Dallas Cowboy Back-up QB Drew Henson needs trip to Europe
Todd Archer: Henson needs trip to Europe
06:47 PM CST on Thursday, December 29, 2005
IRVING - Unless Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo are hurt Sunday vs. St. Louis, Drew Henson will finish his second season with the Cowboys without throwing a pass. Two years into the Henson experiment, the Cowboys are not really sure what they have in the former Michigan quarterback/Yankees third-base prospect. He started one game and was pulled at halftime. He threw 18 passes in 2004, which are 18 more than Romo will have thrown in his three years if Bledsoe plays the entire game Sunday. Last year, the Cowboys flirted with the idea of sending Henson to NFL Europe to get him some playing time. Wisely, they chose to keep him home, so he could work with passing-game coordinator Sean Payton and quarterbacks coach David Lee. They re-tooled his mechanics, although he has returned to his natural throwing motion and blended some of what Lee taught him. He got more familiar with the offense.
This off-season, however, Henson needs to play. He needs to go to NFL Europe and continue to scrape the rust off his football game and do it against live competition. Henson struggled in training camp, largely with the new mechanics because he was thinking about his motion instead of trusting his motion. He said the other day that he felt something click earlier this season when he started anticipating things again. The knock on Henson was that he would be a split second late on his decisions. He had the highest completion percentage of Cowboys' quarterbacks in training camp during 7-on-7 drills, but he was last in team drills. Why? He could not anticipate. He needed to see a receiver open. Now, he says, that's not an issue. In his two preseasons with the Cowboys, Henson has been better in games than practices. If I'm a coach, I like that. You'd like to have both, but I'd rather have the latter. Now, sending a quarterback to Europe isn't always the best idea. The Cowboys have invested $3 million or so in Henson, and to have him protected by a defensive lineman San Francisco is attempting to move to guard could have dire consequences. Sometimes, a quarterback can get lost in Europe. Chad Hutchinson comes to mind. There was a time NFL Europe developed quarterbacks: Kurt Warner, Jay Fiedler, Brad Johnson and Jake Delhomme all had success there before they had it in the NFL. Lately, that hasn't been the case. Rohan Davey excelled there two off-seasons ago but was out of football most of this season. The case could be made that Romo should go to Europe, too, but the coaches feel like they have a better handle on what he can do. Romo certainly doesn't lack for confidence, even if he hasn't played in a meaningful game since the Div. 1-AA playoffs in 2002 while at Eastern Illinois. But Henson has to play overseas. If he plays well, then the Cowboys know they have something for the future. If they don't, then maybe they begin the quarterback search again.
06:47 PM CST on Thursday, December 29, 2005
IRVING - Unless Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo are hurt Sunday vs. St. Louis, Drew Henson will finish his second season with the Cowboys without throwing a pass. Two years into the Henson experiment, the Cowboys are not really sure what they have in the former Michigan quarterback/Yankees third-base prospect. He started one game and was pulled at halftime. He threw 18 passes in 2004, which are 18 more than Romo will have thrown in his three years if Bledsoe plays the entire game Sunday. Last year, the Cowboys flirted with the idea of sending Henson to NFL Europe to get him some playing time. Wisely, they chose to keep him home, so he could work with passing-game coordinator Sean Payton and quarterbacks coach David Lee. They re-tooled his mechanics, although he has returned to his natural throwing motion and blended some of what Lee taught him. He got more familiar with the offense.
This off-season, however, Henson needs to play. He needs to go to NFL Europe and continue to scrape the rust off his football game and do it against live competition. Henson struggled in training camp, largely with the new mechanics because he was thinking about his motion instead of trusting his motion. He said the other day that he felt something click earlier this season when he started anticipating things again. The knock on Henson was that he would be a split second late on his decisions. He had the highest completion percentage of Cowboys' quarterbacks in training camp during 7-on-7 drills, but he was last in team drills. Why? He could not anticipate. He needed to see a receiver open. Now, he says, that's not an issue. In his two preseasons with the Cowboys, Henson has been better in games than practices. If I'm a coach, I like that. You'd like to have both, but I'd rather have the latter. Now, sending a quarterback to Europe isn't always the best idea. The Cowboys have invested $3 million or so in Henson, and to have him protected by a defensive lineman San Francisco is attempting to move to guard could have dire consequences. Sometimes, a quarterback can get lost in Europe. Chad Hutchinson comes to mind. There was a time NFL Europe developed quarterbacks: Kurt Warner, Jay Fiedler, Brad Johnson and Jake Delhomme all had success there before they had it in the NFL. Lately, that hasn't been the case. Rohan Davey excelled there two off-seasons ago but was out of football most of this season. The case could be made that Romo should go to Europe, too, but the coaches feel like they have a better handle on what he can do. Romo certainly doesn't lack for confidence, even if he hasn't played in a meaningful game since the Div. 1-AA playoffs in 2002 while at Eastern Illinois. But Henson has to play overseas. If he plays well, then the Cowboys know they have something for the future. If they don't, then maybe they begin the quarterback search again.
posted by The Gryphon at 5:54 PM
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