ESPN Rushing Rating

[PcA125]

ESPN just ranked the bills 21st overall in rushing. Do you think this is a fair/accurate rating?

[hammerbillsfan]

I think it's a fair rating since our OL was absolute **** last season.

[OpIv37]

not to mention McGahee quit on the team.

[Bill Brasky]

considering:

1- how putrid the line is
2- the fact Buffalo has a headcase in the backfield
3- and they have not solidified a passing game in almost 2 seasons

I don't think it's far off.

[ICE74129]

I am suprised it is that high. Willis flat quit last year. We start off slow this year (And we will) And I see him quitting on us again.

I just hope DJ has the sac to bench him then Marv Trade him or just cut him next offseason

[Luisito23]

I think that rating's just about right...hopefully Willis won't quit on us again...





GO BILLS!!!!!!

[MikeInRoch]

I fear that rating may be too high.

[Earthquake Enyart]

Those ratings were a joke. They had the Vikings rated higher than the Bears and Lions.

The Bills should be somewhere around average. 16th or so.

[Patrick76777]

Those ratings were a joke. They had the Vikings rated higher than the Bears and Lions.

The Bills should be somewhere around average. 16th or so.



The ESPN guys and the goofballs above have no clue.

Mularkey instructed McGahee to change his running style.

Half way thru the season McGahee was ranked in the top 5.

He Quit? The whole team quit. It's human nature. When you're 0-0 and it's week 1 you go balls out. When you're 4-10 it's natural to have a let down.

He should have been anywhere from 11-15.

[Earthquake Enyart]

Mullarkey gave up on McGahee, not the other way around.

[Patrick76777]

Mullarkey gave up on McGahee, not the other way around.



Exactly. And he took Willis out on almost every 3rd down!!!!!

[Patrick76777]

Mullarkey gave up on McGahee, not the other way around.



Dude was the 10th leading rusher last year with 1257 yards with all of that going against him.

[OpIv37]

Dude was the 10th leading rusher last year with 1257 yards with all of that going against him.

His YPC went down from 04 to 05. His TD's were WAAAAYYY down, despite more carries and more games.

What is it with people around here? No one wants to hold any players responsible- everyone wants to blame the system or the coach or the OL. Yes, all that stuff has an effect, but ultimately each player is responsible for their own performance. If McGahee didn't spend more time in Miami than he did in Buffalo, I might be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But until he puts the effort in, I'm not going to let him get off with these excuses for mediocrity.

[Patrick76777]

His YPC went down from 04 to 05. His TD's were WAAAAYYY down, despite more carries and more games. .

they never went to him!!!!! Plus they took him out on 3rd down! Think back to Miami last year. If Mularkey calls McGahee 3 times from the 2, not only does he get a TD, but the team wins.



What is it with people around here? No one wants to hold any players responsible- everyone wants to blame the system or the coach or the OL. Yes, all that stuff has an effect, but ultimately each player is responsible for their own performance. If McGahee didn't spend more time in Miami than he did in Buffalo, I might be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But until he puts the effort in, I'm not going to let him get off with these excuses for mediocrity.


Pot, Kettle, Black.

A member of the JP fan club calling out others for blaming the coaching, system and O-line.

[Patrick76777]

He was 10 in rushing last year. Plus as a team we upgraded his back up in getting A-Train. How does the 10th leading rusher drop down to 21st place?????

[OpIv37]

they never went to him!!!!! Plus they took him out on 3rd down! Think back to Miami last year. If Mularkey calls McGahee 3 times from the 2, not only does he get a TD, but the team wins.




Pot, Kettle, Black.

A member of the JP fan club calling out others for blaming the coaching, system and O-line.

QB is NOT RB. QB takes more time to learn- JP wasn't given time. I never blamed the coaches for his performance- only for not giving him the chance to learn. And I also said that if his performance doesn't improve significantly this year, he should be cut. I'm holding JP responsible for his own perfromance.

And if McGahee gets in the endzone on 1st down, Mularkey's calls on 2nd and 3rd down are irrelevant.

And 10th in rushing is meaningless without wins. McGahee didn't help the team win because he didn't get in the endzone. Plus, McGahee said himself that he's the best rusher in the league. Well if that's true and the best he could do is 10th, that's underacheiving.

[OpIv37]

He was 10 in rushing last year. Plus as a team we upgraded his back up in getting A-Train. How does the 10th leading rusher drop down to 21st place?????

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/statistics?sort=ypg&stat=teamrush&pos=off&league=nfl&season=2&year=2005

It's a TEAM ranking, not a McGahee ranking. Buffalo was 20th overall in TEAM rushing last year, we still have ?'s on the OL and an unproven passing attack. Personally, I think with a slightly upgraded OL and a coach who should be more run-oriented, we should be able to improve slightly. But given the OL/QB situation, I can see how people would rank us at roughly the same level as last year.

