Passing game can’t be a lost art in Miami

By Richard Diaz  |   Saturday, June 07, 2008  |  Comments( 3 )

Miami Dolphins
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Entering the upcoming NFL season, the Miami Dolphins will desperately be relying on the legs of running backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. Even with a new regime, there just aren’t enough weapons in place to revamp the offense.

With that in mind, Miami can’t completely downplay the passing game. Brown and Williams won’t succeed if an opposing defense stacks the line, meaning the starting quarterback can’t simply rely on the duo to carry him to victory. In short, Bill Parcells and company must find a way to prevent a repeat of last season’s anemic passing output.

If nothing else, the team's abysmal 2007 season should have served as a harsh reality check for incumbent starting signal-caller John Beck. In five games, he threw just one touchdown, tossed three interceptions and racked up seven fumbles. Beck, who completed 60 of 107 passes last year, has looked more accurate during the offseason, and he's developing a semblance of chemistry with his weapons.

Next in line is journeyman Josh McCown, who started nine games for the Raiders last season. McCown, a career journeyman, has been splitting first-string reps with Beck and could easily unseat the soon-to-be-second-year man as the summer progresses. There's a healthy competition taking place between McCown and Beck. However, Beck has said all of the right things during offseason workouts, and he looks to be the more favored of the two. Outside of being completely shown up by McCown during training camp and in the preseason, then, it's probably safe to assume Beck will have another shot to prove himself in the NFL. Aside from that, Miami needs to determine whether Beck's a starting-caliber QB; after all, there's a rookie in waiting who many believe is next in line for the job.

Similar to longtime NFLer Drew Bledsoe, a No. 1 overall pick of the Parcells-led Patriots in the '90s, Chad Henne has a strong and accurate arm, but he isn’t very mobile. Even though Henne’s a prototypical Parcells quarterback, it’s important to realize that the now-executive isn’t a fan of young passers. In fact, Parcells was against starting Tony Romo in Dallas a couple years ago; therefore, outside of an injury, odds are Henne won’t see starting time this season.

The passing game will also benefit from the presence of first-round offensive tackle Jake Long, not to mention the remaining O-linemen who have joined Miami (including guard Justin Smiley). The likely improved pass blocking will lead to the quarterback having legitimate time to find an open receiver downfield, and it should also provide some room for a screen pass to either of the running backs. As it stands, that was something the team sorely missed last season.

What’s more, second-year receiver Ted Ginn Jr. is looking as speedy as ever, and he seems to be running better routes than he did last season. The Dolphins also signed Ernest Wilford, who’ll be replacing Marty Booker as the go-to veteran, and rookie Davone Bess, from Hawaii, has turned a few heads this offseason.

In short, whoever Miami's No. 1 QB is needs to:

1. Develop a relationship with his receivers, thus avoiding miscommunication and other chemistry issues.
2. Make wise use of the time that his O-linemen provide.
3. Know when to dump it off to a running back.
4. Know when to tuck it in and scramble for whatever yardage is available.
5. Know how to make use of the dynamic running back duo that’ll likely be in play.
6. Know not to force a pass for the potential big play.

Elementary as all that might sound, it’s the simple truth. Miami’s recent quarterbacks have failed at the most fundamental of levels. They’ve haphazardly thrown passes in the red zone that resulted in disastrous interceptions, and they’ve also thrown dump-offs to running backs that had zero chance for a positive gain. So while those keys are common sense to Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, they're something the Dolphins' passers need to learn.
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