On Monday the Miami Dolphins officially named Chad Pennington their starting quarterback for the 2008 NFL season. Pennington, after just two weeks as a Dolphin, will get his first regular season start in teal against his former team, the New York Jets on September 7th.

Pennington has done a lot in his 2 weeks in camp. He has brought a new confidence to the team, on both sides of the ball. Pennington, although not spectacular, is a solid and dependable QB. The Dolphins haven’t had the luxury of such a player at the QB position since Jay Fiedler was at his best in 2002. Offensive players on this current Dolphins team have never played with a QB this good and it is inspiring confidence in the offense and spurring on the defense to match their counterparts. Clearly Pennington’s arrival has had a positive effect on this team, which for now is his team.

Pennington won’t have a very long leash though, as he’ll need to prove from the get go that he is still a top tier QB if he wants to keep his job in Miami. For all the success he’s experienced in his two weeks in camp so far, his age and the injuries that have caused advanced wear and tear on his body mean that Pennington may not (and probably will not) be the long term answer for this team. This is Pennington’s team for now, but waiting in the wings is the continually impressive Chad Henne who makes strides week in and week out in camp. Don’t be surprised to see the youngster half way through the season if Pennington stumbles. One would think if the Dolphins hit the half way point and are .500 or worse, Chad may replace Chad.

Alright alright, so it is the preseason and the games don’t count for anything. However, for a team in need of a confidence boost after a 1-15 season, a good preseason that showcases the talent’s of the team and the positives of the new management, coaching staff, and schemes is important.

Saturday’s 24-0 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs showed the many different and important steps forward the Dolphins have made already this preseason. Ted Ginn Jr finally looks like a wide receiver deserving of the No. 9 overall draft pick selection. Ginn returned a punt 59 yards for a TD and caught 3 passes for 29 yards. Chad Pennington looks very comfortable with his new team as was 11-15 passing for 94 yds and a TD to TE Anthony Fasano.

Finally, Ricky Williams looked fantastic again and frankly, he might have many people in Miami saying “Ronnie who?” come mid season. Ronnie Brown sat out of Saturday’s game with a bruised right thumb and has seen Williams make the most of his absence, rising to #1 on the depth chart. The Dolphins were hoping to use a one, two punch with Williams and Brown in the lineup this year. From what I’ve seen, they won’t need Brown’s services if Williams continues to play as he has in the preseason as he seems more than capable of carrying the load himself.

Veteran wide receiver Joe Horn, who was cut by the Atlanta Falcons earlier this week, has been seeking employment with any of the remaining 31 teams in the league. He had reportedly narrowed his choices to Miami, the Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and St. Louis Rams. Thursday, the Dolphins got back to Horn’s agent and said they were not interested in signing Horn at this time. Are they nuts? Lets look at this situation logically and figure out if this is a good or bad decision.

First, the cons of bringing in Horn. Throughout his career, Joe Horn has been known as a flashy player, outspoken, and possessing quite an attitude. All of these things could be detremental to the Dolphins in the locker room and affect the team’s cohesion and performance on the field. Not necessarily something the team can afford as they try to turn around the franchise. Horn would also no doubt be seeking a hefty salary and still considers himself a legitimate #1 WR. Installing Horn as the #1 could damage the confidence of Ted Ginn Jr and Derek Hagan who as of Thursday appear to have locked down the #1 and #2 slots at wideout.

The pros of bringing in Horn could be limitless. Joe Horn was the face of the New Orleans Saints franchise for 6 seasons, and was a wonderful contributor to the community of New Orleans, especially after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. Miami is a team without a face for its franchise, Jason Taylor - gone, Zach Thomas - gone, Chris Chambers - gone. Bringing in Horn would be beneficial off the field and on. On the field, Horn is a 4 time Pro Bowler (4 appearances in 6 season with New Orleans) and a very reliable contributor. As good as Ginn Jr and Hagan have looked in preseason, it is just that, preseason. Teams never roll out all their tricks, and Ginn Jr and Hagan are likely to see several new tricks against full, first team defenses when the season starts for real on September 7.

