Darren McFadden is the star running back coming out of Arkansas, well known for that ESPN interview with Houston Nutt when he proclaimed that they brought the wood after they had defeated the #1 ranked LSU in triple overtime. McFadden will be entering the NFL soon via the NFL Draft. The NFL Draft will be on April 26th but we might see some action on February 20th, the day of the NFL Combine.

This back will really be known for whatever lucky NFL team that drafts him in April. I think the NFL will have learned its lessons from all the teams that passed on the already star running back Adrian Peterson last year. Imagine a backfield in Washington with Adrian Peterson and Clinton Portis last year. We might have see the Redskins in the Super Bowl instead of the New York Giants. Tampa Bay and Arizona also whiffed on their pick getting much less productive players last year. Teams won't make the same mistake again. It is surmised by the majority of NFL draft experts that McFadden will be drafted in the #3 or #4 slot going either to the Oakland Raiders, the Atlanta Falcons, or whatever team might trade up to try and get him (I have heard rumors of the Dallas Cowboys but nothing solid yet). Depending what team he lands on he will be a nice draft pick if someone doesn't overpay for him in the draft. I picked up Peterson last year as a back up and good chance McFadden will fall that far in many drafts (keeper leagues a big plus).

Darren McFadden would be a great addition to any NFL offense as he has been runner up to the Heisman the last two years and this year would just be his Senior year if he was not going into the NFL. McFadden rushed for over 1800 yards last college football season and had over 4,500 yards in just three seasons under Houston Nutt (now at Ole Miss) at Arkansas. McFadden as you can see in the highlight reel below has some nice running instincts and a nice burst of speed that will help him out greatly in the NFL. As long as he has any kind of blocking, I expect at least 1,000 yards and a dcent number of touchdowns from this great, exciting runner.

We'll see what team drafts McFadden and hopes that he brings the wood with him.

Combine Update: With a 40 time (4.33) slightly surpassing Adrian Peterson's the year before, plus showing extremely well in the other facets of the combine, McFadden has definitely shown he is a great athlete capable of possibly even rivaling All Day Adrian Peterson when he gets into the NFL. I still predict McFadden going #3 or #4 to the Oakland Raiders but he could go even higher now after such a great showing at the combine.