Should the San Francisco 49ers Make a Play for Darren McFadden?

Need

The San Francisco 49ers have their franchise leading rusher in Frank Gore on the roster. Sure, they drafted what appears to be a running back of the future, Kendall Hunter, in the 2011 NFL Draft. This definitely doesn't mean that they are not in the market for a running back.

Gore is past his prime and probably has a year or two of above average football left in the tank, if that. He has touched the ball over 1,900 times in his seven-year NFL career. Compare that to some of the better running backs of the last two decades, and it seems he is hitting that final stretch in what has been a great career.

Hall of Famer Emmit Smith, who had the same exact build as Gore, started hitting the downside of his career after about 2,300 touches. The shelf life for NFL running backs is shorter than any other position on the field. You can expect seven solid seasons from the best backs in the league, and Gore was once one.

Needless to say, San Francisco has been looking for an heir-apparent to Gore over the last few drafts. First it was Glen Coffee in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft, who looked good before abruptly retiring. Then it was Anthony Dixon in the sixth round in 2010. After a solid performance his rookie season, Dixon took a back seat this past year and was their third stringer, playing mostly on special teams.

Then San Francisco went to the well once more in the fourth round last season.They drafted Kendall Hunter from Oklahoma State. During his rookie season, Hunter showed everyone that he was one of the biggest steals in the entire draft. Spelling Gore a great deal, the rookie accumulated nearly 700 yards on less than 130 touches.

While many, including myself, are extremely high on Hunter being the 49ers' running back of the future there does remain some major concerns. First, we just saw an extremely small sample size. Second, he struggled  a great deal in pass protection. Finally, Hunter's build (5'7", 199) leaves some questions in regards to his ability to shoulder the load.

Either way, teams that focus on the run like the 49ers do need two running backs in their system in order to be successful on offense. If Gore continues to regress as a running back, which is going to happen, they need to get someone in there to team up with Hunter.

The Darren McFadden Factor

It has been reported by multiple media outlets that the Oakland Raiders plan to use the franchise tag on Michael Bush, who played extremely well in Darren McFadden's stead over the course of the last half of the 2011 season. The franchise tag figures to be about $8 million in 2012. This leaves the Raiders in an incredibly precarious position right now. McFadden is set to count about $7 million against the cap in 2012.

Additionally, the Raiders are still projected to be $12 million over the cap even after releasing Stanford Routt. I don't think it makes sense to have two running backs on their 53-man that are set to count $15 million against the cap combined, especially with the fiscal situation they are currently in.

Then you have this. Oakland is without a draft pick for the first four rounds of the 2012 NFL Draft. New general manager Reggie McKenzie has made it clear he values those draft picks and is looking to shed the team of "out of whack contracts," a category that McFadden would probably fall under considering his injury concerns.

You can expect the Raiders to ask for a first round pick in return for McFadden, but that just isn't going to happen. He has missed 19 games in his four year career, leaving a lot of questions about his ability to be the primary guy. My view is that Oakland would have to settle on a second-round pick for McFadden straight up. But that is just an educated guess at this point.

Is it worth it

The injury question needs to be asked here. When healthy, McFadden is one of the premier running backs in the league. He has averaged 88 rushing yards per game over the last two seasons, translating to about 1,400 yards over the course of a 16 game season.

Are the 49ers prepared to give up a second-round pick in a high-risk, high-reward situation? Do they need to be looking at this position the way I am? Is McFadden too much of a risk?

These are all questions that need to be answered.

Make no mistake about it, McFadden has the skill set to be an elite running back in the league. Just envision the idea of him and Hunter pairing up in the running game for the next five seasons. Of course this would mean that Gore will probably have to be released either this offseason or following the 2012 season, which is another issue. 

Either way, McFadden is going to be placed on the trade market this offseason and San Francisco will be mentioned as possible suitors because of the salary cap space they have.