An opinion on McGahee other then ESPN

[Cornerville]

Judge likes what the Ravens did...here is the link and story:

 

 

Willi$$$

 

 

here are a lot of things about the NFL free-agency period that perplex me, but none more than teams' desire to acquire somebody else's running back, all those carries on the body and all.

 

Some are even foolish enough to trade draft picks and give out plenty of money, too.

 

The latest is Baltimore, forced to do so because its own castoff, Jamal Lewis, was signed by the Cleveland Browns. The Ravens traded three draft picks Thursday to acquire Willis McGahee from the Buffalo Bills. They gave up a third and a seventh in this year's draft, plus a third in 2008.

 

What did they get? The got a running back who has a major ACL injury on his resume, one with a 3.9-yards-per-rush average. The Ravens see it differently.

 

"We’re getting a dynamic back who has the potential to diversify our running game," coach Brian Billick said in statement. "We've studied him, and he brings the same passion and preparation that is common to Miami players, like our Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Getting a player as good as Willis is another example of how (general manager) Ozzie (Newsome) and his department size up the market and use our resources well."

 

In addition to giving up the picks, the Ravens also are in talks to sign McGahee to a long-term deal; he has one year remaining on his contract and is represented by bulldog agent Drew Rosenhaus.

 

I just don't get the move.

 

Look at the leading rushers from 2006. The top eight were all drafted or signed by the teams they were with last season. That's players like San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson, Kansas City's Larry Johnson, San Francisco's Frank Gore and St. Louis' Steven Jackson.

 

Drafting running backs is the way to go -- the only way.

 

Yet here we are in the second week of free-agency and teams are gobbling up others' castoffs.

 

The Jets traded to get Thomas Jones from the Bears, the Broncos signed Travis Henry to a big deal as a free agent, Lewis gets a one-year deal from Cleveland and Ahman Green gets a big deal from the Houston Texans.

 

Of those five players, all but McGahee rushed for 1,000 yards in 2006, but they all have the wear-and-tear of playing in the league for a few years.

 

My running back philosophy has always been this: Draft one, beat him up and then move on to the next young guy you draft.

 

Do not pay top money for somebody else's carries. If you want to keep your own veteran, which the Ravens considered with Lewis and the Jacksonville Jaguars did with Fred Taylor, that's fine.

 

Picking up somebody else's beaten-up body is not the way to go.

 

When the Arizona Cardinals signed away Edgerrin James from the Indianapolis Colts last year, it started a frenzy in Indy. General manager Bill Polian was ripped. The Colts, many said, couldn't win without James.

 

At the time, I laughed at that talk and wrote that way in a column.

 

My thinking was the Colts would find a younger, faster player in the draft, and James would not be missed.

 

Well, they drafted Joseph Addai, and the Colts won the Super Bowl. Was he missed?

 

The Cardinals are stuck with James, who had a 3.4 per-rush average last season.

 

They have a back who is entering his ninth season and has 3,056 carries. The body eventually starts to wear down. Want to bet it shows even on a workout warrior like James?

 

McGahee is younger than James, so it makes a little more sense for the Ravens to make the move, but not for the price -- not with the chance to get a young player in the draft.

 

The Jets made the same type of move with Jones. They traded their second-round pick, the 37th overall, to the Bears for Jones and Chicago's second-round pick, 63rd overall. Then they gave Jones, who is entering his eighth season, a new contract that pays him $20 million for four seasons, $12 million guaranteed.

 

"I just can't figure out why teams keep paying these older running backs," said one NFC coach. "That's how you get in trouble. The player plays two years and then you have to eat the pro-rated part of his contract."

 

The 2006 season was the year of the rookie runner. In addition to Addai, you had Reggie Bush in New Orleans, Laurence Maroney in New England, Maurice-Jones Drew in Jacksonville and Leon Washington with the Jets. Carolina's DeAngelo Williams, another first-round pick in 2006, had four good games in his last six and looks ready to take over as the feature back.

 

You can find backs.

 

"It's the one position where you do the same thing, aside from protection schemes, that you have done since you were a kid," said one AFC personnel director. "That's why it's so easy to come in and play."

 

And why it's foolish to pay big money or give up draft picks for somebody else's reject, a guy with carries already eroding the running skills.

 

It's yet another reason why it's hard for me to understand some of what these teams do in free-agency.

[Sketch Soland]

That may be the most rational thing that windbag has ever written. He's completely right.

[ThePebble19]

I don't know...I am starting to get the feeling that McGahee might "Tom Barrasso" the Bills by looking like crap so he gets traded, and goes on to be a star somewhere else.

[Dan]

That may be the most rational thing that windbag has ever written. He's completely right.

If everything else he has written is irrational, wouldn't it make more sense that this is irrational too? As opposed to him finally getting it right? I'm just sayin.

