Buffalo Bills 2000s All-Decade Team: Running Back No. 2
by MattRichWarren on May 5, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
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PrintAs I told you in the first running back post, we've reserved two spots on the squad for running backs and fullbacks. Earlier this week we held voting on the first spot and Travis Henry won easily. Now we can move on and select the second running back on our team. Choose the best from the list below.
Larry Centers
Larry Centers was a fullback in the NFL, but you might not know it by looking at his statistics. With Buffalo in 2001 and 2002, Centers rushed for only 216 yards on 45 attempts and four touchdowns. Centers wasn't known for his lead blocking, either. Instead, Centers caught 123 passes in his two years for 1,008 yards and two touchdowns. In 2001, he was named to the Pro Bowl after snaring 80 of those receptions.
Willis McGahee
Despite a severe knee injury in his final college game, the Bills took McGahee in the first round of the 2003 draft and sat him down for a year to recover from surgery. When McGahee came back healthy, the Bills were rewarded for their faith, and he posted back-to-back thousand-yard seasons in 2004 and 2005 before narrowly missing the mark in '06. After that, the unhappy McGahee was shipped to Baltimore for a pair of third round picks plus a seventh rounder that turned into Trent Edwards and Marcus Stroud (and C.J. Ah You). In his three years in Buffalo, he rushed 868 times for 3,365 yards and 24 touchdowns, all second on the team for the decade and tops for the remaining backs. He added 68 receptions for 503 yards.
Fred Jackson
Jackson's first carry for the Bills came in 2007 after his much-discussed path from Coe College. In his three seasons, he has 1,933 yards on 425 carries for a clip of 4.5 yards per attempt, tops among Bills backs during the decade. He topped 1,000 rushing yards in 2009 when he took over for Marshawn Lynch as the featured back. He has rushed for only five touchdowns, but boasts a passing touchdown, 105 receptions for 878 yards and two touchdowns, as well as 56 kick returns for 1,241 yards. In 2009, he led the league in all-purpose yards with 2,516, the fourth-highest total in league history.
Marshawn Lynch
Lynch was drafted No. 12 overall in 2007. In his three seasons in Buffalo, he has amassed 2,601 rushing yards on 650 attempts and scored 17 rushing touchdowns. He's averaged 4.0 yards per rushing attempt, and has a long run of 56 yards while topping 1,000 yards twice. Lynch has adequate hands and has pulled in 93 receptions for 663 yards and one touchdown, and he's also thrown a touchdown pass. In 2008, Lynch made his Pro Bowl debut after being called on as an alternate. He was suspended for the first three games of the 2009 season after being caught with a gun illegally and also plead guilty to hitting a Canadian woman in the summer of 2008.
Now it's your turn to vote on who was the second best Bills running back of the decade. Feel free to leave your rationale in the comments section. Up next is the wide receiver of the decade.
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Willis?
Call it a grudge, but I will never vote Willis for anything in Buffalo, as far as I am concerned he was a waste.
by Kelly to Reed Touchdown!! on May 5, 2010 8:06 AM EDT reply actions
Its not about who you like or dont like
Its all decade team, so the best players of the decade, which unfortunately Willis was at Runningback.
How do you figure, neither helped the team make the playoffs, it is a team sport, is it not? Individual stats really should not make a difference, the best of the two should be the one who makes the team better, and in my opnion that is Fred Jackson
by Kelly to Reed Touchdown!! on May 5, 2010 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions
The team hasn’t been good with either one at RB. I agree I like Freddy a lot more obviously and I do think he is a better overall back. But neither helped the team win this decade so all I can go on is individual stats which Willis has over Freddy. Not to say I would be upset at all if more people vote Freddy cause I do hate Mcgahee but I’m just trying to vote at unbiased as I can and the stats are my way to do that.
Gotta vote for Willis because I’m not voting based on how much I LIKE the guy. Willis somehow almost managed to carry (literally) the Bills to the playoffs in 04 so I gotta give him props for that.
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You put Fred Jackson and Willis on the same team Freddy beats him everytime!
by Kelly to Reed Touchdown!! on May 5, 2010 8:17 AM EDT up reply actions
And yet, Freddy has never taken a mediocre Bills team anywhere NEAR the playoffs.
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by UZ on May 5, 2010 8:28 AM EDT up reply actions
Neither did Willis. Unless you consider a defense with McGee, Clements, Milloy, Pat Williams, Sam Adams, Schobel, Kelsay, Spikes and Fletcher to be mediocre. Willis averaged 4 yards per carry that year, so I’m pretty sure that Fred Jackson could have done the same thing that Willis did given the same opportunity.
