MaGahee Still Needs Another Year To Be 100%

[Big M]

I attended last nights game and watched Willis run the ball well. This is NOT a criticism of him, whatsoever. After watching games & film of his 2002 Miami season, I believe he is not back to where he was...yet. Other players, such as Jamal Lewis, took a good 2 + years to get back to top form. Willis still lacks that burst and ability to cut sharply to the hole, at present. I just think the knee needs another year to strengthen before we actually know how far he has truely recovered.

A rotation system with Travis still getting the majority of the carries is probably ideal for Willis ,at this time. Expecting him to be a workhorse back, getting 25-30 carries each week would be a stretch. I still think he can be used effectively this season, in certain situations. Could be a great short yardage back and rack up TD's when near the goal line. No questioning his power.

Just my humble opinion. His performance was still very encouraging.

[Jan Reimers]

Great post. He is just sort of gliding at this point, without the cutting ability or blazing speed he had before the injury.

We should bring him along slowly as a backup to Henry, and then see how good he is next year. Willis may very well be our RB of the future, but he is not ready yet.

[justasportsfan]

He will get a few carries here and there just to provide Henry some rest and get some experience. Other than that, Henry is our rb. No doubt.

[Tatonka]

i think that he is much better already than i personally expected.. so i am happy about that.

i also think that backing up henry this year is perfect for him.

[Novacane]

Originally posted by Big M
Willis still lacks that burst



Agree with you 100%. I thought he would have scored on that screen pass. We had a perfect view from the endzone. As soon as he caught the pass I yelled Touchdown. I was very suprised someone got over there to keep him out. If he had that burst back he would have scored easily

[bernielivsey_1]

:) As I've said in the past, I attended all of the Hurricane home games his final season and I agree. He is not quite there yet. :eek:

[Lone Stranger]

I"m glad that someone was watching the same game I was. While McGahee's performance was encouraging it was by no means spectacular. The post-game pundits oohed and ahhed but IMO he's got a way to go. Which is just fine since we have Henry.:apu:

[tomdonahoe]

When McGahee was healthy I have never seen a back hit the hole quicker than him. That part of his game is just not there yet. However I think he is much farther along than expected.

[Earthquake Enyart]

I think Willis got stronger and stronger as the game went on. He made a couple of nice moves in traffic. Hopefully, most of his limitation is mental and he will keep improving.

[carybillsfan]

I still don't understand what all the talk is about, TH will be #1 McGahee will hopefully add the solid change of pace punch we need, it should be a lot of fun to watch

[TigerJ]

I'm not sold on the notion he needs another full year. Granted he doesn't quite have his pre-injury burst, but I think that's by design. He is being patient and not pushing the knee too much, true, but I could easily see him being %100 by mid-season. That would be 22 months from the date of his injury.

[Hemlepp53]

We need to Keep Henry this season until it is plain as day that Willis is ready to start fulltime with no worries of his knee or mental ststus with dealing witht he game again.. he looked a bit nervous and hesitant to open up like college...

[juice]

How many times did the first tackler even touch him.. and his acceleration was excellent, dont forget he is running behind a skeleton crew.

[The_Philster]

Originally posted by juice
How many times did the first tackler even touch him.. and his acceleration was excellent, dont forget he is running behind a skeleton crew.

He was also running against a bunch of backups and players who won't see the regular season except on TV.