RW opinion from a devouted Saints fan | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

RW opinion from a devouted Saints fan

St. Fan

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Hey there fin fans (hopefully no offense, is that what you call yourselves?)

Anyway, I'm pretty sure you already know alot about Ricky. I'm a hardcore Saints fans and have formed a love/hate relationship with ricky.....nah not really hate, more like a love/aggrivation type thing. whatever. I still have interest in ricky and plan on following his carreer closely...(so I can have something else to whine about when he starts dominating in the NFL....like a Saints' fan needs any more to whine about).

Well, let me start by saying that I have watched every run, fumble, pass reception, and dropped pass RW has ever made in the NFL, so I think I have a pretty good understanding of what kind of player he is, though I'm sure many of you already know he is the Real Deal!

First off, he is probably the HARDEST running RB I've ever seen. When he hits a hole he means to blow it wide open. Once he gets his shoulders square he can bull his way through the line. I think his hard running style is what limits his breakaway ability. He has those short, powerfull choppy steps and allot of times when he breaks (BUSTS!!) through the line hes got so much momentum, and leaning forward so much, that he cant get upright and really stretch out his stride .

I would say his greatest weakness is he is very prone to ankle tackles (this is where I get the aggrevation from). . I'm not bashing him, just my observation. This usually happens at the LOS. (trust me, I've seen it time and time again) But usaully he's running so hard that his momentum still carries him 5-8 yards even when ankle tackled at the LOS.

Which brings me to what I think is his greatest strentgh...He is very hard to stop from getting positive yardage. Nearly all the times I saw him not get positive yards on a run is when either nearly the whole dang defense was at the LOS, or somebody really screwed up a blocking assignment, or a busted sweep/toss where he was not able to get his shoulders square. Getting his shoulders square is key to ricky. Once he does I can almost feel the power he has even when watching on TV. I'm telling you...take note of this. Anytime he gets tackled fairly easy, look to see if he was able to square his shoulders....you'll see. Not like you'll be able to do anything about it. Just to let you know why sometimes he looks untacklable (w/o at least 3 defenders) and other times gets handled quite easily.

BLOCKING ABILITY: Most of the time when he has to block he looks like one of the best RBs at doing it. Sometimes he really looks like a fool. I dont know. I think he just gets caught off balance sometimes and gets run over. I know every one gets beat on a block sometimes, it's just that when he does it he really looks silly. But for the most part, he is an above average blocker.

HANDS: Ricky has great hands. The biggest knock on him coming out of college was his small hands. They kept saying we would not be a good receiver because of it. Well they were wrong! Ricky has the best hands as far as any Saints RB I've ever seen. He had some drops, but dont they all. Some were easy catches that made the critics look like they were right but those were more of a concentration thing than a hands thing. Like dropping a pass at the 2 yard line that hit him dead in the chest and was wide open. He just tried to get in the endzone before he finished catching the ball. Oh well, we all learn from our mistakes.

Well, in no time you will have seen enough of RW to where my opinion won't matter...(maybe it doesn't now). But to sum it up a little. Ricky Williams is a hard running Back who may not have allot of long runs, but will punish and wear down a defense and almost always get positive yardage is used right. Theres just something about his presence on the field. He is a force to be reckonned (sp?) with and commands the defense's attention. IMHO...RW is the ultimate "ball-control" Back!


BTW, for the first part of my youth I was a Dolphins fan. And I have always had an interst in the Dolphins since. If I could have choosen any team for the saints to loose him to, it would have been Miami. Just too bad he wasn't around when Marino was here.
 
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Thanks for the input, I was expecting "he is usless", "You guys will be sorry you traded for him" etc... I think most of us wish he was here when Dan was around. He may have been the piece to take us all the way back then and the "experts" would be calling Dan a winner and have him were he belongs.....#1 QB of all time.
 
ST Fan thanks for the imput..I havnt seen ricky much but from what ive seen you're right on..He's a powerful back that can strike fear in the opponent's eyes..Just like our old man Dan!!St Fan i'Ve been hearing great things about Deuce though..he's no Ricky but he's different..whadyya think?
 
Thanks for the input St.Fan....You guys are real class acts
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...I have never had any problems with any Saints fans nor have I seen any problems on here with any. That was some very helpful info and I'm glad to see that you still like the Dolphins in there somewhere ;) Truly though...you guys are class acts and that's we really need around more is more nice and respectful fans from other teams rather than the ones that just like to flame :rolleyes: Keep your head up man...I still see the Saints as a force to be reckoned with this year!! :cool: ;)
 
We all appreciate the info I'm sure. But I have one more question because I haven't quite gone through EVERY game log of Ricky's and seen them all (though sadly enough I've gone through quite a few :)) What about the fumbles? I think thats the thing we're probably all worried about most. From my experience looking through the logs it would seem a disproportionate amount of those fumbles were on pass catches...

