What is the single biggest problem?

[Dave Gray]

I could only really think of 4 viable people that are currently with the organization.  If you think that there is someone else, just choose the best available above and then note your choice in the thread.

[tepop84]

Chad Henne.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2010/passing.htm

Sorted by ANY/A Henne is 27th out of 32 in the league.  There are 3 guys above him that have been benched and 3 more who are backups only playing because the starter got hurt.

[Brian Fein]

Dan Henning.  Far worse than all the others.  Although I'd like to see improvement out of all, I'd like to see Henning run out of town post haste.

I am suspicious of Ross's motives as owner of this team, though.  I think he's only using the Dolphins to push his Fan Vision crap to the rest of the NFL.

[dolfan13]

chad henne is a terrible qb. consistently better qb play, and this current team wins a few more games.

an interesting take on henne too is that he fails most spectacularly when the pressure is ratcheted up. 2 minute drill, inside the red zone, 4th quarter, etc... when there is more pressure to perform, he falls on his face bigtime.

[JVides]

I can't even say.  All I know is that it appears as though the Dolphins need a lot going forward:

New QB
Speed at RB
Speed at WR
New TE?
Help at interior offensive line (AGAIN!)
New OC
New HC?

That's a tall order for one offseason.

[badger6]

chad henne is a terrible qb. consistently better qb play, and this current team wins a few more games.

an interesting take on henne too is that he fails most spectacularly when the pressure is ratcheted up. 2 minute drill, inside the red zone, 4th quarter, etc... when there is more pressure to perform, he falls on his face bigtime.

I kinda noticed the same things when he was in college.............

[Dave Gray]

I chose Chad Henne.

I think that it is likely that he is incapable of taking his game to the next level.  He is adequate on occasion, but needs everything perfect in order to perform.  Whenever there is the slightest problem (a defense he wasn't expecting, pressure, an improvised pattern, 2 minute drill, etc) he falls apart.  He also just doesn't seem to have great field vision.  He does his reads and if they aren't there, he ditches the ball.  Unfortunately, that's not enough.  He can't create.

That's not to say that we should ditch Henne.  I think he's the best QB on our roster and we should start him until we have someone better.  But I think it's becoming more and more apparent that he will never take this team to the next level and be anything other than a game manager (and not a great one, at that.)  We will need to make a serious run for a franchise QB.

[Brian Fein]

^^ you say that as though they haven't...

They've drafted QB's every season, up until this past draft.   They never work out.  Unless you get a crack at Matt Ryan (oops) or Drew Brees (oops), franchise QB's don't grow on trees.  Last time they brought in a huge free agent, his name was Daunte Culpepper (oops).

Its not a cakewalk to just go get a franchise QB.

[Dave Gray]

I'm not saying it's easy, but it's necessary.  It's something that you have to get right before you can be a winner.  Again, I don't think we should ditch Henne without a replacement, but I think that we need to start looking for a long term replacement, preferably through the draft.

It's true that the organization has been making decisions about new QBs, but they haven't been the right decisions.  In recent years, we've brought in AJ Feeley, Pat White, John Beck, Daunte Culpepper, and Chad Henne -- all for high draft picks or high cost trades.  They have been very wrong (and even reckless in some cases.)  That doesn't mean that we have to stop looking.

[BigDaddyFin]

I'm still going with Henning.  I have to wonder how many of Chad Henne's crappy decisions could be avoided or started with a bad play call.  I didn't understand the play calling when Pennington or Thigpen was in the game either.  It's either too conservative one week, or we don't bother to really game plan at all because the other team is too good the next or we get stupid and completely abandon one facet or another the third. 

I'm seeing teams do a lot more offensively with a lot less fancy and otherwise bullshit formations and less talent.

Then with the offseason, I'm drafting new centers, new guards, new running backs and a wide reciever, then some more defensive linemen or maybe a middle linebacker would make about 7 players total. 


Don't blow up the whole thing.  Not yet.

[Brian Fein]

Henning has plenty of "why the hell did they call a run play on 3rd and 16" moments.  The Wildcat itself is reason enough.  The offense, in general, seems to shut down once they get beyond the 30.  Its not a coincidence that Dan Carpenter looked great this season - the team plays for FG's.  All the time.

As for Henne, I don't know what to do about him, but I disagree that you can't win without a franchise-level QB.  Sure it makes it easier and can cover up holes elsewhere.  For years, the Patriots and Colts were able to win lots of games with no defense to speak of.  But, this team lacks a running game, o-line, AND QB - too many holes.

If you have a good defense (and I think we do) and a good running game (power and speed), you can win trophies with a "servicable" QB.

[dolfan13]

we had just as good a defense in the early part of the 2000's (maybe even better than what we have now), with better play from the qb position, and a better running game. how many "trophies" did the dolphins win?

at the qb position, you can't have a game manager or "serviceable" qb any longer. you have to have a qb that is going to make plays to win games. not one who thinks its perfectly acceptable to throw an underneath pass in bounds with no timeouts left.

look at the qb rankings based on stats at nfl.com. 15 tds and 18 ints... do you see where the other qbs rank in this list based on that? he's marginally better than mcnabb, jason campbell, alex smith for god sakes. 3 years into his nfl career, and he has a long way to go to be even a game manager qb. "serviceable" qb at this point could be someone like orton, and he is at 20 and 9 with just as many attempts as henne.

i guess it is what it is... build another team like the early 2000's, game manager qb, good running game, good defense, play it close to the vest on offense, have your defense hold them to a close game, kick field goals, and eek out wins. hey isn't dave wannstache still out of a job?

[Cathal]

How could the answer be anything else other than Dan Henning and coaching? Teams know we are predictable and that we play for a FG. That's a result of coaching and play calling.

[tepop84]

How could the answer be anything else other than Dan Henning and coaching? Teams know we are predictable and that we play for a FG. That's a result of coaching and play calling.

Because the play calling is designed to mimimize the errors from our idiot qb.

[CF DolFan]

I don't see how you can replace Henne right now. Not this year anyway. Even if you draft someone, and I assume that would be later, they won't be starting immediately. You really can't trade for a proven person and paying someone like McNabb is just stupid IMO. Even if McNabb did fairly well he is at the back end of his career and he wouldn't last long enough to get us anywhere. Hence we would be right where we are. with a larger payroll.

Pennington was made for Hennings playbook while Henne was not. I think if given the opportunity to open it uop he will do ok. Like I said several times now, he had no problem moving the chains last year but has turned into a younger version of Penny with is check downs. That wasn't coincidence.