The underutilizing of Ronnie Brown

I couldnt agree more. He needs to get the ball and we need to run more on first down, preferably with him.

 

The reality of the situation is that Ricky Williams is playing very well too.

In fact, he's arguably playing better, at this point, from a YPC standpoint.

That's not true. I actually went through the quarter-by-quarter YPC on both players over their careers. Ronnie Brown peaks in the 10-15 carry range, Ricky Williams peaked later on.

I don't understand why it's inexcusable. If it wasn't working, if Brown was producing clearly better than the other two backs who are getting carries, sure.

 

One thing I want to point out is that your own statement seems to have its wires crossed.

You said that you went through quarter-by-quarter YPC on both players, but then said that Brown peaks in the 10-15 carry range. Those are apples and oranges comparisons.

Now had you said that you compared carry by carry YPC or that Brown peaks in the third quarter, I could understand the connection.

Also, I've done my own research on Brown's production (carry by carry) and there's one very clear trend:

When Brown gets 18+ carries, he almost always hits the 100-yard plateau and almost always scores a touchdown.

 

lol

 

I think the more players we can get involved in the game and be effective is a positive for the entire team. Obviously our players stay fresher. Another aspect is that opposing teams only get a week to prepare against us and the more players that contribute on the team makes it more difficult to spend extra amounts of time studying any particular player.

I also think spreading the ball around is a good internal stratgy. Players on our roster feel like they are not just sitting on the bench waiting to get a chance after someone gets hurt. They are all involved all season. I think it also the level of competition high within the team and when it's time to negotiate contracts players are very aware that this team does not rely on the play of one person to suceed.

I definitely agree on the condition of our inteior O-Line as well. It is hurting bad and we dont have the ability to punch it up the middle. I think he is better suited on sweep plays. Ronnie is a great back punching it up the middle and catching it out in flat but he dosnt have the right running style for sweep type runs and breaking free open field tackles. Ronnie needs blockers to open holes for him to pound through. Ricky is the better of the two in open field running.

 

ive always thought he had vision issues, which explains why Cam used him on kickoff returns last year and why hes been successful out of the Wildcat formation.

 

Backs can't run if the linemen don't open the holes.
Backs can't run if the linemen don't hold their blocks and drive.
Backs can't run if half the defense is a couple of yards on our side of the line of scrimmage by the time the back tries to hit the gap.

Sometimes the offensive linemen open holes that my Aunt Tilly could run through, and the backs get loose in the second level and bite off huge chunks of yardage. You've seen it happen. What the OL needs is consistency. You get that only wih time together.

 

I'm posting in this once more just to try to bump the stupid "Ronnie vs. Adrian Peterson" thread... Who probably has twice the carries of Ronnie. Sparano is a smart guy so I'm sure he has a vision to what he's doing.