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near the playoffs, or not in the playoffs, seems like the same outcome to me? Just saying.
by Kelly to Reed Touchdown!! on May 5, 2010 9:26 AM EDT up reply actions
This one…. is going to be a much closer vote than the first two I think. :-)
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Most rushing yards, two thousand-yard seasons, tons of touchdowns… I go with Willis.
Fred Jackson had more receiving yards and kick return yards… but I’m still going with Willis.
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Scroll down on the home page, buddy. :)
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by Brian Galliford on May 5, 2010 8:45 AM EDT up reply actions
See fansince60’s comment directly below for further clarification.
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by Brian Galliford on May 5, 2010 8:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Earlier this week we held voting on the first spot and Travis Henry won easily.
See the second sentence in the article as well as;
http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/5/4/1329205/buffalo-bills-2000s-all-decade
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
lynch is the best
jackson is a backup with backup talent. if each is given the same amount of carries, lynch will out-perform jackson. and c.j. spiller for that matter. BEAST MODE!
Willis
over Jackson. I can’t get past the touchdown disparity between Jackson and Mcgahee. Mcgahee knew how to get the ball in the endzone while Fred hasn’t been able to do that. I think the team was in a better place during Mcgahee’s time here but on the stats alone I go with Willis
no
but he did eventually beat out the guy that won this original poll. If Jackson could get into the endzone he would be left in the backfield in the red zone.
if the offense could get in the redzone then maybe jackson would have a chance in the enzone.
now im being a douche, so ill stop.
why was lynch not a part of your decision making?
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To us winning is a tradition. We are victors and need not explain. You may hate us, but your girlfriends love us. - BC
by silverstreak3k on May 5, 2010 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions
this is a tricky one to me. If we are talking most talented and most potential then I would say Lynch by a lot. If its production then you have to go Willis. If you are going with your favorite then its likely going to be Freddy.
What years were Antwaan Smith on the team? I feel like that was within 10 years ago.
Not that I would have voted for him anyway. just wondering
1997-2000 He started 3 games in 2000. In four seasons with the Bills he gained under 3000 yards and had only one thousand yard season.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitAn00.htm
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by MattRichWarren on May 5, 2010 9:40 AM EDT up reply actions
his claim to fame
was being the answer to trivia question #3 yesterday
Some make it happen, some watch it happen and some ask, what happened?
Freddy
because of his return ability and receiving skills as well. Although that hurdle that Willis did on that Pitt DB almost made me vote for him…
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why is his returning ability part of the equation?
this is a vote for RB not returner. if they are gonna have all the positions, then returner should be on there too, and that would be the time to vote for his returning abilities. what does his returning have to do with being a RB? this is a position specific question in my mind and returning abilities shouldnt be involved.
Buffalo, that's where it's at baby. - Adam 'Pacman' Jones
To us winning is a tradition. We are victors and need not explain. You may hate us, but your girlfriends love us. - BC
by silverstreak3k on May 5, 2010 2:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Why?
Do you people hate Willis??
I voted for him yesterday, and I voted for him today.
WILLIS!!!!!!
"It took twenty five years to get there, and they did it in championship style" - Van Miller 1/20/91.
I'll tell you why since I live in Buffalo and like it here.
Here are some Willis quotes.
They should just bring the Buffalo Bills to Toronto,
I don’t want the Bills to Toronto, I can put up with a game there, but the Toronto Bills? This is what got the ball rolling,
One local bar after that comment came out, was actually offering a $20 Bar tab for your McGahee Jersey so they could use them as bar rags.
But Willis wasn’t done.
Coming from Miami, I was used to partying, going out, just having something to do every night. Restaurants, whatever. Going to Buffalo, it was like hitting a brick wall. Like, ‘Damn!’ Can’t go out, can’t do nothing. There’s an Applebee’s, a TGI Friday’s, and they just got a Dave & Busters. They got that, and I’m like, ‘What the?’ And, you know, the women …
You see, when I was in college that’s what I used to thrive off of, The better you do, the more fame you get. So you know, it was like, I was used to that. And then you get to Buffalo and no matter how you do, it’s the same. It’s no big city. You know what I did every day? I came home and played video games.
So you won’t see much love from Bills fans who live in Buffalo and like it here, unlike Willis.
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on May 6, 2010 12:39 AM EDT up reply actions
Willis
I liked his style. Yeah he talked crap about buffalo, and most still despise him for it… but ya gotta admit, he was a good ball player.
There is no way Freddy should win this, he only had one good year! Look at the stats people!!!
