and having a backup like Williams, who i also consider fresh for his age, could even mean more great years for Ronnie ahead. Could he be as good as the 4 players you mentioned, I do beleive he could be and that would be great. Where was he 15 years ago……

Another good comparison would be Michael Turner. He’s basically in the same boat as Brown and yet he has been consistently considered a huge asset for the Falcons. He’s a tad younger than Brown and has about 180 less touches, but he has been in the league a full season longer.

What I’m getting at is, last year the Falcons signed him to a six year $34.5 million deal with $15 million guaranteed. If Turner (who was also very unproven because he played alongside one of the best running backs in this century for sure) can fetch that kind of cash from Atlanta, then how can anyone say Brown doesn’t at least deserve something compromable?

Iam wit ya matty. Ive been saying the same thing for awhile but you had all the stats to prove it. Like you said he has split carries pretty much his whole career even in college so that should help alot. I dont see Brown slowing down any time soon. I say we find away to sign him B4 the season starts or B4 it ends. It really could say us alot of money. And wit our O line that should be alot better should help out alot. Ronnie has had a shitty O line is whole career also. So I say resign him now and keep him till he retires and in about 3-4 years get another featured back and let Ronnie show him the Ropes. Even know RB usually dont take long to learn it cant hurt learning from him.

He was a better talent in college than his co-partner (too bad the coaches couldn’t see his on-field game time talent).

His engine will be "runnin’ " for a little more time than most give it credit…

Ronnie Brown hasn’t had the touches mostly because of injuries. When he was in the game, especially prior to last year (when we finally had a passing game) he was the staple of our offense. Bringing Ricky in has lightened his load, but not by too much. Yet, think back to 2008 ( I know we all try to forget). Ronnie was the ONLY glimse of hope on offense. Our only chance for a win was to give the ball to #23 and hope he can continue to pound the ball. It wasn’t the most effective method, and we can blame Cam for that, but it was a still better option than hoping Cleo Lemon would throw for 3 TD’s.

However, even though, he was quite overworked due to our run-approach offense prior to 2008, I believe Ronnie is not even close to the slope down. A consistent passing game, a handful of other reliable backs, and an electrifying new offense formation has lessened the load on our franchise RB. Although RB is one of the more easier voids to fill it simply, it makes no sense to drop a productive player of such high character, without a serious smart move behind it. We all know what happened when we dropped Welker, who did nothing short of produce and give 100% each game.

If something ain’t broke don’t fix it. While I don’t agree that he was an UNDER-USED back, you can’t argue numbers, and I agree with Matty. Lock up Brown, and with a productive passing game, and one of the youngest O-lines in the game, watch Ronnie return to one of the greatest running backs in football. It’s a no-brainer.

I know everyone is hot and bothered with Brown as our RB but the fact remains he only has one 1000 yard rushing season. I realize that two 900 yards were close but the elite RB you mentioned have had 1200+ seasons. Ronnie isn’t even close to that.

Also, the NFL network posted a list of RB that were drafted in the 3rd round and their numbers last year. Brandon Jacobs, Marion Barber, Steve Slaton come to mind initially and they all had similar/better years the Ronnie.

My point is that if you have a solid O-Line, getting a good RB is very possible without paying him top dollar.

Denver over the past 10 yrs should prove this.

I like Ronnie but I can’t remember him outrunning a ton of guys. He is very good lowering his shoulder and this is why he has only has 1 year with 16 games played and never been a feature guy…..much like a B.Jacobs.

If you look at last years numbers, he had 3 100+ rushing games: #1 vs NE-introduction of the Wildcat. #2 vs SD, the next game and then 6 games later. Of those 6 games, none were over 60 yards(which tells you how valuable CP10 is to this team). As for rec yards, he had 1 game of 40 yards and everything else was a non factor. Didn’t we choose him becasue he had great hands? We had CP10 throwing the ball so the QB was not the issue.

The Wildcat will be def better this year and drafting White should take some touches from him in my opinion.

You can’t pay $5-6 mil for a guy who rushed it 20 times only twice last year. It handcuffs you.

The only thing that I will say about this coming year: it is time to take the training wheels off of Ronnie Brown! He needs to become a “load” running back this year. Only once in his 4 years as a pro has he had over 50% of the teams rushes (’06). Tomlinson, Alexander, Faulk, & James in their heyday all had 65%-75% of their team rushes. If Ronnie is the best RB on the roster, and he is (not even close IMO), then he needs to have the ball more.

If Ronnie wants Turner (376 carries / 1,699 yds / 17 td’s) money, he better show: 1) He can stay healthy for an entire year 2) He can handle the work load of 70% of the teams carries 3) He can get over 1,500 yds from scrimmage. If he can’t do that, he is not a top tier running back and doesn’t deserve top tier money.

as much as this hurts to say, IMO, he is not in M.Turners league. Turner had 2 × 200+ yard games plus half the yr he went above 100 yrds.

That’s production.

As for who I would take(comments by sdelino)…I would tender Ronnie and trade him for 2 × 2nd round picks. P/u a RB in the 2nd round, extend Ricky for 1 more yr and I think Cobbs is an good to very good Rb so you have your 3 next yr, with a promising rookie at the same price you would pay Ronnie.

I’d hate to see him go but….

I believe that you and I are getting to essentially the same point, although through different metrics.
While I don’t talk about age, I do look at RB production by number of productive seasons. Because the simple fact is that age does mean something.

It might not be the defining metric, but if you put Ronnie on the shelf for 5 yrs, I doubt he is going to come back when he’s 32-33 yrs old and be productive for those lost 5 yrs until he is 37 or 38. Age absolutely means something.

So while I agree that the number of touches can have an effect on a RB’s longevity, you still have a decline in performance that tends to occur around the 8th season.

And two of your data points are interesting. Alexander only had about 200 more touches than Brown in his 1st 4 season, but only ended up having 5 “elite” seasons total. Also, it is not fair to classify LTs season as his “dip”. We won’t really know that until we see how he plays this year. He has rushed for less than an 4.0 yd average twice before in his career, and followed it up with a great year. He may have a few good years left.

I know you like Ronnie, but all the wishing in the world is never going to make him a HoF RB, at this point in his career. The best we can really hope for is for him to finally fulfill his potential for the next 4 yrs or so.

the running back position is obviously about production. Having potentially elite caliber talent and/or natural ability, while great, is far from being enough.

The fact remains that Ronnie’s best output has been 1008 yards and over his 4 years his yearly average is <900. I think that’s why there hasn’t been a contract extension at this point.

Again, talent and potential get you into the NFL with Brown having enough of it to be a top 5 pick. After 4 years though what matters is what you produce. There are obviously many ways to rationalize Ronnie’s production so far: injuries or offensive line, etc. Still, if you want to be talked about as elite or great AND get the top dollar, then you just have to make it happen on the field, put everything together, stay healthy, and get it done.

…. an excellent read from all the posters here. Intelligent , well founded comments… thanks to all of you.. !

The one thing that comes to mind that makes me want to give Ronnie an extension is the outright fear of what would happen if he was traded or let walk in FA(See: Welker, Wes). I don’t think I could stomach it if he turns into another Tiki kind of player in another team’s colors, haha.