Miami needs an upgrade at the running back position (there, I said it)

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TE
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LB
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and many other positions to that.

Ricky Brown sounds better than Ronnie Williams anyways :wink2:

the RB's are fine

the problem is the playcalling is horrendous

"hugoguzman wrote:

Ronnie Brown is my second-favorite player of the modern era (only behind Tim Bowens) and Ricky Brown is a sentimental favorite (probably because I also smoked my fair share of joints back in the day and am now into yoga) but the reality is that neither of these guys have the quickness or break-away speed to turn 10-yard gains into game-changing plays.

As I watched today's game one thing that became more and more evident was how much of an impact Ray Rice had on this football game. People will talk about what a great game Flacco had (and he did play well for the most part, except for that embarrassing pick six on a platter that Sean Smith dropped) but the truth is that many if not most of his throws were short screens or dump offs that Ray Rice turned into big gains (McGahee also had one on the first TD of the day, but he's more or less a Brown/Williams clone).

It was Rice that made that offense go today, finishing with 83 yards rushing (lead the team) 7 receptions (led the team) and 97 receiving yards (led the team).

Granted, Brown could have had a similarly dominant game if Henning had not abandoned the run in the second half, but the fact remains that he and Ricky simply don't have the game-changing quickness and speed to consistently take over games.

I'm a huge fan of both and always will be, but I think that it's time to let go of one (probably Brown since he's more expensive) and look for an upgrade either via draft or free agency.

P.S. There were a lot of other, bigger reasons why Miami lost today's game, but facing a dominant back like Rice definitely brought things into perspective for me in terms of the running back positions.

Yea but Ronnie brown was doing fine the first half then Henning decided that running the ball for 7 yards a carry was not going to cut it and stopped running. So although I agree that we are in trouble at the RB position it wouldnt change a thing in our current state.

Ronnie and Ricky barely touched the ball. When Ronnie had the ball he gashed the Ravens. I have no idea why we stopped using him. Brown had 9 touches, Ricky only had 2. Our pro bowl running backs only were called on 11 times! That's pathetic by the coaches.

I'm pretty sure regardless of what we do with Ronnie and Ricky, we'll probably draft one.

Guys I like:

Mark Ingram - if he declares
Mikel Leshoure - if he declares
Noel Devine
Kendall Hunter
Daniel Thomas

Any one of them would suit me just fine with Ronnie or Ricky in 2011.

Yeah, those darn running backs need to stop throwing interceptions and missing wide open in the endzone Wr's!

Wait, what?

I blame Ronnie for the dropped ball.Thats it .He was running through gaping holes .He had something close to 40 plus yards on that first drive alone.

Then the Ravens made some adjustments and we decided not to continue with that formula.

That has been fairly typical of our offense this year.Go away from something thats working.:pity:

We do need another explosive type of player to add to the mix but this regime has opted to address other areas of need in the draft.Perhaps next year......

We didn't want to run today. Wouldn't matter if we had AP or CJ or even Peyton Hillis. We didn't give any of our backs a chance.

Welcome aboard. I felt the same way heading into the season. And it was on display in all its beauty today -- on the other side of the field unfortunately.

I loved Rice coming out. Would love to have a guy like him or LeSean McCoy (that skillset anyway) down here. OT: I think Steven Jackson is the bronze statue this regime aspires to. The most complete back in the league.

Basically a guy who adds that explosiveness you mentioned to the offense. While we're at it, get one to line up at WR too!

I guess I did a poor job of explaining myself.

I didn't blame today's loss on Ronnie and Ricky (and I agree that we should have continued to run the ball since it was working so well).

What I am saying is that Ray Rice was by far the best player on the field today. He made it easy for Flacco by continually catching screens and dumpoffs and turning them into long gains.

Rice is much quicker and shiftier than our guys and also has better top line speed, and what I'm saying is that Miami could desperately use that. We literally never break off long TD runs. Heck, we barely ever break off runs longer than 20 yards (and few long passing plays as well).

Miami needs an upgrade because in today's NFL, you need to be able to hit home runs once in a while (and break off first down runs and catches more than just once or twice a game)

Not every team has a guy like Ray Rice on it. Though it would be fantastic to have a guy of his ability making plays

"hugoguzman wrote:

I guess I did a poor job of explaining myself.

I didn't blame today's loss on Ronnie and Ricky (and I agree that we should have continued to run the ball since it was working so well).

What I am saying is that Ray Rice was by far the best player on the field today. He made it easy for Flacco by continually catching screens and dumpoffs and turning them into long gains.

Rice is much quicker and shiftier than our guys and also has better top line speed, and what I'm saying is that Miami could desperately use that. We literally never break off long TD runs. Heck, we barely ever break off runs longer than 20 yards (and few long passing plays as well).

