What do you think..could do much better after getting a year under his belt.

If he is healthy yes but he won't get a full load and rightfully so. If my mind servers me right he never had to carry a full load in college and it wouldn't be smart to expect him to do here. Considering them have Michael Bush who I think is going to be a great NFL RB if given the chance and Fargas who has proven to be a good back he will not see 20 carry's a game any time soon. I see him in the 1000 yard range with 5 6 rushing TD's

He did have Felix Jones to give him a rest, but he also topped 320+ carries in his senior year with 21 catches, and he had 280+ rushes his Jr. year. So he has shown he's capable with carrying a full load. Before I ever even consider touching this guy, I need to see Bush gone. When Bush leaves then I think McFadden becomes the RDZ threat and could put up double-digit scores, if not then we're looking at 5/6 like you said.

Like the other guys said - this guy can only do so much on a team with two other starting-caliber RBs. I'm as pissed now as I was on draft day in April '08 when the raiders took this guy - a guy they didn't need.

McFadden doesn't really interest me he is injury prone and like the other guys said he is competing with two quality backs in michael bush and justin fargas. If he can stay healthy and that is a big if i think he goes for 900 Yds, 5TDs

Well if you look at the rest of the 1st round, it is far from impressive. For going into 2009, there are only 2 playersin the 1st round I'd want over him, Jake Long and Matt Ryan, and maybe there is a long shot argument for Chris Long but I'd go McFadden over him. Keep in mind that I did say 1st round too, so that does not include the likes of Forte, Royal, or DeSean.

I don't recall him missing a game in college, but since he had one injured year in his rookie season he is no injury prone? I think it's a bit early to say that, he was coming off his first 300+ carry season. Maybe he isn't the true horse we thought he is, and can't handle a full load.

Do yourself a favor and let someone else play the Oakland game with their team. Stay away is my best advice.

Yea and even thought Russel did look some what good at the end of the season. You'd have to think that they are going to end up stacking the box against them.

Russell is complete trash, no other way around it.

He can throw 80 yards on his knees though

Which leads to a good point that Colin Cowherd constantly makes, dont' draft QBs with big arms and nothing else. They're so overrated.

Its tough to compare different positions but Clady and Otah had great years. Flacco is in the AFC championship game. Mayo led the Pats in tackles. Chris Johnson is just better than D-Mac and Jon Stewart might be also. I may have forgotton some guys but to say Matt Ryan and Jake Long and maybe Chris Long are the only players you would want over D-Mac seemed like a stretch especially considering how deep the RB position was in that draft.

Don't get be wrong, there were others that had great years. Being that McFadden doesn't have an injured past though, I'm gonna chalk up 2008 as a fluke for him and hope for the best. I still think he has a superior future outlook going forward even if he is with the Raiders. Like you said though, it's difficult to compare players at different positions without a specific team being discussed.

He's in Oakland and has no help around him. I wouldn't expect much better unless Oakland has some MAJOR changes this offseson.

If they get rid of Fargas, draft an O-lineman first, and a receiver second I think D-mac could have a breakout year next year. Of course that would qualify as major changes but they are definite possibilities.

Even if they get rid of Fargas they still have Michael Bush, who personally I think could be just as good as D-Mac, if given the chance I have been a huge fan of him since college.

Agreed I am a huge fan and think he can be a complete back in the NFL. But if it were just the two of them I believe D-mac would get a large majority of the carries. The raiders are more likely to get rid of Bush than Fargas anyway because they were looking to trade him this season at the deadline.

Yea I hope they trade him the the cards or a team that could use a back like him, better than him being a fullback

To the Broncos.

I would be the happiest man alive, but come on do you see Al Davis trading him to them, he is a bitter bitter old man.

If Fargas gets traded D Mac's value jumps up a ton. Even with Bush there I think he would get 10-15 carries a game with 3-5 catches.

I know, it was wishful thinking. The Cards or the Eagles would be excellent fits.

