RB Ronnie Brown, San Diego Chargers

HT: 6-1, WT: 223, Born: 12-12-1981, College: Auburn, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 2

2013 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of May 21st. [Full ADP list]

Overall: B Bolden (281), D Bess (282), Ronnie Brown (283), A Jenkins (284),
Position: F Jones (280-RB88), B Bolden (281-RB89), Ronnie Brown (283 - RB90),
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PPR Average draft position

Current as of May 21st. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: S Taylor (211), Ronnie Brown (213), M Gillislee (214), D Robinson (215)
Position: A Ellington (208-RB71), S Taylor (211-RB72), Ronnie Brown (213 - RB73), M Gillislee (214-RB74), D Robinson (215-RB75)
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2013 Schedule

2012 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Brown had almost no room to run, either in the running game or in the short passing game. He had ten offensive touches, but his long play of the game went for just seven yards. It may have been a case of the Raiders front just overpowering San Diego, but Brown got almost no burst off the line. Any time he found even the smallest amount of daylight, the first defender he met would send him backwards with ease upon first contact. In the second half, he came close to scoring when he caught a crossing pass over the middle and took it down to the 1 or 2 yard line. That play helped set up an easy field goal for Nate Kaeding, but Brown never really came close to scoring again, nor did the Chargers make a focused effort to get him the ball in the red zone.

Week 2 - Brown was once again given the early work in an attempt to be something of a featured back for the offense. But it is becoming apparent that Brown is more the back who has struggled to top four yards a carry than the one who lit up defenses prior to tearing his ACL. He goes down almost immediately upon being hit every time and there is very little push by him to drive defenders back once he reaches the point of contact. On one occasion, he lined up under center in the wildcat formation with QB Philip Rivers split out wide but it was mostly just to give the defense a different formation look. Brown was a factor in the passing game, catching four balls and coming extremely close to a score. He caught a ball in the flat, lunged at the goal line, and appeared to barely cross the line for the score. After review, however, the officials ruled that he was down at the 1-yard line. Late in the game, former Chief Jackie Battle assumed the featured back duties and performed extremely well. Brown’s role was already going to shrink with the impending return of Ryan Mathews in the next couple of weeks; now with the emergence of Battle, whatever little value Brown had has all but disappeared.

Week 4 - Brown, who was inactive for last week’s game, returned in this one and actually managed to fill a role despite being the third RB in the pecking order (he has been passed up by Jackie Battle). Brown caught three passes, including two critical long third down gains. One was a floater down the sideline for 22 yards on an absolutely perfect pass from QB Philip Rivers, and on the other he slipped out of the backfield and picked up 15 yards down to the 4-yard line (eventually leading to a Battle touchdown).

Week 5 - Brown may no longer be a feature back, but he excelled in a third down role with his blocking while running hard when he had the ball in his hands. Brown and Mathews took over the running-back position after the first few series and they complemented each other excellently. Brown had five receptions as he repeatedly caught the ball in the flat and ran hard. He consistently picked up first downs by gaining forward momentum and even made defenders miss with his quickness at times. Brown had two big runs also. His first, a 21 yard carry, came when the Saints were expecting a pass during the two minutes before halftime. It was a well blocked run that didn't require Brown to beat anyone. He simply let his blockers get in position before darting downfield. Brown appears to be cemented in as the team's third down back and a trusted piece in Philip Rivers' passing attack.

Week 6 - The Chargers insist on keeping Brown in as the third down running back, despite the appearance that everything Brown does, Ryan Mathews does even better. Perhaps it is an effort to keep Mathews healthy. Whatever the reason, Brown was and is the team’s option on third downs. It came into play particularly late in the game as the Chargers tried playing emergency catch-up to no avail. Brown looked okay with the ball in his hands, but nothing game-breaking or anything. He did do a nice job pouncing on a loose ball on the ground after a Randy McMichael fumble, recovering the ball for a first down.

