Kyle Orton: Why Denver Broncos Quarterback is Not the Miami Dolphins' Savior

It is fully understandable that the Miami Dolphins would like an upgrade over fourth-year player Chad Henne. He had a dismal season in 2010 to say the least, and the Dolphins feel like they could be contenders if they only had a better quarterback.

According to numerous reports all around the internet, Kyle Orton appears to be Miami’s top target. Many people feel like Orton would be an immediate upgrade over Henne, and it seems as if the deal will go down within this week.

Also, Brandon Marshall will be very pleased if the deal actually goes down, considering that he caught 10 touchdown passes in 2009 while Orton was throwing him the ball.

Unfortunately for the Dolphins, not everything concerning Orton looks quite that bright.

If the trade goes down between the two teams, Kyle Orton will be moving to a different town, but the scenario will be a lot similar to the one he would have just left in Denver. Just like in Denver, Miami’s running game was ineffective in 2010.

The Dolphins seem to have interest in acquiring Ahmad Bradshaw. However, the shifty running back has apparently been offered a new contract by the New York Giants, and since he has stated several times that he would love to keep teaming up with Brandon Jacobs, it might appear that he’ll be out of reach for Miami.

Without Bradshaw, we don’t see any reason why the Dolphins’ running game will improve much in 2011, even if injury-prone Ronnie Brown does resign. Reggie Bush has shown that he will not be an every down back in the NFL – and Kyle Orton has shown that he cannot carry a team without a running game despite having great receivers.

The numbers speak for themselves. Some people might point to the fact that Orton threw for a bunch of yards in 2010. However, that number is greatly inflated considering that the Broncos often fell behind.

Inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, Orton completed a weak 43.3 percent of his passes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. He completed only 50 percent of his passes on third downs. His completion percentage was also 50 when Denver was down by eight points or less in the fourth quarter.

In comparison, Chad Henne completed 56.5 percent of his passes inside the opponent’s 20-yard line and 58.6 percent during the fourth quarter. It’s said that quarterbacks are measured based upon how they perform in crucial situations.

As the numbers will tell you, neither Orton nor Henne perform well in these situations. Therefore, Orton will not be the savior that Miami are looking for to take the team to the Super Bowl. Actually, there is not much difference between Orton and Henne.

Unless the Dolphins can fix its running game, neither Orton nor Henne will ever be more than serviceable starters for the organization.