JOE BURNS DESERVES START VS JETS

[Buffalofan]

Based on thier performances Sunday I say the Bills should give the start against the Jets to Joe Burns. Willis had 30 carries for 102 yards (3.4 yards per carry), and Joe Burns had 4 carries for 27 yards (6.8 yards per carry). Seeing as how everything is based on statistics alone it appears that Burns is the better back, right? After all, he had TWICE as many yards per carry as Willis.

I mean, thats why everyone wants Willis over Travis right? Isnt it all about the yards per carry? If thats the case then Joe Burns is our man !!!

And yes .. I am only kidding ! But it is pretty sad when Joe Burns has more carries than Travis Henry !

[Drive 4 Five]

You're right bro. It is sad what has become of Henry. Isn't he still hurt though, and I don't mean his feelings?

[Drive 4 Five]

Buffalofan I think you're wrong about the stat part. People want McGahee starting because he is just better. Willis is an every down back and excels at the areas where Henry is weakest (mainly pass blocking and receiving). It is hard to argue with that crushing stiff arm too. I know it is early but in terms of the caliber of talent, there are only a few backs in the league who have what McGahee has. However, it takes more than just talent doesn't it? We'll just have to wait and see, but McGahee is clearly better IMO.

[Ebenezer]

Based on thier performances Sunday I say the Bills should give the start against the Jets to Joe Burns. Willis had 30 carries for 102 yards (3.4 yards per carry), and Joe Burns had 4 carries for 27 yards (6.8 yards per carry). Seeing as how everything is based on statistics alone it appears that Burns is the better back, right? After all, he had TWICE as many yards per carry as Willis.

I mean, thats why everyone wants Willis over Travis right? Isnt it all about the yards per carry? If thats the case then Joe Burns is our man !!!

And yes .. I am only kidding ! But it is pretty sad when Joe Burns has more carries than Travis Henry !
This was addressed by Paul Hamilton...it was pretty much agreed that you do not put a player like TH in a situation where he is playing mop-up against the scrubs...that would be more of an insult than not playing him. If you remember a few years back the Bills used to put Tim Tindale in at scrub time...same thing.

[McGee]

Willis is an every down back and excels at the areas where Henry is weakest (mainly pass blocking and receiving). Since the game wasn't televised locally, some may not have seen Willis uppend a Cardinal lineman (#92 I believe it was) in pass-blocking duty. Something he does very well.

[Buffalofan]

The Jets were able to use Curtis Martin and LaMont Jordan to perfection against Miami last night and put up 230 yards and two TD's. Can someone please tell me why we cant do the same with Travis Henry and Willis McGahee? The potential is there .. why not do the same thing for at least the rest of this season? This will give the fans the RB they want (Willis), while also keeping some of Travis's value intact for the upcoming trade in the off season.

[Crisis]

The Jets were able to use Curtis Martin and LaMont Jordan to perfection against Miami last night and put up 230 yards and two TD's. Can someone please tell me why we cant do the same with Travis Henry and Willis McGahee? The potential is there .. why not do the same thing for at least the rest of this season? This will give the fans the RB they want (Willis), while also keeping some of Travis's value intact for the upcoming trade in the off season.

You won't see another 100+ yard games by two backs on the same team for another 10+ years.

[Buffalofan]

You won't see another 100+ yard games by two backs on the same team for another 10+ years.

Why not ? Miami has a decent defense and the Jets were able to do it. The problem is no one will try ... most have 1 starting running back who gets all the carries and a backup who runs for 2 or 3 carries a game. I think its very possible, and I think Buffalo could do it (but not against the Jets)

[Crisis]

It's hard enough to get 100 yards with one back, let alone two.

The only circumstances where this would ever happen would be.

1.) Runningback gets injured

2.) Scrub time

3.) RB by committee

Its always good to have a good fill-in back for injuries, but the odds of both backs getting 100+ yards are very slim. Even worse odds for the Bills, who have an inept offense, and a horrible line.