Week 8 - Brown is the team’s third down back, and since the Chargers had so much trouble moving the football, they ended up having a lot of third down situations. Brown took full advantage of his extra opportunities, hauling in a game-high 7 receptions for 85 yards (much of that in the second half). At times, it seemed like the only way San Diego could move the ball was by getting it into Brown’s hands. He picked up 25 on a short pass out of the backfield during the late half drive. Early in the second half, he used a terrific straight arm out of the backfield to pick up 21 in the open field. Cleveland defenders were so busy shutting down the San Diego receivers that Brown had loads of room to work underneath. He picked up 35 of his 102 total yards on the team’s final drive, but they surprisingly went away from Brown on the final four plays of the game – all of which resulted in incompletions.

Week 9 - As the season has gone along, Brown has gotten a bit more and more work with each passing week. And much to the chagrin of Ryan Mathews owners, Brown has looked more impressive each week as well. In this game, Brown over six yards per carry and caught a team high five passes out of the backfield. He is clearly the team’s third down back, but with starting RB Ryan Mathews in and out of the game at times with injury or just to get a breather, Brown is in position to take larger and larger pieces of the pie. Late in the first half, he took a short pass over the middle, turned upfield, and lunged for the end zone at the last moment. He came up just about a half yard shy of a touchdown, and while he never came close to scoring again, he was very much in the backfield mix after halftime along with Mathews and RB Jackie Battle. Until/unless Mathews breaks out with a huge performance in the coming weeks, it would appear that the San Diego backfield is going to regularly utilize multiple rushers to get the job done.

Week 10 - The Chargers were much more adept with the vertical passing game than they had been in recent weeks, so there weren’t as many checkdown opportunities for Brown in this one. He had just seven total touches for the game, and 16 of his 24 total yards from scrimmage came on a handoff on the game’s final play when the outcome had already been decided and the defense was extremely soft.

Week 11 - The San Diego run game was almost nonexistent once again, and that has rubbed off on each of the team’s halfbacks. Brown had a good run going for a few games, but had just six touches in this one. He did pick up a key third down carry late in the fourth quarter but failed to convert – which begs the question of why the team was running the football down by two touchdowns with 90 seconds left in the game – but that is a debate for another time.

Week 12 - Brown had a handful of nice runs as he once again filled the role of third down halfback. He showed a nice burst up the right side to pick up the first down with 13 yards on a 3rd and 7 draw handoff. But despite having six touches in the game, Ryan Mathews gained the lion’s share of the offensive work.

Week 13 - Brown didn’t have any rushing attempts in the game (the Charger backs had just nine total, all of which went to Ryan Mathews) but he was involved in the passing game. Brown tied for second on the team with eight passing targets as he did most of his work as the third down back. On two occasions, he came extremely close to finding paydirt – on one reception he was tackled at the 2-yard line, and on another he was down at the 1 (both in the first half). It looked like he made a nice fingertip grab over the middle on San Diego’s last drive, but it was ruled an incomplete pass on the field by the officials. The Chargers kept the drive alive despite that ruling, and Brown had a chance to make a play later on in the possession. He had a step on his defender down the sideline, but QB Philip Rivers overthrew him.

Week 14 - Brown had just three touches in the game, but one of them was a huge 2nd down run. Facing a third and 13, the Chargers ran Brown on a draw play up the middle. They were only looking for a short gain to make it an easier field goal, but instead Brown took advantage of some shoddy tackling to rumble all the way for the first down. Unfortunately for Brown, he appeared to get injured at the end of the play and limped off towards the sideline. He eventually did return to the game, but didn’t have an impact the rest of the way.

Week 16 - Of the three backs the Chargers rotated between in the game, Brown looked by far the most explosive and most capable of carrying the load. Unfortunately, he was slow to get up after a 5-yard reception and called for the sideline to come off the field. Prior to the injury, he was running well and picking up chunks of yardage. He wasn’t relegated to strictly third down duties, either, as he was in on first down for the first play of the second quarter. But his afternoon would end soon thereafter.

Week 17 - Despite the complaints about Brown “stealing” carries from seemingly more fantasy friendly players like Ryan Mathews and Jackie Battle, Brown has regularly been the most effective San Diego running back this season. This game was no exception, as Brown averaged four yards per carry while the other San Diego backs averaged just over two. Brown didn’t break any big gains, he just picked up consistent yardage every time he touched the ball.