Albany,n.y. Posted November 9, 2004 Posted November 9, 2004 Peter King 4/26/03 2. I think Buffalo's pick of Willis McGahee, unless there's something I really don't know, is the first decision made by the Tom Donahoe/Gregg Williams regime that I absolutely disagree with. The Bills need a pass-rusher. Badly. They have one of the top six or seven backs in football, Travis Henry. They acquired an excellent relief pitcher in Olandis Gary earlier this week. This is their position of lowest need. What in the world are the Bills doing? The Sports Illustrated NFL preview issue wasn’t high on Buffalo’s selection of McGahee in the first round of the 2003 NFL draft, describing it as an “ arrogant pick” that Super Bowl-caliber teams make for the future. (Peter King) Mel Kiper Jr: I think the Buffalo Bills also made a huge reach with Willis McGahee. Instead of addressing needs at defensive line and in their secondary, they took the Miami Hurricane running back that may have rushed back too quickly from torn knee ligaments. By Adam Jacobi - The Daily Iowan Published: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 THE BAD: Buffalo: O.J. Simpson. Thurman Thomas. Willis McKneeInjury. The Bills extended their pantheon of great running backs by inexplicably using a first-round pick on tailback Willis McGahee, who suffered a horrifying knee injury not five months ago. While his recovery has been faster than expected, nobody comes back 100 percent from a surgically reconstructed knee, ever. Buffalo ignored running backs Travis Henry, an All-Pro, and pre-draft acquisition Olandis Gary, just to use their first draft pick on a guy who can't walk correctly yet. NFL officials are debating putting a Breathalyzer in the draft rooms next year. NFL Draft Blitz 6/18/04 Luke Irwin: And Kris Wilson this year in the second round. A Panther rotting away on the bench makes me want to watch Boondock Saints again. I'll always think the Willis McGahee pick was the worst in my lifetime thus far. But we'll see how that turns out. If you'll excuse me for a second, I just remembered Willis's knee...I think I need a minute. Matt Miller: I downloaded that and watched it in amazement for hours. But, I got the Todd Bertuzzi hit too. I might want to get that checked out. I don't know about Willis being the worst pick ever, your boy Ryan Leaf did go #2 overall. Luke Irwin: The difference is that he was expected to go #2 and it was a good pick at the time. Nothing beat being in the room with a Bills fan after One-Knee Willis was taken. My friend Hutch just slowly shook his head and walked into the other room with a look on his face like he had a vasectomy appointment after the round. NFL Draft: Buffalo Bills 2003 Bills Drop Ball With First Round Draft Pick courtesy of Steve Zukiel /Gridironpics.com I must admit, I was left scratching my head after watching the Bills first round draft pick last weekend. Is it just me, or does anybody reading this also think Buffalo really dropped the ball? …I can see a team drafting a long term investment-type player like McGahee if your top back is getting on in years, or you know that he is becoming a free agent and is going to bolt in a year or so. That would make sense to me. But again, you are talking about a team that has a 24 year old running back, coming off his best year of his career and was given a contract extension rewarding such performance. That is what makes this pick absolutely mind-boggling and makes me believe the Bills really dropped the ball on this one.
John from Riverside Posted November 9, 2004 Posted November 9, 2004 OK...here is the thing.... They all kept saying that we need to address our defensive line....ok fine.... We drafted Kelsay in the second....is there ANY D LINEMEN (within our reach with that 1st round pick) that has had the production of even Chris Kelsay? Now...the D Linemen for the Raiders they got looks pretty good.....but that team is also losing
UB2SF Posted November 9, 2004 Posted November 9, 2004 Great post. Despite my own recent Donahoe-bashing (or at least, Donahoe-questioning), it's pretty remarkable how he managed to shore up our D Line and Secondary through free agency and lower-round draft picks, thereby addressing the needs that the pundits said far outweighed the Willis pick. Hey -- we've been a top-5 defense for both of the years since those pundits had their say. And for Willis? The recent Gayle Sayers reference in one of the articles on TBD gave me chills.
