Former Dolphins QB Chad Pennington talks about this years rookie QB’s
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins watched as the Jets cut Chad Pennington and then the Jets watched Miami scoop him up immediately. The former Dolphins quarterback is weighing in on this years draft class of quarterbacks.
Miami got one very good year out of Pennington in 2008 when he and the Wild-Cat formation propelled the Dolphins into the playoffs. Pennington’s stay in Miami lasted only two seasons and his second was marred with injury that eventually led to his retirement. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t know quarterbacks.
Pennington watches football and he still studies the game. He also has some insight on what coaches, at least good coaches look for. For example he believes it’s more about the right fit than a great player, to some degree.
Pennington recently spoke to Newsday from his home in Kentucky and had some interesting insight into this years crop of quarterbacks, two of whom could be targets of the Dolphins.
On Baker Mayfield:
"Then you look at Baker Mayfield [of Oklahoma]. The film tells you, regardless of the physical stature, that he’s just a ballplayer. But if you draft him, you have to be specific from a scheme standpoint, because he 6-feet tall. You can ask him to do the same things in the pocket at Josh Allen, because there five inches difference."
Pennington didn’t elaborate on what exactly Mayfield can’t do because of his height. If we are talking about standing in the pocket and allowing plays to develop downfield then I might point my finger in the direction of Drew Brees who has developed quite nicely as a pocket passer that is the same height as Mayfield.
On Josh Rosen:
"Josh Rosen [of UCLA], from a footwork and fundamentals standpoint, he has the whole package. What everyone’™s trying to figure out is who he is off the field. Listening to the rhetoric around him, that’s what evaluators are trying to figure out, who he is other than his physical ability, because at the quarterback position, physical ability is only one aspect."
This is the angle that many keep talking about with Rosen. No one really knows who he is off the field and that could be a big problem for any team, including the Dolphins.