I like runningback. They run fast and hard like mule getting spanked by whip from farmer. Very nice! :huh1:

I think for Miami, it is an integral cog of the offense to have solid backs (and, as long as Henning/Sparano is here, one who can pull the trigger). RBs are considered by some the easiest position to transition from college to the NFL.

Just like any position, diamonds in the rough can be found in the later rounds. I think Toby Gerhart and LeGarrette Blount could be gems.

But then you have the guys in the first-round who would do very well. I think Miami passes this year on going with a back in the top-3 rounds (less it be like a McCluster) because their "needs" might dictate a different mindset going in.

 

'Nando tweeted that Tuna loves John Conner the fillin FB at the Senior Bowl, and they signed CFLer Rolly Lumbala, this with Lou Polite on the roster.

Imho, if Big Lou isn't safe from competition, then no one really is.

As for Rb's we might see...Ben Tate, Anthony Dixon, two SEC backs who won't be draft pick expensive.

And I'd like to see Kory Sheets tote the rock some.

 

Forgot about Kory Sheets! Went to a SF msg bd after he was picked up and they were pissed!

Dixon I like, but he can be inconsistent. I think he also showed up to the Sr. Bowl "out of shape". Didn't Tate have a good Sr. Bowl? I forget.....

 

Hey since a lot of people want to make Pat White a wide receiver:glare:

why not make him a running back ????:smackhead:

 

I maybe in the minority here but I really hope we stay clear of Dexter McCluster. I know he has put up some solid college numbers but he is way to frail to play in the NFL. If you think Pat white is frail just stand him next to McCluster who's 165 lbs soaking wet. I don't care how much skill people think he has he's going to get crushed in the NFL.

As for taking backs early I'm not a huge fan of it unless it's a major need of the team. Jamie Dukes on the NFL network in this weeks show covered all the top backs that have been taken in rounds 2 and later. All of them all Pro's or potential all pro's. As already stated its normally an easy position to fill and the better your Oline is the easier it is to fill.

 

I have to hold up for my fellow Ole Miss alumnus. In his defense, he played in the SEC and really took in stride the hits from those big/fast kids.

Also, White seems a little lost upstairs because of his position. I think the NFL playbook has gotten to his head and he's lost that "football" instinct (for now).

McCluster, on the other hand, is ready to prove everyone wrong. He did it in the SEC, and I think he can do it in the NFL.

 

At 165 lbs let him prove people wrong while wearing a different uniform. :tongue2:

 

:lol:

 

too quickly everyone forgets we are still developing Lex Hilliard
and Patrick Cobbs returns
ricky is back
ronnie will be back till he gets injured :shifty:
running back is not a need

 

No argument here. Still have a few glaring holes to fill first. Although I still wouldn't be surprised if we grabbed one in the later rounds.

 

Here's the thing. Despite the front office thinking RB's are interchangeable I noticed the 2 starting RB's on our team are both former 1st round picks.

 

Running back is a fungible position. They don't tend to last long and when they start to deteriorate they do so quickly.

As for drafting running backs, IMO it's like any other non-core position, you don't draft them early in the 1st unless you believe they will be elite. Otherwise you will get almost the same impact from a player you take in the mid rounds.

Regarding McCluster, I'm not sure if I would draft him or not, but it is simply not accurate to call him "frail" when he played as the primary back against SEC defenses and didn't get hurt.

 

After watching Pat White get knocked unconscious in the last game, there is no way I want a 165# running back. Sorry. I know and am a fan of SEC football and I know the kind of defense that is played in the conference, but you still cannot compare the SEC to the NFL and say if he survived in the SEC that he will in the NFL. Pat White is 20# heavier and taller and he looked like a child on the field. Can you imagine the first time he takes a hit like the one laid on Reggie Bush a couple of years ago. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQSpqE4fUGk"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQSpqE4fUGk[/ame] link to video if you haven't seen it.) He might not get up. Sure there are some smaller backs in the league now and there have been before, but all these guys have far more body mass than McCluster.

