sven233 Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Don't know how many of you caught the interview tonight on the NFL network, but we finally got an answer from McGahee about his weight. TD did the interview, and although they really didn't get into a lot, TD did ask him about his weight. McGahee said he is currently at 235lbs and wants to get to 227lbs for the season. I actually thought he might want to be a little lighter than that. Last year I would guess he played around 240lbs and, from all accounts, he was supposed to be 15-20lbs lighter this year. I guess he is on his way, but still a ways to go. I'd like to see him get to about 220lbs, but I guess 225-227lbs will do. That would get him in the range of 13lbs lighter than last year. I have been a big supporter of McGahee since he was drafted, but to be honest, he hasn't lived up to my expectations. This may be a make-or-break year for him and I want to see more from him. Now, I actually believe that he hasn't been given the chance to be the RB that he can be. He has been limited by a terrible O-Line and inept coaching staffs. If he is used right this year (giving him the ball until he can't stand anymore, not taking him out of the game on 3rd downs, and actually throwing him the ball), I expect a huge year from him. I really expect 1500+ from him this year and, if he is used right, 2000+ total yards. I just hope this coaching staff realizes that they have potentially a gamebraker here and just use him properly. A great runnng game will make any QB look better. We will get a lot better, much faster, if McGahee is THE GUY in this offense!
cantankerous Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Make or break year for him? With a rebuilding team and an O-Line that hasn't even been set yet? How so? If we have a passing game, he will thrive...if we don't (like last year's 157 yards per game) he will have a tough time romping around. I'm not concerned about his weight either, because it's the gameplan and o-line that concerns me the most. We rarely saw Willis get around the corner last year...and I think it was because of the line problems and injuries and the poor game planning and play calling by Mularkey and company. Willis is the least of my worries this year...except if he goes down we're fu-ked. The season rests on both the lines and whoever is throwing the rock. We must have a respectible passing game or we will get trounced just like last year.
Frez Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 He's still at 235? Thought he was down south training hard for camp?
sven233 Posted July 18, 2006 Author Posted July 18, 2006 What I meant by the "make-or-break year" for him was more for contract purposes with this football team. He has 2 years left on his deal. If he has a great year this year, I truly believe you will see this team make an attempt next year to re-sign him before next season. If he has another year like last year (just above average), I don't think there will be that desperation. They may make some move to try to get him signed, but chances are they will let him play out next year and see what happens. If it gets to that, and he does become a FA, I just don't have the feeling he would be back here. Not sure why I feel that way, but it is just a hunch. As for his performence last year, if you read what I wrote, you would see that I did not lay the blame on him. In fact, I really didn't blame him at all. However, with that being said, he was NOT fast last year. He has even admitted this. He WAS 'overweight' (about 15-20lbs over his true playing weight) and not the RB he should or could be. But, it is very true that he did not have any help last year. The O-Line was TERRIBLE, the playcalling was DREADFUL, and the coaching staff was even worse. Those are the reasons he didn't reach his full potential, but with him coming in lighter and faster, he would only be helping himself.
sven233 Posted July 18, 2006 Author Posted July 18, 2006 He's still at 235? Thought he was down south training hard for camp? 724560[/snapback] My thoughts exactly when I heard him say that. I was really hoping hime to be 225lbs or less this year......hopefully he is going to get there. He is not the same back without that speed he had in college. I don't need him to run a 4.29, but I would like him to be in the 4.4 range. He was not there last year. He didn't have that shiftiness that he had in college either. I know the injury played a part and so did the bad O-Line and terrible coaching, but he wasn't making guys miss last year (I know......hard to make guys miss when he is getting hit 3 yeard behind the line of scrimmage almost every play). Even the GREAT stiff-arm was not there last year. Now, the last game against the Jets I thought, was BY FAR his best game. He was making some great moves and had shades of what he was and could be again, but we need to see that consistantly this year. I am a huge McGahee fan.....been watching him since his first college game (I am a Canes fan as a lot of you know) and I was going crazy when we drafted him. Nobody wants him to succeed more than I do. I do think he is going to have a breakout year this year. I really do. He needs to have a great year for us to have any type of season this year. I know I may be in the minority here, but I really think this team is A LOT better than that 5-11 team we saw last year......I will not make my season prediction here (I will wait until the preseason is over when I do my season preview), but don't be surprised if this team is 3+ wins better this year. And I believe this will happen because I think the O-Line is better (still not great) and I believe thi this coaching staff. Also, I believe in McGahee and I truly believe that he is going to step up this year and do something special.
Pyrite Gal Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Personally, I would hope that WM lies through his teeth about his weight on TV. The best thing for him to do is to have the word get around that he is just as heavy as he always was and have tne enemy not to expect him to have any additional speed and not to test him as to whether he has lost any strength by seeing if he is more prone to injury or getting hurt if he shed pounds. I love having factual information about my team by hate giving opponents any true information that they might or might not use to their advantage. Players lie about their weight all the time and players routinely hide any area of weaknesses so opponents do not pick on it. I simply hope WM is following that tradition by lying to me through his teeth on TV,
sven233 Posted July 18, 2006 Author Posted July 18, 2006 Personally, I would hope that WM lies through his teeth about his weight on TV. The best thing for him to do is to have the word get around that he is just as heavy as he always was and have tne enemy not to expect him to have any additional speed and not to test him as to whether he has lost any strength by seeing if he is more prone to injury or getting hurt if he shed pounds. I love having factual information about my team by hate giving opponents any true information that they might or might not use to their advantage. Players lie about their weight all the time and players routinely hide any area of weaknesses so opponents do not pick on it. I simply hope WM is following that tradition by lying to me through his teeth on TV, 724570[/snapback] That would be great if that is what is going on......just not sure that it is. He looked good in the interview (very solid), so it is possible. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens on the field.