[R. Rich]

Those ratings were a joke. They had the Vikings rated higher than the Bears and Lions.

The Bills should be somewhere around average. 16th or so.

They had Miami ahead of us too, even though Ricky Williams isn't playing this season and had Pittsburgh out of their top 10 because Bettis is gone and Staley is too banged up.

Hey, it's just a group of guys speculating. There's no science to this. Big deal.

[justasportsfan]

His YPC went down from 04 to 05. His TD's were WAAAAYYY down, despite more carries and more games.

What is it with people around here? No one wants to hold any players responsible- everyone wants to blame the system or the coach or the OL. Yes, all that stuff has an effect, but ultimately each player is responsible for their own performance. If McGahee didn't spend more time in Miami than he did in Buffalo, I might be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But until he puts the effort in, I'm not going to let him get off with these excuses for mediocrity. You are blaming SOLELYthe wrong player. When you are 3rd and goal and give the ball to Shelton, of course Willis' TD nos. is gonna go down.

His YPC will go down when D's stack the line with eight people because they know you don't have the qb's to get it done. Willis is partly to blame but he's NOT the ONLY reason he failed to have probowl nos. What is it with you negative Nancies? .Sheez , do you guys even watch the games?There's only so much a player can do when you don't have an OL. No one here said Willis is the next Sanders.

[R. Rich]

What is it with you negative Nancies? .Sheez , do you guys even watch the games?

Nah. I just come here for all the football insight I need. You can always count on some resident know it all to set the people straight.

[Earthquake Enyart]

They had Miami ahead of us too, even though Ricky Williams isn't playing this season and had Pittsburgh out of their top 10 because Bettis is gone and Staley is too banged up.

Hey, it's just a group of guys speculating. There's no science to this. Big deal.
I couldn't stand to watch it. A bunch of galoots barking for face time. Especially Salisbury.

[OpIv37]

You are blaming SOLELYthe wrong player. When you are 3rd and goal and give the ball to Shelton, of course Willis' TD nos. is gonna go down.

His YPC will go down when D's stack the line with eight people because they know you don't have the qb's to get it done. Willis is partly to blame but he's NOT the ONLY reason he failed to have probowl nos. What is it with you negative Nancies? .Sheez , do you guys even watch the games?There's only so much a player can do when you don't have an OL. No one here said Willis is the next Sanders.

if Willis gets in on 1st and goal or 2nd and goal, who gets the ball on 3rd and goal is irrelevant. Yes, there's only so much a player can do. He can't control the OL or the playcalling. He CAN hit holes like he means it and not pussyfoot around in the backfield. He CAN stay in Buffalo to learn the offense- did it ever occur to you that Mularkey may have pulled McGahee on 3rd down because he wanted to keep his passing options open and McGahee didn't know the passing offense well enough?

There is no accountability around here.

[Patrick76777]

And 10th in rushing is meaningless without wins. McGahee didn't help the team win because he didn't get in the endzone. Plus, McGahee said himself that he's the best rusher in the league. Well if that's true and the best he could do is 10th, that's underacheiving.

1. it's a team game. one player can only do so much. You can't even begin to blame McGahee for us not winning last year.

2. I already explained why he didn't get into the endzone, do you want me to repeat myself all day?

3. Of course he said he's the best. He's a brash confident guy. They asked him who's the best and he said me. It's the only right answer as far as I'm concerned. And who cares if he didn't live up to it.

[Patrick76777]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/statistics?sort=ypg&stat=teamrush&pos=off&league=nfl&season=2&year=2005

It's a TEAM ranking, not a McGahee ranking. Buffalo was 20th overall in TEAM rushing last year, we still have ?'s on the OL and an unproven passing attack. Personally, I think with a slightly upgraded OL and a coach who should be more run-oriented, we should be able to improve slightly. But given the OL/QB situation, I can see how people would rank us at roughly the same level as last year.



Yes, I know, ANd that's why I said we upgraded with the addition of A-train. Are you going to make me repeat everything or do you want to go back and read my posts?

[Patrick76777]

I couldn't stand to watch it. A bunch of galoots barking for face time. Especially Salisbury.


Idiots. The thing with guys like that is that they always just follow last years stats. Watch when they start making season predictions. They'll easily pick 7 of 8 division winners last year when everyone knows that at least 4 division winners change every single year.


And OP, I'm done. it's obvious you have a problem with McGahee for some reason. I just don't understand how JP gets pass after pass, but like Mcgahee can't get a break.

And yes, I know JP's a QB.

[OpIv37]

1. it's a team game. one player can only do so much. You can't even begin to blame McGahee for us not winning last year.