BuffOrange Posted November 9, 2004 Posted November 9, 2004 Peter King also annoints this year's Steelers as one of the greatest teams of all-time in today's column.
Mark VI Posted November 9, 2004 Posted November 9, 2004 … Steve Zukiel - I can see a team drafting a long term investment-type player like McGahee if your top back is getting on in years, or you know that he is becoming a free agent and is going to bolt in a year or so. That would make sense to me. But again, you are talking about a team that has a 24 year old running back, coming off his best year of his career and was given a contract extension rewarding such performance. That is what makes this pick absolutely mind-boggling and makes me believe the Bills really dropped the ball on this one. 110515[/snapback] He was given a contract extension because he was flat broke and begged TD ! Talk about revisionist history !
Guest peter king was correct. Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 3.7 ypc is NOT anything to brag about.
Albany,n.y. Posted November 10, 2004 Author Posted November 10, 2004 3.7 ypc is NOT anything to brag about. 110708[/snapback] You obviously haven't seen him play or noticed the impact he has on games-grabbing the game by the throatlatch whenever the key moment is. Miami-helping the team hold the ball against the wind for 13+ minutes of the 4th quarter. Arizona-2 TDs could have been 3 if not for holding call on Euhus -who scored the Td instead. Jets-rushing for 4.27 yds per carry before the Bills were running out the clock where his ave fell to the mid 3's because time was more important than yardage plus getting the 1st down to end the game. Finally, for the 1st time since early 2002 the team is exciting to watch again.
JAMIEBUF12 Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 i love willis,but at the time i was also pissed.....i wanted defensive help,but he is here and i think he is better tham travis.thank god i don't run the team!i always get high on the drafting reports.i thought is it jimmy kennedy?from penn state went to st louis would be great.i know i get easily impressed with big names and scouting reports,i guess that is why they scout! go bills
Hull, Kent67 Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 You know what ever Peter King says the opposite is always true!
RVJ Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO TRAVIS HENRY? From Chris of Baltimore: "With Willis McGahee starting to play so well, what will become of Travis Henry in Buffalo? If they do trade Henry, are they going to be able to get a first-rounder out of it? More importantly, with every game Henry sits, doesn't his value to other teams drop?'' Good questions. But the Bills are going to play the guy they think most helps them win now. Particularly after his 37-carry game against the Jets, McGahee's that guy. Buffalo will certainly try to trade Henry -- barring an injury to McGahee in the last two months of the season -- for as high a draft choice as Tom Donahoe can get before the draft. My guess: He'll fetch somewhere between the 30th and 50th pick overall in the 2005 draft.
The Avenger Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 I still think it's early to anoint Willis McGahee as the next coming of Walter Payton. I like the guy and I think he's shown some really good stuff, but he only has 3 starts under his belt. What happens if he doesn't get another 100 yard game this year - then what will people say? Even worse - what would happen if his surgically repaired kneek blew up and he never played another game again - then how would you judge the experts' comments? I'm not trying to be a downer - I think Willis is going to be very good - but I'd just caution everyone that it's still very early to tell if the experts were ultimately right or wrong.
meazza Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 I still think it's early to anoint Willis McGahee as the next coming of Walter Payton. I like the guy and I think he's shown some really good stuff, but he only has 3 starts under his belt. What happens if he doesn't get another 100 yard game this year - then what will people say? Even worse - what would happen if his surgically repaired kneek blew up and he never played another game again - then how would you judge the experts' comments? I'm not trying to be a downer - I think Willis is going to be very good - but I'd just caution everyone that it's still very early to tell if the experts were ultimately right or wrong. 110785[/snapback] ya i feel the same way im being overly cautios but its hard, i havent had such a good feeling like this since we beat new england and jacksonville last year with our newly rejuvinated defence history has shown me that when u celebrate too early u come crashing back down but anywho GO MCGAHEE beat the patriots we go
Dante Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 ya i feel the same way im being overly cautios but its hard, i havent had such a good feeling like this since we beat new england and jacksonville last year with our newly rejuvinated defencehistory has shown me that when u celebrate too early u come crashing back down but anywho GO MCGAHEE beat the patriots we go 110820[/snapback] As much as I would like to bash all the experts for bashing us I cant because up until a few weeks ago, I agreed with them. Now, after seeing Willis's development, i'm starting to eat crow and glad of it. Go Willis!!
