For Dolphin Chad Henne, The Time Is Now

Fiedler. Huard. Lucas. Griese. Feeley. Rosenfels. Frerotte. Culpepper. Harrington. Lemon. Green. Beck. Pennington.

Apparently theres been quite a few guys to stroll through the quarterback position for the Miami Dolphins since the legendary Dan Marino retired eleven seasons ago.

The list has expanded like a wild fire over the past decade.

The funny thing is that although I’ve seen just about every Dolphins game over the past eleven years, I don’t remember half of those guys ever suiting up under center. Outside of Fiedler none stuck around for more than a year or two.

Not the ideal situation considering quarterback is the most important position on the field.

The hope is that Chad Henne can finally provide some longevity and stability to what’s been a shaky spot over the years.

Most of the NFL’s top quarterbacks didn’t take long to develop into stars. Peyton Manning became the star he is today in just his second season as starter. Meanwhile Tom Brady, Phillip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, and Aaron Rodgers all made immediate impacts.

The exceptions are Drew Brees (three years) and Eli Manning (Four years), who both took some time to blossom.

Henne is in his third professional season, second as a starter. He was solid in his first year, especially considering the caliber of receivers of the Dolphins roster, or lack thereof.

He displayed immense arm strength and good accuracy on his intermediate and deep throws. Improvement is needed on his short and touch passes, as he often put more mustard on the ball than needed.

Henne’s 2009 Stats: 2878 YDS, 12 TD, 14 INT, 60.8 %, 75.2 RAT

It’s not a difficult skill to fix and head coach Tony Sparano has raved about his accuracy in the offseason.

His outlook next season is very promising. He has a great line, one of the leagues best rushing attacks, and thanks to a big time trade now has one of the top receivers in football in Brandon Marshall.

Henne should land among the top 15 in passing efficiency this year. He was 22nd  in the league last year with a 75.2 QB Rating. There is no reason he can’t develop into one of the better quarterbacks in the league next year.

He has everything in place on the field and everyone’s support off it, even Marino’s. It’s time for Chad Henne to mark his territory on the position and make people forget about the list.

I’m sure Dan wouldn’t mind.

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