[GG]

Great article. (Until Bills sign Rhodes or Brown. Then it's a stupid article)

[Kelly the Dog]

Marshall Faulk. Jerome Bettis. Priest Holmes. Curtis Martin. Not to mention that of the last 10 SB champs, 4 drafted their top back and 6 used free agents (arguably it's 5-5, if you wish to count Willie Parker over Jerome Bettis, but even Parker was a free agent.)

[Ralonzo]

Antowain Smith

[Buftex]

Marshall Faulk. Jerome Bettis. Priest Holmes. Curtis Martin. Not to mention that of the last 10 SB champs, 4 drafted their top back and 6 used free agents (arguably it's 5-5, if you wish to count Willie Parker over Jerome Bettis, but even Parker was a free agent.)

 

 

You're good!

[Buftex]

Antowain Smith

 

 

Not sure if Prisco was talking about all free agent running backs, or just those that get huge cotracts.

[Fezmid]

Antowain Smith

Corey Dillon

[MRW]

I don't know why you guys are letting all these facts get in the way of feeling like we got the better of the Ravens.

[Sketch Soland]

If everything else he has written is irrational, wouldn't it make more sense that this is irrational too? As opposed to him finally getting it right? I'm just sayin.

 

No, because that would imply that i make a sweeping generalization about everything he's written without reading it. That would be irrational on my part. I prefer to read something before judging it irrational. And notice I said MOST rational thing he's ever written, which does not imply that it is the ONLY rational thing he has ever written.

[Dan]

No, because that would imply that i make a sweeping generalization about everything he's written without reading it. That would be irrational on my part. I prefer to read something before judging it irrational. And notice I said MOST rational thing he's ever written, which does not imply that it is the ONLY rational thing he has ever written.

Yes. Points well made. I'm trying to think of some counter arguement; however, I can not.

[Buftex]

I don't know why you guys are letting all these facts get in the way of feeling like we got the better of the Ravens.

 

 

I will see how we replace McGahee, before passing a verdict. I would rather have McGahee than any of the options that seem to be rumoured right now.

 

That said, getting two third round picks for a guy on his way out the door looks pretty good on paper! The Bills offseason is still a work in progress....

[Astrobot]

Best line in Prisco's article:

"he brings the same passion and preparation that is common to Miami players"

Bye Willis.

[Cornerville]

Best line in Prisco's article:

"he brings the same passion and preparation that is common to Miami players"

Bye Willis.

 

[Lv-Bills]

I don't know...I am starting to get the feeling that McGahee might "Tom Barrasso" the Bills by looking like crap so he gets traded, and goes on to be a star somewhere else.

As a Penguins fan, Tom Barrasso played goalie for the Pens while Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Mark Recchi, Paul Coffey, Ulf Samuleson, Rick Tocchet, Kevin Stevens and the like were scoring gobs of goals in front of him.

 

Tommy B was decent, but the Penguins won A LOT of games back then 7-5, 8-6, 5-4 etc.

 

Just had to get that off my chest. Sorry!

[IDBillzFan]

Best line in Prisco's article:

"he brings the same passion and preparation that is common to Miami players"

Bye Willis.

That's what popped out at me, too. I read that and thought "Geez, there's a lot to talk about with this guy and you pick two of the things that turned the fans sour toward him; lack of preparation and he comes from Miami."

 

To each their own. I suspect he'll be a star in Baltimore.

[Peter]

That's what popped out at me, too. I read that and thought "Geez, there's a lot to talk about with this guy and you pick the two of the things that turned the fans sour toward him; lack of preparation and he comes from Miami."

 

To each their own. I suspect he'll be a star in Baltimore.

 

The problem with the Bills is NOT that we have too many players from UM.

 

There are plenty of great players from UM in the NFL that would be great for the Bills. There is one in particular that is coming out this year that I would love to have playing TE for us.

 

There has always been an anti-Hurricane bias on this board and that is why some of the guys on this board went on and on with their criticism of WM. We shall see how he does with the Ravens next year.

 

As a side note (I mentioned this in another post), one of the interesting things about the trade is that WM was traded to the Ravens. I remember when we played the Ravens, people were bitching and moaning about how many yards WM had in that game. I remember posting that the Ravens' game plan (just like those of many of our opponents in 2006) pure and simple was to stop WM. On many plays, the Ravens had only 3 defensive backs.

 

In most of the games that we have played the past few years, opposing defenses had 8 or 9 men in the box specifically to try to stop our running game. Unfortunately, we did not make opposing defenses pay as often as we should have with our passing game.

 

It is going to be very interesting to see what happens if we do not have a running game that opposing defenses respect. I really hope that the Bills have a plan to bring in an RB that opposing defenses respect -- otherwise JP is going to have an up hill battle.