Yesterday's Offseason Training Activity brings us a lot to talk about.  And yet again, Jason Taylor has found a way to make himself the top headline - and he wasn't even there.

As you all know, Tony Sparano told the media yesterday that's he's been informed Taylor will not be at any of the off-season activities and also does not plan on being in training camp once July rolls around.  Instead, he wants to be traded.  I don't want to continue to harp on this subject, but I did want to throw in my 2 cents.

And basically, my thoughts on this are pretty basic.  Jason Taylor is wrong here.  He's now a liar, having written in his ESPN blog that he'd be in Miami for all the mandatory practices as well as having said on the radio that after this dancing stuff was done that he'd be back in Miami, and I'm having a hard time trying to convince myself of anything other than that Taylor is just dead wrong here.  All he's doing now is tarnishing his reputation in South Florida.

Here's the bottom line: Taylor is under contract with the Miami Dolphins for 2 more seasons and for $16.5 million dollars.  If he decides not to show for camp in July, then he's breaching the contract and will be fined each day he is absent.  And now the question arises as to what the Dolphins should do about this situation.

And make no mistake about it, this is a big decision for the front office to make.  Giving in to Taylor's demands and trading him for less value than they originally were looking for will set a very bad precedent going forward.  Giving in and trading him for minimal value will just allow future Dolphin players to think they can get away with this same crap under this new regime.  Much like the Bengals are doing with Chad Johnson, the Dolphins must also stay strong and not give in to players who demand trades and threaten to hold out while awaiting their trade.  And it's my thinking that they need to hold their ground and not trade Taylor for anything less than a 2nd round pick, though I could also live with a 3rd rounder with something extra thrown in.

If the Dolphins can't find the right deal for Taylor, they need to just hold onto him, fine him for every day he misses, and wait for him to return during the regular season.  Should Taylor decide to retire, then that's fine.  He'll be the one missing out on $7+ million in 2008 and it will free up some room under the cap for the Dolphins to work with going forward. 

And no, I don't think they should just cave to Taylor because of how valuable he's been to this team in the past.  Yes, he's been a model citizen in this town for years.  He's an absolute fan favorite and a great person off the field, too.  But that gives him no right to do what he's doing.  This organization should in no way simply cater to Jason's demands.  All athletes need to understand that when they sign a long-term contract, they have to honor it. 

One final thought on this: no one player is above the team.  I'm a Miami Dolphins fan first and foremost and only care about what is best for the team, not for one individual player.

Now, let's get into some things about the players that are actually participating this offseason.  And to do so, you'll have to make the jump...

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Well in one week, the Dolphins will be holding their 2nd mini-camp.  Though it is "voluntary," it's expected that most of the veterans will be in Davie for the camp.  After all, with Bill Parcells in town, "voluntary" means "you better be there."  This will be our 2nd chance to see the rookies and our first opportunity to see the other new players that this regime has brought in. 

So what I wanted to do was just talk about some of the players I'm most excited/anxious to see in a Dolphins uniform as we head towards training camp in July.  Today we'll look at the offensive side of the ball and then we'll talk about the defensive side of the ball some time next week.  The list isn't in any particular order and I'm sure everyone's list would be different, which is why I encourage you all to tell us who you are most excited to see.  My offensive list is below:

Chad Henne - Just because I'm a very vocal John Beck fan doesn't mean I hope Henne fails.  It's just the opposite.  I'd love to see both become very good players.  After all, it's only fair that after so many years of not having a really good quarterback, we can now have two.  It's been widely reported that Henne struggled at the final practice of the rookie camp a few weeks back, with the coaching staff even making Chad run a lap.  But his first 2 days were reportedly solid and I'm very anxious to see him progress from day to day once camp rolls around.

Jayson Foster - If watching the many highlight videos of Foster's college career doesn't excite you, then you might not even have a pulse.  Sure, he's pretty damn small, but it tells you something that Foster was one of the few players that Bill Parcells said a word to at rookie camp.  I'm curious to see how his speed and quickness translate to this next level once the pads go on.

