We have to play Henne the rest of the year to see if there is any progress made with the additional playtime . Then we will be better informed as to the need of acquiring a new QB or not. Thigpen is nothing more than a backup QB. And you have to remember that this regime are fighting for their jobs.Starting Thigpen is giving up on the season and they will all be packing their bags.
if we can run the ball, the passing game will open might be interesting to see what Murtha might bring to the run game: 1) use a two Tight End set on the offensive line. Martha has had some experience @ TE (H/S) & is a solid blocker 2) use him as a blocking fullback, especially in the I-formation as lead blocker & on pass protection to help hold the pocket 3) would also like to see what he looks like @ Guard. he's very quick & has good speed for a big man, he might be adapted to a pulling guard (which we desperately need) as it stands, Murtha is the backup to Carey (if Long goes out of the game Carey moves to left) Murtha has excellent size, strength & speed for an offensive linesman, like to see what he can bring to the table with a little creativity overall, I'd like to see a little tinkering here or there to see what we potentially carry on the roster across the board closing out this season http://www.nfl.com/draft/2009/profiles/lydon-murtha?id=81853
usually get what you pay for in life, drafts included even if we have to move up to grab one it looks like a good year for young quarterbacks http://walterfootball.com/draft2011QB.php
A 7th round pick that was cut by Detroit and has yet to start 1 game for Miami, is going to be the key cog in our offense? I'm not buying it.
you may be right but how will we know unless we experiment? I think these last games are the time to sort these things out...
Wait...the OL was the problem ?? Could it be that, since this is the ultimate team sport, that the OL isn't just bad for one game...maybe the OL, the DBs, the LBs, the WRs, the RBs all have some issues of either players not quite ready for prime time or lack of talent or age or injury or whatever. Maybe since Henne's hasn't been as successful as you think he should be by now that the other 52 players have something to do with that ?? Why is the mediocre results of this season all on Hennes' shoulders ?? Henne may turn out to be a bust, but the blame isn't simply on one guy...the blame is spread about. You can't justify the loss to the Bears to players other then Thigpen and justify the other losses to Henne when he started...
Off season, training camp, practice... All of these are good places for the coaches to start evaluating talent. If a player doesn't show anything positive in these venues, then maybe they shouldn't be allowed to start a real game. I'm no coach, but that seems like a smart idea to me.
might be an idea to actually re-examine the roster in real-time play nothing like the heat of combat to expose strength & weakness a famous man once said: "if they don't bite as pups, they don't bite" we may be missing an opportunity to explore possibilities & potential
An old Chinese proverb: "To talk much and arrive nowhere, is the same as climbing a tree to catch a fish".
Thigpen is what he is, and that's nothing better than what Henne is, or has shown. I don't understand why you had to use a different name to start this thread but to each his own. BUT I do know that you're asking for people to respond harshly to some of your posts and imo, this is baiting.... just sayin
FellowMember killerfins: why do you refer to Friend YOU ALREADY KNOW 6 in such an ugly way? no room for that kind of banter, inappropriate. his opinion is as valid as any other. the ideas are fair game not their posters, get it? on your comment on my post on Lyndon Murtha: 1) if Murtha had no potential he wouldn't be on the roster & in our present situation with both starting tackles dinged up as we close the season, it would be only prudent to give JohnJerry some reps @ tackle. Murtha has played both sides before & could go left in an emergency. makes sense to experiment with a dysfunctional offensive line 2) my thoughts are inclusive of the rest of the team: "overall, I'd like to see a little tinkering here or there to see what we potentially carry on the roster across the board closing out this season" or did you miss that part? I used the offensive line as an example of the types of things we could be looking at... not a quick fix or remedy for an already lost season 3) your talent for picking & choosing, then twisting something into what it is not, setting traps for fools & controversy has gone beyond annoyance, its mucking up the board. this signature of anger & ugliness is rude & unnecessary. be nice. its Christmas time.
WTF are you talking about? Setting traps for fools? Why am I mucking up the board. You mean because I have a different opinion than yours? Jesus God 23rd what the hell are you? Sometimes I just can't imagine you as an actual person but this repetitive programmed machine that just barks out orders and simple commands. The opinions stay so close to the edge but they never stray or roll off the cusp. Are you afraid to branch into new horizons? Are your casters perhaps in lock down mode? Don't take it for granted Mr. Scripted, I'm being very nice and quite generous. You just might not be able to comprehend human feelings.