If I only had a brain...
I voted Freddy the 1st time
So I gotta go with him the 2nd time as well.
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LC's not getting enough love
That guy was AWESOME out of the backfield…and he played hard. He gets my vote for NUMBER 2…he makes a great compliment to a true #1.
by South Jersey Bill Fan on May 5, 2010 11:56 AM EDT reply actions
Ummm…. Willis McGahee had seven more TDs than Lynch…….
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by MattRichWarren on May 5, 2010 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions
I did wrestle with that but McG also only had 3.8 yards per carry. Personally I feel the yards per carry stat is one of the most important, which is why I like Fred so much…but I just can’t ignore the lack of touchdown production.
really guys?
jackson over lynch? did everyone forget his first two years?
here let me break down for everyone. both have been on the team for 3 years, here are their numbers
ML – 2601 yds rushing (4.0yd per carry) 17 tds, 663 receiving yards, 1 td.
FJ – 1933 yds rushing (4.5yd per carry) 5tds, 878 receiving yards and 3 tds.
thats 500 more total yards for lynch, 10 more total tds, (both have passing tds). The only thing fred brings to the table is he has more yards per carry. they both lost the same amount of fumbles. i get that the league is a “what have you done for me lately” but how in the heck is fred winning over marshawn? is it really just blind love?
willis in his three years here had more tds and rushing yards than either of them…..(his receiving skills were well below both tho and he had 2 more fumbles). i have no idea why freddy is number one on here, its like people are discounting everything because of what he did last year, and are infatuated with him or something….doesnt make sense to me. help me out jackson voters….
Buffalo, that's where it's at baby. - Adam 'Pacman' Jones
To us winning is a tradition. We are victors and need not explain. You may hate us, but your girlfriends love us. - BC
Did you also forget that Freddy only had one year as the starter and that Marshawn had two. Usually the difference btween a backup and a starter is MUCH greater than 500 total years in a 3 year span. Freddy got increadible numbers as a backup and great numbers as a starter. if you only take the last two years into consideration (a better analysis and a more even playing feild for comparison) here’s what you get:
ML – 1486 yards rushing (4.0yd per carry) 10 TDs, 479 yards receiving, 1 TD,
FJ – 1633 yards rushing (4.4 yards per carry) 5 TDs, 688 yards receiving, 3 TD’s
So Freddy actually has 356 more yards than Marshawn in the last 2 years and only 3 less TD’s, all while starting behind much lesser lines than Marshawn did. Now add character to the mix and maybe you can understand why a lot more people are picking Freddy over Marshawn.
The more I see, the less I know.
by CanadianBillsFan on May 5, 2010 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions
And we’re not even taking return yards into account. If we did then we could add another 1380 yards for Freddy.
The more I see, the less I know.
by CanadianBillsFan on May 5, 2010 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions
return yards should have nothing to do with ranking the RB position...
Buffalo, that's where it's at baby. - Adam 'Pacman' Jones
To us winning is a tradition. We are victors and need not explain. You may hate us, but your girlfriends love us. - BC
by silverstreak3k on May 5, 2010 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Agreed. I just tossed them in there for player consideration, not RB consideration. But even you have to admit that Freddy has been the superior back in the last two years.
The more I see, the less I know.
by CanadianBillsFan on May 5, 2010 7:12 PM EDT up reply actions
i dont admit that
i admit that freddy was the better back last year, and that marshawn was the better back the two years before that. which is why it puts lynch above fred in my opinion. 2>1.
Buffalo, that's where it's at baby. - Adam 'Pacman' Jones
To us winning is a tradition. We are victors and need not explain. You may hate us, but your girlfriends love us. - BC
by silverstreak3k on May 5, 2010 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Well I guess that we’ll just hae to agree to disagree on this one.
The more I see, the less I know.
by CanadianBillsFan on May 6, 2010 12:16 AM EDT up reply actions
I mean
I love Fred Jackson, and he may be the rb of the next decade, i just kind of think he’s winning this poll right now based of popularity and not production. But yea we will have to agree to disagree
Buffalo, that's where it's at baby. - Adam 'Pacman' Jones
To us winning is a tradition. We are victors and need not explain. You may hate us, but your girlfriends love us. - BC
by silverstreak3k on May 6, 2010 12:39 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Football
Is a what have you done for me lately sport, so it is no surprise Fred is winning.
Also some people are going to have issues with Marshawn’s “Character” issues, while Freddie has been a model citizen. At least Travis Henry didn’t really have his “Character” issues while he was here unlike Lynch. Which also factors in to the way the vote is going.
