Training Camp Preview Part 2: Running Backs

Pretty nice breakdown. Thanks for sharing it.
I believe that RW is the more talented back, though. He's certainly done more through the course of his career. RB has had that one 1,000 yd season to date.
I know; its debatable. RB still has a lot to prove.
Like you, I would expect RB to get more carries. I think he'll be given the opportunity to prove that he's the most talented running back on the team with increased carries.
To be honest; IMO Jake Long, Pennington, Taylor and even Porter are more talented players.

 

To be honest, I don't agree with you.

 

The Ricky Williams Miami has now is less talented than the Ronnie Brown Miami has now.

 

Regardless of who is more talented, we have a talented group of backs who will be spectacular in this year's offense.

 

On all points?

 

Where is Lousaka Polite in all of this?

As for Ricky, we'll see, I suspect he will start really strong this season as he has been back in football for an entire calendar year now, whatever he has left in the tank will be maximized and on display.

 

Ricky is the best RB we have but looks like he gave up and is just happy to have a spot and pay check.What a shame with the talent he has ..

 

Or maybe it's just time to admit he's not the same Rb he once was?

 

Not this year or last year.

 

I really don't agree that Ricky is more talented than Ronnie or ever has been.

He was widely thought of as a bust in NO, and his yards per carry as a Dolphin weren't any more impressive than Ronnie. The only difference between the two is that we ran Ricky into the ground while Ronnie has split carries.

Not to mention Ricky only had one great year and one slightly above average for us. And the great year can be attributed to an excessive amount of carries.

 

in his case it seems to be eroding mental skills, not physical. It irks me, because i think the talent could still be explosive.

The stride he hit in that seattle game when he went untouched for 6 was a beautiful thing to watch, untouched being the key word though. He lost the violence in his game last year...lets hope he finds it again and committs some crimes on the football field again.

I literally used to feel sorry for the opponent in the 4th quarter when ricky ran the way ricky can....hope your reading this 34

 

We could have one of the best tandems in the league next year. It will be exciting watching these two run for us.
Good second post, btw.

 

to me it doesn't matter who is more talented: Ricky of 5 years ago, Ricky now, Ronnie up to now, or Ronnie in the future ... no matter, they are both healthy and will have likely the best line either of these 2 have seen by the end of this year. They are a very good tandem ... used effectively, they will continue to punish defenses

the 'battle' to watch is as indicated the 4th RB ... Hilliard vs Kimble ... this battle could have lasting effects on our starting tandem come next year.

 

One great year ...ok I will do the work for you, it does not matter were he got his carries he ran them


2000 -1000 yds
2001 -1245 yds
2002- 1853 yds
2003- 1372 yds
2005 -750 yds

After that he decided his smoking was more important then his career . Those numbers dont come from being lucky my friend the guy has it but decided to waste his life.

 

I been saying that for a while,I just find it funny when people compare ronnie and ricky.They are not the same RB by far.

 

He didn't say those numbers came from luck first of all.

Secondly, why don't you put up the number of carries for each?

 

I don't think he was widely thought of as a bust in NO, alex. Why do you think that he was?
I'm having trouble with copying and pasting so you'll have to take my word for it, but..
99 - 253 /884 yds rushing 172 yds rcv
00 - 248/1000 yds rushing 409 yds rcv
01 - 313/1245 yds rushing 511 yds rcv
Those were his NO stats. DO you really think he was viewed as a bust?
I think he was viewed as an oddball that a previous coach had overpaid for and someone that Haslett didn't want to deal with anymore. He wanted Deuce McAllister which made RW expendable.

 

Ronnie is without a doubt one of the most complete backs in this league.

He's a Fullback

 

Lucky for Ronnie we are committed to what he knows best & has always been successful at: the Tandem.
Ronnie & Ricky will run in Tandem. There will be no featured back, unless one of them is injured. Would not sell Williams short, plenty of tread left on those wheels. I see an excellent RunningGame for 2009.

 

They are a tandem the same way Wham was a tandem and Hall and Oates were a tandem.

 

He definitely was considered a bust. I think it was largely related to the price they paid to get him and his injuries. At a minimum he wasn't considered to be more than a good back. He was never considered a special back there.

By that same measure he's been a bust for Miami as well. One great year and one decent year as a starter was certainly a great deal less than what they envisioned when they gave up to #1s for him.

 

Did i say he said that

 

I misread your post. My bad.

 

not that it matters, but Ricky lacked success in NO - mainly because he was too big ... he dropped weight when he came here, kept his power and brought back his speed. Then we decided to abuse him. He deserved a better fate in the NFL, and he has it now - here .... even though it costs him touches, i believe that Ronnie has benefitted greatly from having Ricky around.

