Ricky Williams

Williams was one of the most pleasant surprises of 2009, totaling 1,385 yards with 13 touchdowns, finishing as the seventh best fantasy back. A season-ending injury to Ronnie Brown played a huge part, but there’s no denying Williams played well, as his 4.7 YPC mark was actually the second highest of his career. Brown is coming off a serious Lisfranc fracture and remains a big health risk, and the Dolphins’ offense should only get better with the maturation of Chad Henne and the addition of Brandon Marshall. However, Williams is 33-years-old, which can’t be overstated. The only other back during the last decade who eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing at age 32 was Emmitt Smith in 2001, and Williams is now a year older and was worked hard last year, given 156 carries the final eight games (fading badly in the end). Williams essentially took two years off in the middle of his career, so his legs could be considered fresh for a back his age, but his career total (2,164 rushing attempts) is getting up there, and two of his seasons (in 2002 and 2003) rank in the top-15 for workload in NFL history, so he’s a definite candidate to break down in 2010.

Williams surprisingly challenged Ronnie Brown for carries in Miami’s backfield last season, ultimately receiving 189 touches – his most since 2003. His performance was hardly inspiring, however – just 4.1 YPC while being ignored at the goal line. Williams will be 32 years old when the season starts and is approaching 2,000 career carries, so he’s in line for a diminished role. With Brown one more year removed from knee surgery and clearly the superior option, Williams’ reduction could prove drastic.

Williams has played exactly one game since 2005, suffering a season-ending chest injury during that Week 12 contest last year. He obviously can't be counted on, but at least he'll enter 2008 with fresh legs and supposedly focused on football. Miami is welcoming him with open arms, and he should carve out a role in the offense, since starter Ronnie Brown is coming off major knee surgery. At press time, Williams was reportedly in excellent shape.

After yet another positive test for marijuana in April 2007, Williams, coming off a season-long suspension and stint in the CFL in 2006, is likely done with the Dolphins. Because of the latest incident, he cannot apply to the NFL for reinstatement until September, at which time the Dolphins will either release or try to trade him. It would be a shame if he didn't catch on somewhere, as his 2005 outing (12 games, 743 yards, 4.4 ypc, 6 TD) showed him to still be a very talented runner. He's worth at least a late-round flier.

Williams is suspended for the entire 2006 season. He's trying to earn some money and stay in shape by playing in Canada, but he has already been sidelined by a broken arm. Ronnie Brown will become the full-time featured back in his absence.

After taking a year off to walk the earth and smoke marijuana, Williams apparently wants to resume his NFL career. While he will almost certainly have to serve a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s drug policy, Williams might be able to avoid a full year suspension if he returns to training camp after July 28, making it more than a year since he left. But there are other issues here, such as Williams’ weight, reportedly down to just 200 pounds (his playing weight was 236) and the fact that the Dolphins might not be able to fit him under the salary cap if it turns out he’s owed his full salary. And that’s not even taking into account that Williams averaged just 3.5 yards per carry in 2003, has nearly 1,600 career carries under his belt and would have to share time in the backfield with No. 2 overall pick Ronnie Brown if Williams were to return to Miami. The best-case scenario here is for Williams to be reinstated, Miami to release him to stay under the cap and Williams to sign with a team in need of a running back. In short, Williams is a long shot, but in the latter rounds, there are worse gambles than drafting a back who ran for 1,853 yards and scored 17 TDs in 2002.

Williams retired in July of 2004, but before he did we were down on him anyway. Here's what we had to say: Ricky is an old 27. He’s piled up almost 1,600 carries during his young career and taken a beating on most of them. Williams was a plodder last year (the Dolphins ranked 25th in rushing yards gained more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage). For Williams, 2002 is looking more like a fluke, as he hasn’t averaged over 4.0 per carry in any other season. Williams also doesn’t leverage his strength in close, converting just six of his 23 runs inside the 10 into TDs and leading Miami to a mediocre 13th ranking in converting short-yardage runs. Williams needs the Dolphins to spread out the defense, as he averaged 5.0 per run out of three-WR sets. Unfortunately, almost 300 of his carries came with two or less WRs, and he averaged just three yards on those carries. The Dolphins weakness at WR hurt Williams, too, as he had to deal with five or more men on the defensive line for almost half his carries. David Boston may change that (but who wants to bet on Boston returning to his ’01 form). Williams reminds many of the hard-running Earl Campbell, who was just about washed up at a similar stage of his career (just one more 1,000-yard season). Miami’s weak offensive line should improve with the addition of rookie Vernon Carey, but the Dolphins needed even more help. Lastly, Williams tested positive for marijuana last December, and were he found guilty of violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy – it would be his second time – he could face a four-game suspension. If that happens, downgrade him 5-10 places on your cheatsheet.

Williams ran away with the NFL's rushing title last year (1,853 yards), and the Dolphins also made good use of him as a receiver (47 catches, 353 yards) and at the goal line (17 touchdowns). The only thing the Dolphins did wrong from time to time came with play calling: Every now and then they forgot Williams when trying to protect a second-half lead (the season finale at New England comes to mind), but why quibble here? Anyone who owned Williams in 2002 was happy at season's end, and that's likely to be the case again in 2003. Run, Ricky, Run.