Miami already passed on one opportunity to bring in a veteran to guide their young receiving corps, it would be a huge mistake to do so again. Veteran wide receivers don’t just fall out of the sky, and even though the Dolphins have said they’re open to bringing in Horn later, they need to bring him in now! Give Ginn Jr and Hagan someone to learn from, someone to teach them the finer points of the wideout position. More importantly, give Chad (take your pick, Pennington or Henne) a reliable go to receiver to get this offense moving!

We saw it Saturday night. Chad Pennington leading the dolphins down field for a touch down. It was an unfamiliar site. Lately if the Dolphins scored a touchdown it was a mistake, the Defense blew coverage, maybe the drive started in the red zone, a player fell, something that explained why a mediocre offense at best was able to score.

Please don’t rush for your number 10 jerseys. Pennington won’t challenge Tom Brady’s touchdown record from last year. He is one of the most injury prone quarterbacks in the NFL. With him, the Dolphins are still expected to finish last in the division.

However there is still something to look forward to. Chad Henne has looked very impressive in his first 2 preseason games. For the first time in a long time the Dolphins finally have a true young quarterback prospect and a veteran to mentor him. Perhaps this can become a situation similar to the Bengal’s a few years back. The Bengal’s drafted Carson Palmer and brought in Jon Kitna to mentor him. Kitna lead the Bengal’s to an 8-8 season. The young team had confidence and experience when Palmer took over and Cincinnati made it back to the playoffs with their new franchise quarterback.

It is unmistakable, there is a new aura surrounding the Miami Dolphins these days. After decades of determined and strong willed rule by Don Shula, the equally tough and determined Jimmy Johnson arrived in Miami in 1996. The last time the Dolphins were on track was under the rule of these two legendary coaches.

However, Shula and Johnson left with the 90’s, and the 2000’s ushered in a change in the aura of the organization. First came Dave Wannstedt, a nice guy but utterly disrespected and mocked by his own players behind his back in the locker room. The Dolphins initially prospered under Wannestedt going 11-5 in 2000 and 2001 but were blown out in the playoffs both years. The following seasons saw the Dolphins go 9-7, 10-6, and 4-12 missing the playoffs all 3 seasons.

Then came Nick Saban. Saban led the Dolphins to 9-7 and 6-10 seasons. Saban came in with the outward appearance of a coach that would be tough on his players, but it turned out the tactics that worked well for him in the NCAA ranks, were useless when applied to NFL players and Saban returned to the college ranks after two seasons.

And then there is the Cam Cameron era, so to speak. In one season in Miami, Cam Cameron was a disaster. He was completely disrespected, lost the faith of his players, and even his direct orders to players were ignored. The team finished 1-15.

Then Bill Parcells arrived in Miami late last season. Parcells’ arrival marks the return of a strong willed leader not seen in Miami since Shula and Johnson. For better or worse, Parcells is exercising his power and sending the message that Dolphins’ players can either get on board with his plan or hit the road. His tenure so far has seen the departure of beloved DE Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas. Jay Feely was the latest player to meet the guillotine in the Parcells era. Despite setting the club’s single season field goal percentage record, converting 21 of 23 field goals, Feely was cut earlier this week. Head Coach Tony Sparano put it bluntly, Feely’s performance in training camp wasn’t even close to that of his competition, undrafted rookie free agent Dan Carpenter.

The combination of Bill Parcells’ iron will and Tony Sparano’s blunt approach could be just what the Dolphins need to change the direction of the organization. There have been unfortunate casualties under this new regime, such as the conflict between Parcells and Jason Taylor that saw Taylor wind up in a Redskins uniform. In the end however, the determination of this new regime is likely to see the Dolphins return to their former glory.

Chad Pennington’s first day of practice with the Miami Dolphins left some good impressions on his teammates. Practice as a whole turned into Chad-a-palooza as Chad Pennington took half the offensive snaps and Chad Henne was given the majority of the rest. In fact the two Chads so dominated practice, that Josh McCown received only 3 snaps and John Beck 2.

