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Fantasy impact: Dolphins lose Brown for season

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John Juhasz

John is an Editor for the FOXSports.com Fantasy group.MORE>>
 
Updated Nov 19, 2009 1:46 PM ET
     
 
Almost anything you can imagine has some kind of crucial component upon which its survival depends. No human will survive if their heart suddenly ceases to function. No car will move very far if the engine falls out. And the Miami Dolphins won't be able survive a blow like they just received a few days before Week 11. Frankly, they might struggle to win another game this year. Why? Ronnie Brown picked up a foot injury against the Bucs which will keep him sidelined for the rest of the year. The Dolphins relied very, very heavily on Brown to set up their entire offense. Going into Week 11, Miami ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing and 30th in passing. The latter isn't likely to change, but the former surely won't take long to plummet down the rankings list. Brown was the lynchpin to Miami's Wildcat formation as well as their standard offensive sets. Sure, he had his off weeks. But when Brown was on, he was as spectacular as he was unstoppable. And not that there is ever an ideal time to miss significant action, but this is especially unfortunate for Brown since he may be eligible for next year's free agent market, and you have to wonder if the Dolphins front office may be somewhat hesitant to break the bank on his next deal when this will be the second time in three years that he's missed roughly half the season. Ricky Williams was able to produce a solid game a few times this season, but a lot of that was because of the threat Brown presented. Brown was the RB1 in this offense, but Williams was a very formidable co-pilot who eased the burden on Brown by taking a fair amount of carries. Now, with the heavy lifting left to Williams, Miami's rushing attack won't be quite as potent. Even using Pat White in more Wildcat wrinkles will only help this offense so much. That's why if you're a Ronnie Brown owner, you shouldn't really rush to pick up Lex Hilliard, who will likely back up Williams. Patrick Cobbs may have helped some, but his season is also over since he was placed on IR not long ago. He had some good games in his Dolphins career, but that is all moot at this point. Hilliard is an unproven rookie who has yet to record a single carry in this regular season. Granted, he totaled 165 yards on the ground in four preseason games, but that's not a highly accurate measuring stick for what he'll do for the rest of this season. You're better off checking the waiver wire for other running backs like Justin Forsett, Ladell Betts, Bernard Scott, Jason Snelling, Jerious Norwood and maybe even Larry Johnson depending on how serious Cedric Benson's injury happens to be.

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