Dolphins vs. Panthers Preseason Week 2: What To Look for out of Chad Henne

The Dolphins make their home preseason debut Friday night against the Carolina Panthers. 

Miami is coming off of a 28-23 victory over Atlanta last week, however the first-team offense left a lot of concerns after going down 17-0 to begin the game.

Most of those concerns were of embattled quarterback Chad Henne.

I already made some predictions for the season, which made Henne look like a pro-bowler. However against Atlanta Henne only produced to the tune of 4/8 for 77 yards, one touchdown (against Atlanta's second-team defense) and two interceptions. 

Henne has a lot to prove this preseason, and he'll have to start against Atlanta, where he'll have the services of running back Reggie Bush and Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall. 

Here's what we hope to see out of Henne Friday night against the Panthers. 

No. 1: Better Pocket Awareness

I focus so much on Henne because plain and simple, if Henne produces well, Miami is a playoff team. If he doesn't, the Dolphins are doomed to another 7-9 record.

But often overlooked in the success of a quarterback is his offensive line. 

That's the Dolphins main weakness despite the fact that they've spent two out of their last four first rounders on the O-Line since the Sparano-Ireland regime took over. 

Because of this, Henne is going to have to be more mobile in the pocket. See the picture where he's on his back in the backfield? Miami can't afford that (although in all honesty a sack is better than an interception).

Henne ahas lready showed some signs of better pocket awareness and mobility than in years past against Atlanta, including an eight-yard scramble on his lone scoring drive to extend the drive. 

But he also needs to read coverage better while on the attack. The Panthers ranked 11th in pass defense last year (partly attributed to the fact that teams didn't pass as much against them due to their porous run defense, which ranked 23rd) but only recorded 31 sacks as a unit for the season.

However the Panthers will be getting back linebackers Dan Connor (hip injury last season) and Thomas Davis (torn ACL). They've also beefed up their D-Line by signing Ron Edwards and drafting Terrell McClain and Sione Fua. 

Along with the Panthers' best pass rusher Charles Johnson (interesting to see if Dick Stockton and/or Bob Griese call him Andre Johnson during Friday's broadcast of the game the way they called Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson "Charles" last week), the Panthers under first year coach Ron Rivera look to be aggressive against Miami's offense.

It will be a good test for Henne, and if he passes this part of the test with flying colors, then the Dolphins should be in good shape.

No. 2: How Henne Integrates Reggie Bush into the Offense

Reggie Bush will be making his Miami Dolphins debut on Friday night.

The Dolphins plan on starting him at running back and plan to use him as their feature back. 

Of course Reggie is also known for being great at catching passes out of the backfield, so it will be interesting to see how much Bush will help Henne on offense with his speed on the open field. 

For once, Dolphins fans are actually anticipating a checkdown.

No. 3: How Henne Will Do with the Dolphins' Tight Ends

Fasano was directly responsible for Henne's first interception of the game.

It was a checkdown play to Fasano, and he wound up bobbling the ball (which was overthrown by a tad) before it bounced into the hands of Falcons DE John Abraham. 

If you're a fan of Henne's you blamed Fasano, while if you didn't like Henne, you blamed him.

I'm a fan of the Dolphins, and felt they should've addressed the tight end position in the offseason because Greg Olsen doesn't drop that pass.

But what's done is done, and if they want to improve at tight end they have to wait until teams cut down their rosters to 53 or, gulp, hope for improvement from Fasano. 

If Henne and Fasano can improve their timing than it will be crucial as there won't be as many dropped passes or interceptions. 

No. 4. Henne's Rapport with Brandon Marshall

Last season there were times when it seemed like Brandon Marshall didn't even like Chad Henne, much less liked playing with him. 

This year in training camp however there was a different vibe, one of two players who have developed a rapport, one important for the success of this team. 

With Friday being Marshall's season debut, this is the first chance to see if that rapport will translate onto the field of play during an actual game. 

If this relationship is working out between quarterback and receiver, than it will help out Brian Hartline (who Henne already has an improved rapport with), the sure-handed Davone Bess and especially rookie speedster Clyde Gates. 

This is because a better rapport between these two means not just more double teams for Marshall, but also triple teams, meaning more balls thrown in the direction of the other receivers. On top of that, if Henne has Marshall's respect on the field, the rest of the offensive unit will follow suit. 

No. 5. Henne's Confidence

The more confident Henne is, the better he plays. 

When he's in firm control of the offense, it's when his "swag" level is at its highest.

However you can tell when things are falling apart for Henne, as his "swag" level will be at its lowest.

The more confident Henne is in the pocket and the better he can command the offense, the better off he and the Dolphins ultimately will be. 

But in order to build that confidence, Henne has to be able to make reads on his own similar to the touchdown to Hartline play against Atlanta last week.

Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll has shown that he has confidence in Henne, now it's Chad's time to prove it to the fans. 

This Friday is the right time to start.

Thomas Galicia is a Miami Dolphins Featured Columnist. Follow him on twitter @thomasgalicia. For more of his opinions on other subjects, visit www.thomasgalicia.com.