Henne vs. White a nice subplot, but Pennington’s still the main story

By Hugo Guzman  |   Wednesday, May 06, 2009  |  Comments( 3 )

Miami Dolphins
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If Twitter buzz decided the Pat White-Chad Henne backup quarterback competition in Miami, we’d already have a winner. I performed a quick search Tuesday evening and found that there are roughly a dozen mentions of White’s name in the past 24 hours alone (nothing for Henne since Monday) on the popular Web site. The distribution is a bit more even on key fan communities like finheaven.com and thephins.com, but the point is clear.

Both of these young quarterbacks are a hot topic among Dolphins fans.

Meanwhile, starter Chad Pennington has fallen back into the shadows. He gets some Twitter mentions here and there, and some folks bring him up on the popular fan forums from time to time, but for the most part, he’s become yesterday’s news.

All things considered, it's a bit ironic; after all, Miami’s short-term future is tied to Pennington’s success, not White or Henne’s. Sure, White will likely get his fair share of snaps out of the "Wildcat" formation. And yes, there is a slim chance that Henne ends up taking over the starting role at some point during the 2009 regular season. But if the Dolphins have any shot of returning to the postseason, Pennington will have to be one of the key catalysts.

And why not? He managed to post borderline Pro Bowl numbers in 2008 despite joining the team just days before the start of the regular season. This year, he’s quietly working behind the scenes, fine-tuning his knowledge of the offensive system and syncing up with his offensive counterparts. Also, the arrival of veteran center Jake Grove should help further solidify what was already a very steady pass-protecting offensive line. Oh, and having a fully healed Ronnie Brown in the backfield can’t hurt either.

So, go ahead. Indulge in all of those fun and exciting conversations regarding Pat White and Chad Henne. That’s what the offseason is good for. Just don’t that Pennington will be the real main when the season rolls around.
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About Hugo Guzman

Trying to bring an objective approach to NFL analysis.
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CommentsComments: 3  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
konquereyez		03:50 AM
05/06/2009
Look how can you guys be talking about the back up when the starting quaterback of the team was runner up to the MVP whats the...
No.2
JimmyD		10:33 AM
05/06/2009
You are not the only one, brotha. I was as excited as anyone to see Pennington become a Dolphin....mostly because he wouldn't be...
No.3
konquereyez		02:25 PM
05/06/2009
I mean 4 real if it wasnt for manning pennington would be the MVP So why are we talking about his backups? Is anyone talking...
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