The Set-up: From 2001-2009, the Bills have had 4 different starting running backs: Travis Henry, Willis McGahee, Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson. When you just look at the stats, Travis Henry was the best back of the four. From 2002-2003, Henry ran for 2,794 yards and 23 touchdowns. The guy had a unique mix of speed and power. Henry was one tough runner, who could run well in the inside or on the outside. He had a lot of Marshawn Lynch in him with his running style, but he had better vision and knew how to hit the holes better. In terms of value, Henry was arguably one of the best draft picks that Donahoe selected while being with the Bills (2nd round). In his first two seasons, Henry had rushed for more yards than Thurman Thomas and OJ Simpson. The sky was the limit and the Bills seemed to have found their back for the future.
What happened: In one of the stranger draft selections in team history, the Bills decided to use their 1st round pick in the 2003 NFL Draft on Willis McGahee. At the time, no one understood why the move was made. The Bills didn’t need a running back because of Henry, and there was some thought that #21 was a reach because of the knee injury he suffered during the Fiesta Bowl. Plus, everyone knew he wouldn’t be available to play in 2003. The rumors that persisted about the reason for the choice, had to do with Donahoe wanting to make a big splash. Donahoe was a egomaniac and always loved reading his name in press clippings. Entering the draft, McGahee was one of the bigger storylines because of his injury and the fact that he would have went in top 10 if he didn’t get hurt. Any team that would have drafted him, would have gotten a lot of love/attention from the fans and media.
There were also rumors that the Bills knew that Travis Henry was kind of a bad apple (more on that later). While fans were shocked at the pick, Henry was pissed off. Henry told the media that it “Felt like a slap in the face.” Now, because McGahee wasn’t ready for the 2003 season, Henry started and was easily the best offensive player. Henry rushed for over 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was the MVP on a offense that had set so many records for passing futility.
However, the following season, things took a change for the Bills. The team started out 0-4 and the offense struggled. Plus, Henry wasn’t running like he did in years past, as he averaged just 3.5 yards a carry. Now, it wasn’t Henry’s fault that the Bills offense struggled, as they were adjusting to Mularkey’s offensive philosophy. With the offense struggling, the Bills looked for a spark and decided to bench Henry for McGahee. #21 played well that season, as he rushed for over 1,100 yards in just 10 games as a starter. The Bills turned their season around, as they won 9 out of their last 12 games. McGahee was the talk of the town and if you can believe it, he was real popular, too. In the offseason, the Bills dealt a disgruntled Henry to Tennessee for a 3rd round pick.
What if the Bills kept Travis Henry? Looking back, I probably should have renamed this article, “What if the Bills didn’t select Willis McGahee?” That’s really what set the whole thing off. Here’s the deal, in Travis Henry’s finally two NFL seasons, he average 4.3 yards a carry and rushed for over 1,900 yards. Yes, they weren’t great numbers, but it’s not like his replacements, Lynch and McGahee, were lighting the world on fire. More importantly, his replacements were former first round picks. Now, lets say the Bills didn’t use their 23rd pick on Willis McGahee in 2003. They were 2 or 3 guys who could have been selected and pay big dividends for the team. Dallas Clark was drafted with the very next pick. Hey, I know the Bills hate the tight end position, but they had just let go of Jay Riemersma. Everyone knew that Bledsoe was very fond of tight ends, dating back to his days with Ben Coates in New England.
If the Bills didn’t like Dallas, they could have gone with Nnamdi Asomugha, who went at 31. Remember, Antoine Winfield was entering his last year under contract, so, whose to say they wouldn’t want to draft his heir apparent. Back to Henry, I know there were a lot of skeletons in his closet, I mean, the guy is rotting away in some jail cell, because he was trafficking Coke. I don’t know, maybe if he’s in Buffalo all those years, he doesn’t start playing the role of Tony Montana. Hey, I don’t exactly think of Buffalo as a drug trafficking capitol of the northeast.
Henry, also didn’t do himself any favors by going to Denver, where we all know that Mike Shanahan is a complete whack job when it comes to his running backs. If Henry doesn’t fall into these demons, he might still be playing in the NFL today (Only 32). Now, the Bills had McGahee for just two more seasons after they traded Henry. We all know what happened, the Bills didn’t feel McGahee deserved a new deal and he had grown sick of the Applebees in Buffalo, so, they traded him to Baltimore for two 3rd round picks. Now, I believe Henry could have still been a every down back in the NFL when the Bills selected Marshawn Lynch with their 1st round pick in 2007. So, lets play the same game we played during the 2003 Draft. A lot of mock drafts had the Bills selecting either Lynch or Darrelle Revis. It made sense for the Bills to draft Revis, because they had just lost Nate Clements to free agency and his replacement was the immortal Jason Webster. In 2006, Travis Henry rushed for over 1,200 yards in 13 starts. Hmmm..Something tells me that the Bills wouldn’t have gone after Lynch. Yup, in our hindsight world, the Bills could of had Dallas Clark and Darrelle Revis.
I think the biggest “what if?” in the room is whether Henry would have been able to fend off the “Coke and don’t practice safe sex” demons while playing in Buffalo. As I wrote earlier, Henry’s stats back him up for being the best back the Bills have had in the last ten years. It still didn’t make any sense for the team to draft McGahee. Had they kept Henry, I think they would have gotten another 4 years out of him.
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