Darren McFadden: $60 Million Gone to Waste

Darren McFadden enjoyed great success in the best two-back backfield that college football has seen in quite a while. Over his three-year career at Arkansas, he had managed 1,113 yards on 6.3 YPC his freshman year, 1,647 yards on 5.8 YPC his sophomore year, and 1,830 yards on 5.6 YPC his junior year, where he was runner-up in the Heisman voting.

He also averaged nearly 14 TD on the ground over the three years, and showed some versatility with seven passing TDs as well. McFadden also had a 321-yard game against a decent Gamecocks defense this year.

So what makes McFadden a potential bust?

I have loved this guy since his freshman year, but I just cannot see this guy having a brilliant NFL career. He runs too upright, and has been that way throughout high school and college.

Who is to say that the horrible coaching in Oakland can do anything to fix this. If he can fix this, there is another downside. He is not the most durable back out there. He is more naturally skilled than any back in the draft, more so even than AD.

What hurts this guy is his lack of technique. The NFL is a different animal, and technique is very much a necessity for NFL success. Technique has proven to overshadow natural ability. Eddie George was the best example of that.

If McFadden wasn't unfortunate enough to land in Oakland, then I could have more faith in everything working out for him, but the personnel in Oakland, I think, just does not have the ability to straighten him out.

Also, he will be a focal point of defenses until the Raiders can prove they have a passing game. If he is a focal point, then he will take a lot of punishment, where his durability will again come in to question. As much as I would love to see this guy have NFL success, I just can't see it happening for him as long as he is in Oakland.

What the Raiders need to do is spend some of this money that they keep coming up with on quality coaching. Until then, I'm sorry McFadden, your talent is going to waste.