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NEW YORK -- Darren McFadden loves New York, and New York loves him back. In fact, if you believe what you read, the Jets can't wait to get their hands on the Arkansas running back.
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| Darren McFadden is a breakaway threat. Just ask the SEC. (US Presswire) |
The Raiders are just as interested in McFadden, and they're two picks ahead of the Jets. Now, there's no guarantee Oakland takes him -- heck, this is the club that spent the 17th pick of the 2000 draft on Sebastian Janikowski, for crying out loud -- but I can't see Al Davis passing on rare talent.
Neither, for that matter, can McFadden.
"If they take me," he said at a luncheon at Chelsea Piers, "they're going to get a playmaker -- someone who can take the ball 80 yards at any time. And that's something I feel they're missing, and something they feel they're missing."
Well, I'll be. At least the Raiders have that right. Their longest play last year was 59 yards to wide receiver Jerry Porter, and the Raiders thought so much of Porter, they didn't re-sign him. After that, they didn't have a gain over 50, with Justin Fargas' 48-yarder against Miami the longest run.
Now, let's look at McFadden: He ran for 321 yards in one game last season, set a school record with 22 100-yard games and was the first sophomore to win the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation's top back.
Oh, yeah, he also peeled off an 80-yard dash against South Carolina.
So, yes, there is a need in Oakland for someone as talented as the two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Year. Only here's the question, and I posed it to McFadden: Why should the Raiders be interested in another back when they have Fargas, Dominic Rhodes and LaMont Jordan, not to mention Michael Bush, who they drafted a year ago?
"Well," said McFadden, "I'm big and versatile. I can split out wide and catch a pass. I can throw a pass. Making plays is something I can do very well. (The team that takes me) is going to get a very explosive player who can make plays all over the field and someone who's going to be 100 percent determined."
Determination is what it will take in Oakland, where in five seasons the Raiders won one more game (19) than New England did all of last season. Oakland has a new quarterback in JaMarcus Russell and a new target in Javon Walker. So why not a new running back?
Look, I don't care who's there now. If I'm the Raiders, all I care about is if McFadden is a considerable improvement over what I have, and I think we've answered that already.
But it's not the only question out there. There is, of course, that matter of character, stemming from two off-the-field incidents the past two years -- with McFadden both times defending one of his brothers at Little Rock, Ark., bars -- and unresolved paternity cases.
