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Thoughts from the Dark Side
2008 Oakland Raiders Camp Battles: Running Backs-Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden, Michael Bush to become Ghidorah
Ghidorah is a three headed monster who wrecked havoc all over Tokyo in the 1964 flick Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster. In the vein of Voltron, Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden, and Michael Bush look to come together and form Ghidorah and wreck havoc throughout NFL defenses. These three determined rushers are not the only running backs in camp chomping at the bit to be on the Oakland Raiders’ opening day roster. These three heads will also be competing against one another for who will be the primary threat. In this edition of the Camp Battles series, I’ll be looking at how training camp should shake out at the running back position.
Projected Starters: Justin Fargas/Darren McFadden
It seems to be a cop out to name Fargas and McFadden as essentially co-starters when there is only one halfback on the field at one time, but the “starter” designation in this position only means that particular back will be in on the first play of the game. Fargas and McFadden will share the bulk of the carries, with Fargas being a more traditional halfback, whilst McFadden will be used in a variety of ways.
Fargas averaged 4.5 yards per carry last season, and went over the 1000 mark despite only having significant playing time in nine games. “Crash Test Dummy” will likely be the workhorse back who takes the bulk of the carries. McFadden is the rookie that has everyone buzzing with his skill and versatility. He will likely have a higher ypc, than Fargas on fewer carries, and will be a receiving threat out of the backfield the Raiders haven’t seen since Charlie Garner.
Projected Depth: Michael Bush and Adimchinobi Echemandu
Michael Bush seems primed to become the new Zack Crockett, as Kiffin is giving him the bulk of the work in short yardage situations thus far in practice. Echemandu was a victim of the numbers game last season when the now departed Dominic Rhodes returned from his suspension. Barring any surprises, Echemandu will likely be the fourth back and a special teams player.
Outside Looking In: Louis Rankin and Tony Jackson
Tony Jackson has been on and off the Raiders practice squad since 2006. Considering the 06 squad saw both LaMont Jordan and Justin Fargas go down to injury and Jackson didn’t get a look, don’t expect to see much from him. Louis Rankin is an UDFA out of University of Washington. He could become a fan favorite in preseason if he shows anything, considering he is a local Northern Californian, from Stockton.
Why oh why is he still on the team? LaMont Jordan
For reasons known only to Al Davis and maybe Lane Kiffin, LaMont Jordan still has a roster spot on the Oakland Raiders. He will not be on the team come opening night.
What to Look for:
Training camp and preseason will be the Raider Nation’s first chance to see Darren McFadden in action. This will be the first glimpse into whether he lives up to the predraft hype. There will be some jockeying for position between Fargas and McFadden to see who becomes the nominal starter. Michael Bush will also be showing what he can do, as he steps onto a football field for the first time in nearly two years. Look for him to not only try to make a case to be the short yardage back, but to unseat Fargas as the primary back who was not this years top pick. Further down the depth chart, Echemandu will have to hold off Jackson and Rankin.
WildCard:
Michael Bush’s leg is the biggest wild card in this race. How will it hold up after the horrific break? Will he have the speed and the ability to cut that he had before the injury?
Outlook:
The key to the running back position will be the combination of Justin McBush. The Raiders will look to McFadden to be the playmaker and Fargas to wear defenses down with his “Crash Test Dummy” style of running. Bush will be there for short yardage or to give breathers to the other two. Echemandu or whomever wins the fourth slot will be available in case of injury and special teams players. The real drama will be to see how Bush has recovered, and whether or not Echemandu can hold on to the fourth running back position.
Rather than a usual tag line, I would like to take a moment to express my best wishes to Javon Walker for a speedy recovery for life’s sake even more so than football. When a tragedy hits, its time to put football aside for a moment and think of him as a person. Best wishes, Javon, and have a speedy recovery.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 12:26 am and is filed under Adimchinobi Echemandu, Tony Jackson, Louis Rankin, Camp Battles, 2008, Javon Walker, Justin Fargas, Michael Bush, Darren McFadden.
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15 Responses to “2008 Oakland Raiders Camp Battles: Running Backs-Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden, Michael Bush to become Ghidorah”
June 17th, 2008 at 3:18 am
Unleash Cerberus!!
