What are the Bills to do with their backs?

[Ingtar33]

A while ago I argued (back when there was a debate) that Henry was by far the more superior RB than S.Bryson or S.Morris. My reason for this was Bryson is unable to run between the tackles, and goes down faster than Whitney Houston getting hit by Bobby. Bryson is an electrifying pitch out runner, but has poor between the tackles instincts and runs "small". While Morris can run hard, he has fumbled often and doesn’t have the running ability of either Bryson or Henry. I'm a fan of smash mouth football, but with that goes the desire for ball control... other than Bryson (of course he is no good for smash mouth or for that matter ‘every’ down running) none of the Bills RBs have a good record for protecting the ball... here are the number of touches (runs and catches) each back has had, and the number of balls that have hit the ground.

Bryson 296 / 2 = 0.675%
Henry 315 / 9 = 2.857%
Morris 157 / 3 = 1.910%

Unfortunately we do not have much choice... the best available back is J.Anderson with his poor knees he is a risk and he fumbles at a rate of 1.347%...

To put this all in perspective J.Bettis fumbles at a 1.221% rate, while sure handed E.Smith's rate is 1.201%.

What are we to do?

*all these numbers come from ESPN.com

[Cntrygal]

put into that type of perspective, it doesn't sound as bad..... but I would rather that Henry didn't fumble in each game for the rest of the season. (that goes for all of them)

What was that movie, with the football player kept fumbling, so they made him carry the football everywhere? And the rest of the team was to try and take the ball away from him??? :D

[Buffarama]

I would rather have Huntley backing up Henry than Bryson.
Huntley had to open his big dumb mouth though, so I can't blame them for cutting him. I guess Watters is retired for good huh.

[Tatonka]

that movie was "the program"

[RedEyE]

As crazy as it sounds, I think as the weather continues to cool, the ball becomes easier to grip. Henry will become less a liabilty and more of an asset.

[mackey789]

i used to think bryson was better than henry but after this season, besides the fumbles, i think henry is MUCH better and more talented than any of the other backs on the roster....henry will rebound and win us some ballgames

[The_Philster]

Originally posted by Tatonka
that movie was "the program"


That was a pretty good movie....football, Halle berry and Kristy Swanson.

[Cntrygal]

Originally posted by Tatonka
that movie was "the program"

:huh: or was it "Varsity Blues"?

either way, I will be very happy if none of them fumble the ball this week. About the only thing I can say (so far) down at the sports bar when the guys are laughing about Henry's fumbles is..... "At least he got the one fumble out of the way, now he can concentrate on the rest of the game." :(

[Creemoredrinker]

Originally posted by Ingtar33
"...goes down faster than Whitney Houston getting hit by Bobby....."

Ouch!!! You should get in trouble for that if people could read around here.
:1:

Tar, these stats are somewhat meaningful, but I do NOT think the sample field is large enough yet to reach any conclusions. With respect to Bettis and Smith they are, but NOT with respect to our 3 young backs.

I think it is NOT the time to panic, but rather to savour the momment. We still have the #1 offense in the NFL and we stand behind Travis to support him. There is NO doubt he has received the message so let's see what this second year player can do.

Looking for old veteran RBs is NOT the answer.

:10:

[Judge]

Originally posted by Buffarama
I would rather have Huntley backing up Henry than Bryson.
Huntley had to open his big dumb mouth though, so I can't blame them for cutting him. I guess Watters is retired for good huh.

Ricky Watters! Forgot about him!

Where is he? He didn't actually retire, did he? If he is healthy, he's a PERFECT alternative to what's here for this team.

[Drewpac]

Watters Sucks! He's like 35 years old and he hasn't averaged over 4 ypc in like 7 years. Henry is the man, fumbles and all.

[RedEyE]

There is a sepcific reason why Watters isn't playing anywhere in the NFL.

[Judge]

Ricky Watters' stats from ESPN.COM

- - RUSHING -- -- RECEIVING -- -- FUMBLES --
YEAR TEAM G GS ATT YDS AVG LNG TD REC YDS AVG LNG TD FUM LST
1992 SF 14 13 206 1013 4.9 43 9 43 405 9.4 35 2 2 0
1993 SF 13 13 208 950 4.6 39 10 31 326 10.5 48 1 5 0
1994 SF 16 16 239 877 3.7 23 6 66 719 10.9 65 5 8 3
1995 PHI 16 16 337 1273 3.8 57 11 62 434 7.0 24 1 6 3
1996 PHI 16 16 353 1411 4.0 56 13 51 444 8.7 36 0 5 5
1997 PHI 16 16 285 1110 3.9 28 7 48 440 9.2 37 0 3 2
1998 SEA 16 16 319 1239 3.9 39 9 52 373 7.2 24 0 4 2
1999 SEA 16 16 325 1210 3.7 45 5 40 387 9.7 25 2 4 4
2000 SEA 16 16 278 1242 4.5 55 7 63 613 9.7 59 2 5 2
2001 SEA 5 4 72 318 4.4 40 1 11 107 9.7 34 0 1 0
Total 144 142 2622 10643 4.1 57 78 467 4248 9.1 65 13 43 21

First off: the claim that Ricky hasn't averaged better than 4.0 ypc in a while is totally wrong.

Second: He quite frankly has always produced on a very high level throughout his career.

Third: he's been a valuable receiver out of the backfield.

Fourth: Apparently pretty sure handed.

Unless he's damaged goods, he is a potential value to this team.

[Drewpac]

Judge,
You win. From the stats, Watters has always been productive. But he would just be a short term solution. He is 33 years old. Not many running backs are productive at that age and, if I'm correct, he is coming off of a major knee injury. I don't believe he would be more productive then Henry at this point.

[casdhf]

Originally posted by Judge
First off: the claim that Ricky hasn't averaged better than 4.0 ypc in a while is totally wrong.

Second: He quite frankly has always produced on a very high level throughout his career.

Third: he's been a valuable receiver out of the backfield.

Fourth: Apparently pretty sure handed.

Unless he's damaged goods, he is a potential value to this team.

He wants more moeny than he's worth. We'll pass.

[Judge]

I'm not suggesting he's a long-term solution, and he isn't in a very good position to bargain for big $$.

If Henry keeps fumbling, and Bryson isn't able to seize the starting job, then Watters might be a way to deal with the RB on a short-term (meaning just this season or next) basis, IF the Bills show any signs of playoff contention.