On Sunday afternoon, the latest chapter of the Ricky Williams saga was written with a report from the Miami Herald.  It was reported that Williams failed a drug test for the fourth time in his career. If true, this violation would carry an automatic one-year suspension from the NFL. 

After his self-imposed exile in 2004, Williams returned to the Dolphins after serving a suspension to start the season. He ran well in the second half of the season after two meager outings, topping 70 rushing yards on six different occasions. Williams finished the year with a bang, recording two 100-yard performances (including a huge game with over 200 total yards in Week 16) and scoring in five of his final six games. He finished the year with 743 rushing yards.

Teamed with rookie back Ronnie Brown, Nick Saban had effectively implented his "we'll run more than you in order to win" strategy. Saban's strategy earned the Dolphins a record of 9-7 in his rookie season, and he was counting on the dual back strategy to rule the day again in '06.  Or, at the very least, he would have been able to dangle Williams for a draft pick or two as April's draft approached if he was satisfied with Brown as his feature back.

Instead, Saban is forced to watch the tapes one more time to evaluate Brown's ability to perform as an every-down back. Of some concern is the quick drop in productivity after Williams' return to the field. (Brown did have two strong games in Weeks 7&8.)  He scored only two total touchdowns and topped 60 rushing yards only twice after Week 8. Part of that is Williams' presence, but part has to be at least somewhat attributable to the power back slowing down a bit with the NFL schedule.

The number of upper level running backs expected to test the free agent waters in March (or April depending on labor talks) will certainly provide plenty of options if Saban decides to put out feelers this spring. In the short term, Brown's value takes a huge vault forward with the Dolphins expected to make the power running game the focal point of the offense under Mike Mularkey. Even with this situation (and at this point, it has not been confirmed by the NFL), the Dolphins have a bigger question under center that needs to be addressed.

Heisman winner .... NFL rushing champion ... fantasy hero ... comeback story ... ?

This is the timeline of Ricky Williams.

I'll be sure to follow up on this story as more details emerge.