Is Dolphins’ Brown on the verge of Ricky-like, legendary season?

By Hugo Guzman  |   Friday, July 31, 2009  |  Comments( 3 )

Miami Dolphins
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I remember August of 2002. The Dolphins had just gotten their training camp under way, and their new feature back, Ricky Williams, looked very promising in his drills. He was coming off a very solid 2001 season with the New Orleans Saints and was fully recovered from a leg injury that forced him to miss the final six games of the 2000 campaign. Everyone knew that he had something to prove after being traded by the organization that mortgaged virtually all of their draft picks to move up in the 1999 draft, just so that they could select him. Still, nobody could have envisioned the mind-boggling campaign Williams was about to put together.

Fast-forward to the present day. The Miami Dolphins are just days away from kicking off their 2009 campaign and another high-profile back is coming off a solid campaign, one full year removed from a serious injury, and with plenty to prove as he moves into a contract year. His name is Ronnie Brown and he's a 27-year-old running back that could be on the verge of a monumental season.

Brown is reaching the traditional "golden years" for an NFL career, turning 28 in December, and will benefit from an improved offensive line that is bolstered by one the NFL's best run-blocking centers. And in addition to Jake Grove's signing, Brown is now fully recovered from the ACL tear that ended what appeared to be a record-breaking 2007 campaign in midstream. All of these factors, as well as the motivation provided by his pending contract extension, could lead to the type of "Run-Ricky-Run" production that could instantly catapult Brown to larger-than-life status amongst Dolphins fans.

Thus far, Brown's biggest knock has been durability, but he did play in every game last season, so it will be interesting to watch how he holds up with the expected increase in touches that should be coming his way.

Brown should be interesting to watch in general, because he is one of the most exciting and inspiring football players I've ever seen. He plays his position, and the game in general, the way it's supposed to be played (hard-nosed and looking for contact when he can find it) and because of that, I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to watch him over the past four years. Here's to hoping that he compiles the type of empirical data that silences all of the doubters once and for all, cementing his status as one of the best backs of his generation.

I'm sure it will bring his friend, mentor, and predecessor, Ricky Williams, lots of joy as well.
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About Hugo Guzman

Trying to bring an objective approach to NFL analysis.
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CommentsComments: 3  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Dr Michael		02:51 PM
07/31/2009
Brown will have a good year. Better than last year. As for 1800 yards, the team would have to run, run, run. These times are...
No.2
lilman1023		02:02 PM
08/03/2009
I'm going to have to agree with Dr. Michael..Too many options this year on offense for Ricky like numbers...When Ricky ran those...
No.3
JimmyD		12:08 PM
08/05/2009
Yup, too many offensive options for Ronnie to see better than 1100 yards this season. I still think the offense will be run...
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