Beerfist Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 scary thing is steven jackson is 250...geez...that's scary big
eball Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 No offense, guys, but do any of you really know what you're talking about? I mean, how exactly are you coming up with your "requirements" as to what WM's weight needs to be? This looks like a lot of hand-wringing and brow-knitting over nothing to me...the guy will either play well or he won't. It has become common knowledge that the Bills' conditioning in general was poor last year (thanks, Meathead, for running Rusty Jones out of here), and that will hopefully change in 2006. I'm really not concerned about WM getting himself into shape; anybody who comes back from an injury like he sustained doesn't have problems with motivation and determination...AND he's looking for the next big contract.
bluv Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 No offense, guys, but do any of you really know what you're talking about? I mean, how exactly are you coming up with your "requirements" as to what WM's weight needs to be? This looks like a lot of hand-wringing and brow-knitting over nothing to me...the guy will either play well or he won't. It has become common knowledge that the Bills' conditioning in general was poor last year (thanks, Meathead, for running Rusty Jones out of here), and that will hopefully change in 2006. I'm really not concerned about WM getting himself into shape; anybody who comes back from an injury like he sustained doesn't have problems with motivation and determination...AND he's looking for the next big contract. 724591[/snapback] My sentiments exactly. If he comes in lighter but runs soft between the tackles and doesn't move the pile then some will say he lost too much weight and needs to add some muscle. If he comes in heavier but doesn't play like a jitterbug then some will say he is leadfooted and needs to lose some weight. All he has to do is be used right by the coaching staff and perform; that's it!
Phlegm Alley Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 He played at 223 lbs in college. I think 235 lbs is way too much for him to be carrying. Have we seen WM get to the third teir on opposing defenses yet? I would like to see him become more elusive rather than him being a bruiser and pushing piles for the sake of injury.
eball Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 He played at 223 lbs in college. I think 235 lbs is way too much for him to be carrying. Have we seen WM get to the third teir on opposing defenses yet? I would like to see him become more elusive rather than him being a bruiser and pushing piles for the sake of injury. 724649[/snapback] ...when he was a TEENAGER. Expecting a guy to play at his college weight is unrealistic.
Ramius Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Have we seen WM get to the third teir on opposing defenses yet? I would like to see him become more elusive rather than him being a bruiser and pushing piles for the sake of injury. 724649[/snapback] 2 points...its tough to get to the 3rd tier of the defense when you need to break 7 tackles to do so, and 2) willis would have been more elusive last season, except mularkey told him to basically run into our o-line if there wasnt a hole, instead of letting him bounce it outside (a strength of willis as seen in 2004)
34-78-83 Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 ...when he was a TEENAGER. Expecting a guy to play at his college weight is unrealistic. 724685[/snapback] Completely true. You beat me to it
Dawgg Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 I agree that Mularkey's scheme was pretty bad, but another issue was the fact that Willis appeared to dance around before hitting the hole -- it was very evident on tape and even the coaches called him out on it, yet it continued to happen. Often times, runs that could have been 4-5 yards were stopped at the line of scrimmage because Willis was hesitant to hit the hole. That said, I think part of the reason he was hesitating was that the scheme was more complex than it needed to be. 2 points...its tough to get to the 3rd tier of the defense when you need to break 7 tackles to do so, and 2) willis would have been more elusive last season, except mularkey told him to basically run into our o-line if there wasnt a hole, instead of letting him bounce it outside (a strength of willis as seen in 2004) 724687[/snapback]
Phlegm Alley Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 ...when he was a TEENAGER. Expecting a guy to play at his college weight is unrealistic. 724685[/snapback] He wants to be at 227 which is only 4 more pounds than his college weight. How can 223 lbs be "unrealistic"? 223 might help him in the 4th Quarter. I'm not saying he can or should get to 223 lbs, but it may be beneficial to him and the Bills. Do you remember last year he took himself out during the end of games at important junctures because of fatigue? I would much rather have WM playing as close to his collegiate weight as possible, which isn't unrealistic at all.
bluv Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 He played at 223 lbs in college. I think 235 lbs is way too much for him to be carrying. Have we seen WM get to the third teir on opposing defenses yet? I would like to see him become more elusive rather than him being a bruiser and pushing piles for the sake of injury. 724649[/snapback] Yeah I bet people had the same complaint about OJ his first 2-3 years when he played behind so-so blocking and in a scheme that didn't fit his talents; you see what happened when the Juice was let loose! I say Willis for 2000 behind the blocking of the Electic Company part II comeback tour!
Phlegm Alley Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Yeah I bet people had the same complaint about OJ his first 2-3 years when he played behind so-so blocking and in a scheme that didn't fit his talents; you see what happened when the Juice was let loose! I say Willis for 2000 behind the blocking of the Electic Company part II comeback tour! 724804[/snapback] I hope WM runs like a deer this year. He needs to drop weight to do this though.
eball Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 He wants to be at 227 which is only 4 more pounds than his college weight. How can 223 lbs be "unrealistic"? 223 might help him in the 4th Quarter. I'm not saying he can or should get to 223 lbs, but it may be beneficial to him and the Bills. Do you remember last year he took himself out during the end of games at important junctures because of fatigue? I would much rather have WM playing as close to his collegiate weight as possible, which isn't unrealistic at all. 724789[/snapback] I recall, just recently, comments by WM that the coaches removed him on 3rd downs and in those situations, and he hopes that will not be repeated this season. Perhaps my memory is faulty, but I don't recall any soundbites or quotes from WM in which he said he took himself out. My only point is that I find it amusing that folks sit around speculating what WM's weight "should" be.
Rubes Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Willis appeared to dance around before hitting the hole... 724735[/snapback] The hole....yeah, that's a good one.
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