Willis McGahee Injury: Leave Dinged Up Broncos RB on Your Bench

Willis McGahee had a monster game the last time he played against Oakland. On a Thursday night game it's always fun if you have a rooting interest. I see the reason someone might want to scratch that itch and start the Denver Broncos back.

There's always the chance that McGahee is going to have a huge day, but it's not likely. There are a few reasons why. First, the emergence of Lance Ball last week had to be an encouragement. His 30 carries for 96 yards means he's probably going to get some touches again tonight. 

Second, in this triple option that the Broncos are running, ball carriers are coming from all over the place. Last week, six different players carried the ball. So while there were a lot of rushes, they were by a lot of different players. That means McGahee runs the risk, particularly with his playing hurt, of getting limited touches. 

Third, Tim Tebow has been the one to carry the ball on the goal line. You can't fault him for that; he's getting the ball into the end zone. Last week, he accounted for the Broncos' sole rushing touchdown. If there are rushing touchdowns this week, it's likely Tebow will be the ball carrier.

Fourth, anytime you're talking about an injured player playing, you're running a big risk they are going to aggravate that injury early in the game. Then you're stuck with an entire frustrating game of yelling "What the BLEEP were you thinking!?" for three hours. No one likes to do that. 

Finally, the New York Jets defense is the second best against opposing backs over the last three weeks. While they have a short week to prepare defend the option, it's not likely they'll get beat by McGahee. They'll make the rest of the crew be the ones who beat them. They are just too good of a defensive team to make it easy. 

If you have McGahee, save yourself the aggravation and leave him on the bench.