Ricky Williams...washed up or still high

Ricky Williams has been awful in the CFL. Is his career over?

 

Last week he had 18 carries for 97 yards, with a long run of 35 yards.

I would say 5.4 yards a carry isn't too shabby.

Now, we'll have to see if this was a fluke or not.

 

That was last week. This week he had 14 yards on eight carries. I liked him playing better when he was high.

 

boots,

his team was playing without its starting qb, who was mvp of the league last year. the backup is a stiff who fluked out with a good game last week, but reverted to form last night.

 

I've read where the better rushers in the CFL are the scatback-type players who use the width of the field to their advantage, and Ricky is not that kind of player. He likes to run it up "the A hole," as John Madden said some years ago on MNF.

 

CFL games are also like American games where a run-and-shoot team gets behind early -- the running game is completely abandoned as soon as one team gets behind.

 

His career is not over, he's still obviously a dominant back inthe NFL, but as I have written here and other places, he will not be a dominant back in the CFL for a couple of reasons, both have been pointed out on this thread already. the smaller scat back is generally more successful in the league than the north-andsouth- power back like Williams. The hole in this theory is the all-time leading rusher, Mike Pringle, was a power back. However he was always on teams that were in the game until the very end and so the run was not abandoned very often, plus he proved he could catch the ball out of the backfield, and didn't need to be pulled on third and short and on goal line plays.
Williams is playing for a team that lost its starting QB and reigning league MVP on the first drive of the season, and unless it is able to get an early lead and turn to their defence from there to hold it, Ricky is not going to get a lot of touches.
14 yards on eight carries is awful, but howmany backs do you that put up decent yards on eight carries, many need constant touches to get into a rhythem, especially the power backs, where they can where down the front seven or eight.