McGahee vs. Gore

[mypoorfriendme]

i know the relevance of this thread relates from well over a year ago, but it being mid june, there isnt much else to talk about.

mcgahee wasnt the hurricane's starter in spring ball pre-2002. instead, it was frank gore. mcgahee didnt even see serious playing time until gore went down with a knee injury in the beginning of the season. furthermore, mcgahee chose to enter the draft after only his redshirt sophomore year despite his own serious knee injury instead of going back to school and having to compete with gore for the rest of the time he was in school.

my point is this; miami thinks gore is a better player and mcgahee was supposedly supposed to be a top 5 lock before his devestating injury. now what would this make gore??? un-human? or is mcgahee the equivalent to a kevin jones, and only stood out because of his week draft class??

(but dont get me wrong, i am a major mcgahee fan and still love the pick, i just think i might be getting my hopes up with him having a ton of potential to be a franchise game-breaking running back)

[Jeff1220]

In college, there is no doubt that McGahee was the real deal. As with any player new to the NFL, we have to wait and see how he stacks up against the pros.

[The Spaz]

It doesn't matter to me where he was on the depth chart he stepped up when Gore went down and was the best RB that year now we just have to see if he returns to that form.

[Dozerdog]

It could just mean that Gore had some seniority and that they wanted to give McGahee some practice time. It's possible that at the beginning of the 2002 season WM hadn't mastered their offense.

But like Tom Brady- injury thrusts individuals to the forefront and some excell and exceed all expectation.

A healthy WM would have been a top 5 pick in this draft as well- draft class had nothing to do with his rank.

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

It kind of reminds me of Thurman Thomas's backup in college.

[Canadian'eh!]

Agreed.

College is different fromt he pros in a lot of ways, but the most important thing to remember is that you only get 4 years to do what you can. Miami had Portis, who hated every other RB and degraded them by saying they will never be as good as him. He was good so he played (WM was a FB at first then blew out his knee). Once he went off to the NFL and WM came back it was more a deal of Gore being healthy and also having "seniority" over Willis. Miami "owed" him a chance to show what he could do if he wants to have a career. He was good so he got the job. But he blew out his knee so finally WM gets his shot and Breaks all the Miami records held by edge and portis.

I find in college, when you have several good players at one position they tend to let the guy who has less time to show the NFL his worth play. They only make the change if he screws up. As long as they are winning it's all good. the thought being that the other guy will get his time to shine eventually.

[eyedog]

I believe Gore is a year younger than McGahee. If anybody had "seniority" it was WM.

[B-DON]

mcgahee will be just as good as portis, you can quote me on that

[ryjam282]

Originally posted by eyedog
I believe Gore is a year younger than McGahee. If anybody had "seniority" it was WM.

Gore was a Freshman in 2001. McGahee was a freshman in 2000. McGahee sat out the whole season as a redshirt. Gore played in 2001, as a freshman and then the next spring he hurt his knee the first time and sat out all of 2002.

Mcgahee and Gore played behind Portis in 2001 as freshman (mcGahee redshirt) and then in 2002 McGahee exploded. The main reason Gore was ahead of him on the depth chart was because of the season he had as the #2 to Portis in 2001. He averaged over 9 yards a carry and really excelled in the time he played. McGahee didn't average that much, he had 4.7 per carry. They both had an even amount of carries in there freshman years and that is why I believe Gore was the "projected" starter going into 2002. But, the knee injury happened and we will never know what may have been.

McGahee also suffered a "minor" knee injury that year and missed a few games but played well as FB in the Rose Bowl replacing Najeh Davenport, so that could have been another reason.

[TigerJ]

Thanks for the research, ryjam. That helps to understand the situation. There could be a number of reasons for the difference in yards per carry during that season they backed up Portis. I wouldn't want to project an antire NFL career based on what McGahee did as a backup during one college football season.

[Goobylal]

McGahee didn't dedicate himself fully until after his freshman year, but Gore was already ahead of him at that point. As for Gore, too injury-prone (without taking any helmets to his knee), and all those injuries are sure to have robbed him of some ability. He still has a lot to prove.

[ryjam282]

Gore is still a great RB and I hope he succeeds. I just find it very hard to see a team investing in guy with 2 surgically repaired knees. Who knows, he could come out this year and just DOMINATE. I hope he does, being a Canes fan, we will need him. It didn't help Gore that Brock Berlin was the QB for the Canes last year. The opposing D's didn't have to worry about Berlin beating them cause we all knew that wasn't going to happen. So, they just stuffed the box and shut down the run. The was the main reason the Canes didn't win it all again last year, there D was plenty good enough to take them to the top...

[lordofgun]

Anyone named Gore has no chance.

[ryjam282]

Originally posted by lordofgun
Anyone named Gore has no chance.

That is not true...I believe Al won the popular vote a few years ago...Remeber???

[TedMock]

Gore was injured last season, too. That poor guy can't catch a break. He's obviously a phenominal talent to continuously be named the starter there, but he beat the injuries.