1.01 RB Darren McFadden OAK

[Burt the Butcher]

Proxy pick for

Ya'all happy now?

[Flaxwless]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

He'll be a stud in OAK, was hoping you'd have a man crush on Stewart or Mendenhall.

[pacificscrub]

You realize Flax that McFadden has BUST written all over him? From the comparisons to AdP on, there's almost no way he can live up to the hype. Then again, with the lack of talent around him and his propensity to find trouble, he may not have too long to try. I'd take Mendenhall AND Stewart before him.

[PencilGeeks]

Amazingly, I think it is a good year to NOT have the top pick. The difference between ADP and McFadden is that ADP thrives on contact.. while McFadden goes down at the first hint of contact. He will be a weapon if used in the correct manner (which is good for my QB), but will that relic Al Davis let Kiffin use him correctly? That is the question.. In any case the 1.1 pick is a pretty high pick to take a 10-12 touches a game RB...

[pacificscrub]

Originally Posted by PencilGeeks

Amazingly, I think it is a good year to NOT have the top pick. The difference between ADP and McFadden is that ADP thrives on contact.. while McFadden goes down at the first hint of contact. He will be a weapon if used in the correct manner (which is good for my QB), but will that relic Al Davis let Kiffin use him correctly? That is the question.. In any case the 1.1 pick is a pretty high pick to take a 10-12 touches a game RB...

Well I won't go quite that far. Even if Al is meddling (I actually had someone arguing with me last year that Al doesn't meddle with his coaches ), I think 15-20 avg touches is a more realistic expectation. That still puts a serious damper on McFadden's potential numbers though. Toss in a QB that is basically still a rookie because of his extended holdout last year, a marginal O-line, and a bunch of receivers that have never done anything in the NFL and you have a recipe for disaster for a fantasy RB.

[Flaxwless]

Originally Posted by pacificscrub

Well I won't go quite that far. Even if Al is meddling (I actually had someone arguing with me last year that Al doesn't meddle with his coaches ), I think 15-20 avg touches is a more realistic expectation. That still puts a serious damper on McFadden's potential numbers though. Toss in a QB that is basically still a rookie because of his extended holdout last year, a marginal O-line, and a bunch of receivers that have never done anything in the NFL and you have a recipe for disaster for a fantasy RB.

McFadden will not be a bust running behind the Raider o-line. In their 1st year in the zone blocking scheme the Raiders were super duper effective running the ball.

As a team they were #6 in total yards in the NFL with over 2000 yards rushing. They had 3 different running backs have 100 yard games when they were the main ball carrier (Jordan, Fargas, RHodes). That's 3 distinct RBs and the fact that Fargas rushed for a 1000 yards behind the Raiders o-line is very good news for McFadden as both are similiar runners.... speed backs with very little wiggle. The system works. If McFadden went to Denver fantasy footballers would be having wet dreams and touting DMC as the next big thing.

As for Al Davis he drafted DMC #4 overall... he'll be utilized. Jordan will be cut. Fargas re-signed for back up money. Even when Fargas is in the backfield they could split DMC out wide. He'll be on the field.

The numbers produced last year by the Raider RBs are a very good indicator of the o-line scheme/talent working effectivley. If DMC gets even 50% of the carries that's on the low side that's 1000 yards if he is AT LEAST as talented/effective as Fargas, Rhodes, or Jordan. With basically a rookie QB... the Raiders team will run and run a whole lot.

I'm willing to bet he is more effective than those guys AND gets more than 50% of the carriers, factor in any receptions and he's a lock IMO to be a solid RB2 with very good chance of being an RB1 in his 1st year.

For the Raiders did I like the McFadden pick? I can live with it, but would rather have had Dorsey.

Fantasy footballwise? McFadden landed in the best possible situation. NY Jets the other team he was linked too doesn't have as good an o-line as Oakland.

I like DMC's prospects in Oakland.

[Shader]

You boys from the West Coast will fall in love with Mcfadden. I tried to trade up but had far too long to trade. He's an unbelievable beast running back. I almost spit out my food the other day when I heard on ESPN that some thought Mcfadden would lose alot of carries to Justin freakin Fargis. What a joke. McFadden is every bit as physical as ADP, and not as injury prone.