We know Murtha isnt the key to the offense because he's been on this team all year, the coaches have watched him in practice, and the only way he can crack the starting lineup is due to injuries. Thats why you practice... so you dont have to experiment with scrubs during the game. All this crap you said about see how he plays under pressure, in the spirit of competition or whatever the hell it was you said is ridiculous. He's not good. He's not going to make a difference on the OL.
It's disgusting how Henne gets all the blame when Dan Henning is his ball and chain. It can't be easy to play in an offense where the defense know what routes your recievers are running 80 percent of the time. Think about it and stop unjustly pointing fingers at the innocent.
I agree 100%. Start Thigpen rest of yr. Henne continues to throw ints, hes a statue in the pocket. I watch him every play, just him and hes horrible at making his reads and going through his progressions. If his 1st look is open then he can make the throw. Or obviously if someone is WIDE OPEN he can make that throw. But If he has to check 2nd, 3rd, etc its an int waiting to happen. His completion pct is awful. Hes not showing any signs of improvement, imo. I say bench him. I thought Thigpen did ok in his start, given the Bears D was in the backfield just about the whole game. Yeah he was a little hyper and made some mistakes, but he only threw 1 int. I would love a game where Henne only throws one. And to anyone who don't think Thigpen can start in this league just check out some of his highlights as a Chief on youtube. I know there are probably alot more And that was with the crappy Chiefs back then. We have a much better supporting cast here and I think he would win us alot of games if he was given more than one game.
Im not sayin he's our savior. I'm just sayin maybe, just MAYBE....Thigpen>Henne. He's already proved he can play and make plays in this league. I think he deserves more than one game with pieced together O-line vs a top ranked D. Just sayin.
Friend brandon27: if I'm not mistaken, I suggested that he might have a role as a blocking TE or FB, maybe even developed as a pulling guard. the guy is raw but has exceptional size, strength & speed for an offensive linesman & he's young having said that he certainly could not win a start over a healthy Long or Carey. Murtha is a back-up. I don"t view him as the key to the current offensive line. just looking for a creative way to improve the running & passing game... this is pure banter & speculation on my part. I am no pundit. I have no inside information. just would like to see some creativity & answers to questions as we play out the season. as far as I can see, the only good that can come of these last three games is what we can learn about our team. experimentation & creativity could play a major role on the road to that knowledge
Actually I think worse than 1-11, but he was a talented young QB on a bad team. happens all the time with teams and players. Now he's on a better team, lets see what hes got.
Saw enough of Thigpen after his short stint at QB . But, didnt see enough of Henne after all this time?????????? Seriously folks, what is this love affair with Henne?? He simply has not progressed enough to give us hope that he`s the answer. I`m just as frustrated as the next guy that we cant find stability at the QB position but it is what it is. And,lets not forget, if Pennington didnt get hurt Henne would be pulling splinters out of his a$$. He was being benched for a very good reason. And if anyone still believes it was because Sparano wanted to evaluate Henning with a different QB is kidding themselves.
I agree with Friend RGF, TheFinster in his evaluation of the QB situation. however I tend to lean toward playing Henne throughout the remainder of the season. let him finish what he started. if he suddenly turns the corner @ QB & leads us to three decisive, unquestionable consecutive victories late in the season, then that should be taken into consideration in his final evaluation. if its more or less the same story, then there is nothing more to talk about... Henne ends his own career, along with our season @ his own hand seems to me to be a more fitting, definitive & appropriate way to go out we already know Thigpen can backup or fill-in while we introduce another QB to the system & I am confident that Henne is an absolute bust. I say let it play out; it is what it is
Friend RGF: I have doubted it for a very long time & believe this guy is definitely a bust, but what would it hurt to give him little more rope to hang himself with or let him remove the rope from around his neck? got a lot of money & time invested here. we can only benefit from the experiment, either way it ends. I'm confident next year we'll have a new hero under center or our hen will have turned into a certified blue ribbon rooster. got to let it play out
With all due respect, bullsh!t to the bolded part. All you did all offseason was "made his bones this" and "iceman cometh" that....then he has 2 or three bad games and you say you've felt he's a bust for a long time? Jeez man...if you just played it straight and said that you believed in him but now you don't, that would at least be honest.
