Fredo Williams

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Fredo Williams By PHIL UNWIN, MOP Squad Sports Basketball and NCAA Editor Jul 25, 2004 - 10:35:00 AM	Email this article Printer friendly page
"Fredo, you're nothing to me now. You're not a brother, you're not a friend. I don't want to know you or what you do. I don't want to see you at the hotels, I don't want you near my house. When you see our mother, I want to know a day in advance, so I won't be there. You understand?" -- Michael Corleone, The Godfather Part II. I woke up this morning, thinking of the next idea for an article. I had decided on a piece about A.J. Feeley. I jumped onto ESPN, just to see if my beloved Mets won, and there it was, right on the front page: Ricky Williams retires. This would normally be the place where I�d say "Wow!" or "Huh?", except that I didn�t. I sat there staring at the screen with my mouth wide-open, and not blinking for roughly 15 minutes. I could go through the litany of emotional reactions I�ve had, except that I haven�t had any. I�m completely numb. And I�m sure that�s exactly how you, a fellow Dolfan, feel right now. (And if you�re a Bills, Patriots or Jets fan reading this, seriously, just keep your smack talk to yourself for a few days. Show a modicum of decency for crying out loud; you�ll have plenty of time to crow about this before the season. Thanks.) The timing of this, of course, is by far the most astounding thing. If Ricky had done this after the season, that would have been equally shocking, but at least the team could have adjusted. The Dolphins would have had plenty of time to land a replacement, or better still, draft one. Steven Jackson was around at the #20 spot. So was Kevin Jones. Either would have been an acceptable replacement. Someone compared this to Robert Smith�s sudden retirement from Minnesota. Not so. Smith had the decency to notify the team after the Super Bowl, and so they drafted Michael Bennett in the first round. There is at least the possibility that Ricky could change his mind. I�m not counting on it, but it�s at least within the realm of possibility. That said, when someone is so willing to walk out on his team like this, would anyone really want him back? It would linger as a tremendous distraction all season, and in any event, it�s hard to imagine Ricky would be giving his all. No, it�s best to assume he�s gone and we�re moving on without him. There are those who are upset that Ricky didn�t do this a few days sooner, so the team could at least bring in Eddie George. Do not count your faithful scribe among this group. George is finished. Kaput. If Julius Jones doesn�t win that job in training camp, he�ll do it by the third or fourth week. I can name half a dozen readily available running backs I�d prefer to him, as well as Travis Minor. And, in fact, I will. The focus of this article, then, must shift from "I hate you, Ricky" to "what now?" What do the Dolphins do next? Well, there are some possibilities. The waiver wire doesn�t really have a lot of exciting names. Ricky Watters is 35 and hasn�t played a down since 2001, and he was the first guy I thought of. That tells you a lot. Stacey Mack is available, and he might be a short-yardage complement to Minor. There will probably be some training camp cuts, and maybe someone useable will get caught in a numbers crunch. There is also still time to make a trade. Whereas a quarterback needs an entire offseason to get acclimated to the playbook and offense, a running back requires much less time. So thanks, Ricky, for at least not pulling this during preseason play, or right before the week one kickoff, or on fourth and goal at the one-yard line with a minute to play in the wild card game. Teams with surplus running backs must be salivating right now, so help won�t come cheap, but there are guys who will be available. Surely, Minnesota could part with one of their triad of starting-caliber runners for a draft pick (I�d love to see Michael Bennett in a Phins uniform, but I�m not going to hold my breath). After drafting Greg Jones, Jacksonville might be willing to part with Fred Taylor for a premium. Someone on the message board floated the possibility of a Taylor for Adewale Ogunleye swap, which isn�t unreasonable. The Bills are likely to move Travis Henry after the season; maybe a first round pick would get them to speed up the timetable. That seems unlikely, if for no other reason than the Bills would have no desire (nor should they) to come to the aid of archrivals in their time of need. Remember