidence and fire and desire to bust my ass off for the people who really support me and not let them down.
Draft Taylor Mays in 2010......................
Sign Brandon Marshall in 2010...............
I'd say it was lack of TACKLING...
Leadership, sure, but the D got pushed around those last three games, putting us into a hole. Leaders lead, but tacklers stop guys from running up the middle untouched.
Not sure about leadership
It looked to me like a team with a deadly cocktail of too much youth and inexperience, too much age and wear, and too many injuries that just wore the team down.
The last three weeks the team looked more gassed than leaderless.
Leadership? Who knows?
But something was definitely wrong with the way the Dolphins started those last three games. And something was definitely right with the way the Dolphins fought back in those last three games. So there isn’t a complete lack of leadership. Cure that sleepiness in the first half and we would be talking about the Dolphins opponent this week and the three keys to victory, etc… The Phins start those three games with the swagger and tenacious spirit of the second halves, same thing.
But big difference between this year and last, turnovers. When you give them up more, you tend to have dejected sidelines and lose close games. When you take them away more, you tend to have fired up sidelines and win close games. That isn’t so much leadership, but execution. Better execution will come as a lot of the Dolphins’ younger players get more and more playing time. The young D will take the ball away more, the more experience they get. The young O will give it up less the more experience they get.
Even with how this season turned out, I am still as excited as I have been for the Dolphins prospects the next handful of years, as I was the first game I saw Marino trotting out on the field with that swagger.
Its the QB’s job to be the leader of the offense both vocal and example every thing goes thru him. The Dolphins had a tough schedule, key players got hurt,some still havn’t shined, others need a little more seasoning. Last year they sort of snuck up on everybody; this year everbody, except the Jets, were ready. Next year Henne will be better, Brown will be back and hopefully some realyy good picks will be made. Last draft thay did good with the defensive backfield picks so there is reason to be very optimistic for next year.
I think we made progress this year
I agree with the post that pennington can only take you so far in this league unless less you are completely dominant on d and running the ball ala the raven super bowl some years ago. You need the deep threat, period. So I think henne getting a year under his belt even if it compromised this season is better in the long run. As far as clock managment and time-outs being less than special this year compared to the last, instead of blaming coaching for that i assume that would be the drop off from Chad Pennington to Henne. CP knows the game, playbook etc., so that is gonna make all that time managment look better, becuase you don’t have to worry as much as about Cp not having it together like a fisrt year starter. The sooner we can get Henne to that point, where he can concentrate on defensive looks and not be thinking about the rest of the game, the better we will be. All this talk abouta true number one reciever, well I tend to believe that well run offenses with experienced qb’s make number one recievers. Look at the saints, I don’t think they the most talented wr’s in the world(good though), I think thier offensive scheme, gets them open and Brees doesn’t miss often. Point is we get Henne in the position from where he can succeed. I don’t blame anybody for our seemingly soft halfs of football as much as I figure its just part of the process for young qb’s. We were about 8 ints away from the playoffs, It was frustrating, but I was encouraged because I felt Henne showed way more potential than most other young supposesed future franchise QB’s.
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