Neo said:
Ok. I watched Ronnie run this year and I like what he has to offer and traded for him in a dynasty league. Now, here's the kicker.....what is going to happen next year? Is Ricky coming back? What about Saban? Is Harrington or Culpepper starting there? What about the oline? Just some questions I know I have regarding next year that will impact Ronnie a bit.
I'm pretty sure I can provide valid answers for you for all of these questions:1) Ricky might come back, but I believe I heard he is contemplating staying in the CFL (who knows...). If he comes back, it is likely he will remain on the Dolphins, not be traded. Right now I'd say it's a coin flip, but if forced to pick sides, I'd go with the under on his chances of being in a Dolphins uniform next year.2) Saban is definitely coming back. He's a great coach, and anyone who was spoiled by an overachieving '05 team is just a moron. This team is bad and needs to be rebuilt. He's in the process of doing that. People need to quit predicting them to the Super Bowl.3) If I had to pick, I'd say Harrington. Culpepper doesn't seem to have his mojo anymore, and while Harrington still suffers from the same fundamental flaws that doomed him in Detroit (propensity for needless scrambling, throwing prayers on any pass more than 30 yards, one of the lowest YPA's in the league), he simply has played like the better QB than Culpepper. Knee injury aside, Culpepper hasn't been making smart decisions. I am fairly certain the Dolphins grab JaMarcus Russell in the draft. Whether they can grab him in the second round or they have to spend their first rounder on him, Russell, whom Saban recruited himself at LSU, is going to be the future QB of the Dolphins.4) The OL is still being retooled, but it is making improvements, given their quality of personnel. Don't expect a blue shift next year, but they certainly won't regress.In all, you should value this more than anything, since I have been drinking the '06 Brown Haterade long and strong, but his dynasty outlook appears pretty good now. I had my doubts about him being able to adjust on the pro level mentally and physically.While there's a good chance he finishes the season on IR because of the hand injury and general wear, when you look at his splits, you can pretty clearly see that although there still has been some dips during the season, that because he was given the load to shoulder, he's now had his adjustment year.He should be fine next year, and he's beginning to look like a RB who knows how he's going to run the ball. Throughout his rookie season and the better part of this season, Brown has looked indecisive when running--the "do I bowl him over or juke him?" look. Of late, he was beginning to show signs of real decisiveness with the rock in his hands. I think in giving him an offseason to devote to making better decisions with the ball, he should be in line for a solid foreseeable future. That is assuming that he can fix that problem, but in watching him, I at least see flashes now that I didn't before, which leads me to believe he's at least capable of making that jump.What is he likely to do in '07? Hard to say 9 months in advance, but I'd be inclined to believe RB8-12 numbers are a lock, pending he shows me in the preseason that he's making quicker, better decisions when the ball is in his hand. Now, if he doesn't, we're likely rowing the same boat we were this year... but I think he can do it now, whereas before I was entirely doubtful.