Ricky in tandem w/ Ronnie + Polite punishing the defense = a record breaking ground game behind the Orca-5
I completely disagree. Our offense became much less effective when RW became the main guy. And the yards and reception arguments are ridiculous. Brown has one issue and that's durability, that's what effects the total yards numbers. On a per carry or per reception basis he has higher career averages than RW. When Brown is healthy he's the more effective back.
Ronnie plays great, but Ricky is a great player. I'll take age and durability over flash and injury any day, although I love Ronnie Brown and I am thrilled we have them both.
He is not a speed back with that second gear. He is plenty fast and is surely elite when healthy, which yes, has been an issue. Having that second gear is not what a 230 plus pound Rb should have to be elite. He just needs to be gaining good chunks of yardage. Ricky, in his prime was special, with great vision, an extra burst, and a pounder. He is not that now, and thats not a knock on him one bit. What Ronnie Brown is, is a bull that is almost impossible for one man to bring down. Give me a Rb that can get you 4-5 yds a pop, and I'm one happy camper. Wear the defense down by pounding them into submission. Let the Wr's be the big play (long plays) group. Ricky is surely worth having at this point, but he is clearly losing a step, slowly but surely. What he has, is that special vision, and that makes up for losing a step by being two steps ahead on his cuts. Both being healthy, I'll take Ronnie 10 times out of 10 over Ricky at this point in both of their careers.
1) Ricky in tandem w/ Ronnie + Polite punishing the defense = a record breaking ground game behind the Orca-5 this season. the team is built to run. 2) the simple truth: Ronnie is a proven tandem back that cannot carry the team by himself. only in conjunction w/ Ricky & Polite will he shine. 3) if you had to go solo, you'd be infinitely better going w/the ProvenBull. Ricky Williams is a Franchise RunningBack. Ricky would be the better option. Ronnie would not make it through the season. 4) we'll be shopping 4 our future Franchise RB by the end of next year.
Ronnie has proven that when he is healthy he is one of the best in the league so he could damn sure carry a team if he did not have the freak injuries.
Ronnie has proven time and again that he is injury prone. There is no such thing as a freak injury. Either you are on the field or not. He has wasted his best years on and off the field and now that he is past his prime I expect we will run him till he breaks again and then as alen said tag him and use him up until no longer needed. That is the Ronnie Brown story bro.
1) Ronnie has proven time and again (throughout College & the NFL) that he runs in tandem well & is not suited to the role of Franchise, EveryDown RunningBack. 2) the ticket is Ricky in tandem w/ Ronnie + Polite punishing the defense = a record breaking ground game behind the Orca-5 this season. the team is built to run & both Ronnie & Ricky will be @ their best sharing carries 3) the coversation about Ronnie Brown as the featured back is just so much idle banter. it has never been & will never be... that's why Parcells has not pushed forward his contract i.e. as a TandemBack & in the WildCat he is a go, however, as an EveryDown RunningBack he is a bust. Ronnie simply cannot carry a team by himself on the ground. he's not a FranchiseBack.
Lmao at past his prime! Where do you come up with this stuff man? Freak injuries are what they are. You want to say there is no such thing, go for it. I saw two of them happen and they were so...
Ummm dude, he is absolutely proven to be a franchise back. One of the best in the league when healthy. That might be a big if, but you need to get it right. All teams want to be built with two solid backs and three if they can muster it. That does not take away from the fact that Ronnie, when healthy, is the starter over Ricky. Why? Because at this point in their careers, he is simply the better option of the two.
Neither of them is an incredible back on their own. Ricky has all the skills, if a bit up there in years, while Ronnie has all the flash but some problems with staying healthy, as well as total speed. However, the two of them are unbelievable as a tandem, and we should all be happy to just have both.
Ricky in his prime VS Ronnie in his prime: Hands down, Ricky Williams. (A Ricky without all the suspensions and abrupt retirement.) This guy would have easily been a HOFer. Right now, I'd take Ricky over an 8-10 game stretch over Brown. I still think he has much better vision and is quicker to attack the LOS scrimmage and get into the holes than RB. He's getting too old to go over a 16 game season alone. A like the platooning we do. It keeps them both fresh. (I'd like to say healthy, but Ronnie gets hurt too much). If we can get through an entire season with both healthy and with fresh legs, and into the playoffs, we'd be dangerous - assuming our defense steps it up a bit.
With Ronnie in there, the offense performs the way it did against the Jets in Miami on Monday night (or against the Patriots in 2008). It was a sight to behold. We don't win those games without Ronnie, period. I don't care what the stats say, it just wasn't the same with Ricky in there. He doesn't spark the offense in the same way. Does Ronnie have injury problems? Of course. That's a huge weakness for this team and it's not readily fixable. Still doesn't change the fact that the team is much better with Ronnie in there than it is when Ronnie goes down and Ricky has to be the main man.
First off, neither would be very good without Polite plowing the way for them. Second, it's a luxury that we have both guys and that if either goes down (usually Ronnie in injury and Ricky in wigging out), the other can fill in. Both would have issues closing out the season as the only backs (Brown again due to injury and Ricky due to age). These two guys do complement each other well. But it's about the OL and the fb as to how well they do.
Friend Larryfinfan: then you agree w/ the post? we will contend in 2010: run Ricky, run Ronnie & stomp them into the ground Lou Polite
When Ronnie is healthy he is better then Ricky, but Ronnie keeps getting banged up, so I have to go with Ricky. Ricky is older but he still can run and he doesn't have as much mileage on the tires as he took a year off, and he also keeps himself in fantastic shape.
Ronnie will be thirty this season and in his career he has rushed for 1000 yards once which really isn't the standard gauge for backs these days. It seems to be 1200. Which Ronnie hasn't even come close. Don't use this when he got hurt he was on pace crap cause that doesn't prove anything. Dude the guy is past his prime. Face it. It is easy to see. I'm not real sure what you expect of Ronnie. Do you think that he is going to magically break out and resurrect his hot/cold carreer and be a phenomenal running back at thirty years old? His best days are behind him man and he is best served now as always has been to be a tandem running back who plays part time. I hope he has a great season I really do but to think that he is not past his prime is just downright unrealistic and ridiculous.
hard to discredit this point of view answer: high motivation + Lou Polite + the Orca + running in tandem w/Williams
meh...fair enough but splitting hairs. Insert 29 into my rant and everything else stays. He is past his prime but still a good back just not elite.
29 might be another running backs 33 no doubt we'll be looking around next season for replacements meantime the running game is elite & can potentially take to the SuperBowl in 2010
Ricky will tell you flat out that his homeboy Ronnie is the better back. That's one of the reasons why I love Ricky. The truth is, they're both animals. I can't wait to see them behind the new offensive line.
Right now Ronnie Brown is 28 years old. It is unrealistic, and upright crazy to say he's past his prime. Especially when his career carries are where they are right now! He has under 1000 carries, while Ricky Williams has over 2000 and people say he extended his career by walking out on football for a couple of years. The ONLY issue with Ronnie Brown is staying healthy for a full season. Not that, plus he's past his prime. He, right now, for Rb's with his amount of carries, is in the prime of his NFL career. Period!
This, for me. If both were the same age I'd pick Ricky. However at his age, I'm not sure he can last all year. Neither can Ronnie, actually But I guess that's why we need both Right now, both healthy, I think Ronnie is the better back. He can offer us more than one dimension, as well.