Quite recently, the Miami Dolphins' running game was considered vibrant, cutting-edge and borderline dominant. The Wildcat unleashed all sorts of possibilities for Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams in 2008. They were an envied backfield tandem. Brown went to the Pro Bowl. In 2009, with Brown battling injuries, Williams rushed for over 1,100 yards. The Dolphins tied for the NFL lead with 22 rushing touchdowns. They ranked fourth in run offense and eighth in average yards per carry. Perceptions swung 180 degrees last year. The Dolphins went from a model of rushing excellence to anemic. They ranked 11th in carries, but 21st in yards. Their average carry plummeted 0.7 yards to a measly 3.7. Only the Cincinnati Bengals were worse. What in the world happened? http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/29424/miamis-backfield-about-diminishing-returns Pretty good article by Tim Graham.
Oline went to hell in a hand basket and Big Jake manned up and played all year on a banged up knee and finished out with a trashed shoulder. Hence the reason the Front Office went Oline with the 1st overall pick. Watch the undrafted FA signings, they are still gonna throw bodies in the mix and hopefully look for depth.
NFL.com senior analyst and former New York Jets executive Pat Kirwan recently rated Brown 31st among all running backs and trending down from there. Kirwan wrote: "Teams seeking a backup for 10 carries and a Wildcat role should value Brown." Ricky was rated #53 by Kirwan.. 2nd to last in yards per carry, 11th in carries..Pathetic variable for a QB to deal with.. Tough for a regime to turn over a unit that inherited 2, top 2 overall picks, and quickly watched them fall flat on their face..Not really their fault you know?, they had no choice but to stick with those players.. This is just one of the many reason's why the 4th year should be the right year for evaluation of this particular regime. Can't do it all in three years..
That is how it has been going Deej, they plug one hole, the offense in 09, only to see the D collapse, in 10 they plug the Defense, and the Running Game collapses, to me that is a function of the great 08 season they could not make true wholesale changes. This yr so far they concentrated on the Offense in the Draft which paid dividends with the Defense in 10, if things stay true to form the Offensive woes should be remedied, the problem is they are always a step slow in foreseeing problems so who knows what may crop up this yr? Wr problems? Certainly possible as they are not fans of Veteran Depth, if Beast is removed from the equation Hartline moves up, but would BH and Bess scare defenses? Comfortable with Gates seeing Starters snaps? Moore? Wallace?
Seems we also passed the ball more when we got in the red zone. Remember the first Jets game? 1st and goal chance to tie in the final minute...pass, pass, pass, pass, lost. Henne moved the chains and when it came to the red zone he stopped. And yes the O-Line was bad which hurt too. And too much wildcat which was figured out and cant be effective without a good oline.
Why do you have Marshall removed from the equation?..if he is were screwed...A trade for Steve Smith or a signing of Plaxico would be in order.. I don't agree on the point that they are late to recognize problems, I just think problems are plentiful when they took over..I really love the draft strategy the past 2 years..
Here's a strange stat on our OL's run blocking from PFF. In 08 we graded out at 8.7, and were #16. In 09, we got a grade of 61, and were #3. In 10, we got a grade of -23 but, were #13.
