Cabby's Preseason NFL Power Rankings

[Michael]

A little too much AFC love.

[thrill]

How is McGahee a more accomplished runner than Jamal Lewis?

Seriously? The Ravens O-line is pretty damn solid lead by the best OT in the NFL, and McGahee is coming from an absolutley horrible line, and is about 5 years younger. Jamal Lewis isn't any good anymore, trust me, he was on my fantasy team two straight years. Jamal is brutal, and McGahee should be awesome behind this O-Line.

Ok, I know that McGahee is probably the better back right now and definitely a better fit in Baltimore because of his speed, but you said he was the more accomplished runner, nor the better runner.

Lewis' accomplishments eclipse McGahee's by a long shot. If you meant McGahee is the better back then I agree. I just took exception to accomplished. McGahee will never accomplish what Lewis has.

[thrill]

How is McGahee a more accomplished runner than Jamal Lewis?

Seriously? The Ravens O-line is pretty damn solid lead by the best OT in the NFL, and McGahee is coming from an absolutley horrible line, and is about 5 years younger. Jamal Lewis isn't any good anymore, trust me, he was on my fantasy team two straight years. Jamal is brutal, and McGahee should be awesome behind this O-Line.

Ok, I know that McGahee is probably the better back right now and definitely a better fit in Baltimore because of his speed, but you said he was the more accomplished runner, nor the better runner.

Lewis' accomplishments eclipse McGahee's by a long shot. If you meant McGahee is the better back then I agree. I just took exception to accomplished. McGahee will never accomplish what Lewis has.

[cabby7588]

How is McGahee a more accomplished runner than Jamal Lewis?

Seriously? The Ravens O-line is pretty damn solid lead by the best OT in the NFL, and McGahee is coming from an absolutley horrible line, and is about 5 years younger. Jamal Lewis isn't any good anymore, trust me, he was on my fantasy team two straight years. Jamal is brutal, and McGahee should be awesome behind this O-Line.

Ok, I know that McGahee is probably the better back right now and definitely a better fit in Baltimore because of his speed, but you said he was the more accomplished runner, nor the better runner.

Lewis' accomplishments eclipse McGahee's by a long shot. If you meant McGahee is the better back then I agree. I just took exception to accomplished. McGahee will never accomplish what Lewis has.

Maybe accomplished is the wrong word. Lewis has had some amazing season. (Remember that like 300 yard game or whatever he had to set the NFL record?), but he isn't any good anymore. Shouldn't have picked the word accomplished I guess.

[haltz]

Lewis has had some amazing season. (Remember that like 300 yard game or whatever he had to set the NFL record?), but he isn't any good anymore.

I know running backs don't have a great shelf-life, but why do you say he isn't good anymore? He's 28 and here is his career so far:

Code: Select all

                 +--------------------------+-------------------------+
                 |          Rushing         |        Receiving        |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| Year  TM |   G |   Att  Yards    Y/A   TD |   Rec  Yards   Y/R   TD |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| 2000 bal |  16 |   309   1364    4.4    6 |    27    296  11.0    0 |
| 2002 bal |  16 |   308   1327    4.3    6 |    47    442   9.4    1 |
| 2003 bal |  16 |   387   2066    5.3   14 |    26    205   7.9    0 |
| 2004 bal |  12 |   235   1006    4.3    7 |    10    116  11.6    0 |
| 2005 bal |  15 |   269    906    3.4    3 |    32    191   6.0    1 |
| 2006 bal |  16 |   314   1132    3.6    9 |    18    115   6.4    0 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
|  TOTAL   |  91 |  1822   7801    4.3   45 |   160   1365   8.5    2 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+

Then you dismiss out of hand that he could be nearly as good as this dude (OK, there's the part about coming from a bad blocking team, however #19 and #26 doesn't sound like that big of a deal. You also say he's five years younger when it's more like 26 months):

Code: Select all

                 +--------------------------+-------------------------+
                 |          Rushing         |        Receiving        |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| Year  TM |   G |   Att  Yards    Y/A   TD |   Rec  Yards   Y/R   TD |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| 2004 buf |  16 |   284   1128    4.0   13 |    22    169   7.7    0 |
| 2005 buf |  16 |   325   1247    3.8    5 |    28    178   6.4    0 |
| 2006 buf |  14 |   259    990    3.8    6 |    18    156   8.7    0 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
|  TOTAL   |  46 |   868   3365    3.9   24 |    68    503   7.4    0 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+

I don't really follow the NFL, and no one seems to answer my questions in this thread. So what's so telling here besides the fact that McGahee is 2 years younger. The three seasons worth of attempts?