FellowMember DePhinistr8: there isn't & hasn't been any respect in your posts toward me for as long as I can remember. this post is just one more inaccurate twist you use for attack purposes. why? whatever...doesn't matter this is the last time I respond to your uncivil posts as if they were sincere. I am no fool & I understand where you're coming from in regards to me. it is what it is. on Henne: 1) like practically everyone else on the forum in the early going, he had my full support. why would I not hope for the arrival of the Franchise QB? yes, I proclaimed he had made his bones after one of his early successful starts that showed promise & I enthusiastically gave him the handle of "the IceMan". HOWEVER, I never anointed him the Franchise QB & wisely from the beginning withheld my right to see him consistently progress with every game which he did not. it was @ this point my criticism began to gain strength. 2) after the last training camp, I protested the lack of competition @ QB & lamented the fact that he had been ordained by Sparano the starter. a start must be earned. but I accepted the decision & then came the preseason. bad, bad & excuses & more excuses. the pattern had already presented itself. it was @ this time I predicted that Henne had four games to prove he was the starter or would be benched in favor of Pennington. by game five I was totally convinced Chad Henne would never be a legitimate starter in the NFL & a whole lot less the franchise QB answer to our problem. 3) during the same time line I went south on Sparano too. in my opinion, the responsibility for too many bad decisions rest squarely on his shoulders 4) getting back to Henne: I think he should play out the remainder of the season. we have a tremendous investment in time & money in this guy. I'd like to be able to put a period at the end of his sentence in 2010, one way or the other. we don't need more lost opportunity in 2011. we need a clean start & should have no doubt in which direction to move next season. we go no where w/o the Franchise QB. time to go to the draft with conviction & willing to move up to get what we want now you have it, the whole enchilada. every word of it documented within the archives of this forum. and just for the record: I think I'm absolutely right about Henne, Sparano & you.
We should give Thiggy a try and I really don't think we have to this point. He came off the bench without taking one snap to finish the game for Henne's injury and the following game prep for the Bears was no doubt a daunting task for this guy. Think about it. He was probably terrified, one minute you are sitting on the side line as a number 3 QB not getting snaps at all, and the next minute the season is riding on you? That was a ton of pressure. That's pressure that Henne and Penny are used to - but not Thiggy. Sporano should be alternating these guys in these games. ("Wood-Strock") It would be harder for the other team to prepare and Thiggy would get his play time. This is yet another mistake made by Sporano as he switched our 'run to pass' offense to a 'pass to run' offense. Since the head coach has to approve the offensive scheme that the OC has laid out for the game ahead of time in Friday's offensive meeting, how long can Sporano keep making mistakes? You have your #1 QB barely recovered - your #2 QB out for the season (probably for good) and you DON'T WANT TO GIVE YOUR BACK UP PLAY TIME???????! This has got to be the dumbest coaching move I have seen in years. I say it's time to make Thigpen a QB and not a bookend.
Henne is in his second year starting. His WR drop more than they catch at times. The play calling is borderline atrocious at critical times. The OL is mediocre at best. The TE's are nondescript and the RBs are ok. The D has let the team down several times as well this season. He's got his faults as a QB, he throws a "What !!" pass once in a while. He has, however, progressed as the season has gone along. But what exactly are you all calling 'good games' that he has to have to show he's better than what he's done so far ?? If the O scores 30 points and we lose, is that Henne's fault ?? If we're ahead with 4 minutes in the game and the D lets the other team score late to go ahead (see Cleveland), is that Henne's fault ?? You can't look at 4 games and say "this guy has it" with the rest of the team as 'mediocre' as this team is...it's not one guys fault that we're not progressing...and it won't be one guys improvement that makes us suddenly 'elite'...
Sorry but we already saw what Thigpen brought to the table in the Bears game and that was nothing. he has one win under his belt as an NFL starter. ONE.... And he is not the guy I want running my team if "he was probably terrified". Not like it was his first NFL start.
While I generally agree with you post I don't think we were ahead with 4 minutes left to play in the Browns game. As a matter of fact I dont think we ever had a lead in that game.
I agree on all of your points except I do not see any better options in free agency,and I do not want to waste a number #1 pick on one if he is not the right guy.With the exception of luck I don't like any of these other guys.They all seem like projects. I don't think henne is ever going to be a franchise qb but I think we are stuck with him for at least 2011.I hope he proves me wrong but I don't see it.
it will become obvious to the most ardent Hennite that he is a bust over the next three games. let him play, give him the rope he needs too end this facade of mediocrity & inconsistency. the games are meaningless, what can he possibly hurt? the damage is already done whatever the result we will be there will be a hunt for the new hero under center in the next draft &/or free-agency. it is what it is & it's over. Friend pumpdogs, we will be forced to close the book on this chapter & move on. I believe if we are to be a force in the NFL, a contender, then the powers to be will have to find the Franchise QB, regardless of sacrifice in 2011