My take on McGahee

[Mr. Miyagi]

Holy crap I stayed away from the PC for a weekend and all hell broke loose!

I know the McGahee thing probably has been discussed to death, but I don't feel like going back and reading a thousand posts, so here's my quick take on it.

But after having thought about it, I think this wasn't such a terrible pick.

We weren't going to have a 1st rounder at all. After trading Price we got this back, but we didn't need to get another WR to replace him since we already have Reed and signed Shaw. This was a luxury pick, in a way. So why not sign a guy who could very well be the next Thurman Thomas (same knee problem, not as severe though), or even better? Remember he was projected to be #1/#2 overall pick before his knee injury. And his recovery seems to be going much better than expected. His knee might be hurt, but his talent, skills, and football sense are still all there. If he makes a 100% recovery in a year, we could have the steal of the century.

And who is to say there is no trade/cuts in the works? Henry is still the starter, and we just extended him for a year. But after next year if he has another good year, he may not be happy making the chicken scrap that we feed him now. Will he demand to have a big payday? Probably. Will we pay him? I hope so, but having McGahee is our insurance policy (if Henry won't come to terms) as well as negotiation leverage (with Henry).

Gary only signed a 2 year deal with us, and he could also again be traded. So could Morris. Looks like Joe Burns is hitting the road though.

Any comments?

[Tatonka]

that is pretty much what most of us had said..

there are two divisions here.. those who are happy about it.. and those who are not..

those who like the pick pretty much see that there was no one else the bills really wanted and accept that we just got a potential great back.

those against it are basically worried about the effect that it may have on chemistry or henry..

i think it will work out fine, although i hope he doesnt play this year and just gets completely healthy.

[justasportsfan]

A gamble pick where the rewards are bigger than the loss should we win the gamble or not. If he doesn't pan out, we still have a great team.If he does, imagine the possibilities. We could trade one of them for a no.1 pick.

We win a SB and then we still get the no.1 draft pick the next year by trading one of them.And then when I woke up, We still win the SB but we ended up with just the no.2 pick. :D

[Billz_fan]

If they really are serious about running the ball on offense as a steady diet then Henry is gonna get a ton of carries this next season. Im still a bit of a sceptic as far as that goes after many games last year when Travis was running strong and the coach totally abandoned the run in the last quarter, was this play calling a signal that the coaches were afraid Travis would put the ball on the ground with the game on the line? I don't know, It just seems odd how we passed the ball in the red zone and late in the game so many times.

In 325 carries TH fumbled 11 times losing 8. Thats 1 fumble every 30 carries and a lost fumble every 41 carries. Thats not good.

The other issue is that he is gonna want big money if he continues to crank out the kind of yards he did this season when his contract comes up after the 2005 season. McGahee will be in his 2nd active season (if he rehabs all this season) and still be the age of a college senior.

Consider as I said earlier the amount of carries Travis will get over the next couple seasons and the pounding involved and I think he becomes expendable just as he gets expensive. If Travis gets a little money hungry before his contract expires and decides to scream for a new deal, then TD has the option of letting him sit out. He has McGahee waiting.

I think TD had his sights on McGahee when he signed Travis to an extension. That gets us Travis for 3 more seasons at a bargain price with a game breaking back waiting in the wings who normally would be just graduating college under normal circumstances.

Josh Reed really didn't make sense last year when they picked him either. Now he is gonna be a big part of the game plan. They picked what they thought was the best athelete on the board regardless of position. In that respect I tend to agree they picked the best player available.

I was as freaked out as anyone when McGahees name was called as our pick. I grabbed the back of my head with both hands then sat with my mouth open for a good 2 minutes before deciding I had heard correctly :D

[Dozerdog]

I was at the draft party- Because the draft went much quicker than expected, I was in the middle of bowling with my sister and her 3 kids when I noticed the pick.

I didn't know what to think- so I got drunk and bowled a 132. :D


I think it was a great pick after reflection.

[mikemac2001]

i was at work and had the draft cast hidden below all my work windows...and i see bills drafted mcgahee i was like huh but if you think about it we might have drafted kelsey anyways so if mcgahee gets 100% again Wow we got a nice deal

IF though

[Typ0]

Dozer you bowled better than Clump.

[mush69]

I was shocked at the pick. I also didn't know if I heard it right. I was just waking up and thought just maybe it was a nightmare.

After some thought though I have come around to the "I like it side" We have a lot of potentail for this year and TD is trying to set us up for the future too.

[Captain gameboy]

Too early to tell. I'm at the point of trusting the FO. By late july we'll have a much better feel for how WM is coming along. Either way he's very likely to be far more valuable a year from now.
On the other hand, if he recovers completely, he'd be the gamebraking running back we haven't had in a long time. Win/win is my early suspicion.
I'm just really surprised there wasn't somebody else we coveted at 23.