how can he (Brown) re-establish himself as an every down back, a work horse, if he has never carried the load? Brown is excellent @ Tandem. Ronnie & Ricky are great together, maybe the best Tandem in the NFL when Ronnie is healthy. I'm not concerned w/anything but winning which means running the Tandem. look for Ricky to enter the new season w/ renewed vigor & a very positive attitude. Ricky is a good thing; Ronnie is a good thing & they are a better thing yet when running in tandem. they'll have the offensive line & passing game working in their favor. the Tandem from Hell will scorch the field this year. may they run all the way to the SuperBowl in 2010.
I gathered that the person is saying that Brown should "re-establish" himself as a back who catches the ball well out of the backfield. I think the "wear into the ground" comment is from the Dolphins' standpoint; of which I agree. Run Ronnie into the ground, because, though he has not necessarily done it consistently, he has done it on occasion. I think, if Ronnie is deemed healthy, Miami should continue with the Ronnie/Ricky tandem with Ronnie getting more of the carries. Ricky, also, is not a back who should carry the brunt of the load by himself. They work very well together.
very odd though how he calls ricky the feature back then says we should run ronnie into the ground and use him in the passing game. so ronnie as the third down back? I came away from that article wondering what he meant by the goal..... as a work horse which he says ronnie has never done or as a back in the passing game. agree on your opinion however that if ronnie is healthy he gets the majority of the snaps or touches and ricky less. they are a great tandem! don't want to divert the thread but anyone know if ronnie is running yet and where he is at with the injury? haven't heard anything in a while.
Yeah, reading back, it does seem like an odd suggestion by the person commenting. The last I heard on Ronnie is that he is walking around without a noticeable limp. I do not think he is scheduled to run anytime soon, but I think he should be nearly ready to go around TC? I could be totally off, but I am almost certain I read something along those lines a few weeks ago.....
Dude, I'm your friend on here, but the colors and stuff are getting to be too much for me to read. It actually takes work to get through it. The nickname for the o-line sucks. They were asked about it in an interview and hated it. I am sure you read about it last year. I do appreciate your optimism on a regular basis! I would love to run into you at a game! Things that are easy to read are good also. Artistic creativity may not be necessary here to get your point made.
Geez Huck, here's hoping its at a game, rather than a dark alley Dont take it too hard 23rd. ..at least you got a reach around.
I'm not a large fan of PCobbs' game, to me Hilliard is a larger, faster version. It makes -0- sense to "run Ronnie into the ground" simply because he has shown the more he is used, the better the chance he is injured, his workload in 08 seemed just about right, 214 carries or around 15 per game. I would like to see a smaller, faster back in the mix to take advantage of a worn down defense or one that goes with larger, slower players trying to stop the run. BTW 23rd...rock on Bro.
I don't like at all the idea of running Ronnie into the ground because it may be his last year here. Dave the idiot Wannesdedt ran Lamar Smith into the ground, then Ricky Williams. It was disgusting. For a team to preach loyalty and committment, to insist upon players busting their humps in the off season- to then use up a player like a cheap whore because he'll most likely be gone the next season- that shows very little organizational character imo. And when the day comes that we need a top free agent RB- if I were a FA RB looking at Miami, unless the money was huge I'd probably tell the FO to eff off and not risk being run into the ground as well. Loyalty goes both ways- if Ronnie got run into the ground I'd imagine that it would breed resentment, contempt and distrust amongst his teammates. They'd see him get mistreated and used up, then wonder when it would be their turn for the same. I'll pass on the whole concept. But to run Ronnie and Ricky fairly and hard- I'm all for that. If anything I'd like to see Ricky's workload increased a bit.
Its not Ronnie¨s fault that he has been underutilized as a receiver .He probably has the best hands on the team .Its on the coaches that he has not been used properly.
