With their brand new signing Chad Pennington standing on the sidelines, play chart in hand, the Miami Dolphins took to the field for their first pre-season action. Can we get a mulligan? As Pennington watched, the Dolphins offense sputtered its way to 6 points in a 17-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Pennington no doubt watched his competition for the quarterback job perform and thought, “this will be like shooting fish in a barrel”. None of the 3 quarterbacks put in a standout performance, though Henne was the most effective of the three.

McCown, tabbed the #1 QB on the depth chart earlier this week, didn’t see action until the 4th quarter. McCown finished 5-8 for 35yds, was sacked twice and threw 0 TD passes. Beck went 5-9 for 45yds and 0 TD passes. Henne was effective, as effective as one could be leading this offense. Henne went 5-10 for 67 yds and while he threw 0 TD passes, he also threw 0 INTs and led the offense on its only two scoring drives. Henne looked the most comfortable as he managed the game well. He didn’t throw any TD passes, but more importantly he was smart with the football. He threw it away when necessary, avoided interceptions, and moved the offense.

Pennington, who signed a 2 year $11.5 million deal, could only watch from the sideline as this all unfolded. Though there are three pre-season games left, the general consensus is Pennington will end up the starter. Despite the question marks that doubtless surround his shoulder and his ability to throw the deep ball, he’ll likely be used as a bridge to the next quarterback. One can only hope that next quarterback will be Chad Henne, who will have the opportunity to learn from Pennington over the next two seasons.

Now the question becomes, who is the odd man out? The Dolphins will only carry 3 quarterbacks, so McCown or Beck will be packing his bags. The wise choice would be McCown. Beck is young and though not as talented in my opinion as Henne, he can at least learn from watching Pennington.

With Brett Favre landing in New York as the Jets new starting quarterback, someone had to go. That someone, as it turns out, was Chad Pennington. The Jets released Pennington Thursday, and it is rumored the Dolphins are interested in acquiring the former first round draft pick.

This, like every deal, has an upside and a downside. This is a case where the cons may in fact outweigh the pros. Pennington was the Jets first round draft pick, 18th overall, in the 2000 NFL Draft. He has played all 8 of his NFL seasons in New York.

Pennington does have more experience than anyone currently in camp with the Dolphins. He’s been to the playoffs three times and has a record of 2-3, more than can be said of any of the 3 quarterbacks currently on the Dolphins roster. Pennington would also provide a decent opportunity for Henne, and Beck for that matter, to learn from a veteran that has performed well at times. He would certainly be a better quarterback for the two youngsters to learn from than Josh McCown.

That being said, there are several downsides to bringing in Pennington. Chad has long struggled with throwing the deep ball, not just his accuracy but his ability to even get the ball deep. In his 8 years in the league, Pennington has played 1 full 16 game schedule and only played 3/4 of the 16 game schedule twice. Injury problems, particularly to his throwing shoulder, have occurred numerous times. Last season Pennington was benched half way through in favor of Kellen Clemens, and until Favre arrived was battling Clemens for the starting position this year for the Jets. Over his career, Pennington is 33-34 as a starter in the regular season with an 88.9 passer rating and 65.6 completion percentage.

In the end, the decision to bring Chad Pennington to the Dolphins would be a 50/50 call. There is a fair chance he could succeed in the short term, but in the long term a deal to make Pennington the Miami Dolphins starting quarterback would not be a successful one. If they brought him to Miami it should be with the knowledge that he’ll be shoved aside in 1-2 seasons in favor of Chad Henne.

I’m starting to notice a trend out of Dolphins camp these days, the name CHAD HENNE. As I wrote last week, given the Dolphins position it would be in their best interest to give Chad Henne the starting job and just let him go through a baptism by fire. He has a better pedigree from college and comes in with more raw talent than John Beck or Josh McCown.

So far this week in camp Henne is vastly outperforming Beck and is even said to be closing in on #1, by default, McCown. But it is not just the coaches or media noticing improvement out of Henne. Veteran defensive end Vonnie Holliday said Tuesday that before camp opened he would have been surprised to see Henne starting come opening day. When asked on Tuesday about Henne starting opening day, he said “I wouldn’t be that surprised. I like the way the guy carries himself. He’s not intimidated”. We’ll see how well he handles himself in the pre-season, but don’t be surprised to see Henne ascend to the starting role by opening week.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins have made no move to acquire veteran WR Terry Glenn. Glenn has not been invited for a workout and there is not one scheduled. Because of the questions surrounding Glenn’s knee, the Dolphins are no doubt exercising caution. They are also buying time to continue evaluating their current crop of wide receivers. So far this week Derek Hagan and Ted Ginn Jr are impressing coaches. Ginn in particular is making a mark. Head Coach Tony Sparano has said that Ginn has made great strides in improving his route running and that he added muscle to his frame.

In the end, Glenn would still be a good addition. Though injury plagued at times, he’s a solid player on the field and would be a great player for the rather “green” receiving corps of the Dolphins to learn from. Besides, Glenn is not really in a position to negotiate a blockbuster deal with a questionable knee and no other teams in the hunt for him. He can likely be acquired at a steal of a price, one that would be worth the risk.

The point of the NFL Draft each year is to give teams the opportunity to grow and improve by infusing young talent into their squad. The history of the draft is full of players drafted with high expectations only to crash down to Earth rapidly, Akili Smith, Todd Marinovich, and Ryan Leaf, to name a few.