Al Davis would convert him into his free safety before he'd trade him. I'm not expecting him to move until he is out of OAK.

As funny as that is, I find it sad that thats true.

D-Mac will be splitting carries next year in Oakland. Even if they were to let Fargas go. Michael Bush is still on their roster and they will lock him up for a few years.

Denver already has 6 - 7 RB's on their team. and they all went on IR Ouch!

How can you say that Russell is complete trash in his rookie year? It's not like this guy has been around for 3-4 years and has had a chance to learn the system.

Give him time for Pete's sake. Any time a rookie QB has more TD's than INT's I'd consider that a pretty good rookie season. Now he just needs to get his completion % up higher and I think he could be a good QB.

It didn't help that his WR's dropped an insane amount of passes this season, but to say he's trash is pretty inaccurate.

I think the perfect situation would be to trade Fargas for some help on the defensive side of the ball and go in with Bush/D-Mac next season.

I seriously think Bush is the best RB out of those 3 when it comes to the complete package. He is brutally phsyical, yet has the ability to catch passes as well. I think Bush and D-Mac would provide a good "Thunder & Lightning" combination much like the Titans had this season w/ Lenwhale & Chris Johnson.

I've watched a lot of him, and to his defense I wouldn't say it's entirely his fault, but I don't see anything out of him. He has maybe the biggest arm in the league, that's about it. Simply put though, he just doesn't have the smarts to play QB in the NFL. I've watched him with regularity throw screen passes so badly that even Dikembe Mutombo couldn't reach these passes. I'm not talking about once or twice the entire season, I'm talking on a week-to-week basis. He also isn't quick enough at making decisions in order to find a 2nd option. He never scans the field to find that second option, and there really isn't any pass he can throw well with accuracy. Once you hit this level of your career, it's nearly impossible to make such drastic improvements in your accuracy that you need in order to become a successful QB in the NFL. Maybe if he were just missing by inches or maybe a foot, then he'd have hope. That's the thing, when he misses his throws, which is quite often, he is missing them by YARDS. It would really benefit him for his sake if he were at least a mobile QB, but he isn't even mobile to take the pressure off and maybe draw a safety in. The situation he is in also doesn't help him at all. Maybe if he had some good/solid WRs with Miller, and a good offensive line, then I'd say he has a future. However, I think by the time they do bring in those pieces, he will have already been run out of town and not part of the Raiders franchise anymore, or their plans at least. It's been proven time and time again that QBs with big arms and no polish, smarts, or poise do not and will not make successful QBs in the NFL.

I don't see them getting much for Fargas something in the area of a 4th maybe a 3rd rounder. While I do agree with you D-Mac may have the lighting speed, but Bush has great hands and will be more likely to get you 4 yards on every carry instead of D-Mac who will be boom or bust on some of his carrys.

Peyton Mannings rookie year, 26 tds, 28 int, qb rating of 71.2. In no way am I saying we should compare Russell to manning, but maybe we should give him another year under his belt before we call him trash.

You also have to consider the players that Manning had around him as well. Faulk & Harrison were top of the game at that time which took pressure off of Manning to be "the guy". Curry and Walker? C'mon now....

The fact that he had a positive TD/INT ratio makes me believe he has potential to be good. I think if he can get the completion % and fumble problems (although I'd say 90% of those were due to being hit from the blind side) improved that he could be a legitimate Pro Bowl contender down the road. Not next season, but at some point in the future when he has a better supporting cast.

If you want to look at trash, look at Alex Smith. That guy was/is trash.

Why are we calling Russell a rookie?
JaMarcus Russell = Not a rookie

So he's been there for a year, played a few games last year, and had plenty of time to learn the system. He's got a big arm and nothing else. See: Culpepper (without Moss), without the ability to run.

Yea he still has a chance to be a good NFL QB but I wouldn't count on it.

