Not a bad list, don't agree with all of it though (Ronnie should be higher, Fasano? He hasn't done anything in the NFL Yet)
That's debatable. Avg. backs are but high talent ones are not. If you wan't to argue that Brown isn't a top back fine but I think he has the talent to achieve the lower tier of elite backs in the league. Ask Dan Marino how easy it is to find top backs. We were never able to draft one single back with special talent his entire career.
I'm not arguing anything about Ronnie Brown. I'm arguing that the running game is much more dependent on the offensive line than the running back. As good as Adrian Peterson was last year, with 5.6YPC, Chester Taylor was just as good, with 5.4YPC. Now would you say Taylor was as good as Peterson?
I hope that Ferguson is that high, as that means that he's doing a heck of a job against the run. That's something we're going to direly need this season, particularly with the loss of Zach.
OK, let me correct myself. RBs are replaceable when you have competent replacements. Jesse Chatman still averaged 4 YPC...our running game was not a problem
I have to disagree. YPC when the team is out to stop the running game is different than YPC when the team does not care much about the running game
I agree. Do you have any metrics to support that Chatman was let to run free, while Ronnie was keyed on?
I do have quotes from Belechick that their defense wanted to stop Ronnie and were not able to. I just cannot see Chatman as a runningback teams are scared of or actually care to stop. Mostly by the fact that he isn't good.
TOTALLY agree that Ferguson is critical and has NO equal (or even close to equal) replacement on the roster. He goes down, our run defense is shaky at best. Will Allen is probably the only guy who can mostly hang with a #WR on our roster. Ted Ginn is the only WR with real speed. Without him we are not a threat to pass deeper than 15 yards effectively, and thus defenses could crowd the line and clog up the running game and short routes, strangling us. These three are critical to our success and have no one behind them who can do what they do well. I would put Ginn above allen, though.
Re: Running backs.... Ricky Williams is a GREAT #2 back compared to the dudes at #2 behind Ferguson, allen and Ginn. I think that's the article's point.
Good point. I guess it means players currently on the roster. I know they'll always be on that big roster there in your heart, alen. lol.
They would if Miami had a defense that wasn't complete crap. I do not believe any player that causes the defense to focus on them is replaceable. I do think that having a great line will help the situation, especially when you have a great line that Chatman would have to be stopped. I just think that a better runningback would be better and cause defenses to really focus rather than kind of focus. I am of the belief that NFL is a game where a little focus goes a long way.
Yeah, what about the year before Brown was drafted...we went thru 5 or 6 RBs and none of them replaced what we had had with RW, to that point ??
The offensive line was horrible. You can go around the league and look at teams that have gone from a great RB to a lesser RB, and achieved similar results.
Sure he averaged 4 ypc, but couldn't get it done when we had to, when we needed to be able to run the clock out, etc.. So far, when we've had to have a yard or two, Brown has done that...Chatman couldn't...at any rate the bottom line, as you pointed out (I think) RB isn't on the list because RW as a backup to Brown is better than the backups for any of the other guys mentioned here...
You can also go around the league and look at teams that have gone from a great QB to a lessar QB and achieve similar results, same with OL and with WR. Still doesn't mean the team isn't better with the great player
We arent talking about being better or worse. We are discussing who is least replaceable. Of course the team is better with Ronnie than without, but if you asked me if Id rather have Brown or Will Allen get injured, Id tell you Brown.
That is hard for me. I would say Will Allen, however I can see why you would say Brown. IMO it is almost like asking which one of the legs of the table do you want to cut off.
You remind me of that line in Star Wars Revenge of the sith, "only sith deal in absolutes!" Define replaceable. You can replace him, but will they be as good. Who's going to replace a LT. Who's going to replace a Stephen Jackson? Westbrook? Forget that, who replaced Ronnie Brown last year? Chatman did an admirable job for 2-3 games, but after that .... flatline. Check out our run game from Pittsburgh and on. That includes Chatman for a couple games.
MUCH better with the great skill position player. You'd think this line of thought would be a given but I guess not. All these teams are crazy to draft such high profile QB's and running backs like they do. Also why enshrine any of these guys into the HOF? QB's being called field generals..... pfft! You need a team of balanced talent but no player that has greatness is "replaceable". Solid support players can be acquired while that rare talent is a much harder commodity to attain.
The question is who is the most irreplaceable. I just think that the dropoff from Brown to the second string running back is a lot less than the dropoff for most other positions. I think it holds true for the running back position in general. Of course you can't replace guys like LT or Adrian Peterson, but their backups have had success too.
Actually you could make a strong argument that they did. Teams go into any contest looking to take away a teams biggest weapon as their strategy. It's pretty obvious that Brown was the weapon and he was just about the only thing player that gave us an advantage on the field.
We all know that Denver is a prime example on why they can repalce running backs and there is no drop off in production, at least it has been the same for the last 4years, o so... But...when you don't have a good OL, and have just a decent or average one, a top tier RB makes a BIG difference when he is replaced by an average running back... Example Lamar Smith...Ricky Williams... from 2000-2001 Lamar averaged 3.6 YPC with Miami. In 2001 Lamar averaged 3.4 YPC... Ricky comes in 2002 and only one new OL lineman (Jammie Nails) and averages 4.8 YPC...
We also got Norv Turner in 2002... Just look at Sean Alexander or Larry Johnson to see how important an good OL is to a running back
You are telling me...I had Ronnie on my fantasy team... i got so pissed when Lemon threw the pick that I left the room, and didn't even see the injury...
yeah that was a much, much better argument, but I honestly am trying to forget that season. More so than the 1-15 season.
