willis is a top 5 RB

[Nasty Mcgahee]

Get a grip, pre season. Pre. Season.

Listen, I am a Mcgahee fan, I followed him from Miami to Buffalo and now to the Ravens. It is becoming evident to me that it wasn't the Bills that made Willis look bad, it was Willis that made the Bills look bad. He was awsome in college but that was a serioius knee injury and I don't think he'll ever be what he was in college. And the ironic thing is that the bills went and upgraded the O line, and now, being traded he is behind another bad o line.

[Living_the_Life]

You don't have to pump up Willis McGahee by Bashing Travis Henry, it really doesn't make a case...

IMO... in terms of pure skill, not durability and other factors.

1. LaDainian Tomlinson

2. Larry Johnson

3. Steven Jackson

4. Clinton Portis

5. Frank Gore

6. Willie Parker

7. Willis McGahee

8. Edgerrin James

9. Shaun Alexander

10. Travis Henry

That would be my list too, except I'd actually put Gore over Portis and Alexander over Willis and Edge.

Stats / fantasy-wise, W.McGahee is definitely not Top 5. As far as what the player said about him, well you can't argue with that until you've been on that field.

[T-Ravenous]

I agree, he has very fast feet and a non stop motor. given the terrible bills line, his 3.8 actually is pretty good. Now he has a great offensive line which is only getting stronger (see Yanda signing and Gaither being drafted) he will improve greatly. I also think he will flourish now in a system with a proven quarterback in McNair and a stronger wide receiving core, watch out for McGehee to throw up big number in 07.

as long as he knows what play is being run... he might do alright. He had that trouble in buffalo in years previous, which is why he rarely played third downs and red zone offense... chalk it up to him not liking buffalo, but he always had trouble learning that playbook...

[DaBills]

He's certainly not a top 5 now, especially from what he has shown in his NFL career so far. He could easily be in that category, but he isn't right now. He doesn't have the work ethic to pull himself to that level anymore, which was extremely evident last year. He didn't even pay attention to the game most of last year.

[Nasty Mcgahee]

He's certainly not a top 5 now, especially from what he has shown in his NFL career so far. He could easily be in that category, but he isn't right now. He doesn't have the work ethic to pull himself to that level anymore, which was extremely evident last year. He didn't even pay attention to the game most of last year.

...and gave up on the play because he "didn't know it was 4th down".

[T-Ravenous]

What a bunch of homers.... if any of you seriously think mcgahee is even a top-10 running back, you are in for a long year of dancing in the backfield and failing to break tackles... i bet anderson will be starting by week 6 or 7... i can't believe how badly the ravens FO over paid for this guy... what a joke.

[dsizzle007]

for a back who will help us on mulitple levels to only have played 2 preseason games thus far, dont you think this is all alittle premature in judging wth he will do here for baltimore? i mean seriously i appriciate you all trying to warn us of what you all think will happen. but frankly this is all a bunch of bs. for us raven fans, i think all of us will give willis a chance.... regardless of all the bs. ill make my judgements on how hes affecting our offense, in the regular season. when we are actually running our new found offense, with our revitalized depth on the line, with a QB in his second year, fully aware of everything he "needs" to know. where he can go out and just execute. your right, hands down, willis will NOT be a huge, top 5 runner in the nfl this year. but you all are to damn focused on knocking on him. before you look at the big picture. him "opening up our lacklustered offense". no way in hell can you deny the fact that willis brings a presensce to the offense and a respect from defenders, which will open up many many options for us. and ok, hes not magnificant in catching the ball out of the backfield. but the fact that he has better hands then jamal did, and the fact that he has "potential" and the speed and agility to possibly make a 5 yard catch into a first down.... is huge for me. im sorry, i have seen on a consistant basis a horrible 3rd down conversion with our team, a horrible red zone td efficiency. we need first downs, longer drives, and a damn touchdown now and again. im FULLY confident, that willis will bring aspects to the table, that will make our offense better. until he proves me different, im supporting my team, and my teams decisions in bringing willis here, and supporting willis himself. he will without a doubt, bring things to our offense that we have never had here. and i totally accept the fact that he wont have a 1600+ season. who cares... i didnt buy season passes to see a top 5 running back in the league playing for my team. i buy season passes and support the HELL out of my team... cause its our time for a superbowl.