 

No problem it happens,Dont get me wrong i dont agree with lots of people who think he is a bust,I just dont think he nothing special like i thought he would be.
He really dissapointed me but then again i wanted an LT and adrian P type of palyer and they dont come easy.

 

The people in NO expected a lot more than that out of him, and never thought he lived up to his potential. After the trade to get him the expectations were NOT the same as an average back. Most of their fans thought he was an underachiever.

Those arent the stats of a player who had an entire draft traded for him, solid but not great.

 

Thanks.

But he is an AP type player. Just look at the stats from last year.

 

how did they decide to abuse him? They gave him the ball. He wanted the ball and he gave it to him.

He quit, plain and simple.

 

I think the only real disparity between the two is the "Home Run" ability. We all know AP can take it to the house on any play, while Ronnie has not shown that capability. I think that's the first thing to comes to mind when people compare running backs. For this reason, the mainstream will never put him in the same class as an AP or LT IMO.

Michael Turner and Ronnie Brown are classic examples of high YPC guys who don't necessarily wow you with their speed. Shaun Alexander was another guy who didn't wow anyone but put up a few amazing seasons.

 

How many home runs do you think AP hit last year? How about Ronnie?

 

The only really long run (for a TD) I can seem to remember for Ronnie was the one out of the Wildcat in New England for 60+ yards. (I was at that game BTW, and it was sweet)

For the most part, his TD's were inside the 20.

I confess to only seeing AP in highlights on SportsCenter, but it seemed to me he's had quite a few in his young career. As far as last year, I couldnt tell you how many.

 

yes, he did

if you want to get any longevity out of a RB, you don't run him like Wannabee did ... and knowing you would get no better all over again, i can understand why you would not want to ...

will never excuse it, but it is what it is ... people quit every day ... they quit on themselves, they quit on their fellow employees, they quit on their families, they quit on their spouses, etc, etc, etc ...

 

I don't think Miami abused him up until 2004. If Ricky had played that season, he most definitely would have been abused. That offensive line was a turnstyle. Defenders crashed through that line untouched and it resulted in an absolute meat grinder for the RB position. How many RBs were injured that year? If Ricky had played that year, I don't think he would have lasted 3 games.

Not saying that excuses Ricky for quitting, but I would have been a little hesitant myself.

I think everything happens for a reason. Because Ricky wasn't destroyed in that 2004 campaign, he is healthy for us now to be the perfect compliment to Ronnie during a superbowl run!

 

So what? That doesn't preclude rushing ability. Le'Ron McClain is a fullback, and had a grand total of 170 rushing yards to his college career. Jerome Bettis started off as a fullback, etc. and so on.

Polite has shown some ability to run the ball. His YPC isn't amazing, but it's really good for how he was used. 3.7 YPC is pretty good for someone whose carries overwhelmingly came as a fullback in I-formations in short yardage situations.

It isn't a big stretch that Polite gets some carries that aren't a yard and a cloud of dust.

 

Maybe that's the whole problem. Or was the whole problem. I can't imagine what level of performance would in fact be acceptable from one player that would justify trading your entire draft for.
We talk about that 3 year window for draft picks to pan out. Well RW had that breakout season his third year in the league. He had a great 3rd year. 1700+ all purpose yards; over 1200 yds on the ground, etc.

 

I never said it did preclude rushing ability, I pointed out that he was a FB not a HB and the OP was listing HBs, so technically he wouldnt fit in the HB list the OP provided.

 

I would expect that you could justify trading a whole draft if it helped bring a championship. RW hasn't really been part of much team success.

That's actually been the story of his career (well one of them). I don't think that he was worth the two #1s we paid for that one great and one good year. And I don't think his 600+ yards was worth the $3 million or so he made last year. He's slated to make about $3.5 million this year and his numbers will probably decrease from last year (more touches for RB and Cobbs). I don't see him coming back at the same pay again. I think he'll have to take considerably less if he wants to play here another year after 2009.

 

Ronnie has never done anything to sniff Ricky's 2002 season. Over 2200 yards from the LOS, 4.8 ypc, 17 TDs.

It was only one year but we have yet to see one year like that from Ronnie

 

I don't even see a hint of "Ricky just happy to have a spot and collecting his paycheck". He is constantly praised for his hard work and team player attitude.

As DJ said, I don't think he ran with the same intensity last year that we were accustomed to, but I think him having another year under his belt he will be in better shape. On the other hand he is also a year older so somethings have to dimish, its just how it is. Still I think this team is lucky to have a backup as good as Ricky Williams on our team.