Now he hasn't gotten a ton of touches yet, and our line doesn't exactly open up a ton of holes, but I see complete back right off the bat. Even looking back on his college tapes on youtube, you can tell he's a faster, stronger player now than then. Good vision, good speed, listed at 185 but he plays a lot tougher than that. He hits the holes with authority and doesn't shy away from anything. I guess if I were to pick out a negative it's that he's not as elusive as a Leon Washington. McGuire's style reminds me a bit of Joe Morris. Kenneth Davis of the Bills comes to mind as well. Don't know what his upside is exactly but he's an NFL player and we need to get the ball in his hands this year. He could be very useful on screens. I really hope he gets an opportunity and doesn't get buried behind Powell/Forte (Forte I'm a-ok with trading as soon as possible)
Awesome post, I agree. If we had good linemen McGuire would be a plus. Forte shouldn't have been signed at all. Another Mac mistake.....
Joe Morris. Very nice. Nice, durable, reliable. Not as good as Curtis Martin but kind of in that mold? Not flashy but every team could use a player like that. Hope Mr. McGuire is like that, indeed.
I think he was alluding to the Forte signing being a Mac mistake. Which I generally agree with. We overpaid for an aging veteran. I guess it made some sense given that we were supposed to be competitive last season. But runningbacks are a dime a dozen and we've done nothing but sign veterans at the position since Curtis Martin retired. Thomas Jones, LT, now Forte. This would be the perfect year to develop a running back. Look at what Jordan Howard did last year. We should be looking to develop McGuire into our feature back. Instead we have around $8 million tied up into both Powell & Forte for 2017 which is just silly. I'm not sure why this franchise is so against drafting a mid-round back and feeding them touches. That's what the rest of the league does. Draft a runningback, feed them carries until their body is beaten to shit and let them go get their second contract with another team. Rinse & repeat.
We've had Leon Washington and Shonn Greene...we also uncovered Danny Woodhead who we foolishly cut to keep McKnight.
Macc had better pick some god-damn OL in the first three rounds next year, and the next. [Unless a franchise QB prospect falls on his laps.]
McGuire is 215 lbs. He's a one cut shifty (ran 4.53) type back that has very good hands. I think he can become something of a guy you can line up at WR and let him do damage, sort of a Danny Woodhead type guy. If he can learn blitz pickup, he'd be a very nice option and potential RB rotational guy here as you likely either re sign Powell to a short deal or release him, and Forte is on his last legs. He WILL get time here.
McGuire showed good agility and vision in his running today, along with a nice downhill style. Forte is the odd (old) man out on this team. I'd like to see what McGuire could do behind Powell with an eye towards the future.
The knock on him was that he couldn't break tackles and went down too easily but that's not what he's shown in the preseason.
Was excited on draft day when we took him, I hate watching all these teams hit on late round RBs except us.
I actually liked the Thomas Jones, LT, and Forte signings. Also like Tony Richardson, and liked re-signing Powell. None were too cost prohibitive, and they all brought a shitload of character and leadership to the team. that said, I also agree with you on drafting more mid round RB's.. I think the right approach is a bit of a mix.
Surely. It could be a nice blend of both. But I'd like to see us take a shot on a 2nd-4th round runningback and give them some run. The best runningbacks in the NFL come from those rounds; think Le'veon Bell, David Johnson, Jordan Howard, Jay Ajayi, Lesean McCoy, Devonta Freeman, etc. I did some research on this in the NFL forum on the draft position of the leagues best rushers. Look at how the youthfulness of Le'veon and DJ have transformed those offenses into the best in the league. Primarily because of the versatility they offer. We also acquired Thomas Jones and LT in the midst of teams ready to compete. We're in full tank/rebuild mode right now. It'd be nice to develop a runningback NOW so that in two years they're in their prime. Similar to what the Bears have found in Jordan Howard. Their backfield is now set for a combination of Trubisky & Howard and they can look to build around the both of them (assuming Trubisky is the real deal). We tried doing the same with drafting Sanchez & Shonn Greene, which is actually the last time we gave two shits about the offense.