Davone Bess - Bess opened some eyes at rookie camp, catching everything that was thrown his way.  He lacks ideal speed and is on the short side, but his route running and feel for the game really translate into potentially big upside as an NFL slot receiver.  I'm looking forward to hearing the camp reports on how he does getting open once the veterans arrive.

Ernest Wilford - Wilford comes to Miami from Jacksonville and will likely have the inside track to winning the starting receiver job opposite of Ted Ginn.  And he's really the ideal complimentary receiver to a player like Ginn.  As I discussed right here, Wilford is going to be a major upgrade over Marty Booker.  He's got reliable hands, moves the chains, and is a great red-zone target.  I'm looking forward to seeing how he works with the Dolphin quarterbacks in camp.

Jake Long - For obvious reasons, all Dolphin fans will be closely keeping watch on Long and how he does transitioning from the college game to the pros.  I cannot wait to hear the camp reports on how Long is doing in pass protection against some of the speed rushers off the edge (Jason Taylor, Quentin Moses, Joey Porter, etc...).  He's going to learn very early on in camp that dealing with NFL pass-rushers is quite different than dealing with those in the Big 10.

Justin Smiley - There are many reasons why I'm anxious to see Smiley take the field.  One, the Dolphins did pay a decent amount of money to him.  Two, he's coming off of a torn labrum.  And three, Smiley seems to be a very intense player who is also not afraid to speak his mind.  He plays with a nasty streak and that's the kind of play this team needs.

Just missed the list:  Boomer Brigsby, Shawn Murphy, Tab Perry

So those are my top 6 new Dolphin players that I'm most excited/anxious to see on the offensive side of the ball.  We'll get into the defensive side next week. 

Be sure to tell us all which new offensive players you are most excited to see in aqua and orange.

Thoughts below...

Submitted for your approval.  On the left is our very own 2nd round pick, QB Chad Henne.  On the right is one of the stars of Family Guy, Glenn Quagmire.

Separated at birth or what?

All we need now is for Chad to walk around the practice facility in Davie shouting "giggity" left and right!!

Ok, in all seriousness, you do have to admit that there is some resemblance between the two, right?

You'll remember that a few days ago, we took a closer look at Chad Henne.  Well, now we will dig a little deeper into Chad Henne and the kind of player he was at Michigan (and might be here in Miami).

Today I've enlisted the help of Sean Yullie.  Sean is the blogger over at SBN's Detroit Lions blog, Pride of Detroit, and also runs a Michigan Wolverines blog as well.  If you recall, we enlisted Sean's help last week to tell us a little bit more about Jake Long, which you can read here.  Below is what Sean tells us about Michigan QB and Dolphin draftee, Chad Henne:

Chad Henne was thrown into the gauntlet from the very first game of his freshman season at Michigan.  Due to an injury to starting quarterback Matt Gutierrez (now with the Patriots) literally in the days leading up to the beginning of the season, Henne had to step in and start at QB as a true freshman, which is a rarity at Michigan.  No one knew a lot about Henne early on as he wasn't expected to play as a freshman, but all Michigan fans quickly found out that he was a special player.  Henne led Michigan to a win to open the season and the starting job was his for the next four years.  He would actually lead Michigan to a Big 10 title and a Rose Bowl appearance as well, and he did it all as a freshman.

Going into his sophomore season, Henne did struggle an awful lot.  Braylon Edwards was now in the NFL, and his loss was huge as Henne's go-to receiver that could catch anything was gone.  Without Braylon, Henne took a few steps back, and Michigan's 7-5 record reflected that.  His junior year would be totally different as a new offensive coordinator was hired and Henne seemed to be more comfortable.  He was on the same page with his receivers and Michigan was much better in 2006 as a whole.  That season would result in an 11-2 record for the Wolverines, and Henne almost led Michigan back to beat Ohio State to be 12-0, which would have sent them to the national title game.  His great performance in that game wasn't enough, though, and U-M would instead end up back in the Rose Bowl.

