Chad Henne, can he be long-term answer at QB?

[frankmoore]

ovaw8 made a comment in another thread that Mark Sanchez will be a better QB than Henne because he's already got talent at the WR and TE positions. Now, I have a lot of respect for ovaw8's opinions, but the first thought that went through my mind was that the WRs and TEs won't make Sanchez a better QB, they'll just make him a more productive one. For now.

However, his comment really got me thinking about how we evaluate and assess QBs. And, I wanted to put the collective eyes and brains of this forum together to evaluate what we've seen from Chad Henne so far and, based on that, whether we think he's the long-term answer for QB that we've been waiting for. So, I'm going to list some categories that I think QBs need to be evaluated on and I'd like to get your input on some or all of them.

Technique -- This is category is comprised of position-specific skills a QB needs to have. It includes foot work, throwing mechanics, ball handling, and general accuracy.

Physical Abilities -- This category is comprised of physical abilities such as arm strength, mobility, speed, and toughness.

Leadship -- This category consists of the "intangible skills" that make QBs great and includes things like command of the offense, poise in the pocket, and ability to lead the players on the field.

Let me know what you think. And remember, the purpose of this thread is to collect a lot of raw information and then let everyone assess things. There are no definitively right or wrong answers, just observations and personal analyses.
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[Stars]

I would separate "leadership" with mental attributes like poise, composure, decision-making and speed of thought. Leadership is the ability to inspire teammates, and is more to do with personality than mental ability. I'd say someone like TO has all the mental ability you need to be successful - but he's no leader.

I think
(1) technique
(2) physical ability (add size to the ones you've mentioned)
(3) mental ability
(4) leadership

[jthomps123]

Technique:
I think his footwork and pocket presence need quite a bit of refining. He has not impressed me much in that regard - holding onto the ball too long, stepping into sacks. His accuracy is spotty right now, he'll thread a needle only to follow up with 3 overthrows. All of these I think he can make strides in due time.

Physical Abilities:
He seems to have adequate to good arm strength. He throws great on the run and effortlessly puts zip on short to intermediary passes. Havent really seen him scramble much to judge his speed/mobility. I think its too soon to judge toughness but he had taken alot of sacks and hits and gets up quick.

Leadership:
I would think by being a 4 year starter in college he had developed plenty of leadership skills and on field command. Thats just an assumption though. I do sometimes think he lacks the confidence to make some throws - he seemed to get gun shy after throwing those pick6s against NO.

On a side note, the fitting of his helmet gives him a perpetual cromagnon scowl... whats up with that?

[frankmoore]

[Deadeye]

(1) technique - I'm not sure about Henne's technique. It looks ok to me, but I do sense kind of a windup in his delivery. Maybe that's ok, or maybe it's not and it can be corrected over time. His accuracy on intermediate passes seem to be better than on short passes. That may be a technique problem as well.

(2) physical ability - Size (good), arm strength (very good), mobility (above average), overall good. Thusfar Henne is the only QB to hit Ginn in stride 50 yards own field. That's a huge plus IMO.

(3) mental ability - His Wonder-lick scores were fine, and he seems to go through his progression well enough for a first year starter. I like the fact that he will chuck the ball out of bounds when there's nothing open. Overall this seems to be at least average, possibly above average at this point.

(4) leadership - The first Jets game demonstrated great leadership on the field in my opinion. Just as important is his off the field leadership, and we won't see a complete picture of that until this off season. Pennington definitely had alot of good leadership qualities and hopefully Henne took notes. No complaints thusfar about leadership.


I would add another category, or possibly mix it in with mental ability, and that is instinct. I've noticed that Henne doesn't always make the best scrambling decisions. He'll run backwards and lose 10 MORE yards, or float into a defender's radius. His internal clock seems fine, but once the alarm goes off he doesn't elude defenders too well. That (along with inaccuracy) is my greatest concern at this point about Henne.

[Deets]

Personally, I like the way hes just not throwing picks. Against the Saints it wasn't his fault. Whats odd is that he seems to be going for the same type of throws as Chad Pennington. Its like....we we're using him as Pennington rather then letting him try his stronger arm. Though (with this being his first real season) I don't think thats a bad thing. I'd just like him to try deep more as the season goes on.

As for his big problem right now, I think he needs to be a bit quicker to recognize the rush and throw it away if things look bad rather then trying to run and getting sacked.
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[Blagasse67]

1.) Technique- he has alot to work on with that his feet. he doesn't seem to always step up in to throws and he throws of balance at times

2.) Physical Ability- he has a strong arm and can move when he needs to. he also takes a shot. against the Pats he stood tall in the pocket and took the shot. to me that is impressive

3.) Mental Ability- there is no question he has great Mental ability. he had to come in and play for Pennington without a notice. since he has taken over as a starter he has done a good job and hasn't turned the ball over much. the Coaching staff keeps saying he is a very smart player.

