Although Chad Henne’s chances of staying the starter in Miami will only improve the longer a lockout lasts, the Dolphins plan to spend a lot of time looking at potential replacements for Henne over the next six weeks.
Omar Kelly of the Sun Sentinel reports that Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland and coach Tony Sparano plan to work out the majority of the quarterbacks in the 2011 NFL draft, including two players they would consider in the first round, Auburn’s Cam Newton and Washington’s Jake Locker.
The Dolphins apparently don’t think there’s much of a chance of Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert falling to them at No. 15 in the first round, and working him out doesn’t seem to be a priority for Miami. But the Dolphins do want to take a close look at Newton and Locker, and they’re also planning workouts of players they would consider in later rounds, including Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick Florida State’s Christian Ponder, Idaho’s Nathan Enderle and Florida Atlantic’s Jeff Van Camp.
Few quarterbacks are ready to start in Week One of their rookie seasons, and that will be especially true if the lockout cuts this offseason short. So Henne has a good chance of being the Dolphins’ starter when they open the season.
But there’s also a good chance that he’ll have a rookie behind him on the depth chart who’s been drafted to take his job.
