The NFL combine is over. There is much to discuss, but for now let’s start at the top. Darren McFadden is the best player on the board. The guy is a straight up Paula Abdul style talent. There is nothing I can say that he hasn’t shown already. Run DMC was the best athlete in college football the last two years. Now that he’s eligible, dis dude is the #1 pick. Yet everyone at the FLN will attest Miami is passing on our boy. If they do, it will be a worse move than the Texans passing on The President or better yet, the Browns saying nope to Don McNabb.Ronnie Brown has nothing to do with McFadden. Absolutely nothing. It is the most asinine and half-baked excuse in recent memory. The NFL is a two-back system. The age of No. 1’s shouldering the load and ripping the ball 400+ times a year is dead. It’s laughable that people who are paid to be ‘experts’ don’t understand this. Let’s look at the big dogs who supposedly receive 95-100% of the carries.
Steven Jackson – Banged up all year in 2007 after leading the league in all-purpose yards in 2006. I hate looking up stats, but this is important. Homeboy had 436 touches in 2006. That is outrageous.
Larry Johnson – Banged up all season in 2007. Was absolutely dreadful. In 2006, LJ had 400+ carries and I’m guessing over 450+ touches.
Frank Gore – Ok, Gore isn’t an elite runner...he had a stellar 2006 season, but bare with me because Franklin was a top 5 fantasy pick in any good league. Al had just under 400 touches and if you saw what he did this past year, its obvious he underachieved.
Willie Parker – Became the guy in Pitt after the Bus retired. Parker was sensational the last two years, but he was overworked, went down late in the year and missed the playoffs.
Are we seeing a common theme here? I think so. The key word is overworked. Each of these beautiful black men was used beyond their capacity and they got blown out. In this league, with the talent available, there is no reason any back should carry the rock more than 300 times a year and probably shouldn’t have more than 350 total touches. LDT is the only exception here, for now... His shelf life is maybe 2 more years and its because hes been beaten into the ground like a mule.Some of you may say, “Hey, the more touches, the better. This way you can guarantee the most yardage and scores.” Nope. Three of the top 5 rushers this season (A-Pete, Westbrook, Jail Lewis) all fell under the 300 carry mark. There is absolutely no correlation between carries, yardage, tuddies. In fact the most successful backs split time. A-Pete led the league nearly all year in rushing and he repped with Chet Taylor. Fred and Mo Jones-Drew also split a ton of carries and both played great as Fred went to the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career. Also, and this is the real kicker, all these guys stayed healthy for the most part! None missed significant time.
I can’t reiterate this enough. You need two backs in the NFL! For Miami to pass on DMC makes no sense, especially if the deductive reasoning lends one to believe its because of Ronaldo Brown. This is one of many reasons I hate the FLN. They are lazy, and completely irresponsible with their reporting. To pass on a McFadden, the Dolphins, as a franchise and a business, would need at least 100 reasons why. Instead of getting into the real nuts and bolts, the real crux of the issue, the FLN gives the most obvious excuse: R. Brown. I hope every analyst there, save Todd McShay, develops the clapity clap and rots from the inside out.
If the Tuna wants Jake Long. Fine. That’s a great pick. Even Chris Long or Dorsey aren’t terrible No. 1's. The contracts won’t be nearly as lofty and you can bank on them signing. Matt Ryan would be the worst pick #1 since Alex Smith. (Ryan isn’t even a first round pick. He’s a tailor-made bust.) Hell, even trade the pick, there are teams that would give up a ton for DMC. I get all of that, just don't let me hear ever again they might pass because of Ronnie Brown. Now if the Fins had any sense, they take best available. Best of the Best is Eric Roberts. But the best of the best in fooseball is RUN.
