Fantasy Football Preview - Willis McGahee

Willis McGahee is difficult to figure out.   He always ends up with great-looking stats (1207 rushing yards, 7 rushing TDs last year) but when he’s on my team I always seem to be disappointed.  If he were starting for the Cowboys or Packers he’d probably be one of the best RBs in fantasy, but since he’s stuck in Baltimore, I’m predicting a down year for him.  Again, sort of.

Last season McGahee had problems putting everything together, which contributes to the sense that he's a disappointment.  In his first five games he rushed for 464 yards (a 93 yd/game average) but zero touchdowns.   In the middle of the season he rushed for a touchdown in six straight games, but only averaged 74 rushing yards per game over that stretch.  OK, the touchdowns are great, but you’d like to see a little bit more on the yardage side.  In fact, over the past three seasons McGahee has only had a total of six games with both 100+ rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.  LaDanian Tomlinson had six games like that last year alone.

With the Ravens needing to sort out their QB situation (Kyle Boller or maybe rookie Joe Flacco) and their WR situation (paging Mark Clayton…) there’s too much uncertainty in the offense for my taste.  Did I mention that offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden retired?  And that the Ravens drafted a rookie running back in Ray Rice?  Yeah, like I said, too much uncertainty.   A few months ago I was liked him more, right now I’m down on McGahee this season.