I suffered over 20 years watching this teams pathetic attempts at the RB position so I understand the sentiment on it, but there are 3 things here; 1) It is easier to fill the position now than it used to be. There are many guys coming out each year that are successful in the NFL at RB. 2) This is a passing league now. The rules changes in the last 10 years have made it that way. 3) We have 5 guys right now, 6 if you count Polite. Even though Ricky is about to call it a career and Ronnie is getting older we still have Cobbs, Hilliard AND Sheets. All of these guys are pretty darn good, so how many roster spots do you want to keep tied up just for running back.

Just doesn't seem like a position we need to worry about this year with so many holes in other places.

 

With regard to Hilliard, he really did not fill in that well going later in the season. I think against the Panthers, he had a couple of nice runs, but after that, he seemed to have trouble finding the hole. He really did not look like much more than perennial backup.

There was a reason he was used sparingly even when, at the end of the year, Ricky looked like a 32 year old.

I was really excited at the possibility of Hilliard, but he really did not impress me aside from a few solid runs. He did admirably in blocking, but running the ball....meh.

 

He wasn't elusive enough. He ran more like a fullback to me.

 

I agree about Hilliard. I didn't see anything from him that would make me pass on a prospect I liked. I'm not advocating drafting a back, I'm just saying Hilliard wouldn't be the reason to pass.

 

they didnt use hilliard enough last season and when they did they used him wrong imo. should have been spelling ricky more often with hilliard but instead they used him mostly as a third down back. we could have saved some wear and tear on ricky and kept him fresh for late in games and the end of the season

 

Fine, but I just don't think he was that special. I don't think he showed much elusiveness or that he had enough speed to get the edge. He was basically a straight ahead runner with some power. IMO you find similar or better talent on half the practice squads in the league.

 

so may i ask since you seem to know better than our fo
why did they keep hilliard around and continue to develop him if he is equal to practice squad talent in the league?

he made the roster, played good on special teams, filled in nicely when called upon and DIDNT GET ENOUGH CHANCES. The guy runs hard and is a tough running back. They like him because he is physical.

 

The FO supposedly doesn't think highly of some of the positions. Not high enough to actually spend a high draft pick on RB's or WR's. And they have evidence to prove that point. You can do quite well with players picked in later rounds. But sometimes you have to bite the bullet. You are not getting a Percy Harvin, Adrian Petersen or even Ricky Williams in round 5. If we do pick up a RB I'd love LeGarrett Blount in the 3rd or 4th round. That guy was a beast at the Senior Bowl. He's got a real physical style and can tear it up. Just the sort of runner I think would appeal to our FO guys.

 

I would have kept him as well. He knew the offense and worked hard and was physical. But I wouldn't count on him to be a long term starter at any point and if I ran across a guy who had that potential, I would keep him over Hilliard. I also wouldn't pass on talent like that b/c I had Hilliard.

 

wow two amazing hits........and a great illustration of your point

and hey......some damn good music to boot:up:

 

Unlike most other positions on the field, RB is the least disruptive change and the easiest for a college player to transition to the pro game (with the possible exception of pass blocking). That means, for some fans, the position is very interchangeable. The position is no longer a stable position in the game. Most teams have not only their premier back, but an adequate rotational guy. This is twofold. One for a 'change of pace guy' (like Sproles, Cobbs, Leon Washington, Reggie Bush type guys) and one for pure rotation to 'preserve' the premier guy (like R. Williams, Tashard Choice, Ahmad Bradshaw, LaRon McClain, Jonathon Stewart, Donald Brown and more). While each in this group brings their own strengths to the team, they also spell the top guy. The career span of RB is certainly measured in single digit years, unlike most of the other positions. Thus you have guys 'out there' each year in FA like Shaun Alexander, Edge, Fred Taylor, etc who may be able to be the complementary back to many teams and could for stretches during the season be the main guy, if pressed into need. This year it may be guys like Fred Taylor, Clinton Portis, LT, R. Williams, etc. To bring this diatribe to a point, the fans now think that RB position is 'expendable' because they see names like the last group out there every year when the reality is that these guys are just on the cusp of or into their post prime skill-set due to the continual beatings they've taken over the years.

