Ronnie Brown underutilized as a receiver ?

I still can't figure out why he isn't used in the "Marshall Faulk" type way, why he isn't split out wide and sent downfield more often. I think he has the speed, the hands, and the body control to pull that off, and I think the guy he'd be matched up against would probably have a tough time defending him.

 

what i notice also about this video, is satele's great downfield blocking abilities. so glad we picked him up, he's going to be a fantastic asset on this team for years (along with ronnie of course, who is the man)

 

Really looking forward to seeing what Ronnie can do behind an improved line this year. He's easily one of the best backs in the league, once he gets holes to run through and a steady Qb he will get the recognition he deserves. Hopefully he's 100% by the start of the season.

 

It doesn't help that his last two coordinators were morons. One (Mularkey) would be over matched by a 10 year old playing Madden and the other one (Cameron) thought it would be a good idea to split his carries for a month.

 

The title scared me that the thread was going to ask for a position change lol. If I'd seen who the poster was I would have known better.

Thanks for the footage. What jumps out at me is what a fluid runner he is, he just makes it look so effortless.

 

Man for a second there I thought this was a call for Ronnie to be moved to WR!!!! Almost ranked this up there with the "Zach to saftey" thread from yester-year.....

Couldnt agree more about Ronnie if you watch him play his talent is undeniable if he stays healthy he has 2,000 all purpose yards written all over him.

 

Ronnie has some moves for a big boy.

 

I think we both know that it was only two games and Ronnie still had 8 catches is these two games. In the other 5 games he had 31 catches. Cameron made a mistake at the beginning and I give him a lot of credit for admitting it. But he did a good job of getting Ronnie involved in the passing game.

 

Sure the first month raised some eyebrows but Ronnie was enjoying a Pro Bowl caliber year under Cameron's tutelage before the injury. Probably the only bright spot from last year, and it was brief.
Wasn't he also our leading receiver or close to it before the injury?

 

Well I guess the question is whether or not Cam was using some sort of motivational ploy or just that bad of a coach. I tend to lean more towards him just being that bad of a coach. The bad coaches over think things and he seems to fit that bill.

 

I disagree. Brown had at least five catches in every game but one: the second game of the year. And moreover, Brown only split carries the first two games. Granted, that was two games too long, but I don't think there's much evidence to suggest that Cameron did wrong by Ronnie Brown. I believed at the time, and still believe, that Cameron wanted to light a fire under Brown's ***. And the evidence suggests it might have done just that.

Cameron's inability to light a fire under anyone else's *** (except Joey Porter, and for the entirely wrong reason) was the problem.

 

Use him as like a Brian WestBrook maybe

 

I think most coaches display this attitude when figureing out who will start. Look at Wanny with Jay F. MOST of them probably cant help it. They feel more comfortable with the known than the unknown. That is the ONLY reason I would think Henne would even get a brief look at playing time this year. He is THEIR guy. But I also dont really think it will happen.

 

Why Crunch, that could have been the "new" "Move Zach to Safety" thread...

Ricky was a decent receiver out of the backfield as well, who do you think is better at it?

I've got to say between Ricky and Ronnie, with Ricky starting the season, we should have a heck of an exciting backfield.

 

I don't know if he was our leading receiver at the time but I'm pretty sure he was leading the league in in yards from scrimmage when he got injured.

 

Ricky was a pretty fair receiver out of the backfield, Ronnie is as well, but I don't think that was a large part of the dallas offense last year, at least it wasn't noteworthy.

 

You know what I think is really noticeable? Whether he's initially a runner or a receiver, he more than most players is super aware of where that 1st down marker is!!!

You see it in every one of the examples you put out there Brother Crunch. Ronnie has keen awareness of where he is on the field with respect to where the first down is. What a player.

 

Very true. I have to give him more props than I have in the past for that reason alone. He is going to be a long term special player for us. I am glad Cartersville, GA is on the map because of him.

 

I'm with you on that. In spite of Cameron's many faults he seemed to understand how to emphasize RB's strengths. As I recall, after 5 games RB was leading the league in total yards from scrimmage?? So hopefully Sparano will recognize his pass catching skills, as well.

 

Oh I disagree with this brother crunch. All due respect there's a variety of reasons.

For starters, if Ronnie goes down with injury we're in trouble because our backups are unproven as far as recent history (Ricky) or any history goes. Yeah theres a better chance of him getting injured between the tackles but Id limit his workload at least for a little while to exclusively running.

Additionally, why do we have receivers? To catch the ball. Why is Ronnie doing double time as the primary option on some plays when he hasnt even shown he can get through an entire season?