[Raven07]

i agree, the guy practically JUST got here and is still learning the offense and what not, hasnt even played a Full game yet and yet everyone wants to make assumptions that he will be just like he was in Buffalo......from what i've seen and heard from Players who are actually PLAYING with him on the field.....he's a GREAT back and can help our offense out considerably...thats including the Coaching staff, like Ozzie said when we first signed him....he's a Player that is Just coming into/entering his prime....and has his best Football ahead of him

[willis mcgahee run u over]

What a bunch of homers.... if any of you seriously think mcgahee is even a top-10 running back, you are in for a long year of dancing in the backfield and failing to break tackles... i bet anderson will be starting by week 6 or 7... i can't believe how badly the ravens FO over paid for this guy... what a joke.

failing to break tackles..definately not..he is pretty tough to bring down....ask the guy who has led the NFL in tackles during his career

watch him against the jets.....i saw him knock down zach thomas too

it was just that in buffalo there were always 3 guys ready to gang tackle him in the backfield....3.8 behind that line is actually pretty good

[willis mcgahee run u over]

thats because he was hit in the backfield 3 times

not counting when he was hit in the backfield he had 3 carries 14 yards.....which isnt that bad 4.7 a pop...he just was stuffed for losses of 5,2 and 4 yards....which isnt really his fault

[DaBills]

failing to break tackles..definately not..he is pretty tough to bring down....ask the guy who has led the NFL in tackles during his career

watch him against the jets.....i saw him knock down zach thomas too

it was just that in buffalo there were always 3 guys ready to gang tackle him in the backfield....3.8 behind that line is actually pretty good

The Jets, yeah he always played well against the Jets. He had personal incentive when he played against an old teammate. He rarely, if ever, showed that kind of game against any other opponent. He'll make some plays, but he isn't as wonderful as some believe.

[JHarris]

I avoided this thread for awhile because to me it's almost pointless. There is no way to know how he will do until about midseason. So many times people say someone is great or bad and they go to another team with another system and it's all different. Think about it...Preist Holmes...Clinton Portis...the list goes on. Denver is a prime example, plug just about any back into their system and they do well. As for now with McGahee....the jury is still out for me.

[tweety]

McGahee will do excellent in our system. He has only recieved 3 balls per game, wait till he gets 30. He doesn't care about pre-season that's the only problem with him is he doesn't care. He will care MNF and the real McGahee comes out. I'll be here posting when I'm right. He will get 4+ YPC (carry) and 4+ YPC (catch).

Willis won't care in front of fans who don't support him, so support him. By Monday 10 P.M. you will she what I mean. It will be hard without a line

Gaithers

Brown

Flynn

Terry

What happen to the expected line, and how would you rate them?

JO

Yanda

Grubbs

Chester

[organizedchaos52]

Right Now I don't think willis is even a top 10 back. He has great explosiveness and speed but his stats prove otherwise. Here are some stats to compare 2006 willis to 2006 jamal.

I understand both were behind bad lines, but we all know jamal tap dances, so who has the better stats?

Player Year Team G Att Att/G Yds Avg Yds/G TD Lng 1st 1st% 20+ 40+ FUM

Jamal Lewis 2006 Ravens 16 314 19.6 1132 3.6 70.8 9 52 46 14.6 3 1 4

Willis Mcgahee 2006 Buffalo Bills 14 259 18.5 990 3.8 70.7 6 57T 48 18.5 4 1 4

Willis Had 60 less attempts, a .2 better average and missed 2 games. Thats pretty good for only 259 attempts.

So in all, I think willis can have an amazing year if this line does well, and right now we have the young talent, they just have to work as a team.

[tweety]

It's quite obvious McGahee is one of the best in the league, you can even see when he gets stuff when the Oline falls apart that he has explosiveness. McGahee isn't a powerback regardless what Madden says he's elusive he can only shake a few men down at a time not a whole line. The line will straighten and our back will line up together

[Gore-Fan89]

Don't really see how McGahee could be considered top 5.

Tomlinson

Gore

S.Jackson

L.Johnson

Almost everyone should agree that those are locks as the top 4 in whatever order.

McGahee?

off the top of my head I'd take Willie Parker, Travis Henry, and Deuce McAllister first.

Not close to top 5 IMO.

[tweety]

Don't really see how McGahee could be considered top 5.

Tomlinson

Gore

S.Jackson

L.Johnson

off the top of my head I'd take Willie Parker, Travis Henry, and Deuce McAllister first.

Majority sitting behind above average lines. Let's see your rating after the season is over. Don't expect instance success give him and the line a few warm-up games.