In Miami, we do have a twist to this logic in Ronnie Brown. He is just at his prime and is not in the category of the Taylor's, Portis's, and LTs but he's close. But the twist is his inane ability in the WC offense that separates him from many others in that category. Does that leave him still expendable ?? I don't think so. I think we wrap him up for another 3 yrs and keep that WC ability intact. However, there is an argument to be made for using him as trade bait for a #1 WR or pass receiving TE or LB or even NT depending on who's available out there. The simplistic view of being able to 'replace' him easily is not very accurate, but more accurate than being able to replace any other candidate for trade we have. For example, Carey, some would say is trade fodder, but finding the right OL has been a decade trouble for this team, so why move him now ?? Crowder is one some would say, however based on his poor play this past season, his value is downgraded and while he'll never be confused with ZT or Carlos Dansby, he's not Akin Ayodele either...

This debate is purely a fan debate to improve the team. Brown's running could be replaced from the right rookie however it's still a crapshoot that a guy will develop quick enough into someone to replace the yards that Brown generates. And replacing the WC yardage has/would prove to be difficult. The Pat White pundits would argue the point, but he's pretty much shown to not be that guy. Or the troika made a huge blunder with drafting him as an NFL QB ?? That's for another debate though. So at this point, keeping Brown is the most logical process for us. If, as it appears, the CBA is not extended, then keeping him will be easier and cheaper as well. Just my opinion, but the logic says to keep Brown and concentrate on other needed areas since there are still many holes to fill. Don't create another hole to try to fill one of the existing ones...

 

Not to mention we gave up TWO first round picks for Ricky.

 

I hope that I didn't imply that it would be easy to replace Ronnie Brown and everything he brings to the table. Especially in regards to the wildcat. Ultimately your closing is one of the points I was trying to make. With so many holes on this team and the fact we have 5 guys manning this position, I can't see the reason to go out and grab another running back for the roster, unless the value is too great to pass up.

 

agreed not a need
however
could see a deal w/ the Raiders for McFadden, giving up Porter and/or GinnJr. in the exchange

 

a few guys to think on for late rounds...not that I am a fan of all of them...

Lamarcus Coker, Hampton
Keiland Williams, LSU
Joseph Turner, TCU
Shawnbrey McNeal, SMU
Brandon Minor, Michigan

All over 210 (possibly McNeal is not) or so...all under 4.6 in all probability, all good inside runners, all have played major competition.....all have left some things undone and have upside maybe not seen yet..........Coker is a knucklehead, Williams is a one cut type runner, Turner may get your QB killed in blitz packages, McNeal has not played a lot, and Minor cannot catch a cold...so they have issues....but......they are also all fairly talented with the ball in their hands....Minor may drop it, McNeal does not know what it looks like, Coker will want to smoke it, and Turner may never find it....but they are decent runners.............

 

please remember I've been calling for McFadden when we do pick him up

 

I think when your team spends 155 million + on the offensive line hope is they can open holes for almost any running back and spending huge dollars for a running back is not a priority for a position that breaks players down after a few years

 

and what does previous regimes have to do with the
philosophy with Parcells and Company.?

 

Towards the end of the year, i started having flashbacks of Ricky in 02/03 where we ran him into the ground. Against the Jags I believe we ran it with Ricky 28 times!

 

Good post and good discussion topic. The current make up of our roster does not make this a priority. Ronnie, Ricky, Cobbs and Hilliard are virtual locks to make the roster. Polite is also a likely shoe in. We still have kory sheets which is also a possibility. Were good til at least 2011.

 

The fact that even though this regime doesn't seem to think highly of drafting RB's early the 2 best and most talented RB's on this team are former first round picks. There is a difference in talent between those 2 RB's and a later round prospect such as Lex Hilliard. Despite their belief that you can draft RB's in later rounds and be successful when it comes to game time the they rub the R&R express every chance you get.

Sometimes you just can't cheap out on a position.

 

sometimes you have to
ronnie turns 30 in december
terrell davis was a sixth round pick
that guy was pretty damn good
remember?

 

Ricky will have a MonsterYear running behind the Orca-5
however, McFadden would be the answer to the future
while providing an immediate upgrade to the running game
& I believe it is a doable negotiation, trading GinnJr./Porter

 

Pat white is still around so what does that tell you.