The idea of 'running Brown into the ground' is ridiculous because this regime doesn't look at using players in that fashion. Sparano himself has mentioned play count many times when discussing who's in the game and who's out. If JP had listened to Sparano about play count, perhaps he'd still be here (not that I think he'll be missed much, either in the locker room or on the field). This regime has a plan and they stick to it for the most part. I don't think we'll see much of a difference in how R&R are used except that they may ease Ronnie in some at the beginning of the season while he's rehabbing back into game shape. In the end, Ronnie will get about 65% of the workload, including the WC and some receptions while Ricky gets about 35% of the workload. Cobbs is a different back for a different purpose. If he takes anyone's spot on the field, it would most likely be when they have Ronnie running the WC with Cobbs replacing Ricky. He's a little quicker getting to the outside. What may be forgotten in this is that not only is Ronnie a good receiver, but so is Ricky.... No, they don't change the utilization of these guys at all, provided they are healthy. Now, the addition of Marshall may reduced the overall run/pass ration a smidge to compensate for Marshalls' strengths, but that is all.
Ronnie and Cobbs are better receivers than Ricky. Why change a formula that is working though? If Ronnie has a good year and wants to remain in Miami and isn't trying to ask too much we should keep him. Ricky seems to be hinting at playing beyond this season as well. The Dolphins should be looking to draft a promising rb next offseason regardless of what happens with these two. I'm a big Ronnie fan though and would love to see him have a big year and utilized to his abilities; running, receiving and WC. If he's healthy use him like he's healthy, if not, don't. We definitely don't have a replacement for him though and he does have a nice skill-set. As long as Henne progresses though it should make running a little less daunting. I HATE watching the backs get touched before getting to the line of scrimmage...
Excellent post Jim. I have been saying this about the organization for years. They have not impressed me with the way they always handle things. Ask Zach Thomas about loyality. I think this FO does hinder some top free agents from signing here. I think it will only get worse before better. Also IMHO, Wanny was the worst thing ever in the history of the franchise.
the running stable is first rate going into 2010 next year we may have some serious concerns to address along those lines
I'd change that to "Wanny was the worst thing ever in the history of any franchise". If you're not sure, ask the fans in Chitown how long it took to dig out from Wanny ??
We all love Ronnie when he's healthy, so does the Troika. But if he can't be relied on to last a full season (which has been more often than not), at some point they cut the ties. That's the way of this regime. Besides, Ronnie will be 29 yrs old after this season. It's doubtful he'll be here as the feature back after this year. Anything can happen.
I'd imagine that of all of Wayne Huizenga's mistakes as the owner of the Dolphins he'd rate hiring Wannesdedt as the greatest of them all. I saw him interviewed about his regrets, and the look on his face was priceless. As in "wtf was I thinking?" Without throwing JJ under the bus he confirmed that he relied heavily on JJ's stellar recommendation to hire Dumbstedt as head coach. Passing on Brees, Boldin, drafting Fletcher/Eddie Moore, sticking with Fiedler until the bitter end, running RW into the ground- what a run. To this day every time I see his name I think of how much he'd look like Yanni if someone put a Cher wig on his head.
I fully blame our coaching for his drop in receiving activity. Given the dismal state of our WR the past year, they deserve extra blame.
I know you speak for yourself Huck... 23rd has earned his respect on this board to be himself imo....I hope he does'nt change, he cracks me up sometimes... He will have to update his lineup though, no more smiley.
Ronnie Brown not getting more receptions is hardly the crime it's made out to be. He can catch well, but Patrick Cobbs is a better receiver and Ricky Williams a better pass protector. And when you're limiting Brown's snaps, that's the quick and dirty answer of where to cut them.
More productive? How so? both are part time backs, Hilliard was third on the team in ST tackles in 09, Cobbs had the same number of ST tackles in 08 at 14. Cobbs is dead slow to begin with and a smaller player, Hillard had 2 TD receptions in 09 to Cobbs one in 08. And Hilliard is 100% ready to play, Cobbs is trying to come back from an ACL.
Ricky is not the feature back unless ronnie is hurt. He would retire again before he was the feature back, he hates it. Im still not convinced we'll get rid of ronnie after this season and i hope we dont.