Scrub time is meaningless. If a back gets 100+ yards on scrubs, who really cares? It means nothing.

I never liked the idea with splitting carries between backs. Its hard for a back to build off his momentum if hes heading to the sidelines every other carry. I dont remember any recent playoff teams that used RB by committee.

[Buffalofan]

I never liked the idea with splitting carries between backs. Its hard for a back to build off his momentum if hes heading to the sidelines every other carry. I dont remember any recent playoff teams that used RB by committee.

I agree with you 100 percent. But with the current state of the Bills we really need to get Travis involved in the offense simply for trade value. The less we use him this season, the less we will get for him in the off season. Its no secret that Willis is the future, but I just dont want to give Travis away for nothing, especially if its a team like Miami (anything is possible, never say never).

[TigerJ]

I expect to see more of TH in the Jets game, even though Willis will start. I think his foot has been bothering him, and though this is something he could play through, I don't think the Bills have any reason to call on him to do so with a healthy McGahee. I agree, it would have been something of an insult to insert him for mop up duty.

[Crisis]

I agree with you 100 percent. But with the current state of the Bills we really need to get Travis involved in the offense simply for trade value. The less we use him this season, the less we will get for him in the off season. Its no secret that Willis is the future, but I just dont want to give Travis away for nothing, especially if its a team like Miami (anything is possible, never say never).

Dillon was traded for a 2nd rounder and was injured most of last year.

I dont see why TH's value will go down...And even if it does, I'd rather have a better chance to win (use Willis) than prepare for the off-season...

I'm not ready to fold the season until week 17.

TH wont go to Miami unless they overpay. If TD sends him there for nothing, then he should be lynched.

[Jan Reimers]

Right now, Travis and Willis are nearly identical running backs. Travis has had many, many games in his Bills' career that are a mirror of what Willis did on Sunday - those 100-120 yard games at 3.5 yards per carry.

I hope like Hell that Willis is not fully recovered from his injury, because his speed and cutting ability look very average to me. I think we would have beaten both Miami and Arizona with Henry as the feature back, as well.

I don't mind going with McGahee as the number 1 guy, but I'm not that excited about his play as yet. He and Henry are interchangable at the moment.

Willis has far more upside, however, and may very well be a game breaker in the future. But he is not there yet.

[askabry]

...Travis has had many, many games in his Bills' career that are a mirror of what Willis did on Sunday ....

Really? ... funny thing about Travis. I can't recall him EVER getting two, back to back carries of 23 and 24 yards. I can't EVER recall him moving the ball 54 yards in four carries and veritably being a one man wrecking crew all by himself.

In fact, in the span of five touches Willis McGahee dictated to the Cardinals the defense they would play the entire game. Our QB ... whether or not you want to credit the weather ... couldn't take any further advantage of them, but you can only imagine what might have happened in any other situation.

No ... I'll say a lot of good things about Travis. He's played very well, he can move a pile, he's a punishing runner. No less an authority than Zach Thomas told us he's the hardest runner to bring down. But I can't recall a series of plays like Willis McGahee showed us Sunday.

[Jan Reimers]

I'm sorry, I can't judge a player's value on 2 carries or one series. I'm sure Travis,too, has had consecutive carries/ key series where he has absolutely blown the other teams' doors off.

But my point was that Willis is NOT a game breaking runner yet, but I hope he will be when he is totally healed.

I'm just not on his bandwagon yet, as many grasping-at-any-straw, victory-deprived, desperate-for-any-sign-of-life Bills fans are. Willis, if he gets no better than this, will be very much a Travis Henry-like back.

[askabry]

simply an observation. Right now, today ... with no further improvement of health ...

...Willis provides us something we've not seen from Travis over the course of some 600-700 carries. And that's the ability to get 25 yard gains on a regular basis. Yes ... I'd say replicating three carries in such a short time span indicates that ability.

But ... I am win-starved. I'll admit that much.