I bring these issues up because I like Ronnie. I think the responsibility to has to be placed on others to step up and fill their roles. Theres a real good chance we are going to be a power running team, one very conservative in how we move the ball on offense. If we expect Ronnie Brown to be successful, others will have to do more. To utilize Ronnie Brown as a receiver is a complete waste of his ability as a runner. At some point he will wear down faster from running pass routes. No in my opinion Ronnie Brown is best utilized on passing downs keeping John Beck, Chad Henne, or Josh McCown standing.

We have receivers to catch balls and a newly acquired TE for that role as well. We have Lex Hilliard, Ricky, and Jalen Parmale if you want to use a back as a receiver. Ronnie Brown should first and foremost be a running back. To deviate at all from that would not only be a disservice to Ronnie Brown but to this entire team.

 

Ronnie Brown is a ridiculously talented football player, Top three in the NFL.

Going into last year he did not take his craft serious enough, he did not train his body like a professional athlete should until last year, he started getting into the weight room more, dropped a few pounds and we all saw the results, i also think Cam did a nice job motivating him.

I remember writing a thread last year that the next game was a pivitol game for ronnie brown and his fans. I always knew he had the god given talent, {amazing feet combined with power} but lacking in aggressiveness. Then he came out like a crazed dog that game and never looked back.

Iam worried about his knee i cannot lie, most of his talent comes from the waist down, his cutting ability is a joy to watch, his deceptive power is breathtaking, iam scared that tearing the ACL affects the two attributes that make Ronnie...Ronnie

 

I suspect we split carries again or even feature Ricky (if he's up to it) early on in the season, like first 3-4 games. It would allow Ronnie the time to come back from the injury, lessen the hitting and the soreness. For you conspiracy theorists, it would also pump up any trade value for Ricky (though personally, I think he's worth more than any average 4th rounder as is).

But yeah, Ronnie can do it all when healthy. We could make a whole other thread on his blocking value. In fact, if you think about it, Ronnie can simultaneously fill the HB and an H-back role for us.

 

I have a few things to say about the subject matters raised in this thread.

One, is to the people like shouright that have been asking why Ronnie isn't used more like Marshall Faulk. I would say the problem is that Ronnie Brown does not create separation as a receiver, he does not create it but rather he exploits the separation he is given. Marshall Faulk is not the kind of receiving back that he is, IMO. Ronnie is not a Marshall, not a Brian Westbrook, not even a Reggie Bush. Any of those guys you can line up on the line of scrimmage as a slot receiver and they can create separation on their own with their route running. Watch Ronnie Brown play, heck just watch that video Crunch took the time to put together. Almost every single catch, what is the nature of the catch? If it was a bit down the field, it was a broken play and scramble. Otherwise, it was an uncovered leak route out of the backfield against a zone defense. I'm not trying to knock him but the reason Ronnie Brown is a special receiver is because of his ability to run AFTER the catch, not before it. This is why you'll never quite see him used like you would a Marshall Faulk. Any defensive back, if given the responsibility, could probably shut Ronnie Brown down completely in the passing game if the defense made the decision to commit that DB to man coverage on him. Certain linebackers could probably do it depending on the style of defense played, if the team committed to man coverage instead of zones.

Again, I'm not trying to knock the guy because I've been saying he's special since I saw him play his first year here in Miami...and I have had many an argument with people that tried to say he's not very good. But, let's be honest about what he is. He's a good runner with great balance and power, good feet that tend to stay under him enough to get that extra yard or two that mediocre backs do not get, and he has soft hands. But, a gifted route runner he is not. Therefore, there's no use trying to fit a square peg into a round hole as far as how to use Ronnie in the passing game.

Another point I have to wonder about is what Crunch said about Trent Green vs. Cleo Lemon in terms of their tendency to throw to Brown. I'm not sure I see that. First off keep in mind that Cleo only had half the time with Ronnie that Trent had. Trent Green played 17 quarters with Ronnie Brown. Cleo Lemon only played 9 quarters with him before Ronnie went down.

During the 9 quarters that Cleo played with Ronnie, he successfully completed 19 passes to Brown for 141 yards. During the 17 quarters that Trent played, Ronnie caught 20 passes for 248 yards. No matter how you look at it, catches per quarter (2.1 versus 1.2) or yards per quarter (15.7 versus 14.6), Ronnie actually saw MORE action with Cleo at the helm. Maybe Ronnie's yards per catch was down, but I think you could easily argue that Ronnie was game planned a lot more strongly while Cleo was in as opposed to while Trent was in the game. A great example of that was New England. After the game, Cameron said that NE came at Ronnie Brown with special attention, and he still shook loose for some impressive RAC.