Pennington’s presence seemed to impress both offensive and defensive players for the Dolphins. Offensive players noted that Pennington brought a calm and collected presence to the huddle and was very accurate and in tune with his receivers. Defensive players commented that Pennington’s presence on the field brought a bit of a swagger to all the offensive players, something that has no doubt been lacking in Miami in the past few seasons.

Henne in the meantime continued to impress with his ability and growing confidence in the offense and the playbook. The rookie took the majority of the snaps after Pennington and completed 9 of 15 passes. While Henne has, barring injury or a dramatic downturn in Pennington’s performance, lost the chance to be the #1 quarterback, it is good that he continues to impress. Pennington or no Pennington, Henne can and should be the future of this team on offense. He is a gifted quarterback with a strong arm and a mind for the game.

Even though I personally have backed Henne for the starting job, it can’t possibly hurt him to learn from Pennington. Though Pennington does have health issues and some question marks around his throwing ability, he can nonetheless pass on valuable tools and tricks of the trade to Henne to help him prosper in the future. Let’s hope Chad can bridge the future to Chad and the two can help Miami restore its football legacy.

Interesting news out of Miami Dolphins camp today, Coach Tony Sparano remarked that the team may consider keeping all four quarterbacks currently in camp. This can accurately be described as baffling news. Few if any teams ever decide to carry four quarterbacks, most teams carry three. It is becoming more and more clear with each passing day that Chad Pennington and Chad Henne are going to be the current and future leaders of the Dolphins offense.

In practice on Tuesday, Pennington and Henne dominated the snaps during team drills. Pennington took 33 snaps, and the remaining 25 snaps went to Henne. John Beck and Josh McCown had 0 snaps between them. When the season rolls around, typical practices see the starter take 85% of the snaps in practice, and the back up taking the remaining 15%. Typically the third string quarterback is given snaps with the scout team, which are usually few to begin with and would become almost irrelevant when splitting them between two quarterbacks.

Perhaps most puzzling is the fact that a team not afraid to part ways with players, especially star players as of late, would consider keeping four quarterbacks. This offseason has seen Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor leave the Dolphins after several years of Pro Bowl service. Last season Chris Chambers was traded away, so why the indecision on whether to carry three or four quarterbacks? If the discussion involved Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb, and Vince Young all on the same team, I could understand the difficulty. However, we’re not talking about four Pro Bowl quarterbacks. It is clear Pennington and Henne are here to stay, now the decision is whether to cut McCown or Beck. Looking at the problem simply, Beck and McCown have roughly the same skill level, Beck however is much younger and has a lot more room for growth. Sounds to me like McCown should prepare for the worst.

Saturday’s first pre-season game gave Dolphin fans an opportunity to see what Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams might look like coming off of injury shortened seasons. Ronnie Brown, coming off a torn ACL, only had 3 carries for 4 yards but each carry was important. Brown needed to get those first few game touches in and get his feel for the game back. He showed burst on his longest run of the night, OK, so it was only for 4 yards, but his was no minor injury and every step forward is positive in his return to action.

Ricky Williams was the more intriguing of the two. Williams is coming off a season in which he appeared in one game, against the Steelers. During the course of a play in which he fumbled the football, Williams was stepped upon akwardly as he lay on the ground and ended up tearing a chest muscle. Saturday Williams showed the elusiveness and power that won him the rushing title in 2002, breaking several tackles including three in one play as he picked up 12 yards. Williams finished the game with 5 rushes for 31 yards.

I’m far from annointing these two as the next “Thunder & Lightning” duo circa Tiki Barber and Ron Dayne, who led their New York Giants to the Super Bowl after the 2000 season. Both are coming off of serious injuries, and Williams who is 31 has just six carries in the NFL since 2005. He did play a season in Canada while suspended from the NFL, of course that season was also cut short due to injury.

All that being said, a solid, dual attack running game would go miles in relieving pressure on presumed starting QB Chad Pennington and the questionable passing game. In a town that was accustomed to an aerial attack during the Dan Marino era, and well, no attack in the time since; it looks like the time has come to play to their strengths and force the ball down their opponent’s throats. Nothing is a sure thing, but you can bet you’ll see some exciting grind it out football this year from the Miami Dolphins.

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.