Raiders | Team has modest expectations for McFadden
Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:56:49 -0700

John Clayton, of ESPN.com, reports the Oakland Raiders coaching staff is expecting roughly 500 rushing yards from RB Darren McFadden this season. However, the team plans to use McFadden in multiple packages.

Raiders | Team would like Fargas to carry rushing load
Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:54:12 -0700

John Clayton, of ESPN.com, reports the Oakland Raiders coaching staff would like to see RB Justin Fargas carry the ball roughly 20 times per game this season.

This is a great plan for usage of the both of them.

Am I the only one seeing this as lip service for Fargas? He's the one proven to be brittle as an 80 year old woman, so doesn't it make sense for him to be the complimentary guy? You may even have him the whole year in that role.

I see that, and agree with you, but it sure makes sense to me to get everything you can out of Fargas before he breaks, allowing your rookie to come in with less pressure to perform. If Fargas can run his ass of for 6 to 7 games, trying to keep his job, before he busts a rib or 3, then McFadden can establish himself, as under the radar as possible, for a first round pick, without Reggie Bush type scrutiny.

Interesting take, if a little cold. If it plays out in that scenario and Fargas's eventual injury isn't horrible, he comes back in a backup role and everyone wins. I can see it. I'd rather no one got hurt, but I guess I'm not a cold-blooded horrible human like you, RC.

Brittle as an old woman like you said, but quite effective while he plays. He has tons of incentive to run hard. It is easy for me to see why they cut bait on Rhodes, and are fixin' to, or have with Jordan. Bush is a fine backup plan for either McFadden or Fargas.

Am I that transparent?

ouch!!!

lol this is such garbage. first of all, i love how fargas is going to carry the ball 20 times a game this season. so hes going to get 320 carries this season then? hes going to be, what, one of the top 4 rush-getters in the league? yeah that sounds about right. stupid. people throw around the 20 or even 25 carry thing like its nothing.

and secondly, minnesota was saying mostly the same things last offseason about chester taylor too. remember when you were still drafting him pretty high last year? and remember when peterson turned out to be simply too talented to keep off the field? if dmac is as good as folks think he is, trust me, some dude named fargas isnt going to keep him on the bench.

Here is a little bit of info from the Raiders that is worth a look in the main forum. Prepare to be stunned right down to your cheatsheets.

I tend to not believe the comments either, but surprisingly, your comments here got me to thinking that maybe the Raiders are planning on limiting McFadden.

Everybody pushed for the Vikings to throw the rookie out there, and ultimately did. He ran great, like a man on a mission to prove he was the greatest ever. Guy was running over people up until the point he got hurt, and then didn't run well at all to finish the season. Of course, last year, when his late season failures were brought up, it wasn't because of the injury, it was said to be because of constant 8 man fronts he was facing.

It is possible that the Raiders don't want to see their star rookie going down the path that Peterson went last year, and would rather work him in very gradually.

Still, it can't be like the reports because Fargus would be in intensive care by mid-season if he was getting 20 carries per game.

The Raiders are taking it easy with McFadden ATM, slowly getting him up to speed with the offense. From what I have been reading McFadden should see more passes out of the back field than he will hand offs.

I do believe they intend for Fargas to be the focus of the running game at the start of the season. But as the season progresses I think you will see more and more of Bush and McFadden.

I expect McFadden to see a minimum of 250 touches this year, and if he doesn't have a minimum of 1000 total yards, I will be very shocked.

This is a base, I think the ceiling is much higher.