Dolphins’ Henne leading QB pack

By Jeff Dickinson  |   Tuesday, August 05, 2008  |  Comments( 7 )

Miami Dolphins
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As NFL teams trudge through the dog days of training camp, a fine line between discovering answers and it still being too early to tell begins to develop.

Fans, coaches and management are longing for answers to burning questions. Some of those questions have only surfaced since camp began, but others have been on the tips of tongues since the end of last season.

One of those longstanding questions has been at the forefront of the Miami Dolphins' camp on a daily basis: Who is going to step forward and win the starting quarterback job for the 2008 season? Head coach Tony Sparano hinted in camp last week that the quarterback race might not be settled for a while.

Sparano’s comments were made after Miami’s three quarterbacks – Josh McCown, John Beck and rookie Chad Henne – struggled during the first few days of camp. It was assumed that McCown, who has 31 career starts and signed a two year, $6.25 million contract in the offseason, would have the best shot.

Beck, who started four games in Miami last year, also has a leg up on Henne in terms of experience. Making matters even more challenging for Henne, a second-round pick from Michigan, is the fact that he didn’t get his contract ironed out until right before camp started.

Evidently, however, talent, knowledge and determination can make up for a lot of things.

In a little more than a week’s time, Henne has seemingly vaulted ahead of McCown and Beck in the Dolphins' quarterback race. In Saturday’s scrimmage, Henne led the offense on an impressive scoring drive that culminated with a 6-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Matthew Mulligan.

McCown also guided the 'O' to a score with a touchdown pass (9 yards), but he was 0-for-7 at one point during the scrimmage and threw an interception. Henne had no turnovers, which is big in the minds of Sparano and front-office leader Bill Parcells.

While no one is ready to anoint Henne as the starter for the upcoming season, he has done nothing but help his chances since the first few days of camp. And while McCown is hanging in there with some good to balance out the bad, Beck is headed toward the bench or another team.

Beck had another disappointing performance in the scrimmage Saturday, throwing yet another interception and failing to lead his team anywhere near the end zone. Just as Henne jumped into the lead in a week, Beck can also bring himself back into the picture with a good showing this week.

Things were so bad at the quarterback position for the Dolphins earlier in the week that Quincy Carter, who hasn’t played in the league since 2004, was brought in for a look-see. Carter, who bounced around the league because of his poor performance and off-the-field issues, isn’t exactly a hot commodity in NFL circles. Carter’s visit is definitely a testament to how poorly Miami’s quarterbacks have performed thus far.

This week is a critical one for Beck in the Miami camp. One bad week stretch may not ruin his chances to land the starting quarterback job; two straight weeks of disappointment, however, and Beck might be the first odd man out with the Dolphins. The pressure is on the 2007 second-rounder and ex-BYU standout to perform. If he doesn't, he might be out of town soon enough.

Training Camp: An entirely new kind of fantasy game!
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About Jeff Dickinson

I have been writing and editing professionally for 18 years. I spent the first three years of my career as a sportswriter for a daily newspaper in Alabama and got to cover sports and get paid for it! It was great until I got married and then it wasn't too much fun being away from my wife every...
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CommentsComments: 7  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
12:51 PM
08/05/2008
This was going to be an interesting race from the start so i feel its far from over still. Henne is leading now but that could...
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No.2
RedskinFan21ST		01:29 PM
08/05/2008
With the teams lack of playmakers I assume they're going to be a run first team with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. So with...
No.3
Joe		03:05 PM
08/05/2008
Redskin I agree that they will be run first for several reasons: 1) they are young and have not had time to develope timing yet...
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