Each season though, teams hope their young draft choices can fill holes in their rosters. For teams like the Miami Dolphins, draft choices will be crucial if they are to rebuild this team and return the franchise to the glory days of Marino, Duper, and Clayton. So far this season, though we are still in training camp and pre-season there is hope that some of the rookies might shine through in their first year in the NFL.

In particular, Kendall Langford, Donald Thomas, and Chad Henne are showing signs of progression and growing confidence with each passing day. Although Langford is listed as the 3rd left Defensive End on the first depth chart released Monday, he has been seen getting more and more reps with the first team defense during practice and holding his own. Donald Thomas is listed as the back up Right Guard, but has been in with the starters on occassion and doing well.

Then there is the oft discussed Chad Henne, at least by this writer. Even though he’ll open pre-season listed #3 on the depth chart at the Quarterback position, with each passing day of practice Henne gets more and more reps with the first team offense. This is leading to a greater confidence in himself and more familiarity with the play book. This, combined with a lack of consistent performances from Josh McCown and John Beck, could (and probably should in my opinion) propel Henne to the #1 slot on the depth chart.

Only time will tell how each of these, and the other rookies in camp, will contribute to the Dolphins in their first season. But with 4 pre-season games to be played, they have time to show what they’ve got on the field to their coaches.

OK, so it is only the first depth chart and it is set for a preseason game. Nonetheless, it would be a shame not to judge it anyway as there are positions worth commenting on. We’ll start with the position everyone is talking about for the Dolphins, quarterback.

The depth chart for game 1 of the preseason has Josh McCown #1, John Beck #2, and Chad Henne #3. Head coach Tony Sparano commented that the depth chart is more a reflection on experience and less on performance. Obviously, if performance was the deciding factor, the Dolphins don’t have a quarterback in camp worthy of that #1 spot.

Newcomer Anthony Fasano, who previously played under Sparano for the Dallas Cowboys, is listed as the #1 TE. He is listed ahead of last years starter at TE, David Martin. Fasano would be a wise choice as the go to TE as he proved very capable in his role opposite Jason Witten in Dallas.

Big money rookie Jake Long is listed #1 at LT, and as well he should be. He was given a ridiculous amount of money for someone who has yet to compete in an NFL game. As a Dolphin fan I expect to see him in that #1 spot all season to justify his outrageous rookie contract.

Lastly, Renaldo Hill has been a starting safety for the Dolphins the last two seasons but currently finds himself listed on the 3rd team. It appears that for the time being at least, the Dolphins are choosing the speed of youngster Jason Allen over the superior knowledge Hill has of the system.

As I said, this is the first depth chart for a preseason game. The odds the depth chart will look the same come September 7th when the New York Jets come to town are slim, but nonetheless, it is worth noting some of the early choices.

Maybe, just maybe, it is being too optimistic to expect a front runner to have emerged in the quarterback race for the Miami Dolphins. OK, so perhaps it is, but wouldn’t it be nice to see some consistent forward progress? On Friday it appeared as though the quarterback situation was going to really heat up, get real interesting. Saturday’s practice however was going to be a better measuring stick for progress.

As of Friday, John Beck and Josh McCown were showing little to no progression, Chad Henne was beginning to impress, and Quincy Carter had just left town. Even though coaches were tight lipped on their opinions of Carter’s workout, the general consensus was he did just fine.

Then Saturday rolled around and the Dolphins were set to run through game-simulated drills, in other words what amounts to a scrimmage. John Beck got first crack at the starting QB position. Beck was forgettable going 1-5 against the 1st and 2nd team defense, while finding success against a 2nd/3rd team mix, going 6-8. McCown was 5-6 against the 2nd team defense with a TD, but 1-5 with an INT against the 1st/2nd team mix. Henne started well against the 3rd team going 5-7, but struggled going 1-4 against a 1st/2nd team mix. Henne did have a TD against the 3rd team and threw no INTs.

While Henne continues to show signs of progress, McCown remains unremarkable and Beck is losing ground against the both of them. It appears that after one week, the Dolphins are right back where they started. They have absolutely no idea who is best fit to lead this offense.

On Thursday the Miami Dolphins put a puzzled look on the face of many football fans when they invited Quincy Carter to workout at the quarterback position in camp. One can only speculate where this idea came from; most likely it was Bill Parcells’ idea. Parcells was Carter’s coach with the Dallas Cowboys in 2003, Carter’s last full season in the NFL, when the Cowboys went 10-6 and made the playoffs. 2003 was Carter’s one and only full season in the NFL during which he threw for 3,302 yds 17 TDs and 21 INTs.

Carter would bring a knowledge of the offensive scheme that new head coach Tony Sparano will be working with, a system that at least initially appears to be difficult for John Beck, Chad Henne, and Josh McCown to figure out.

On the other hand, Carter brings with baggage. We aren’t talking about a former All Pro at his position attempting to come back after several years out of football. At best, Carter was mediocre in his career. While he brings mobility to the position, he had fumble issues in Dallas and was not the most accurate passer. On top of all that, let us not forget Carter didn’t leave football because of injury or premature retirement. The Cowboys cut him in 2004 after a string of drug related charges.

With gaping holes at WR, three question marks at QB, and a defense that for the first time in 10 years won’t have former pillars Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor, the Dolphins have enough tasks on their hands without digging up Quincy Carter for a try out. Today was one day lost that could have been spent evaluating Beck, Henne, and McCown and maybe, just maybe, helping these guys figure out the system.