2. I already explained why he didn't get into the endzone, do you want me to repeat myself all day?

3. Of course he said he's the best. He's a brash confident guy. They asked him who's the best and he said me. It's the only right answer as far as I'm concerned. And who cares if he didn't live up to it.

1. I'm not solely blaming McGahee, but it's naive to not give him his share of the blame. Everyone around here is into excuses for mediocrity and it's disgusting.

2. If McGahee gets in on 1st or 2nd down, the playcalling on 3rd down is IRRELEVANT. Plus, if McGahee knew the offense better, he might not be pulled on 3rd down.

3. I care if he didn't live up to it because he doesn't do the things he needs to do to be the best. It's one thing to say you're the best, it's another thing to actually TRY to be the best. As long as he's tooling around in Miami instead of learning the offense and dancing in the backfield instead of running north and south, he's underacheiving. If he's putting the effort in and he's still not as good as Alexander or LT, that's fine. If he's not putting the effort in, hold him accountable and stop making excuses!

[R. Rich]

I couldn't stand to watch it. A bunch of galoots barking for face time. Especially Salisbury.

Plus w/ the ESPN guys, if they like a particular player, they're more likely to give their team props.

As I said, there's no science to this.

[OpIv37]

Idiots. The thing with guys like that is that they always just follow last years stats. Watch when they start making season predictions. They'll easily pick 7 of 8 division winners last year when everyone knows that at least 4 division winners change every single year.


And OP, I'm done. it's obvious you have a problem with McGahee for some reason. I just don't understand how JP gets pass after pass, but like Mcgahee can't get a break.

And yes, I know JP's a QB.

you need to READ what I wrote. JP doesn't get a pass for his mistakes- he gets a pass for not getting the opportunity. If he gets the opportunity this year and fails, cut him.

I have a problem with guys who underperform, McGahee being one of them. Since this is a thread about rushing rankings, I'm not going to bother getting on Josh Reed or Tim Anderson or Nate Clements or any of the other guys who underacheived last year.

[justasportsfan]

if Willis gets in on 1st and goal or 2nd and goal, who gets the ball on 3rd and goal is irrelevant. Yes, there's only so much a player can do. He can't control the OL or the playcalling. He CAN hit holes like he means it and not pussyfoot around in the backfield. He CAN stay in Buffalo to learn the offense- did it ever occur to you that Mularkey may have pulled McGahee on 3rd down because he wanted to keep his passing options open and McGahee didn't know the passing offense well enough?

There is no accountability around here.Yes it is releveant whether he gets the ball on 3rd downs. The guy had 13 TD's in his first year as a starter. This is why you him the benefit of the doubt that maybe it was play calling + no OL. If he still can't do it this year then he get's the boot.


You don't see anyone here saying Willis is the BEST back in the NFL. No one is even saying he should've been in the probowl . So in case you have a hard time understainding posts, no one is giving him a FREE pass and he is being held accountable. We're just saying, it wasn't entirely his fault.You on the other hand talk like everything was his fault even though you cried up a storm about the last HC.

[Patrick76777]

you need to READ what I wrote. JP doesn't get a pass for his mistakes- he gets a pass for not getting the opportunity. If he gets the opportunity this year and fails, cut him.

I have a problem with guys who underperform, McGahee being one of them. Since this is a thread about rushing rankings, I'm not going to bother getting on Josh Reed or Tim Anderson or Nate Clements or any of the other guys who underacheived last year.


Sorry, bro, you've got my head going in circles. I just don't understand it.

You win. Willis is average and until we get a top 3 Running back who gets the job down on 1st or 2nd down every time and who isn't brash and has a grade A work effort we're in trouble.


No less then 1800 yards and 20 TD's.

[OpIv37]

Sorry, bro, you've got my head going in circles. I just don't understand it.

You win. Willis is average and until we get a top 3 Running back who gets the job down on 1st or 2nd down every time and who isn't brash and has a grade A work effort we're in trouble.


No less then 1800 yards and 20 TD's.

You said I have a problem with Willis- I said I have a problem with any guy on this team who underachieves and I listed a few. I'm just on Willis' case in this thread because it's about rushing.

If Willis is capable of 1800 yards and 20 TD's, we as fans should accept nothing less. If he says he's the best, he should work to be the best. Otherwise, he should STFU.

And I'm not saying he has to get 100 yards per game only playing on first and second down. But if he has first and goal from the 2 he absolutely should get in the first time.

[Earthquake Enyart]

Sorry, bro, you've got my head going in circles. I just don't understand it.

You win. Willis is average and until we get a top 3 Running back who gets the job down on 1st or 2nd down every time and who isn't brash and has a grade A work effort we're in trouble.


No less then 1800 yards and 20 TD's.
He also needs to have a good average if you take his longest runs away.

[OpIv37]

He also needs to have a good average if you take his longest runs away.

I don't think taking out an 8 yard run will make much difference.