Henne's senior season was a rollercoaster ride.  It started off with Michigan losing to Appalachian State, and then a week later Oregon destroyed the Wolverines in Ann Arbor.  To make matters worse, Henne was knocked out of the Oregon game at halftime with a leg injury, and he wouldn't return until three weeks later.  The way Henne did return to the starting lineup showed off his toughness.  Plans called for him to start one series at the beginning of each half just to take baby steps in his recovery process.  Michigan figured it could afford to sit him as their opponent was only Northwestern, but as it turned out, the Wildcats put up a fight.  With Northwestern actually making it a game, Henne had to play the entire second half and led Michigan to victory, which isn't the last time something like this would happen.

Sean's thoughts continue below...

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This might be the most talked-about selection of Miami's entire draft, so let's dig a little deeper and talk about the kind of player Chad Henne is.

First, here's what I know of Chad Henne.  I know that he's a tough SOB, playing through injuries (like separated shoulders) quite frequently.  I know that Henne does have a cannon for an arm.  Seriously, some of his "laser-like" throws are impressive to watch, though his arm isn't quite as strong compared to John Beck's (based on the radar gun test at the Combine).  So he certainly has the arm strength to make every single throw and his deep ball is sometimes considered a thing of beauty.

I also know that he's a big, strong guy.  He won't need to add weight or anything to help his body hold up to the beating that the NFL could give a young quarterback.  And I also know that Henne is a workaholic much like John Beck is.  So one thing you are not going to have to worry about from our QBs is their work ethic and dedication.

As far as negatives, I know that he isn't very mobile and his accuracy can get away from him at times.  He also tends to hold the ball too long, taking a sack when the ball should already be out of his hands.

But all that is just scratching the surface of Chad Henne.  Let's go a little deeper.

First off, some say that the two most important predictors of NFL success for a QB are career college starts and completion percentage.  And when you put that to the test , you'll notice that the college QB with 40+ starts and a completion percentage in the 59% to 69% do tend to fair much better than those QBs who have just 20-30 starts.  Where does Henne fall in this?  He started 47 games at Michigan and had a career completion percentage of 59,7%.  And for his closest comparison in terms of those two numbers along, it would be Carson Palmer.  Palmer came out of USC with 45 career starts and a 59% completion percentage.  I'm not saying Henne is as good as Palmer, I'm just making an observation.

One of the major criticisms you hear about Chad Henne is how he "struggles" in big games.  People always point to his 1-7 combined record in bowl games and against Ohio State.  However, it's a good sign that his last game was a victory over Florida in that Capital One Bowl.  But I did want to just show you his numbers in these 8 games so you can see how the loss can't be blamed on just Henne:

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What a crazy day Saturday turned out to be.  And after a few hours of getting out and not thinking about football, I think I can now better reflect on what the Dolphins did (and didn't do) on Saturday.  And I must say, I really like the direction this team is headed.  Onto a few quick nuggets:

IRELAND'S PRESS BRIEFING

The most intriguing issue of today, the decision to not trade Jason Taylor, is the first thing I want to point out.  About the trade rumors that circulated all day, Jeff Ireland said:

“I was not aware of it. I was aware of it after the fact, but obviously strictly rumor. Didn’t get any calls, so there was no discussion [of trading Taylor]."

Interesting, to say the least, especially when you consider the seemingly endless supply of rumors over the past 48 hours.  But hey, if they didn't get any offers (or at least any they liked), then I'm glad Jason Taylor is still a Dolphin.  No need to just "give him away" for poor value, right?

