Was wondering if there are a few members here that have some coaching experience, {Coach Mike of course} that could tell us how much of an advantage do other teams have on us because they simply know their offensive system and do not have to install anything {Jets, Pats}.. Our offense is completely new, there are no practices, hopefully we can get a camp to install, but how much are we behind other teams?, am I overreacting ?, and doesn't this just cement that Henne is gonna be our starter..He is the only glue for these coaches right now, I would bet, right now, that they are praying for their livilihoods that he IS organizin sh$# and takin care of business.. and all this, even after, he took the hit.. I'd like to see him flip that sh$# on them..Maybe that is whats motivating Henne, at least part of it..
Well, Deej, this is more of one for DMike or Rafi or even Rob Horry, let me take a stab at it: Probably not as much as you would think, a route is a route, the difference is the terminology and Formations and blocking assignments. The blocking stuff is sort of the key as we have a relatively young interior to the Oline with Pouncey/Berger/JJ/Garner, Sparano has said: Which means the usual shuffling around of the oline that happened the last 3 TC's is not going to happen this yr which should help continuity and cohesion.
I believe it makes a big difference. Last year Henne used a 5 step drop almost exclusively. Dabol and Sparano said we will mix it up a lot this year with 3 and 7 step drops. This alone takes a lot of work to get the timing down, as they have seldom done it. Henne clicked well with Bess, Hartline, and Fasano, not as much with Marshall. Everyone agrees that Marshall being out in camp hurt that connection. Gates, Clay, and to a lesser degree Thomas, will have problems fitting in, let alone making the impact they could. As we all know, only too well, the OL takes time to gel. We had enough trouble with full camp. Making 2 or 3 moves with a rookie at C without one will be much worse.
I actually believe the lockout is a huge opportunity for Henne and our offense to turn the page and start fresh, particularly player relationships. Henne defiantly met with Daboll first thing knowing the Dolphins would get fined, so he could have the offense explained in full to him and he could pass that to the players during player organized workouts. It's naive to think they aren't still in more sparse communication, like most every other team in league while the lockout has continued. Henne is "the man" right now. The offense is going through him. The players are together and bonding with our participation being reportedly amongst the highest of all NFL teams. There are no coaches looming over Henne's shoulder. There are no daily negative play counts being pounded into players' heads, no clock buzzers to predictably get the ball out. No Pennington overshadowing his leadership from the sideline, when Henne is throwing the passes. My hope is that Henne is rebuilding confidence, trust, and rapport with his receivers. Analysts harp on Henne's decision making or accuracy, but I've only seen two player criticisms of him. One, is that Henne followed the coaches direction to a fault. He would not deviate from Henning/David Lee's prescribed progressions and routes when a mismatch provided opportunity, like Thigpen got visibly grilled for on camera by David Lee. Two, Henne wouldn't throw up a ball down field and trust his receivers, because he didn't want to risk a major 'negative play'. Henne had no problem at Michigan tossing bombs to Braylon Edwards and his other good receivers. I hope Jake Long is in his ear all lockout reminding him that. In the great words of Master Yoda, Henne needs to unlearn what he has learned... Henne needs his balls back and trust his ability.
I think your right bro..on all counts.. I know how much pressure Henne is under, I'am hoping that this curve is not as deep as it seems,and will not put us behind the 8ball relative to other teams like the jets and Pats, who have NO such worries.