4.) Leadership- i think this comes with time. right now he is obviously the leader and has done a good job at being the leader. i think that after this season he will be a better leader for a few reasons. one he will have almost a full season starting under his belt and two the players will come into the season knowing he is the QB.

overall Henne has shown everything you ask out of a franchise QB. the thing he misses over Flacco and Ryan (just mentioning guys he was drafted with) is a true #1 receiver/veteran receiver.
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B67

[bpastermack]

I don't know a ton about his mechanics. I would be the last person to ask about that. I think his accuracy is better than people give him credit for. For instance people say on the last drive his throw to Hartline was low and to Ginn was high, but honestly those guys were covered and he was putting the ball where only the receiver could get to it. It's up to the receivers to go up and get it. I think he will be a much more "accurate" passer when he has a receiver that can go get the ball, and when he has a receiver that can get separation. If receivers are covered most of the time, then it makes it tough to be an accurate passer. I don't remember many times seeing him miss a wide open receiver.

I think he is doing better than many young QB's do in their first starts, including guys like Peyton Manning. He will only get better, and when we have the right players he will get more productive too. He needs to get a little better at progressions, a little more consistent, a little better pocket pressence, and a little better at game management, but all of that comes with time. Give him a whole offseason as the leader of this team and he will be just fine. Give him a Randy Moss, and he will be a star!!

[Supersuavesky]

Yes.
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[dolphinologist]

[Blagasse67]

[dolphan9954]

Technique: I think he has pretty good technique, good arm slot, and consistently quick release. Precise on the move, and outside of the pocket, what makes him "pretty good" and not great yet, may be more his timing with WR's than anything, but alot of the out routes he faces on the blitz, he misses wide, but that could have to do with lack of experience, footwork etc. Touch passes could use a little work, but again he has made some beautiful touch passes and some ugly ones.

Physical: He is a very gifted player physically. Big body, pretty good mobility, at least in the pocket, strong arm etc, one of the more physically gifted QB's we've had, the best since Marino possibly.

Mental: Confident, good leader, decisive. Sometimes will hold on to the ball a little too long, but again that may not be the case. Now that we have a strong armed QB, to get deep the ball must be held on to for that extra second or two to let the recievers get deep. Pennington got the ball out because he couldn't go deep.

Leadership: As good as he can be for now. He has proven to be a winner, and he has proven capable of making clutch throws late in big games(NYJ Monday Night game) but again he is in his 5th career start, so give him time.

Alot of Henne's issues are experience and timing. He has shown amazing potential, and his main problems are his lack of experience, and timing with some of the starting recievers (Camarillo/Bess) and those look like they are improving every week as Bess seems to be getting targeted more(14x yesterday.) I think next season, with a legit WR Henne will be the second best QB in the division, and a top 15 QB in the NFL.
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[bpastermack]

[frankmoore]

Got this link today. Thought it was germane so I'm posting it here:

http://www.profootballweekly.com/2009/11/08/defenses-salivate-at-qbs-with-bad-habits
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FF Member #1031

[phinmun]

I don't see anything wrong with the technical aspects of Chad Henne's game right now. The way he's throwing the ball is great for someone of his experience level in the NFL. Mechanically, there's nothing that I see going wrong with Henne as a passer. His footwork and delivery are allowing him to be very effective when he trusts what he sees.

I believe Henne has demonstrated a very good ability to step up into a pocket and ignore the blockers around him. When he trusts his protection, he's on the money. He's doesn't always trust his protection, but I don't exactly want to say he's wrong for that right now. He's young, he's new to this offense and I think 100% faith in your blockers is something he can achieve through the course of another season.

It'll take a bit of experience for him to feel more secure in calling out a blitz and establishing some trust within the huddle. He's made some mistakes but in my eyes, he still looks far and away better than I thought he might look as a pocket presence. I'd say that the good far outweighs the bad to me, at this point in his development.

I've seen him shorten his drop-backs a few times. I've seen him slide into a rush a few times. He's guilty of panicking in the face of intense pressure and he's lost a few more yards on sacks than maybe he could have.

When a rookie player finally faces that moment where he doesn't know what the hell to do after the protection breaks down, he generally does the worst thing you can think of which is turn and run backwards. That stuff can be cleared up though and worked on from a coaching perspective. Every young QB falls into the same trap whether they're destined for Canton or a real-estate agency. The difference in simply in how well a QB learns from his mistakes.

That'll take a full-season to judge though. It's not something you can evaluate game-to-game.

Henne has thus far maintained control of the ball whereas a lot of rookie QBs during panick-mode make the worst mistake of all by fumbling or throwing a terrible pass into the arms of a LB. All rookies face that moment of not knowing what the hell to do. Henne's no different. He's looked lost out there in the fact of a blitz but most of the time in those scenarios the best QBs in the world and the ones who just hold onto the ball and take the sack safely.

Experience will make some of those 15-yard losses, 5-yard losses. Experience will also erase some of those sacks altogether. The only situation to question your QB, is when he's throwing interceptions or fumbling. Everything besides those 2 things are just fine for someone in Henne's shoes.

On the upside, he's shown poise, arm strength and accuracy of a truly great player, too. I understand that bad habits and tendencies are there in every player and it's just a matter of time before something appears seemingly out nowhere. He's just going to have to iron out the wrinkles with the coaches as some of these simple mistakes creep up.

In terms of accuracy, I believe again, it's there when it has to be. If he can be accurate 15 and 30 yards down the field, there's no reason he can't be accurate within 10 yards and as I see it, that's what people are talking about. Give him time with his blockers, time with his WRs, time in the offense...he'll be just fine so long as he finds his rhythm and trusts his own abilities and teammates.

Henne hasn't been perfect and may have in fact regressed a bit in the past couple games, but again, the good far outweighs the bad at this point.
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