Miami needs an upgrade because in today's NFL, you need to be able to hit home runs once in a while (and break off first down runs and catches more than just once or twice a game)

what Miami needs is an offensive coordinator that knows how to call a complete game

he needs to learn how to call plays that counters what the defense is doing
and throw them off

he runs when they expect it, he throws when they expect it
he has no commitment to the run
he doesn't seem to understand when and how to use play action

at least he didn't call the wildcat today

the guy is not giving our offense any chance to succeed with the way he calls a game

I like the ability of Ronnie when he runs straight ahead and just plows guys over. We saw that early in this game, hell, 6 carries, 45 yards, and a TD early. He then finished the game with 9 carries. Ronnies TD came approx 10 minutes into the ball game, then he only carried the ball 3 times after that, and Ricky only had 2 carries today for one yard after that. That's inexcusable.

We do need an upgrade though. Ricky is almost done, Ronnie is gettin up there still, but due to his injuries should still be pretty fresh, however that being said, his injuries are part of the bigger picture problem.

It's going to happen this draft no doubt. I'd like to see us draft someone, and probably keep ronnie for a few more years, just because of his still rather young age, and the skillset he brings.

"hugoguzman wrote:

I guess I did a poor job of explaining myself.

I didn't blame today's loss on Ronnie and Ricky (and I agree that we should have continued to run the ball since it was working so well).

What I am saying is that Ray Rice was by far the best player on the field today. He made it easy for Flacco by continually catching screens and dumpoffs and turning them into long gains.

Rice is much quicker and shiftier than our guys and also has better top line speed, and what I'm saying is that Miami could desperately use that. We literally never break off long TD runs. Heck, we barely ever break off runs longer than 20 yards (and few long passing plays as well).

Miami needs an upgrade because in today's NFL, you need to be able to hit home runs once in a while (and break off first down runs and catches more than just once or twice a game)

I get your point. makes sense, but easier said than done. Based on his numbers the past 25 games, Rice is an elite talent...better than MJD, maybe a step behind A Peterson. Of course if we had a chance to upgrade from Ronnie and Ricky to a guy like Rice, we should pull the trigger.
But, it's like saying if we could upgrade from Henne to T Brady we should do that too.
We've had too many other holes to fill (and we're not done either).
IMO, we need do need to draft a RB in 1st two rounds next season. If we end up with another pick in the 20s, then draft a RB in 1st round.

"Muck wrote:

Welcome aboard. I felt the same way heading into the season. And it was on display in all its beauty today -- on the other side of the field unfortunately.

I loved Rice coming out. Would love to have a guy like him or LeSean McCoy (that skillset anyway) down here. OT: I think Steven Jackson is the bronze statue this regime aspires to. The most complete back in the league.

Basically a guy who adds that explosiveness you mentioned to the offense. While we're at it, get one to line up at WR too!

This is where missing on Pat White and Sheets injuring his ankle hurt us, they were the two X factor/playmakers outside of Marshall, and they are both gone and the O lacks juice.

I can't help but feel like Noel Devine would dominate behind our line. We get enough push that we can create holes consistently for him to sneak into and get himself into space.

"hazed819 wrote:

Yea but Ronnie brown was doing fine the first half then Henning decided that running the ball for 7 yards a carry was not going to cut it and stopped running. So although I agree that we are in trouble at the RB position it wouldnt change a thing in our current state.

If I may point out... The Fins had the ball for 2 plays on their 2nd drive and three on their 3rd drive. The 3rd drive started with the 4 yard loss to Marshall. The final drive of the half was a two minute drive. RB had 2 carries for 3 yards in those drives.

"cdnfinfan wrote:

the RB's are fine

the problem is the playcalling is horrendous

disagree, not enough speed

"Destroyer wrote:

Add

TE
QB
LB
CB
C

and many other positions to that.

I'd go with:

TE
Fast WR
ILB
S (both)
OC
OG
RT

I think the O Line is good enough not great but good enough.

"Dolphins1Beatles wrote:

Ronnie and Ricky barely touched the ball. When Ronnie had the ball he gashed the Ravens. I have no idea why we stopped using him. Brown had 9 touches, Ricky only had 2. Our pro bowl running backs only were called on 11 times! That's pathetic by the coaches.

First drive, Brown 6 carries 45 yards and a TD

Than he gets 3 more carries the rest of the game????

I just don't get it.

"padre31 wrote:

This is where missing on Pat White and Sheets injuring his ankle hurt us, they were the two X factor/playmakers outside of Marshall, and they are both gone and the O lacks juice.

Are you serious? You complain about Henne yet think we miss White?

ronnie had 9 carries today for 59 yards. If he would have been given the ball for 15-20 carries today, he would have had 100 yards rushing. He's not getting the ball. There, I said it.