Other interesting tidbits from Ireland's press briefing:

(On what the selection of Henne means to Beck)
"John's got a quick release, a strong arm, and he's highly competitive. You never have enough of those guys. It’s gonna bring some competition to the position. We like both these kids, Josh McCown as well, so it’s gonna be a good battle for these guys. We like John. This has no bearing on whether we like John or don’t like John or anything like that. We’re in the business of collecting good football players, and that’s what we’ve done."

(On what he likes about Henne)
"He’s a four year starter at the University of Michigan — I like that. He’s a great leader, and he’s got an aura about him that you like about a quarterback. And in doing my homework, he had nine come-from-behind fourth quarter wins in his career, and I think that was more than any quarterback we studied."

(On the trade of Lorenzo Booker to the Eagles)
"I don’t think he really fit our system that we’re trying to put in place here. We fielded a call pretty early in the process about him, and he’s a great kid, he’s a playmaker, but at the end of the day he didn’t really fit this system that we’re putting in place here."

SALGUERO THINKS BECK IS IN TROUBLE

In his latest blog entry, the Herald's Armando Salguero writes that he thinks the selection of Chad Henne is a clear message to John Beck.  Salguero writes:

Beck is not a Parcells guy. Parcells didn't scout him, didn't draft him, didn't sign him. And that makes Beck the only one of Miami's three quarterbacks that Parcells did not pick or scout or sign. Parcells inherited Beck from the previous regime while he went out and got Josh McCown as a free agent and drafted Chad Henne Saturday.

So that puts Beck at a disadvantage. Henne and McCown are not going to get a free ride by any means, but I do believe they rate higher than Beck in the mind of Parcells -- because they were picked by Parcells.

That means any tie on any matter goes to McCown and Henne. And not Beck. For Beck to win the coming quarterback competition -- assuming he's even in the competition, by the way -- he's going to have to outplay the other two.

Give me a break, Armando.  The most negative Dolphins' beat writer strikes again!

John Beck is still clearly in Miami's plans.  He's going to come into camp and compete to start just like Josh McCown and Chad Henne are.  And no matter who actually brought these players in, the best player will earn the starting job.  And right now, my money is on John Beck.  I know for a fact that John has been working insanely hard this offseason and that he's had a chip on his shoulder all offseason.  Now, that chip only gets larger.  For a guy like John, this will not discourage him; it will only act to motivate him some more.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not hoping Henne fails or anything.  I just want to win football games.  And I firmly believe that John will show that he does give this team the best chance to win games, not just in 2008, but also beyond. 

With that said, though, let the competition begin!  It gives us, as diehard fans, something to keep a close eye on all camp and preseason long.  It will surely be an entertaining battle.  May the best man win!

MERLING TO BE DE, NOT OLB

Omar Kelly points out something that I believed from the moment Phillip Merling was drafted at #32.  He's not a potential replacement for Jason Taylor in Miami's 3-4 defense.  No, he's going to battle for a starting DE spot:

Merling will likely push Vonnie Holliday and Matt Roth for a starting spot. Maybe not immediately, but in time. And his addition likely means Randy Starks is the primary backup to Jason Ferguson at nose tackle unless one is added on Sunday.

Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland said the Trifecta wasn't concerned at all about his sports hernia. Defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers went to check him out at his workout earlier this week and liked what he saw. They picked Merling over Auburn's Quentin Groves, who would have been more suited to serve as an outside linebacker. Merling is a straight 3-4 end.

I've thought for a while that this upcoming year was a big one for both Matt Roth and Vonnie Holliday.  Not only will Randy Starks now be pushing them (he can play all 3 spots along the DL in a 3-4), but now a talented player like Merling will come in here and push to start.  Personally, I think it's Matt Roth who needs to be worried the most.

So that's it for now.  We'll have much, much more in the coming days and weeks about all the events of this weekend.

Be sure to join us here again tomorrow for more "live" coverage of day 2 of the NFL Draft.  Look for the open thread to be posted around 9:30 am.

See you all then.