Thank you David Lee!

David Lee, the Dolphins quarterbacks coach, has turned Ronnie Brown into the talk of the town and one of the top running backs in the league, all thanks to his revolutionary Wildcat system that he brought with him from his time in college at Arkansas. All those people who said the only reason the option works in college was because of the lack of skill on the field are looking pretty stupid now, especially if they are rocking a pretty hilarious mohawk as I type. The Wildcat is the new “it” formation in the NFL. Every team has implemented a variation of the Wildcat, whether it be Josh Cribbs in Clevlend or Percy Harvin in Minnesota everyone is trying to emulate the success of the Dolphins new offensive rushing juggernaut. However, if their game against the Colts in week 2 proved anything, Miami is still the king of the Wildcat.

Miami’s Wildcat is essentially an evolution of the Wild Hog that David Lee used in his days at Arkansas. The system requires two very good running backs in order to truly sell the hand off to the defense. Much like Miami’s running back duo of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, Arkansas’ Wild Hog relied on their running back committee of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Before we continue can we just pause and think about that, two first round picks in the same backfield! Fan-fucking-tastic. McFadden, now the starting running back on the Oakland Raiders, would line up at quarterback and Felix Jones, now a proud member of America’s team, would play Ricky Williams role. Let’s just say it worked out pretty well:

However, after a disappointing 2007 season Houston Nutt was fired and the Falcons “one and done” head coach Bobby Petrino took over, spelling the end for the innovative Lee at Arkansas. But as Alexander Graham Bell once said, “When one door closes another one opens.”. When Bill Parcells took over in Miami he made sure to get Lee, a former assistant of his in the NFL and a player on Bill’s ‘73 and ‘74 Vanderbilt teams. Parcells was so enamoured with Lee that he was, in fact, hired before the eventual head coach Tony Sparano.

Smart move.

It didn’t take long for Lee to set up his Wild Hog offense, now known as the Wild Cat for reasons beyond my understanding (maybe because Wild Dolphin sounded too gay). In the first meeting with the offensive players he asked the room who was willing to play quarterback in his new option running formation. Ronnie Brown’s hand shot up within seconds. It was a decision that would change the course of the Dolphins who had gone 1-15 just one season prior.

The Wildcat takes advantage of an overloaded offensive line and a lateral motion from the wide receiver position (occupied by Ricky Williams) to both confuse and over power the opponents defense. The way they overload the line is by shifting one guard to the strong side of the football and replacing the tight end on that side with a tackle, essentially giving them 4 offensive linemen on one side of center. On top of that, depending on the called play, the tackle on the weak side (usually Jake Long) will pull and seal off the hole at the point of attack, opening a massive hole for Brown to run down field. The added confusion of a possible hand off to Ricky Williams makes the Wildcat nearly impossible to defend. But in the end it all comes down to Ronnie Brown’s ability to make the right decision, and he has certainly shown he is capable of that.

Despite the sucess of the Wildcat, the Dolphins are 0-3 after close loses to the Falcons, Colts, and Chargers (all playoff teams from a year ago). And as if things couldn’t get any worse, Chad Pennington, the 2nd leading vote getting for MVP in ‘08, might be out for the season. While Chad Henne is a solid prospect with a strong arm and a great college pedigree, he is still young and won’t be counted on to lead the offense like the veteran Pennington did last year. What does that mean in the context of this article? A fuck load more Wild Cat! With Pennington out, Brown and Williams are the two best players on the field, so utilizing their skill will be key in order for the Dolphins to claw their way out of a 0-3 start.

This will be the first time that the Wildcat will be used as a primary offense instead of the “gimic” formation that the one and only Mr. Jaworski insisted it is. Lets see what they can do against the Bills who have been equally disapointing thus far this season and who’s defense gave up 222 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground to the “pass happy” Saints last week.

PS: I have Ronnie Brown on my fantasy team and am more excited than Jesse Spano on caffiene pills to watch Ronnie Brown pound the ground game against the Bills defense.

- KC Roberts