A third thing to consider is, with this whole shared carries business, it was still just one game. It was still just the Redskins game. Ronnie didn't have to deal with shared carries in the Cowboys game. All he dealt with was a game plan that called for Trent Green to try and take advantage of Roy Williams' lax coverage in the passing game. Trent pretty much screwed the pooch on that one. He had open men and he just missed them. And then he'd throw stinkers to the opposition, or screw up his pocket awareness. Cameron had him sharing in the Skins game because he wasn't quite convinced yet that the single back approach was the right way to go yet. Ronnie hadn't showed him that he is LaDainian yet, and if the guy's not LaDainian then Cameron wanted to default to the same kind of shared carry system that is becoming WILDLY popular in today's NFL, including by the people that will be calling our offense this year. Ronnie had a good week of practice before the Dallas game and Cam wanted to feature him more that game, but afterwards admitted the game just got away from them and so they couldn't execute on that promise. The next week they took a hell or high water approach to featuring Ronnie Brown. From that point onward it was the Ronnie Brown show.

 

Now just picture Jake Long running downfield next to Satele with Ronnie or Ricky behind them...

Kinda makes me not worry to much who the QB is this year, So long as he can hand off without tripping over something that is.

EDitPS:
Crunchy baby, me love you long time

 

Ronnie doesn't need to catch more balls to be more effective. We just need to let him touch it more in general.

On an unrelated note. I'd like to see Ronnie run behind Justin Smiley and Vernon Carey off the right side, and then lateral the ball to Ginn streakng full speed the opposite direction. Kinda like a reverse, but further up the field. I just feel the lateral is extremely underused.

 

Wasn't Brown leading the team in receptions before he became injured? I think Cam, once he realized giving so many carries to Chapman was just silly, really focused on getting him the ball as much as possible.

 

I think the point here is that a professional football coach should not have to realize that Ronnie Brown is better than a Jesse Chapman in the first place. Some things go without much deliberation and film study, this was one of them.

 

He mocked the doubters, including myself, when it comes to his indecisiveness, and lack of nose for the end zone last year. We knew that he needed some time to get revved up, smacked around and get those legs churning, as he averages 4.7 yards per carry between carries 11-20, which is 5th in the league, but, I remember that among the pinpricks was a supposed hesitation behind the line, and indolent instincts inside the red zone.

In 7 games, he was stuffed behind the line of scrimmage 6 times. If you consider he ran the ball 119 times, that comes out to .05 stuffs per rush. 1st in the league folks. So much for him Texas shuffling in the backfield.

Inside the 10, we gave him the rock 13 times, and he scored 4 times, which comes out to a touchdown running inside the 10 ratio of 30.8%. That ratio was good enough for 5th in the league, in front of other notables such as LT (28.6%), MJD (18.5%), Fast Willie (6.3%).

Now, those stats were in half a season, and he might have come back to earth between games 7 and 16, but really, the only Florida size bubble he needs to burst is the injury prone one now. If he stays healthy for a full slate, I don't see how he can't be considered a top 3 back next year.

 

Nice posts by all members. I agree that Ronnie needs to get the ball on offense any way possible. The guy is a monster when healthy and can do damage. Lets just hope he stays healthy and picks it up where he left off.

 

Hes the best receiving RB in the NFL in my opinion full stop. Ive been harping on about this fact since he first wore a Dolphins uni. Apart from the fact he is a power back goes to show what a special player weve got in Brown. Shame Lemon got his knee injured otherwise Ronnie would have been wearing a Hawaii shirt at the end of last season.

 

mmm, he's close, but I think I'd still give the edge to b.west right now. he has shown he can consistently be a receiving threat out of the backfield, however, ronnie could very well be better and we just haven't seen it yet, due to lack of qb/line talent.

 

Well weve got a better O-Line on paper and QB position is better by competition alone. Ronnie will get runs whoever hands off to him. Will be interesting to see how we use Ronnie and how he is fitness wise coming the new season.

 

While I do agree with you to an extent, there was surely logic behind Cam's decision last year. Perhaps he was trying to give Brown extra motivation - perhaps Chapman was out performing him in practice - or more likely it was Chapman's familiarity with the playbook after playing for Cam in SD that gave him the initial edge over Brown. I feel this criticism is misguided; after all, Cam had Brown in a position to have an MVP caliber year prior to his injury.