Lol... You would actually be the 2nd happiest man alive. It would never happen in a million yrs.

Sigh, just imagine that he would face 7 guys in the box all the time cause of cutler god I need to shut up I still have hope for him to find value somewhere.

If he got some good WR's to throw too then maybe? but i don't see Crazy Al going after any.

That higgins guy looked pretty good at the end of the season, and Al Davis already got walker!?!?!?!? What else do you want.

First off - please tell me you are kidding about Javon Walker. Walker is garbage - guy almost retired already.

I would be surprised if the Raiders pass on M.Crabtree if he's still on the board with their first pick. Maybe with a two headed monster of Run DMC and Michael Bush in the backfield, a receiver like Crabtree, and an emerging blue chip TE in Z.Miller - J.Russell could take a step in the right direction with some legit weapons around him. I'm not going to label him as a bust yet - he's too young and inexperienced. I usually wait to judge a QB until after he is comfortable with the offensive system. It is clear that he is not to that point yet. Not checking down to his secondary receivers and not getting rid of the ball before the receiver makes his break are signs of not knowing the offensive playbook well enough yet. We'll see how prepared Russell is for this upcoming season. This is season #3 so this is when he has to start turning the corner. If he doesn't turn that corner this year - then it's time for concern.

I guess this has turned into a thread about Russell, which is fine with me - the subject of McFadden is a non-starter since he's splitting carries with 2 other backs.

I think that calling Russell "garbage" is overly harsh - the fact is that he plays for the Raiders, where everyone's career goes to die. If I was a college QB and the Raiders drafted me I'd pull an Elway/Manning and refuse to report. Lamont Jordan, Dominic Rhodes and Randy Moss careers were all "over" when they played in Oakland; once they left they were suddenly productive players again.

Walker ain't coming back. he is done imo. what a waste of money.

I'm quite, quite certain that Gary was kidding about Walker....

At least some understands sarcasm here haha. Yea Walker is among the top 30 paid guys in the league I believe I still don't understand why Al Davis gave him that money like I don't think anyone was within 30 million of whatever he got.

Not to mention Davis talking him into staying after he wanted to quit and give back his bonus after he got robbed in Vegas

In all seriousness I'm scared for Oakland I mean hey we all make dumb mistakes some more than others but some of the things this guy does a 5 year old could avoid it would go as the following. "This guy doesn't have a lot of numbers I am not going to give him a lot of money." See a 5 year old could do better than Al Davis.

McFadden gets rave reviews: The Contra Costa Times reports Raiders RB Darren McFadden should be in line for a good year. The report says that "for the most part, the Darren McFadden who took the field for the Raiders as a rookie was a shell of himself. The explosion is back, and the things McFadden ought to be able to accomplish catching passes out of the backfield and in the slot should give the Raiders something to hang their hat on in the passing game until the deep game comes around."

Is it me or does it seem like everyone is off the McFadden bandwagon already?!? Guy had an injury riddled rookie yr and everyone seems to be ready to write him off already. W/the addition of L.Neal at FB I think he has got a serious chance to shine in '09. I understand the QB isn't great yet and the don't have a ton of WR help but they were 10th in rushing the ball last season. Sounds like they are going to use him a ton in the passing game as well. Bush and Fargas really gonna take that many touchs from him. I mean if he's gonna be in on passing downs thats should equal a lot of field time. Thoughts? Proj?

I like McFadden's chances to break out a bit (besides Neal, the starting OL has 3 new faces on it), but I also think that Fargas (who has been decent, given the circumstances in Oakland) retains a not-insignificant role, and Michael Bush seems likely to get most of what few goalline opportunities the OAK offense has.

Call it 750 rushing yards, 400 receiving yards, but only 5 TDs.

745 Rushing yrds , 320 Rec's , 6 TD's

1200 total yards, 8 TD's. Both him and Bush are much more talented than Fargas, this won't be a three headed monster if the other two stay healthy.