Where are we going to find another guy like that? Some back that is an unreal receiver and return man? http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/henderson_taurean00.html
The Saints are clearly using him more as a receiver. That's their descision (and to speculate "if they felt he could do this or that with a certain amount of carries" is your opinion and nothing more). The Saints are winning games and he's their leading receiver. He's already won a game for them. Is he living up to rushing expectations, no probably not ,but he is effecting the game every time he touches the field. That's the point I think a lot of people are trying to make. He hasn't been the next Barry Sanders yet or even close but he's doing what NO needs him to do. At this point, he's been much better then Williams and has had a greater impact. The only impressive thing Mario has done was tip that pass by Ronnie Brown. DeMeco Ryans created that sack and Mario fell on top of daunte. Neith player is living up to the hype but give me the guy who's leading a one loss team in receiving and has won a game with a clutch 60 yd punt return over a guy who hasn't done much of anything as of yet. Hopefully, Mario takes the Miami game and builds off it. If he can have an 8 sack season I'll be happy. I need to see him have a game changing impact on the game before I'm satisfied.
Reggie Bush won the game with a clutch 60 yard punt return. Ok...that's cool. Yet, you give Mario no props for winning the game with a clutch tipped pass (ya know, the kinds of things defensive players do to make a difference)? Come on now...even BUSH-SPN gave Mario props for that.
Why does this have to be a Reggie vs. Mario discussion? I never brought up Mario at all... I was talking about why Reggie has yet to become that "unstoppable, league-changing, redefining the position" force that everybody said he was already, before he ever played a down. If you feel better about justifying his performance thus far because Mario hasn't had as much of an impact yet, fine. Frankly, I don't think it matters what Mario does in terms of whether or not Reggie Bush will "live up to the hype". (even though his tipped pass could have won the game for them against Miami). The bottom line is, the Texans RIGHT NOW don't look so bad for not drafting a guy who has yet to be able to run the ball, whereas people said from DAY ONE this was a decision they would have nightmares over, and be embarassed over week after week after week. Whether or not Mario Williams will be successful for them, or have more of an impact than Bush, remains to be seen... but I thought it wasn't supposed to be close. Finally, continue to tout the Saints record while considering this... are the Saints 4-1 without Deuce McAllister raking in the rushing yards for them? And if Deuce wasn't there, and Reggie got all his carries, would he be as productive?
The Saints are winning games because they replaced this guy: <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cS4Gs5USLtg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cS4Gs5USLtg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> with a Pro-Bowl QB. Aaron Brooks, before he got hurt, was leading the worst team in the NFL this year, and they were considering replacing him with Jeff George. I think that's a slight upgrade. And he's not their leading receiver. He's #1 in receptions, but that's due to being a safety valve. He's 3rd in receiving yards. Their 7th round pick this year, Marques Colston, is their best receiver and is leading their team in receiving yards, TDs, 1st downs, avg yards per catch, yards after catch, etc. If voters ignored hype, he'd be ahead of Reggie Bush in terms of a ROY award so far this year - and he was a 7th round pick.
It also doesn't hurt that their wins so far are against opponents that are a combined 5-13, including 1-4 Green Bay, 1-4 Cleveland, and 0-4 Tampa Bay (along with an impressive win vs 3-1 Atlanta ). The remainder of their schedule includes Philly, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cinci, Dallas, the Giants, Carolina, and Washington, along with Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and San Fran.
amid a slew of silliness, this is perhaps the silliest. would you pick mario williams ahead of 5-7 great defensive ends? vy ahead of 5-7 great qbs? come to think of it, when has a rookie EVER been, 3-4 games into his career, among the 5 or 7 best players at his position? and change the game how? overall, like in a sammy baugh kind of way? or on a week-to-week basis? i'd say he changed yesterday's game, wouldn't you? oh, but that's right - it didn't count because he didn't do it as a rb, did he? i've watched football for a number of years and it seems the object of the game is to move the ball downfield. and i'm fairly certain all yardage gained is created equal. so why are we knocking a guy averaging 84 yards a game? that's a 1,300-yard pace. and he's a back-up to deuce mcallister, who, i think a lot of people forget, is a really, really good back (ask ricky williams). then again, maybe he's not, because i wouldn't rank him among the top 5-7 in the league..... bush has been fine, exactly what everyone thought he'd be: he draws attention from the defense; he's multi-talented; he can break a game open with his speed.
Bush has not been what everyone thought he would be. Most thought he would be the next great RB. Some realistic folks thought he would be a very good RB. So far he has been below average at running the ball. Having a versatile RB is great, as long as the RB succeds at his main priority....running the ball. If the RB doesn't succeed at running the ball then all the extra stuff he does better be off the charts, which in Bush's case it is not. He is catching a lot of passes because the Saints are trying to give him space (since that's what he seems to need to succeed) and chances to break one. His ypr average is not outstanding (which it needs to be to make up for sucking at rushing). His yards per return average is not outstanding either. How many games has Bush broken open with his speed? He certainly hasn't done it rushing. His yards per in every other category are average, so he isn't doing it there either. Mathis and other returners are fast enough to convert on the perfect blocking of yesterdays punt return. I give Bush the same type of props I gave Williams on his first sack...being in the right place and converting....but it's not as if Bush did anything to make that return happen (just like Mario didn't throw some lineman out the way to get his sack). Bush has been hyped as the next great back, and so far multiple backs from his class have all looked better. Even Jones-Drew has looked better using the "all purpose yards" argument (really the he cant run argument), and he converted his goal-line carries yesterday.
Not at all - I never said Mario Williams has lived up to his potential. Running backs, however, don't have a learning curve. ANY learning curve. And yes, many top running backs such as LT and Edge had immediate impacts and were immediate superstars. Besides which, Reggie Bush was supposed to be the best prospect in years, remember? His speed was supposed to be unguardable - there's no learning curve with that. If anything, he should be at his best now before people learn to adjust to it. So you think paying $6MM a year for a fantastic punt returner is a good investment? I've already said he's great in open space - and that's what punt returning is. Oddly, it's not. That's why a 300 yard passer is similar to a 100 yard rusher. Catching 10 passes for 50 yards is not nearly as impressive as 10 runs for 50 yards. He's what everyone thought he would be? He's not even one of the ten best rookies this year - that's what you expected? If so, why on earth would you want to pay him #1 pick money?
And I didn't say top 5 players at his position right now - I said top 5 players you'd pick if you were building a team.
You do know how weak this argument will look if Bush continues to break open games as a punt returner and/or reciver... "yea, so he continues to score touch downs and wins games... but he isn't as a RB..."
Not a weak argument at all, unless you want to pay Dante Hall $50M. Do you? When Bush was drafted, were you on board as saying he would be the next great specialist? FYI...he has yet to break a game open as a receiver. Also, that was his first TD yesterday. How many does Maroney have? How many does Norwood have? How many does Jones-Drew have? How many does Colston have? How many does Deangelo Williams have?
