Bills MVP? Henry Deserves It!

[LouGrant]

By: Mark Weiler
The Zone
12/20/2002


This is an in-depth analysis of how both Drew Bledsoe and Travis Henry have impacted the Bills this season for better and/or worse. It is a justification of why I think Travis Henry deserves this award hands down.

Candidates for Bills MVP this season appear to be somewhat limited. Logic dictates that the two likely and only logical choices are Drew Bledsoe and Travis Henry. I must openly admit, that I did not at all believe that Travis Henry was capable of becoming the premier NFL running back that he has become. Much to my surprise and enthusiasm he has.

The differences between these two players are many.

The mantra of this current team has been one of “the Bills’ best chances for winning are when Bledsoe puts the ball in the air.” QB talent starved fans have raved and continue to rave since Drew got here following an embarrassing tenure of subpar quarterbacks Rob Johnson, Doug Flutie, Todd Collins, and the short tenure of Billy Joe Hobert. Indeed, it has not taken much to satisfy fans that have hardly had capable QBs at the helm over the past seasons since Jim Kelly’s departure.

Drew Bledsoe is in his tenth season in the NFL and has started each and every one of those seasons only having been replaced last season following a serious injury and then subsequently traded to the Bills. He has had the rare fortune in the NFL of never, other than last season as a result of injury, having been challenged by any of his backups. He has been a backup selection for the Pro Bowl on one occasion and an alternate on two others for three Pro Bowl appearances. It is likely that he will be elected to the Pro Bowl again this season. He has numerous yardage milestones in the NFL several of which involve him as the youngest QB in the NFL to achieve them.

Travis Henry is in his second season in the NFL after entering his first season on a talent-depleted team in a very controversy filled season. There were questions as to whether Henry would step up to the task of being a feature running back in this offense with its vast array of talent at every position. Henry has answered that call in spades.

Prior to this season beginning the “big news” was the arrival of Drew Bledsoe from division rival New England in a risky trade involving this offseason’s first round draft selection. Drew’s arrival was touted as being able to turn this team around. ...MORE...

[Earthquake Enyart]

Plus you have to be pretty darn good to keep Bryson and Burns off the field.

[Novacane]

I don't really think Henry deserves MVP! If you take away his best runs he really sucked!

[BigMike68]

"If you take away his best runs he really sucked!"

BledsoeTOreedfor6 please say that was sarcasm right?

[ArcticWildMan]

It's an old joke BigMike....

[Novacane]

Yes, of course it was sarcasm..............like AWM said.......it's an old joke. Ask Wys what it means

[Ð]

After that 4600+ word assault, its amazing how much space can be filled up analyzing (restating the obvious).

[Drewpac]

Wys,

I have to disagree with you calling only one of Bledsoe's performances during victory "good". I'm assuming you are speaking of the Miami game. However, I don't understand how you could call his performances against Minnesota and Chicago "nominal". He completely carried the Bills on his back during those two wins and were two of the greatest performances by a Bills quarterback in the history of the franchise. I agree with you that Henry is the MVP but you should give credit where credit is due to Bledsoe.

[BigMike68]

BledsoeTOreedfor6 i've been looking aty other boards and the reason I thought it was real was some people actually mean things like this (mainly dolphin fans) i just wanted to make sure.

[Novacane]

Not just dolphin boards BigMike. Someone here actually believes that. Or at least they did 8 games ago.

[Earthquake Enyart]

Ruben Brown should be MVP - 7 straight pro bowls. Only Bruce has more.

[Voltron]

If it wasn't for Bledsoe being here do you think Henry could have run on teams like that? You have to have a threat in the passing game to make the running game work.

EXAMPLE! The first Miami game ... The Bills SHUT RW DOWN! And they didn't have to stop putting 8 men in the box because Lucas was not a threat in the passing game.

Would Henry have done as good with out a 370 lb 6'7" ROL to block for him? Or 7 time pro-bowler blocking as well?

Does he deserver it after fumbling 8 times and losing the ball 6 of those 8? Come on lets face it here.

We would have been 3-13 once again if it weren’t for Drew. I don't care if his play has gotten a little worse. Give the other teams Defense some credit for watching films and being able to pick apart Giulbride's horrible offense, and lets not forget that Drew is not the one who calls the plays he just tries to execute to the best of his ability. No I am sorry but I do not agree at all with Henry being MVP because he would have never been able to run like he did with out Drew in the minds of the Defensive coordinators we faced.

[lordofgun]

Originally posted by Voltron
If it wasn't for Bledsoe being here do you think Henry could have run on teams like that? You have to have a threat in the passing game to make the running game work.

EXAMPLE! The first Miami game ... The Bills SHUT RW DOWN! And they didn't have to stop putting 8 men in the box because Lucas was not a threat in the passing game.

Would Henry have done as good with out a 370 lb 6'7" ROL to block for him? Or 7 time pro-bowler blocking as well?

Does he deserver it after fumbling 8 times and losing the ball 6 of those 8? Come on lets face it here.

We would have been 3-13 once again if it weren’t for Drew. I don't care if his play has gotten a little worse. Give the other teams Defense some credit for watching films and being able to pick apart Giulbride's horrible offense, and lets not forget that Drew is not the one who calls the plays he just tries to execute to the best of his ability. No I am sorry but I do not agree at all with Henry being MVP because he would have never been able to run like he did with out Drew in the minds of the Defensive coordinators we faced.

Excellent post! That's exactly what I've been trying to say. Look at last year...Henry didn't have even CLOSE to the numbers he does this year. It's because the Defense finally has a quarterback that it must respect.

[SABURZFAN]

Originally posted by Earthquake Enyart
Ruben Brown should be MVP - 7 straight pro bowls. Only Bruce has more.

[RedEyE]

Nice article Wys.