Does he have a problem tucking the ball properly when catching the ball? Does he SEEM like he fumbles a lot when he's actually just RUNNING the ball rather than catching?

By the way I think RB Coach Joel Collier will try and coach up Ricky a little to help him break a few longer runs.
 
Thanks for the info..that's probably the best analysis I've seem on Ricky along...The number of yards he's rush for the past 3 years is what we see most often,,,I'm aware of the fumbles..IN your opinion is it because of his small hands or lack of concentration..or because he tries to get extra yards and gets stripped.
 
Thanks Saint Fan. We'll be looking for Ricky to square his shoulders. Alot of RB's momentum get them 5-8 yards after the first contact. Emmitt comes to mind and I'm glad Ricky is one of those.
 
How bout Ricky's performance against playoff teams? You want to input on that? He had 1 good game against a playoff team (SF) the entire season.
 
Another Saints fan here...

Everything St. Fan said is pretty accurate. Ricky is a much better receiver than most people think. He runs hard and isn't a big-mouth who alienates his teammates. He's good for 4 yards every single time he gets a handoff. The negatives are his durability and fumbling. Both of these can be corrected through coaching in my opinion. He needs to learn to avoid contact. He takes way too much punishment because he enjoys dishing it out so much. He'll break through the line of scrimmage and immediately look for a LB or DB to hit when he should be looking for daylight. His fumbling is directly related to the way he holds the ball away from his body. He doesn't tuck it away properly. The ankle tackle thing is a major aggravation, too. Sometimes it seems like a 180 lb CB can stop him by a one-armed trip at Ricky's ankles. But if they try to go high to try to stop him, forget it, that would be tackler will be on IR the following week.

I think it was a great trade for both teams considering the offensive styles they want to use. Ricky just wasn't working with Brooks and a wide-open offensive scheme. He's perfect for a Fiedler/Norv Turner type of offense. The Dolphins need to keep the opposing offense off of the field to keep the D rested. That's perfect for Ricky's style. He likes to grind his way down the field a little at a time.

If he stays healthy, there's no way that he doesn't get 1200-1300 yards rushing and another 400 or so receiving.

As for us Saints fans - we're excited about Deuce McAllister. He's more of a homerun hitter. He'll get stopped for no gain or minimal yardage repeatedly and then, boom, takes it to the house. It's perfect for us because Aaron Brooks is the focus of the offense and giving the ball to a power back 25-30 times a game takes it out of AB's hands and the hands of a very explosive group of receivers.
 
Thanks for the info nomad and ST. Ricky should have a Pro Bowl year under Norv. :D
 
Thanks for the input N.O. faithfull

It's pretty cool when a fan from another team comes in and brings something to the table -other than moronic babble. It is greatly appriciated.
 
Originally posted by J-E-T-S
How bout Ricky's performance against playoff teams? You want to input on that? He had 1 good game against a playoff team (SF) the entire season.

He hasn't had a chance to play you guys yet :p
 
Originally posted by ckparrothead
We all appreciate the info I'm sure. But I have one more question because I haven't quite gone through EVERY game log of Ricky's and seen them all (though sadly enough I've gone through quite a few :)) What about the fumbles? I think thats the thing we're probably all worried about most. From my experience looking through the logs it would seem a disproportionate amount of those fumbles were on pass catches...

Does he have a problem tucking the ball properly when catching the ball? Does he SEEM like he fumbles a lot when he's actually just RUNNING the ball rather than catching?

By the way I think RB Coach Joel Collier will try and coach up Ricky a little to help him break a few longer runs.


Fumbles....uhmmm. I just cant put a finger on RW's fumbles. Some are because of him fighting for the extra inch. A few were after the catch, but from those I can remember it was when he caught the ball behind him and as spinning around to go upfield he gets popped. And some fumbles I think he just got a little careless w/ the ball. I dont think its his small hands. Its not like they man-handled the ball from him.

I would say you dont have to worry too much about fumbles. They're gonna happen. Some backs more than others. Ricky just has spurts at times. He'll do good for a couple weeks, like maybe 0-1 fumbles for 3-4 weeks, then he'll fumble 2-3 times a game for a couple weeks. But most fumbles just seem to be bad luck...you know, the tacklers helmet hits the ball perfectly.
 
Originally posted by Pink_Dove
ST Fan thanks for the imput..I havnt seen ricky much but from what ive seen you're right on..He's a powerful back that can strike fear in the opponent's eyes..Just like our old man Dan!!St Fan i'Ve been hearing great things about Deuce though..he's no Ricky but he's different..whadyya think?

I'll have to agree with nomad that RW is just a better fit for miami and duece for the saints. I think duece will be more productive than ricky was with the saints. I'm just having trouble trying to guess whos gonna have the better year.
 
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