this article HAS to be a joke. i'm the last one to be a homer about anything, but Ronnie was leading the league in yards from scrimmage BY HIMSELF (without sharing the backfield) last year before his injury. How you go from leading the league to 25 out of 32 with the addition of a solid complement in Ricky Williams (a previous rushing title holder) behind you is beyond me. oh yeah, and ESPN sucks.
i would have us in the top 10, if we're talking about running game. we took the top overall yardage runner from last year, added a previous rushing-title holder, AND beefed up the line big-time. i think top-10 would be a very fair ranking.
He does appear on ESPN.com but he isn't a staff writer. JG works for Scouts, Inc. This is the same guy who questioned Ronnie's value catching passes out of the backfield. So file this in the circular cabinet. Don't worry about it.
Yeah but its the durability issue with him. Until he can last 16 games then he'll always be knocked down for that. Whether his injuries are freak or not, if he can't take the heat of a 16 game season then its a huge flaw. HOWEVER, that article is BOGUS. Even if Brown's durability is usually in question and Ricky isn't 'dependable', putting them at 25 is saying they cant RUN which is crap. IMO, these guys are top 5.
IMO, its not that RB is a joke. Its that he is injury prone. He has yet to finish a season without missing significant time. Now he's older. Its not often that you get less injury prone as you get older. As for Ricky, well, Ricky being Ricky is reason enough not to trust him. I don't think our backfield is any different from any other position on the team (or any 1-15 team)...it has alot to prove, and it won't get the benefit of the doubt. We would, not surprisingly, finish near the bottom of every positional breakdown chart the NFL could put together. We were 1-15. What do you expect? Once we win some games, beat some good teams, challenge for a playoff spot...that'll all change. As of right now, I wouldn't worry about that for one moment. All that matters right now is the Jets on Sept 9th (or whatever day the season starts). That game would consume my every breathing second.
Brown is coming off a serious knee injury and RW is hasn't played meaningful football, in what, three years? I like the future potential of our Oline, but right now, its an unproven commodity. To list our RBs as top ten, IMO, would be absurdity. But not to worry. The rankings won't have anything to do with where we finish. If our backs stay focused, stay healthy, and our Oline blocks well and makes progress, things can work out. I just wouldn't get too far out in front.
I hate to be devils advocate but Ronnie is NOT durable and Ricky is NOT dependable. He is right about that. I think he's wrong placing us at 25. I would say between 15-20. We would be top 5 if we based it only on "Potential". Ricky could potentially have a great year again. Ronnie could potentially last an entire season for the first time.
We have a running back that hasn't really played since 2005, and a running back that is coming off a torn ACL, that has barely had one 1000 yard season. There certainly is reason to be optimistic about the possibilities with Ricky and Ronnie, but I don't think its anything worthy of top-10...yet.