Miami Dolphins: Chad Henne Answer to QB Woes Now, Little Bit of "Luck" Later

Prior to the draft, the thought was that either Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert or Ryan Mallett were the answers to the Dolphins problems at quarterback.

Then the draft started, and Newton went first to Carolina, Locker went to Tennessee as the eighth pick, Gabbert was drafted 10th by Jacksonville, then the Dolphins passed up Mallett and watched him go to New England.

Then the lockout ended in July and free agency started. The Dolphins looked to be in hot pursuit for Kyle Orton until deeming that both Orton's and Denver's price was too high for them, then watched as Orton took the job from Tim Tebow.

Now speaking of Tebow, on Sunday George Diaz of the Sun-Sentinel suggested that he was the best fit for Miami at quarterback, citing the need for a fresh start for the now frustrating Tebow, as well as the star power and ticket sales he'd bring.

Note how not once were any of Tebow's actual football attributes mentioned when he talked about why Tebow would be a good fit for Miami.

And of course before that, Dave Hyde, who works for the same paper as Diaz, suggested the Dolphins call Brett Favre. This of course made ESPN explode and think of new ways to dust off their "Taking my talents to South Beach" jokes. Had that actually been a possibility and not just an idea Hyde had, ESPN would probably move their facilities to Hialeah since their two favorite athletes in the world would be in the same city.

(Actually here's what would get ESPN to move their headquarters to the Miami area: Brett Favre signs with the Dolphins then Miami trade for Tebow to be his backup/understudy. That's Favre, Tebow and LeBron, the three athletes that ESPN loves to talk about and eventually make people hate in the same city. Then they could talk about their three favorite guys while criticizing Miami's fans for either not being passionate or being "classless" when they are being passionate. Just an idea, back to the article.)

But the truth is that other than the potential draft picks, none of these guys are really the answer.

Tebow would mean more wildcat, as well as a less experienced and more risky option at quarterback. 

When the pressure is on to save your job, like it is for Sparano and Ireland, someone like Tebow isn't exactly your best options.

With Orton you're getting a band-aid. The numbers sure look good, but how many playoff games come with that? Yes the Broncos were bad last year and yes the connection with Marshall is there, but some of those Bears teams he started for were very talented, yet he only lead them to the playoffs once, in his rookie year in 2005.

Rex Grossman wound up starting that game for them then became the starter the next year and lead them to the Super Bowl before melting down and becoming the Colts' MVP.

Brett Favre is a band-aid. You're only getting one year, and it might be a great one. However at this time next year, you're back to where you were before.

Not exactly the ideal situation for a team who's average age is only 25.84, the 13th youngest team in the NFL.

Henne is the best quarterback for this team. Yes, I said that fans have the right to boo him, but they have the right to cheer him too. And I've raved about how confident he's looked and how well he's played in practice as well as the leadership he's taking on.

This despite the fact that since the end of the season last year all we've heard about is how the Dolphins need a new quarterback as well as their attempts to get one.

I say give Henne one more year, but if it doesn't work out, there's one other option, and no, it doesn't involve the words "Terrelle Pryor" and "Supplemental Draft."

Andrew Luck of Stanford is the next, and to some possibly first, best option at Dolphins quarterback.

If the 2012 draft were held today, Luck would be a consensus number one pick. Had he left Stanford last season he'd be a Carolina Panther and Newton, along with possibly Locker and Gabbert would be on different teams

Luck is also a pre-season Heisman candidate. And all of this is for good reason.

Luck was the Pac-10 offensive player of the year. His stat line from 2010 is one you think of with a quarterback: 263/372 (70.6% completion percentage) 3,331 yards 32 touchdowns and only eight interceptions with an NFL passer rating (NFL and College passer ratings are calculated differently and since I'm looking at him from an NFL perspective, I'll use the NFL ratings) of 118.02.

When I had the chance to see him and Stanford in person at the Orange Bowl, I jumped at it. What I saw was a guy who was born to play quarterback. Cool, confident, and a true leader on the field. His stats prove this: Stanford defeated Virginia Tech 40-12. Luck went 18/23 passing for 287 yards 4 touchdowns and one interception.

Based off of those numbers and what I saw of him in person, this kid has NFL star QB written all over him. He stands impressive at 6'4" 235 pounds, and he's a very smart kid both on and off the field.   

Sadly there's only ways for the Dolphins to pick up Luck are to hope Luck has a down senior season (possible, another Heisman candidate quarterback had a terrible season and sank to the #27 pick, and his name was Dan Marino), hope that the team that has the number one pick doesn't need a quarterback or chooses not to draft one (like what the Dolphins did in 2008 when they drafted Jake Long instead of Matt Ryan), or tank the season. I'd rather they not tank, at least not now.

But if they start the season off 4-7, then losing the last five games wouldn't be the end of the world for me.

The worst thing to happen to Miami is another boring 7-9. This season is the Dolphins all or nothing season. A bad season that can bring us the chance to take Luck is just as good as a playoff appearance if Henne succeeds.

Either way in the end, we'll know who our future quarterback will be. While another just mediocre season will bring further uncertainty.