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It began months ago.
The Ravens hired no-nonsense Eagles secondary coach John Harbaugh as head coach on January 18. He assembled an all-star supporting staff, retaining defensive boss Rex Ryan and tabbing Cam Cameron as offensive coordinator. Well regarded former Bengals assistant Hue Jackson signed on to tutor the quarterbacks with former 49ers offensive coordinator Jim Hostler named receivers coach.
Cameron pledged to make McGahee an "every-down back" in the spring. Cam's track record with running backs (see LaDainian Tomlinson, Ronnie Brown's first half in 2007) was impressive and all signs pointed to McGahee getting another heavy workload in 2008, with possibly more involvement in the passing game than ever.
But McGahee didn't endear himself to the new regime right off the bat. He skipped virtually all "non-mandatory" offseason work, and when he finally did report in late May, McGahee was out of shape. Baltimore had used the 55th overall pick on Rutgers' Ray Rice and the rookie began running with the first-team offense early in training camp because McGahee was out with a "leg" injury.
On August 11 it was revealed that McGahee needed arthroscopic surgery on the same knee he had reconstructed several times due to a devastating college injury. He missed the entire preseason. In Week 1, McGahee was active against Cincinnati but did not get the football. The Ravens inserted Lorenzo Neal at fullback and switched LeRon McClain to tailback. McClain totaled 111 yards on 21 touches; Rice 85 on 25 touches.
All along, the clued-in Baltimore Sun beat dropped subtle hints that McGahee had fallen out of favor, at one point even suggesting he might not last the season on the roster. Friday's edition ran an alarming column entitled "McGahee falling out of the running." The story's first line is "In the Ravens' new running scheme, the joke could end up being on Willis McGahee." It goes on to essentially assert that a committee backfield is imminent and that McGahee may not even start Week 2 despite taking most of the practice reps all week and being listed as "probable."
spikes and willis for edwards and stroud
pwnd3dE256
The Ravens hired no-nonsense Eagles secondary coach John Harbaugh as head coach on January 18. He assembled an all-star supporting staff, retaining defensive boss Rex Ryan and tabbing Cam Cameron as offensive coordinator. Well regarded former Bengals assistant Hue Jackson signed on to tutor the quarterbacks with former 49ers offensive coordinator Jim Hostler named receivers coach.
Cameron pledged to make McGahee an "every-down back" in the spring. Cam's track record with running backs (see LaDainian Tomlinson, Ronnie Brown's first half in 2007) was impressive and all signs pointed to McGahee getting another heavy workload in 2008, with possibly more involvement in the passing game than ever.
But McGahee didn't endear himself to the new regime right off the bat. He skipped virtually all "non-mandatory" offseason work, and when he finally did report in late May, McGahee was out of shape. Baltimore had used the 55th overall pick on Rutgers' Ray Rice and the rookie began running with the first-team offense early in training camp because McGahee was out with a "leg" injury.
On August 11 it was revealed that McGahee needed arthroscopic surgery on the same knee he had reconstructed several times due to a devastating college injury. He missed the entire preseason. In Week 1, McGahee was active against Cincinnati but did not get the football. The Ravens inserted Lorenzo Neal at fullback and switched LeRon McClain to tailback. McClain totaled 111 yards on 21 touches; Rice 85 on 25 touches.
All along, the clued-in Baltimore Sun beat dropped subtle hints that McGahee had fallen out of favor, at one point even suggesting he might not last the season on the roster. Friday's edition ran an alarming column entitled "McGahee falling out of the running." The story's first line is "In the Ravens' new running scheme, the joke could end up being on Willis McGahee." It goes on to essentially assert that a committee backfield is imminent and that McGahee may not even start Week 2 despite taking most of the practice reps all week and being listed as "probable."
spikes and willis for edwards and stroud
pwnd3dE256
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