BRH Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 Peter King should stick to covering coffee varieties and his daughter's field hockey team. :I starred in Brokeback Mountain:
Indy Dave Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 To call the decision to draft Willis "the worst draft pick ever" is about as stupid as it gets. If Willis never takes another snap, he's already proven to be a better pick than Ryan Leaf, who was selected second overall. That's just one of hundreds of examples of terrible draft choices. The Willis pick was a gamble, one I wouldn't have been willing to take if I had a say. But it clearly looks like the gamble could pay off big for us. Let's hope so anyway. Many of us on this board said, from day one, that if one of the NFL's glamour teams and media darlings had made this choice, they would have called it brilliant. You would have heard, "Wow...how about Jimmy Johnson? He's about to lose Peerless Price to the Falcons in free agency. He's days away from losing this player and getting nothing in return and BAM...he slaps the franchise tag on him and dangles a first-round pick in front of Atlanta's face to see how bad the Falcons really wanted Peerless. They take the bait and lo and behold, Jimmy gets his first-round draft choice back. And with that pick, they get a player like Willis McGahee, who would have been one of the top three picks of the entire draft had it not been for his injury. Brilliant...absolutely brilliant." Again, I loved the move to tag and trade Peerless. I wouldn't have used the pick to take Willis (for the record, I was hoping for Dallas Clark or Eric Steinbach), but this could turn out to be a very nice move by TD.
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 Great post. Despite my own recent Donahoe-bashing (or at least, Donahoe-questioning), it's pretty remarkable how he managed to shore up our D Line and Secondary through free agency and lower-round draft picks, thereby addressing the needs that the pundits said far outweighed the Willis pick. Hey -- we've been a top-5 defense for both of the years since those pundits had their say. And for Willis? The recent Gayle Sayers reference in one of the articles on TBD gave me chills. 110553[/snapback] Time to ditch that av, don'tcha think? *snickers*
/dev/null Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 OK...here is the thing.... They all kept saying that we need to address our defensive line....ok fine.... We drafted Kelsay in the second....is there ANY D LINEMEN (within our reach with that 1st round pick) that has had the production of even Chris Kelsay? Now...the D Linemen for the Raiders they got looks pretty good.....but that team is also losing 110520[/snapback] Kelsay was the 6th DE taken in the 2003 draft. The 1st, Terrell Suggs was a 'tweener and has been playing LB for the Ravens. Kelsay vs the other 4 this year... 14 - Haynes - CHI - 8G, 14T, 3AST, 1Sack, 0INT, 2PD, 1FF, 0FR 15 - McDougle - PHI - 7G, 9T, 0AST, 1Sack, 0INT, 1PD, 1FF, 0FR 18 - Pace - ARZ - 8G, 7T, 3AST, 4Sack, 0INT, 3PD, 2FF, 0FR 32 - Brayton - OAK - 9G, 23T, 8AST, 2.5Sack, 0INT, 5PD, 0FF, 0FR 48 - Kelsay - BUF - 8G, 10T, 10AST, 2Sack, 0INT, 1PD, 1FF, 0FR we're getting comparable (if not slightly better) production out of the 48th overall pick (who started the season in a rotation) than the 14th, 15th, and 18th picks from that year
jad1 Posted November 10, 2004 Posted November 10, 2004 Again, I loved the move to tag and trade Peerless. I wouldn't have used the pick to take Willis (for the record, I was hoping for Dallas Clark or Eric Steinbach), but this could turn out to be a very nice move by TD. The Bills will have a chance to draft a player like Clark or Steinbach in every draft. They opportunity to draft a top talent like McGahee comes around every 10 or 12 years. The last time the Bills grabbed a guy who had fallen in the draft due to an injury, he had a hall of fame career and became the franchise's leading rusher. If you had the choice to draft the next Rueben Brown or the next Thurman Thomas, who would you take? I'd take the next Thomas, every time.
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