[lazypenguin]

A little too much AFC love.

Maybe cause the NFC sucks.

[lazypenguin]

The thing I don't like about Jamal Lewis is his BRUTAL yards per carry average and lack of ability to get in the endzone the past 2 years. He's way overrated in my mind.

However, I don't find Willis M. very good either.

[Brodie]

A little too much AFC love.

GO BRONCO'S


-Brodie

the AFC is to the AL and the NFC is to the NL (the cards were suppose to lose the WS on paper, and of course thats how most rankings are done....on paper)

[cabby7588]

Lewis has had some amazing season. (Remember that like 300 yard game or whatever he had to set the NFL record?), but he isn't any good anymore.

I know running backs don't have a great shelf-life, but why do you say he isn't good anymore? He's 28 and here is his career so far:

Code: Select all

                 +--------------------------+-------------------------+
                 |          Rushing         |        Receiving        |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+------------------------- +
| Year  TM |   G |   Att  Yards    Y/A   TD |   Rec  Yards   Y/R   TD |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+------------------------- +
| 2000 bal |  16 |   309   1364    4.4    6 |    27    296  11.0    0 |
| 2002 bal |  16 |   308   1327    4.3    6 |    47    442   9.4    1 |
| 2003 bal |  16 |   387   2066    5.3   14 |    26    205   7.9    0 |
| 2004 bal |  12 |   235   1006    4.3    7 |    10    116  11.6    0 |
| 2005 bal |  15 |   269    906    3.4    3 |    32    191   6.0    1 |
| 2006 bal |  16 |   314   1132    3.6    9 |    18    115   6.4    0 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+------------------------- +
|  TOTAL   |  91 |  1822   7801    4.3   45 |   160   1365   8.5    2 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+------------------------- +

Then you dismiss out of hand that he could be nearly as good as this dude (OK, there's the part about coming from a bad blocking team, however #19 and #26 doesn't sound like that big of a deal. You also say he's five years younger when it's more like 26 months):

Code: Select all

                 +--------------------------+-------------------------+
                 |          Rushing         |        Receiving        |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+------------------------- +
| Year  TM |   G |   Att  Yards    Y/A   TD |   Rec  Yards   Y/R   TD |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+------------------------- +
| 2004 buf |  16 |   284   1128    4.0   13 |    22    169   7.7    0 |
| 2005 buf |  16 |   325   1247    3.8    5 |    28    178   6.4    0 |
| 2006 buf |  14 |   259    990    3.8    6 |    18    156   8.7    0 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+------------------------- +
|  TOTAL   |  46 |   868   3365    3.9   24 |    68    503   7.4    0 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+------------------------- +

I don't really follow the NFL, and no one seems to answer my questions in this thread. So what's so telling here besides the fact that McGahee is 2 years younger. The three seasons worth of attempts?

First of all, three years of wear and tear is a LOT for an NFL running back. With only three years on his body, McGahee is a lot more fresh than Jamal Lewis who has been in the league for six years. If you look at Jamal's numbers (Yards per carry, which is by far the best way to evaluate a running back), he has continued to decrease in his stats for the most part since 2003. Jamal Lewis has almost 1000 more carries in his career than McGahee, so I think that dismisses any debate about age. Fact of the matter is, McGahee has only been playing for three full seasons, and Jamal has played for six. Jamal is steadily going down with his production, and he isn't the same back he used to be. McGahee is still young and with a good offense and a good O-Line, he can excel a lot more than Jamal Lewis. The difference in three years for a running back is huge, just ask Edgerine James.

[haltz]

Jamal Lewis has almost 1000 more carries in his career than McGahee, so I think that dismisses any debate about age.

I'm the one that pointed out the carries, and there is no debate about age.

Yards per carry, which is by far the best way to evaluate a running back

How is this possible? How much of that has to do with O-line and defenses faced?

I don't think McGahee is that good. In his second and third full-time years in the NFL, which should be among his best I would assume, he has basically been slightly more productive than Jamal Lewis has been (according to you, terrible) with less touchdowns. At least Lewis is talented and has done it before.