pkwwjd Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 I've seen a few posts recently about WM leading the league (or at least being high in the rankings) for zero and negative rushes. Is this a concern? Sure, it'd be a concern if he were falling down, tripping over yardlines, bumping into the QB ... But Barry Sanders consistently lead the league in negative rushes -- we all know how that turned out. He did so because he was always behind a struggling line, but he always was near the top of the league at the end of the year and always had a high per carry average. Willis will be the same except the line in Buffalo is improving. The holes will open. And even though WM will still get dropped behind the line a bit, that's because he's taking chances and will be busting the 15-50 yarders with some regularity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandius Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 negative rushes wreck scoring drives... that's why Barry was overrated despite being an amazing natural runner... he had a high YPC, but usually it was the result of two scoring drives where he broke off two huge runs to make up for the 8 negative rushes he had on all the other Detroit drives that stalled. So despite having a huge rushing day, he might have only helped his team on two or three drives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 I've seen a few posts recently about WM leading the league (or at least being high in the rankings) for zero and negative rushes. Is this a concern? Sure, it'd be a concern if he were falling down, tripping over yardlines, bumping into the QB ... But Barry Sanders consistently lead the league in negative rushes -- we all know how that turned out. He did so because he was always behind a struggling line, but he always was near the top of the league at the end of the year and always had a high per carry average. Willis will be the same except the line in Buffalo is improving. The holes will open. And even though WM will still get dropped behind the line a bit, that's because he's taking chances and will be busting the 15-50 yarders with some regularity. 263861[/snapback] Hopefully with experience WM will learn that on some plays he has to take the minimal gain instead of hesitating while looking for another hole which more often than not results in negative yardage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 This is a job for TD (to bring in the O-Line that can run-block), McNally (to see what he can do with the O-Line), and Clements (who has to keep the rush defense guessing). Give me Ritcher and Ballard, Counter Trey Right, with McGahee in the backfield, and see how many 0's and negs we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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