FanHouse ChadHenne

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet The ...
Team who invented the Wildcat formation! Cue all sorts of zeal from the dramatic broadcasters. Of course, the formation has actually been around for decades, we just hadn't seen a ton of usage in the NFL until the Dolphins seemed to perfect it -- peaking with Ronnie Brown's ridiculous game against the Patriots.

The Dolphins have a careful quarterback, two solid runners, a good, young receiving corps, and have added a great all-around athlete via draft. It might be tough to predict who is going to consistency amass yardage, but we know one thing: They are going to be fun to watch.

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When the Dolphins drafted Pat White in the second round six weeks ago, everybody thought it was a deft move. Miami reintroduced the Wildcat to the NFL after nearly a 50-year hiatus, went from a one-win outfit to AFC East champs in a year, and instead of using this offseason to move to a more traditional offense, they've decided to play to their strengths, even if it's not conventional. And that means more Wildcat, and now with players who better fit the scheme.

But shortly after selecting White, the Dolphins announced that he was more than a trick-play specialist, he'd get a shot to win the quarterback job next season. The team drafted Chad Henne in Round 2 a year ago, and they seemed happy with his progress, so I didn't take the White comments seriously. That said, if he's most valuable under center, then it makes sense to put him there.

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

For the fourth straight year, the Miami Dolphins used a second-round pick on a quarterback, selecting West Virginia's Pat White with the 44th overall pick. White, a record-setting player in college, joined John Beck (recently released) and Chad Henne as recent selections, to go along with the trade that brought Daunte Culpepper to Miami prior to the 2006 season.

While there is still some debate as to what type of future White will have in the NFL, the Dolphins view him as a quarterback, while one scout recently told Omar Kelly of the Sun Sentinel that Miami is trying to "revolutionize pro football by bringing the spread to the NFL."

Heading into the 2009 season, we know this much about the Miami Dolphins quarterback situation: Chad Pennington is going to be the starter, and for good reason. After 2009? Well, that's anybody's guess. Miami seems to be quite high on 2008 second-round pick Chad Henne, which played a role in the front office's decision to not offer Pennington a long-term contract extension after he helped guide the Dolphins to an AFC East title.

On Saturday, the Dolphins raised a few eyebrows when they used the 44th overall pick on West Virginia quarterback Pat White ... the third straight year they've selected a quarterback in the second round.

Bill Parcells has a history of being aggressive, and the results suggest he knows what he's doing. He's taken five different teams to the playoffs as either a coach or front-office type, and is the NFL equivalent of Mr. White Winston Wolfe: he solves problems.

He took the Dolphins from a one-win outfit in 2007 to AFC East champs a year later. And if he thinks Pat White is a special player, I'm not going to argue with him.

On Day 1 of the Draft, the Dolphins selected Illinois cornerback Vontae Davis with the 25th pick, and double-downed with White a round later (44th overall). Davis has been described as a top-10 talent, but character issues saw him drop to the end of the first round. But if there's anybody who can keep Davis in check it's Parcells.

Although the Dolphins had a huge need in the secondary, White might be the best value pick in this draft.

Just in case there were any lingering doubts about John Beck's prospects in Miami, head coach Tony Sparano confirms what most of us already suspected: Chad Henne is the Dolphins' quarterback of the future. Not the immediate future -- that job is still Chad Pennington's -- but come 2010, the former second-round pick is scheduled to take over the full-time gig.

And while the organization is making plans beyond next season, they want to make one thing clear: there is no quarterback controversy in the interim. Pennington, who came to the Dolphins from the Jets last summer and helped guide the team to an improbable 11-5 record, is firmly entrenched as the starter for '09. Just something to keep in mind.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer

When the New York Jets tossed Chad Pennington aside in favor of Brett Favre, the Miami Dolphins were happy to pick up the 32-year-old veteran and put him under center.

They were rewarded with a quarterback that finished second in the league's MVP voting, as the team completed one of the most improbable one-year turnarounds in NFL history, claiming the AFC East title one year after a forgettable 1-15 season.

After being kicked to the curb by the New York Jets in favor of Brett Favre, quarterback Chad Pennington found himself in Miami hoping to return the Dolphins to some sort of relevance following forgettable a 1-15 season.

Mission accomplished, as Pennington helped lead Miami to an 11-5 season and a surprising AFC East title. Meanwhile, in New York, the Jets were on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

Well, today's playoff performance should temper all the "Chad Pennington should've won the MVP award" talk. I thought he deserved to be in the conversation, but it's hard to argue against Peyton Manning landing the honor; the Colts won their final nine games of the regular season, and unlike Pennington, Manning the Elder had no running game to fall back on.

Via ESPN.com's Tim Graham, Pennington wasn't just bad against the Ravens, he was as dreadful as he's ever been during his nine-year NFL career. And given that he was benched for Kellen Clemens last season, that's saying a whole lot.

The gory details:

Late in the fourth quarter of a Week 2 blowout loss to the Cardinals, Dolphins rookie quarterback Chad Henne saw the first NFL action of his brief career. He completed 7 of 12 passes for 67 yards and, in general, didn't make a fool of himself.

Naturally, the outing was reason enough for some fans to call for a quarterback change, partly because Chad Pennington had been serviceable but uninspiring, but also because the Dolphins haven't had a franchise quarterback since Dan Marino retired in 1999.

Some eight weeks later, Miami is 4-4 and thanks to their improved play and relatively easy second-half schedule, they're legit contenders for a wild card spot. And Pennington, who has benefited from the emergence of Greg Camarillo, a revitalized running game and the Wildcat, will keep his job. Just like head coach Tony Sparano said he would back in mid-September.

Which is why the Miami Herald's Greg Cote thinks fans should temper their calls for Henne -- for stability's sake: