I'll take 2 Chads and a Pat of White on the side, please.

Seems like in 2008, the only quarterbacks we really talked about were Chad Pennington and the 'Primitive Weapon' mostly because the media runs through New York. But lately South Florida has been getting some buzz thanks to the addition of Pat White, and the question of where that addition leaves Chad Henne. On top of that we also have the question of Pennington vs. Henne. It's as if we suddenly have a REAL competition at quarterback. But it's not a competition over who will start versus the Falcons in week 1. It's a competition over how many snaps each of the three will get during the season. Let's rack 'em up!


Chad Pennington, # 10.
The incumbent starter had the best year of his career in 2008. Unlike some of the other starters who I'd like to see increase their production from the previous year, if Pennington could just MATCH his 2008, then we'd likely be heading in the right direction. Obviously it looks like he will not have to be the only arm out there, so he would have to match those numbers with fewer snaps.

Chad Henne, # 7.
As much as I like Pennington, and as much as he deserves the starting job, I would be secretly (ok, not so secretly) happy when Henne gets to step in. The throws are so different between the two Chads. Henne's passes come out like bullets, are lower, faster, perhaps a bit wilder on the short passes but the intermediate throws get their very quickly, and the long throws don't hang long enough to catch the wind. Pennington is more accurate because of his soft touch, but Henne's give the defense less time to catch up. I honestly believe his throws allow for more yards after the catch. He wouldn't have to launch it down the field to Ted Ginn. An intermediate bullet of 15 yards would get there in Ginn's stride and allow him to keep going at full speed instead of having to slow down for the ball.

Pat White, # 6.
It's become a growing consensus that White will change his number after training camp. From what little I could find about the jersey rules, he wouldn't have to chancge it until the Monday after the last pre-season game which would be September 7th. That day also happens to be Labor Day. Since the NFL is a union-run business, the actual day might not be until the 8th, but even if the offices are open, the players won't be back to work until either the 8th or 9th, and the Atlanta game is on the 13th. So technically, the little surprise could present teams only 3 or 4 days to prepare for White as a wide receiver, if that's what the Dolphins wanted to do. It's yet to be seen.

For now the Dolphins are happy to let everyone know that Pat White is only working as a QB and that they are installing a lot of Wild-cat into their offense. The Offensive line, of course, did not get the memo and has been blabbing about how they're not going to rely on the wild-cat.
But Pat White has had some typical rookie QB struggles (learning to throw without gloves, learning the playbook, beating the buzzer), and some not so typical rookie QB struggles (hitting Parcells in the flats, thinking he was the tight-end, struggling to climb into Randy Starks' freightliner, throwing a pass to Ernest Wilford, etc.).

We really don't know the full extent of what the Dolphins have in store for the three quarterbacks, but don't be surprised if Chad Henne gets the lion's share of the work in training camp and the pre-season.

The reason is that Pennington will not need as much work, and that the Pat White experiment can't really be 'Plan A'. Meanwhile, they drafted Henne in 2008, they'll want him to be ready this year, so if he eventually takes over in 2010 he'll be 'ready' ready. And if he's not ready, they'll need to trade him ASAP to get as close to that 2nd rounder in value as they can.

I know what you're thinking, why trade Henne, he's good insurance as a back-up. That's true, but he's not going to want to remain a back-up for long, and if they extend Pennington through next year and beyond, the Dolphins would have a lot of money and draft picks sitting on the bench at the quarterback position.

Hopefully they will wait until after the 2009 season to make a decision on all three of these guys.