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Im a fan of anyone who goes to 2000 yards as fast as he does behind our o-line but I do also have some question marks on him. Lets look at pluses and minuses:
Pluses:
1) Size- lets face it some of the smaller RB's suffer against bigger players and have to rely on there moves to prevent tackles rather than being able to power through them. Now, it was a ton of fun to watch Thurman squirt through a big mess in the middle for lots of extra yards. Willis certainly has the size. I guess Id rather have ths ize to blast through tackles which would seem to be a more likely thing to be able to do than running around them.
2) Stiff arm- Im not sure there is a better stiff arm guy in the league than Willis. There might be but I cant remember seeing it.
3) Receiving- Willis has been very good at this this year. Remember Darrick Holmes? it was either him or Travis that didnt do this well. I cant remember off hand. Its nice to have our RB be a receiving option as well, just another facet to our game.
4) Ball carrying- One thing thats nice compared to say Travis is that Willis doesnt fumble alot. Its obvioulsy a critical thing when they turn it over.
5) Durability- I dont think he has gone down on an injury since he came back from the knee. He has taken lots of hits and keep coming.
Minuses
1) Speed- I have to say that Willis hasnt impressed with his speed. He hasnt out run anyone that I know of. Id like to have a homerun hitter. A guy that if sprung into the secondary will beat anyone on the field in a flat out run.
2) Break tackle ability- I still feel as if Willis goes down to easy. He seems to go down on the first hit sometimes and I can remember one play where he got tackled by an undersized DB by the feet.
3) Vision- its a bit of a puch at this point. I have seen him make good moves and pick his holes. But, he also has ran right into tackles other times as well.
Overall, I think he is a proven young player. Im not sure he is worth top 5 pay. But, he is proven. I think the bigger question is can he be replaced with equal or better talent? Im not sure I see that without spending alot of money. Shuan Alexander, Edge sure, buth are equal or better. But, both also would command more money than Willis. I dont think Willis will holdout in my opinion, but who knows. Now, if we get a shot at a guy in the draft who may be a better option, maybe we take em. However, theres only 1 guy in this draft thats worth it and that would be Bush. We aint gonna get em.
I think Willis would benefit from a change in o-line schemes. I like what Denvers done and feel zone blocking would really help a guy like Willis. He could pick his holes and would get to be at full speed by the time the tackler got there. I could see him breaking more tackles at full speed.
Your thoughts? Is he THE guy we need for the next 5 years at RB or do we need something better?
Pluses:
1) Size- lets face it some of the smaller RB's suffer against bigger players and have to rely on there moves to prevent tackles rather than being able to power through them. Now, it was a ton of fun to watch Thurman squirt through a big mess in the middle for lots of extra yards. Willis certainly has the size. I guess Id rather have ths ize to blast through tackles which would seem to be a more likely thing to be able to do than running around them.
2) Stiff arm- Im not sure there is a better stiff arm guy in the league than Willis. There might be but I cant remember seeing it.
3) Receiving- Willis has been very good at this this year. Remember Darrick Holmes? it was either him or Travis that didnt do this well. I cant remember off hand. Its nice to have our RB be a receiving option as well, just another facet to our game.
4) Ball carrying- One thing thats nice compared to say Travis is that Willis doesnt fumble alot. Its obvioulsy a critical thing when they turn it over.
5) Durability- I dont think he has gone down on an injury since he came back from the knee. He has taken lots of hits and keep coming.
Minuses
1) Speed- I have to say that Willis hasnt impressed with his speed. He hasnt out run anyone that I know of. Id like to have a homerun hitter. A guy that if sprung into the secondary will beat anyone on the field in a flat out run.
2) Break tackle ability- I still feel as if Willis goes down to easy. He seems to go down on the first hit sometimes and I can remember one play where he got tackled by an undersized DB by the feet.
3) Vision- its a bit of a puch at this point. I have seen him make good moves and pick his holes. But, he also has ran right into tackles other times as well.
Overall, I think he is a proven young player. Im not sure he is worth top 5 pay. But, he is proven. I think the bigger question is can he be replaced with equal or better talent? Im not sure I see that without spending alot of money. Shuan Alexander, Edge sure, buth are equal or better. But, both also would command more money than Willis. I dont think Willis will holdout in my opinion, but who knows. Now, if we get a shot at a guy in the draft who may be a better option, maybe we take em. However, theres only 1 guy in this draft thats worth it and that would be Bush. We aint gonna get em.
I think Willis would benefit from a change in o-line schemes. I like what Denvers done and feel zone blocking would really help a guy like Willis. He could pick his holes and would get to be at full speed by the time the tackler got there. I could see him breaking more tackles at full speed.
Your thoughts? Is he THE guy we need for the next 5 years at RB or do we need something better?
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