[Mahatma_Sloth]

The Jets, yeah he always played well against the Jets. He had personal incentive when he played against an old teammate. He rarely, if ever, showed that kind of game against any other opponent. He'll make some plays, but he isn't as wonderful as some believe.

Maby hejust played bad in Buffalo cuz he hated it there

and if he played so good in college and when he plays aginst old teamates, he should do great concidering hes got a bunch of the best canes (one of whitch is probably the best motivator in the nfl and another his old teammate) pushin him here. plus he actually has a good offence here i mean i probably wouldnt try if i was on the bills offence too. lossmans a joke(its a loss man [loss (l

[Gore-Fan89]

Majority sitting behind above average lines. Let's see your rating after the season is over. Don't expect instance success give him and the line a few warm-up games.

Meh, i wasn't really basing that off of statistics anyway. McGahee just never really impressed me much as a runner.

[tweety]

Meh, i wasn't really basing that off of statistics anyway. McGahee just never really impressed me much as a runner.

I watch at least 16 games a year and the only player I've seen with close to as much explosiveness is Tomlinson. I watched Nat Turner, Addai, Speedy Parker, Caddy Williams, Stephen Davis, Rudi Johnson, Warrick Dunn, Clinton Portis...they are a lot of star RB McGahee isn't bad I trust him.

[Mista T]

I hope that these optimistic asssessments are right! McGahee showed little in preseason.

One common assumption in Ravens land is that McGahee will improve behind a "better" OL. Two thoughts:

- We have a lot of youth on our OL. A wide open running game towards the edges takes rythym and coordination -- tougher than straight-ahed smashmouth. What will be the learning curve?

- Last year's OL was average, at best, in run blocking. Gone are the monstrous but slow Mulitalo and Zeus .... and it showed.

[Mahatma_Sloth]

yor glass is half empty right? last year we had one of top 5(i think 3rd in league not sure though) in sacks given were giving up the big slow guys for young athletic guys that can get to the secondary(like denver) to better suit the running style of a back like willis(bet you we see alot of zone blocking) plus most of these guys can play multiple positions along the line so there is a posibility of o line throwing the d line diffrent looks to shake em up and we havent lost the smashmouth game thats what green mcclain smith and anderson are there for

[Ravnet]

yor glass is half empty right? last year we had one of top 5(i think 3rd in league not sure though) in sacks given were giving up the big slow guys for young athletic guys that can get to the secondary(like denver) to better suit the running style of a back like willis(bet you we see alot of zone blocking) plus most of these guys can play multiple positions along the line so there is a posibility of o line throwing the d line diffrent looks to shake em up and we havent lost the smashmouth game thats what green mcclain smith and anderson are there for

If we were in the top 5 in sacks allowed it is for good reason. McNair has a ton of time on his blind side with Ogden keeping him protected, but he holds onto the ball until the absolute last second possible and pays for it most of the time. Last year our offensive line was more geared towards pass protection and the linemen couldn't get into the secondary like you said. The reason there is so much McNair injury talk is because he waits for a play to fully develop, and then makes the pass instead of rushing it. Double edged sword because he sure takes a beating.

[Raven07]

ahahahahahahaha hey all watch th Willis McGahee Interview "on the spot with Willis McGahee"......you'll see...

http://www.baltimoreravens.com/multimedia/...ediacenter.aspx

[tweety]

The whole Offense has something to prove the RB, QB, OL, and FB Monday will be the real moment of truth. Reverse truth and drop the "t" it could hurt. We will do better than fine, come on we are the Ravens. I'm satisfied with our offseason.

[Gore-Fan89]

I watch at least 16 games a year and the only player I've seen with close to as much explosiveness is Tomlinson. I watched Nat Turner, Addai, Speedy Parker, Caddy Williams, Stephen Davis, Rudi Johnson, Warrick Dunn, Clinton Portis...they are a lot of star RB McGahee isn't bad I trust him.

I'd certainly put Parker far ahead of McGahee in the explosiveness catergory...

[Mahatma_Sloth]

i guess well see

[tweety]

I'd certainly put Parker far ahead of McGahee in the explosiveness catergory...

I would put Parker with Tatum Bell not as explosive as fast. I mean first step explosiveness. Watch McGahee's first step it's more crucial then it sounds. 7 hours until showtime.

[Jesse Conroy]

McGahee is going to be the missing peace to the puzzle to get to the Super Bowl. If anything he is the #1 back, for the Ravens.

3 hours till gametime.

[tweety]

Both our RB's looked good. Top 5 close....