'New Beginning' starts only when QB race ends

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/football/miami-dolphins/story/635866.html

'New Beginning' starts only when QB race ends

BY GREG COTE
Miami Herald

First-year Dolphins coach Tony Sparano has noted the significant, if largely psychological, difference between the end of training camp practices and the start of games -- even preseason games.

''The big light comes on,'' he said.

It snapped Saturday night, illuminating a football stadium and leaving the Dolphins with nowhere to hide. The trouble with the big light coming on is that everything tends to be exposed, laid bare.

The bright light showed that a 1-15 team doesn't get good in one offseason, no matter the changes and the optimism of a ''New Beginning'' marketing campaign. No matter the imprimatur of legendary Bill Parcells lording over the whole operation like the wise man on the mount.

The bright light shows every crack and dent. It shows the long way left to go.

But something else shone in all that bright light Saturday.

A little bit of hope.

A hint of tomorrow.

A young quarterback who looks like he could be something special someday. Maybe even soon.

I don't care what Chad Henne's passing numbers were. (They were 5 of 10 for 67 yards.) What mattered more was the poise this rookie exhibited in his NFL debut, such as on a 21-yard strike on third-and-18. And the arm strength evident on a couple of deep-out routes, some good decisions he made and the fact both of Miami's scoring drives in Saturday's 17-6 loss to Tampa Bay were with Henne in the huddle.

''I was pleased with what Henne did,'' said Sparano, honest if not effusive. ``He did some nice things there.''

QB OF FUTURE?

The Dolphins' quarterback situation remains in quick-fix flux, with veteran Chad Pennington imported from the Jets' scrap heap to be a temporary starter, with veteran Josh McCown trying to prove he is up to a backup role, and with second-year guy John Beck working to stave off indications his time in Miami might be drawing short.

Then there is Henne.

Make no mistake: Pennington is the best option of the four right now, but this remains a franchise trying to get to its tomorrows.

Whether by brilliance or default we can't yet be certain, but in either case, Henne, the kid out of Michigan, looks like the quarterback of the future. That is after Pennington is done baby-sitting the job or gets injured (as is his history). That is after McCown reminds us why he can't hold a job. And that is after Beck is discarded like most every other remnant of deposed coach Cam Cameron has been.

Sparano said it is conceivable the Dolphins could keep all four quarterbacks this year, but you get the feeling Henne will be the guy left standing as the one in charge of that ''New Beginning'' after all of this shakes out.

Somebody, eventually, has to be good enough to accept the Next Marino torch and be able to stand the heat that comes with it. We have been waiting since No. 13 departed with the old century.

The original, Marino himself, was watching from the sideline Saturday. Was he seeing a first glimpse of his rightful successor? Will Henne finally be the guy?

Not pretending to draw such a definitive conclusion from 10 pass attempts in an exhibition game, but this was on top of his being the team's most impressive quarterback during the training camp that preceded the preseason.

There is something about the kid.

HELP, TIME NEEDED

He will need help, of course. Whomever the Dolphins' quarterback is in 2008 and beyond will need more in the good-hands department than we are seeing. Miami has a bad receiving corps, or certainly below average by NFL standards. There isn't a wide receiver who scares opposing defensive coordinators. It is why bringing in damaged goods like Terry Glenn is being considered.

Miami doesn't have a quarterback who is able (or in Henne's case ready) to overcome that deficiency.

It isn't for Henne's lack of potential or upside, though, that the club felt the need to bring in Pennington, who took a plane to Miami on Saturday and watched the game under the bill of a Dolphins ball cap, wearing shorts and an aqua No. 10 jersey.

No, Henne simply needs time. Maybe an entire season of learning and growing gradually; maybe less. A curly haired kid out of Pittsburgh took over around midseason of his rookie year in 1983. That might not be Henne's timetable. The natural inclination is not to hurry him, but neither should the future be delayed or denied beyond reason.

The imperative for Miami now is to identify Henne as their guy -- if indeed he is -- and to hand him the ball, the keys to the franchise, as soon as he is ready. Pennington shouldn't play a month or a game or a series more than is necessary once it becomes evident Henne is ready to step into the future and take this franchise with him.

Pennington said after Saturday's game, ''This is a place I needed to be and wanted to be.'' To his credit, though, he said he would embrace a mentor's role with a younger guy such as Henne. You get the idea Pennington knows he's a temp.

A victory Saturday night would have been significant, even in a supposedly meaningless game. When you have been 1-15, you take any tangible sign of progress when and where you can.

But winning is not as important to this franchise now -- and won't be when the real games start in a month -- as identifying the quarterback who will help create the true ''New Beginning'' down here.

It isn't Pennington, at 32.

It could be Henne, and Saturday night did nothing but make us eager to see more and find out for sure.