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.
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Ricky Brown sounds better than Ronnie Williams anyways :wink2:
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gunn34 and hugoguzman like this.
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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.
MikeHoncho, BrazForPhins, Miguel and 7 others like this. -
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...... -
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!hugoguzman likes this. -
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
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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. -
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. -
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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.
BlameItOnTheHenne likes this. -
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TE
Fast WR
ILB
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OC
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Than he gets 3 more carries the rest of the game????
I just don't get it.ToddsPhins likes this. -
NJFINSFAN1, ToddsPhins, SICK and 1 other person like this.
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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.
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I agree with you here Hugo.
Ronnie has always had an issue with breakaway speed since we drafted him. How many times has he gotten to the second level and ripped off a big gain only to be tackled from behind. He's great at picking up chunk yardage, but he lacks the home run threat. I would love to see the number of long TD runs that we have had over that last few years.
Throw in a couple leg injuries, and it doesn't make him better.hugoguzman likes this. -
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ronnie looked good today. real good. 2007 good.
so we gave him the ball 9 times.
Thats ****ing ridiculous.
And padre, its tough to throw good consistently when the defense knows its coming.....11 carries for ronnie ricky?!?!?!? thats horrendous.ToddsPhins likes this. -
Noel Devine please!!!! a true quick-twitch, speed, and scat back type.
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But if you can't see the different in ability and production between Rice and Brown/Williams, then I don't know what to tell you.
Rice was the best player on the field and made Flacco's job easy (just dump it off or throw a screen and let Rice do the rest).
Granted, McGahee also had a huge play on a dump off but he's a clone of Brown/Williams.
Miami's offense would benefit greatly from a legitimate big-play threat like Rice (and a legit TE wouldn't hurt either). -
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Personally, I think it's the RB's trusting the line especially the interior triangle. RB won't run to to the correct gap and trust that the OL will open the hole. He'll dance until the hole is obvious. Unfortunately LB's know this as well and flow into the hole forcing RB to "plow" over them. Make that "one cut" and he'll get the explosives runs he definitely capable of.
I prefer take a RB in the later rounds as those guys are fighting for jobs and will do everything the coach tells them. No 1st rd security. -
I don't know when ray rice was drafted, I guess I could look it up, but Ronnie and Ricky are both top 3 picks. Miami just needs to catch a break and probably by no intent of Ireland's, draft the next Brady. Or Sparano will be gone in a couple of years, the whole regime will be.
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Ricky needs to go so that we can get a back who actually compliments Ronnie instead of duplicating him.
There's no reason with Henne, Marshall, Bess, and Ronnie that we can't add the 3 extra pieces (speed WR, playmaking TE, and COP back) to help us become an efficient, wide-open offense like the Giants who can beat you in the air or on the ground while picking up chunk yardage in the process. -
UMMMM we have draftyed a RB remeber??? LEX Hilliard. Special teamer MAKES SOME tackles Nice plays every once in awhile remebr Him??? Yea
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The difference is that both Brown and Williams are aging and are no longer able to consistently make guy miss. And they almost never break off 20+ runs (or receptions).
If you can't see the difference in ability between a young and explosive Rice and a still steady/grinding but non-explosive Brown/Williams, then I don't know what to tell you.
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