2013 Fantasy Outlook: Darren McFadden

Information is constantly changing in the NFL and fantasy player values can change at any moment. Having updated, informative news can help you not just at your fantasy football draft but during the regular season. Feel free to glance at our recent articles to make sound decisions throughout the year.

To help you get ready for draft day you will notice articles for ADP advice, cheat sheets, mock drafts and projected stats for Darren McFadden here. During the season, you can also find regular weekly ranking articles at this section as well.

Welcome to Darren McFadden fantasy football outlook archive. At this section of McFadden’s player page you will notice our past thoughts and advice for fantasy football.

August, 2012: McFadden A Gamble As One Of My Top Five RB’s

Back from his Lisfranc injury, Darren McFadden is fourth-best tailback on my board for standard and PPR leagues. Based on his performance against the Cowboys, McFadden looks ready to start the season, showing the same burst he had before the injury.

Off to an MVP like start of the year, and should continue to play close to that level when on the field.

Clearly a much tougher and stronger runner at this point in his career, McFadden is one of the best running backs in the league. With Michael Bush finally leaving the team, McFadden should see more goal-line touches, but I will be interested to see if Marcel Reece gets some looks at fullback.

After Rice, McCoy and Foster are off the board, fantasy owners will have to choose between options with draw backs be it health, poor offensive line play, a pending suspension, or lack of production from the previous season.

Of those options go with McFadden, we know what he will do on the field, just make sure you snag Mike Goodson in the late rounds assuming he recovers from his injury last week.

	Rushing Stats			Receiving Stats
	Attempts	Yards	TD	Rec	Yards	TD
2012 Projected Stats	252	1,260	9	42	357	2

May, 2012: Fantasy Projections

Lisfranc injury or no, Darren McFadden is likely to be the sixth or seventh best tailback on my board for standard and PPR leagues this summer. As long as he is healthy and ready to start the season, he’s just too darn good to rank any lower, and I’m currently not ranking rookies, or Chris “curl up in a ball before contact” Johnson over him.

In all seriousness, McFadden was off to an MVP like start of the year, before his foot injury ended his season. This is a running back that can carry a fantasy at times, and I don’t care if the Raiders are moving to a West Coast offense.

Clearly a much tougher and stronger runner at this point in his career, McFadden is one of the best running backs in the league. With Michael Bush finally leaving the team, McFadden should see more goal line touches, but I will be interested to see if Marcel Reece gets some looks at fullback.

While he has first round talent, you will likely find McFadden in the second round and if your willing to take an injury risk player with big time upside, McFadden is worth consideration.

Summer of 2011: Fantasy Projections

Darren McFadden was essentially coming into a make or break season in 2010, as he was in his third year in the league and was yet to make a significant impact for the Raiders. While I had McFadden listed as a sleeper, I felt the odds were stacked better in Michael Bush’s favor because McFadden had trouble staying on the field and Bush had outperformed McFadden in 2009.

As it turned out Bush suffered a hand injury in the preseason, and McFadden was left alone as the feature back to begin the season and made the most of it. McFadden would go on to rush for over 1,100 yards, catch 47 passes for 507 receiving yards, and finish fourth in the league with 14 carries of over 20 yards on the season. His 5.2 yard per carry average and 10.8 yards per reception, were clearly signs that this talented running back from Arkansas had clearly arrived and was ready to be a star player for the Raiders.

Unfortunately, McFadden did miss three games because of a hamstring and was inconsistent with this touchdown output, but he’s proven to be a worthy starting running back for fantasy football leagues. Heading into the summer McFadden’s ADP value as listed on Mock Draft Central find him as the ninth overall running back selected (11.14 average selection) in standard redraft leagues and 8th overall (10.25 average) for PPR leagues.

As successful as McFadden was a year ago I find the numbers above to be a little high as he would be classified as a No.1 running back for fantasy owners to select. Because of his injury history and the loss of offensive lineman, McFadden may have trouble duplicating his success this season. Michael Bush is expected to be back with Oakland, and he was clearly a goal line vulture down the stretch.

While I believe McFadden is a great talent and is clearly the top runner in the Raiders’ offense, I would look to him as more of a third round running back, which would make him a No.2 option for your squad. Personally, I can tell you McFadden can be a frustrating player to own at times because of his up and down scoring plus injury concerns and that was getting him dirt cheep a year ago, let alone expecting him to produce as one of my top picks.

	Rushing Stats			Receiving Stats
	Attempts	Yards	TD	Rec	Yards	TD
2011 Projected Stats	231	1,166	6	54	493	2

September 2010: McFadden Breaking Out

Darren McFadden is having a breakout season and fantasy owners that aquired him have to be pleased. As long as McFadden is healthy he is a matchup proof, every week fantasy play going forward. Finally, the Raiders are sticking with one tail back and using him correctly.

2010 Fantasy Football Outlook

2009 Fantasy Year In Review: Darren McFadden took a step backwards in his second year from a disappointing rookie season. Each of McFadden’s years spent in the NFL have seen him only carry the football around 110 times a season. This is simply not enough work for any running back to be productive and find a grove on the field to have success.

With LG Robert Gallery gone for the 2009 season, McFadden’s yard per carry average dropped from 4.4 to 3.4, and it is obvious he needs Gallery playing.

Audio: RB Darren McFadden | 2010 NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings

2010 NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings: The Oakland Raiders as a team have had a very good offseason in picking up key players to improve this team overall. McFadden also received good news for his fantasy value when the team parted ways with Justin Fargas and now he only has to compete with Michael Bush.

That said, Bush is looking like the running back that will handle the early down duties, and physically he is better suited for that role. For McFadden, I would like to see him get closer to 200 carries this season and around 60 receptions in the passing game.

Since Reggie Bush came into the league we are seeing more running back slash wide receivers playing both positions. Using a player like McFadden in the slot isn’t out hard to believe has he has good skills in the passing game and would be an asset for Jason Campbell.

Unfortunately the Raiders aren’t the most creative offense in the world, and I doubt they will use McFadden in this fashion. While Coach Tom Cable is saying the Raiders will give Bush and McFadden an even amount of work, I still think McFadden could get left out if he fails to impress early.

McFadden is still worth selecting on draft day but if he’s not seeing around fifteen touches a week in the first month you should go ahead and explore other options on the waiver wire.

Assets

- Great Talent

- Good Hands

- Good Schedule To Run Against

Liabilities

- RBBC

- Not Enough Carries

- Touchdowns