that the Colts once took a lesser offer for Marshall Faulk just to get him out of the division (the Dolphins offered a #1 pick, the Rams offered #2 and #5). The Buccaneers and Raiders each have an army of running backs big enough to occupy Paris. The Broncos have a four-way competition for the starting job. Someone from those three teams is bound to shake loose. Two possibilities stick out in my mind, though. And mind you, I�ve heard no rumors anywhere about this, nor have I any inside information. The first is Najeh Davenport. In Green Bay, Davenport can have no greater aspiration than to back up Ahman Green. He�s young, he�s been very effective in his limited time (420 yards, 2 TDs, 5.5 yards per carry in 2003), and the Packers have another capable backup in Tony Fisher, so they probably would part with him for a mid-round pick. What�s more, Davenport is a 245 pound guy, which might complement Minor well, and he�s a U of Miami guy, which at least means there�s a chance he�s on the phone to his agent saying "make a deal happen!" The other is Anthony Thomas. Thomas is a tough inside runner, not unlike Ricky was (he�s an unperson now, so we may as well use the past tense), which makes him a decent fit in this offense. For reasons known only to Lovie Smith, the Bears have all but handed their starting job to Thomas Jones, which means Thomas can�t be happy. This may be his ticket out of town. Thomas has twice been a 1000-yard rusher, and was the 2002 Rookie of the Year. The Bears also like Brock Forsey and Adrian Peterson as depth guys, so they might be willing to part with the A-Train. Davenport or Thomas would likely cost a third or fourth round pick right now. That�s a little steep, perhaps, but such is the Dolphins desperation. Make no mistake, if the Dolphins do make a trade, there is a good possibility that Rick Spielman will be forced to overpay. Accept it now. I had not really bought into the talk that this was the Dolphins� worst offseason in memory. After all, the team revamped the offensive line, which was long overdue, and added an extremely talented wide receiver in David Boston. They also added some depth to the secondary and did a great job on the special teams. They brought in a talented quarterback to compete for the starting job, and they showed a commitment to getting younger, stronger and more aggressive. Not a bad thing in all. This, of course, puts a whole new spin on things. Ricky, you're nothing to me now. You're not a hero, you're not a running back. I don't want to know you or what you do. I don't want to see you at the stadium, I don't want you near my team. When you see our coach, I want to know a day in advance, so I will be there to heckle you and chuck beer bottles at your pot-addled bald head. You understand? Is there a silver lining to all this? Sure there is. For one, the Dolphins will be forced to bring their offense out of the Mesozoic Era. There�s no running back that will replace Williams (no more of the friendly "Ricky" for this unperson), which will force the Dolphins to work on developing a successful passing game, something that never happened last season. Negotiations on long-term deals with Ogunleye and Chris Chambers will likely take on renewed urgency. The "us against the world" dynamic, on which so many athletes thrive, can only be strengthened in the Miami locker room right now. And the concern over how much Williams had left doesn�t seem so important now, does it? More than likely, the Dolphins will draft a young stud runner in the first round next year, and hopefully get five big years out of him, just like Jimmy Johnson said. Does that all pale in comparison to losing a top 10 running back? Yes, it does. But you have to take comfort where you can find it. After all, the Dolphins missed the playoffs twice, despite having Williams. Perhaps with the offensive crutch taken away, the team will get stronger in the long run. It is far better to bring a top running back into a strong offense than it is to bring in a top running back and try to build a strong offense around him. The great offenses in recent history all pretty much came of age together: the mid-90s Cowboys and 49ers, the Colts, the Chiefs, or in the case of the Rams, they added Marshall Faulk as the missing piece, not as a savior. There is despair here, but there is also opportunity. The Dolphins� offense was broken. Now there is no choice but to fix it. Now if you�ll excuse me, I�m off to donate my #34 jersey to the Salvation Army. Copyright 2007 - MOP Squad Sports Top of Page