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on May 6, 2010 12:57 AM EDT up reply actions
wait wait wait
why are we discounting marshawns first year? if you are going to do that, then you have to discount freds best year. because that is what you are doing, taking marshawns two worst years and fred two best years….thats pretty loaded… marshawn also produced wayyyy more tds as a starter than fred did…
Buffalo, that's where it's at baby. - Adam 'Pacman' Jones
To us winning is a tradition. We are victors and need not explain. You may hate us, but your girlfriends love us. - BC
by silverstreak3k on May 5, 2010 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Behind a MUCH better line. Also Marshawn was the starter for 2 of the 3 years you mentioned, while Freddy only had 58 carries his rookie season (when he was 4th on the depth chart at RB). I`m not trying to discount Lynch’s rookie year, I’m just saying that including it makes in an unfair comaprison. And yes he was amazing in his rookie season, and if he had kept on playing like that then I wouldn’t have even considered Fred. Problem is Marshawn’s production has fallen considerable once the line was no longer there, whole Freddy’s production has gone up, good line or not.
The more I see, the less I know.
by CanadianBillsFan on May 5, 2010 7:16 PM EDT up reply actions
he ran behind two overly paid lineman
that were both eventually cut, and a terrible center. the tackles back then were better, and thats only after butler played Rt (which wasnt for very long in any season because of injuries). so i think saying “much better line” is just kind of wrong.
he played just as well his second season as he did his first. his third season is the exception not the rule. also if it hadnt been for indy playing all of their backups on defense (without sanders mind you) fred would have never eclipsed 1k yards as the feature back. (marshawn also missed a couple games both seasons with injuries and still managed to get that 1k yard barrier).
marshawn’s production fell after he was suspended and the regime gave up on him. (my opinion of course). fred jackson had only one game (out of 16) of over 100 yrds rushing as the feature back before the indy blowout. marshawn has had 6 games (out of 28 b/c of injuries) in which he eclipsed 100 yards as the feature back…. even being second fiddle this year marshawn still scored as many tds as fred….. im sorry, i love fred jackson, and what he brings to this team, but marshawn is and has been the better RB so far
Buffalo, that's where it's at baby. - Adam 'Pacman' Jones
To us winning is a tradition. We are victors and need not explain. You may hate us, but your girlfriends love us. - BC
by silverstreak3k on May 5, 2010 7:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Almost voted Centers, but ended up voting Freddy.
If there was a spot for fullbacks, then it’s a no brainer. But since your going with 2 backs instead of 1 RB 1 FB, then I went with the character guy. IMO Freddy and Lynch are about even talent wise, but Freddy is actually a leader on this team and in the communiy, thats why he got my vote.
The more I see, the less I know.
by CanadianBillsFan on May 5, 2010 4:16 PM EDT reply actions
PS I still think that there should be a spot for a fullback on the all decade team.
The more I see, the less I know.
by CanadianBillsFan on May 5, 2010 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions
was gash on the team in the 2000's?
Buffalo, that's where it's at baby. - Adam 'Pacman' Jones
To us winning is a tradition. We are victors and need not explain. You may hate us, but your girlfriends love us. - BC
by silverstreak3k on May 5, 2010 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes
2003
He was also with the Bills in 1998, and 1999 with a stop at the Ravens in between, he was always a favorite of mine, Glad he at least got a ring with his time in Baltimore.
Gash was such a great blocking back, a real sledgehammer.
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on May 6, 2010 12:47 AM EDT up reply actions
The Bills haven’t used many fullbacks in the 2000s. Centers. Gash for one year. Then it’s Darien Barnes, Corey McIntyre, and guys of that ilk.
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by MattRichWarren on May 6, 2010 9:07 AM EDT up reply actions
Gash played one unremarkable season in 2003 for the Bills. His great years were ’98 and ’99. Centers went to the Pro Bowl during the decade.
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by MattRichWarren on May 6, 2010 9:07 AM EDT up reply actions
I voted Centers.......
Just because I don’t feel being good for a year or two puts you on the all decade team. Actually, I don’t even think there should be an all decade team, since they pretty much sucked.
I'll stop whining, when I stop caring!
Actually, I don’t even think there should be an all decade team, since they pretty much sucked.
Noted.
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by MattRichWarren on May 6, 2010 9:08 AM EDT up reply actions
It pains me to do it...
but McGahee got my vote. Fred Jackson’s sample is too small (even considering that tremendous 2009 overall total) and, in comparison, Lynch’s games have been more run-of-the-mill.
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by TheAfghanTwilight on May 5, 2010 10:58 PM EDT reply actions
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