Ronnie Brown Gets His Due From the Football Outsiders

There’s one thing that really bothers me when I hear other people talk about the Dolphins. It’s those comments that Ronnie Brown is a bust and that Miami should not have taken him. Brown has played just a little more than two full seasons right now and from what I’ve seen so far, I can definitely say that he was worth that second overall pick.

So you can imagine how happy this makes me. Michael David Smith from the great Football Outsiders took a look at every play that Ronnie Brown was involved in during the Raiders game and apparently he liked what he saw.

"Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown got off to a slow start Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. In the first quarter he touched the ball five times and gained a total of just nine yards. And then in the next three quarters he proceeded to have the best game I’ve seen from any running back in the NFL this year.Yes, the Dolphins lost 35-17 to drop to 0-4. But while nothing else the Dolphins did was working, Brown was dominating. He finished the day with 207 combined rushing and receiving yards, nearly 75 percent of the Dolphins’ 278 total net yards. Below I review each of Brown’s 21 touches Sunday to examine how it is that he’s playing so well in an offense where nothing else is working."

So even though we got our asses handed to us, Ronnie Brown still went out and had the best game by a running back so far this season according to Smith. And that is saying something considering the numbers that he put up against New York just one week before.

Smith finishes his article with a conclusion on Ronnie and it’s basically what I have been saying all along..

"So what can we learn from this Brown play-by-play? Basically, that he’s an outstanding talent — definitely worth the No. 2 overall pick that the Dolphins spent on him in 2005 — but that neither he nor any running back can do it all by himself."

Cadillac Williams stormed out of the gate in 2005 and everyone immediately started to criticize Brown and the word “bust” started being thrown around. But if you look at his numbers and the offense he has been playing in, you’ll see that he’s done a pretty nice job so far.

In 2005 he had over 1100 total yards and 5 touchdowns to go along with a 4.4 rush average. In 2006, he passed 1200 total yards and had 5 Td’s again and a 4.2 rush average. Those numbers might not blow you away, but he did that while missing a few games with injury, sharing carries with Ricky Williams and Sammie Morris and even more importantly…while playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in football.

Brown doesn’t have San Diego’s line to run behind. He doesn’t have Cincinnati’s offense surrounding him. His line is awful, he’s had numerous starting quarterbacks, his receivers have disappointed and yet he’s still producing.

In 4 games this season, he has 560 total yards to go along with 4 Td’s and a snazzy 5.2 rushing average. And this is while playing on what is arguably the worst team in football right now.

Let’s also not forget that Brown is a power back. He’s a guy that’ll have more success rushing the ball later in the game as he wears the defense down. And if Miami is constantly falling behind, they’ll obviously abandon the run and try to play catch-up with the other team, meaning that their best weapon doesn’t get used the way he should be used.

So, it’s great to see Ronnie finally get some respect from a site like the Football Outsiders. I’m just hoping that coach Cameron keeps handing him the ball as much as possible and gets him involved as much as possible in the offense. Ronnie’s the best player on that side of the ball and he’s the guy we need to be building around.