Posted by Sean in Fantasy Advice on Oct 14th 2009 (Print This)
Ronnie Brown headlines the best ground game in the league.
The Running Back By Committee (RBBC) has swept the league as coaches look to keep their studs healthy and optimize opportunity by creating situational backs. As the trend turned into an epidemic, fantasy owners found themselves frustrated as the “every-down back” looked to become dying breed. But the RBBC is not all that bad, and it has done what it was meant to do - keep your starters healthy. The ’08 season was dominated by the impressive tag-team duos of Chris Johnson and LenDale White, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward. But ’09 belongs to Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.
The Miami Dolphins have made use of what was thought to be a simple fad, but the Wild Cat Offense is here to stay. After an impressive victory over the New York Jets, the Dolphins have done something that no one else has done this year – truly run all over the Jets. Call them one-dimensional, but Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown were simply unstoppable vs. what was thought to be an incredibly aggressive Jets Defensive unit. Kris Jenkins was not the answer for the untamable cat.
Ricky and Ronnie have been amazing thus far. Looking at the stats reveal that Miami is atop the league in rushing:
Monday Night vs. New York:
Ronnie Brown: 21 rushes, 72 yards, 2 scores / 3 receptions, 14 yards
Ricky Williams: 11 rushes, 68 yards / 3 receptions, 70 yards
*Combined: 32 rushes, 140 yards, 2 scores / 6 receptions for 84 yards*
’09 Season Stats:
Ronnie Brown: 443 rushing yards, 6 scores / 9 caches, 64 yards receiving
Ricky Williams: 316 rushing yards, 2 scores / 11 catches, 132 yards receiving
*Combined: 759 rushing yards, 8 scores / 20 catches, 196 yards receiving*
The Dolphins have spent time diversifying the formation that they have become known for. Three different players lined-up as the set-back in the WC – Brown, Williams, and Rookie Pat White. The formation has evolved and is filled with new wrinkles and motions. The running game opened up the passing attack as the Jets defenders crowded the box in efforts to stifle the ground attack. Chad Henne looked poised and made the clutch passes when he was called upon. The important thing for him was that he didn’t turn the ball over. Is he the franchise quarterback that they have desperately been searching for? We can’t answer that after one good performance, but he looked good under the lights in this high-pressure match-up. Ronnie Brown looks extremely comfortable in the set back position. He has displayed excellent vision and quickness. His knee injury appears completely healed (knock on wood), and he rarely goes down on first contact. Although Miami utilized a second round pick on quarterback Pat White, Brown has remained the focus of the Wild Cat package. Ricky Williams was written off heading into this season as most expected Brown to push him out of the rotation. But the two backs seem to coexist quite well. They appear to fuel off each other’s energy, ripping off back to back impressive gains on a regular basis. The two both have great hands out of the backfield and are capable blockers. Miami has found ways of putting both play-makers on the field at the same time causing defensive coordinators head aches. Williams looks as fast as ever and does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
Although Miami opened up to a pathetic 0-3 start, they have had two straight wins vs. division rivals. Coach Tony Sparano, Offensive Coordinator Dan Henning and player-personnel guru Bill Parcells have things looking brighter in Miami. People have quickly forgotten that the Dolphins finished a surprising 11-5 last season and won the highly competitive AFC East. They are heading into a bye week, but have tough match-ups on the horizon as their next three games consist of New Orleans, New England, and the Jets again.
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