OakFoSho
June 17th, 2008 at 3:24 am
I knew that was coming.
June 17th, 2008 at 5:53 am
We’ll be able to run the ball well from goal line to goal line!
June 17th, 2008 at 6:30 am
Is the Javon Walker injury to his orbital bone something that will keep him out of any preseason preparation?
It all sounds very unusual that a player of this nature would be by himself in Vegas in the middle of the night? Are there any local reports from Vegas that have linked him to any other people we was with that night that could be involved in this attack?
June 17th, 2008 at 6:44 am
McFadden will be sick in the ZBS. I don’t iknow if we will keep four HB’s on the active roster.
June 17th, 2008 at 7:05 am
i think this is going to be the best backfield on one team the league has seen in a long time and i recall seeing Echemandu play in pre season games for us and he had exciting speed and never went down by one tackler , i think he’ll do even better in a zone blocking scheme now , i have a feeling he’ll be a surprise sleeper and change of pace back
June 17th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Ghidorah is a much better analogy for what we’re looking for on Offense!
June 17th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Great article Patrick! Too bad the Javon Walker story is overshadowing the nice work.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Remember when Roidmanoski beat up that TE in practice, he broke his Orbital bone and was out of football, but I have a fractured orbital bone bone not and had it since 95 but it hasnt hindered me from doing anything. and my vision is fine. But its time to Restructure Javon’s contract with some new clauses in them.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
man oh man walker? why would you be walking around by yourself with a pocket full of money and jewlery on come on man your not focused that williams incident should have slowed you down a bit come on! hope you get better but at the same time think about the mistake you made slow down man
June 17th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Crew: Please don’t place too much emphasis on the blocking scheme. It is not magic. Teams have always used versions of this zone scheme with mixed success. It comes down to talent-not scheme.It does not matter who plays the skill positions if the line is substandard. The Raiders have the skill players to win. But do they have the talent on the o-line? I’m concerned. Some people believe that Cooper Carlisle is the best o-lineman on the team. If that’s true we have a big problem. Denver didn’t think he was a consistent starter and eventually not even worth signing.The Buc have been trying to replace John Wade for the last three years because he does not fit the protype, much the same way that the Raiders tried to replace Barry Sims.Is this our starting center? Why not take a chance with Lecharles Bentley? Is there enough talent on hand? I appreciate any comments.
June 17th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Lecharles Bentley would be worth a shot for sure…
It seems to me that we need to bring in some additional talent to beef up our offensive line; In my opinion, we need to develop competition for all offensive line spots outside of left guard, where Robert Gallery has finally come into his own.
Any other thoughts?
June 17th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Last season Fargas, Rhodes, and Jordan combined to have the sixth most rushing yards in the NFL. McFadden is an upgrade, and Bush should be an upgrade.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Frank Wiley… I totally disagree with you about the system not being that important… Well the Broncos haven’t had the greatest talent on the O-line but have always managed to come up with a 1,000yd rusher and if my mind serves me right the 49′whiners had Tom Cable i think in 2005 and he obviously ran the zone-blocking sheme and thats when Frank Gore had a carreer year and last year he couldn’t run anywhere… and now im going way back when Tom Cable was with the Falcons he had Warrick Dunn running for a 1,000yds year in and year out… And TJ Duckett was running for 600-900yds a season for about 11 to 15 TD’s a season… My point is none of these teams had the greatest talents in the O-line or RB positions, but we have great RB’s perfect for a ZBS…
But i do agree with us getting Bentley obviously for the right price to build some competiton along the O-line but how much can we expect from a guy who hasnt played in about 2 years and who has knee problems for a position that has contact every play… But if we do attempt to sign him we’ll be competing with a couple of teams in the league…
And BlkShean totally agree it is the right time to restructure Walker’s contract…
GO RAIDERS!!!
Well i do agree that Bentley would be a nice signing
June 22nd, 2008 at 7:02 pm
If you wanted to refer to Javon Walker not as “crash test dummy” but just as “dummy” then it would only be appropriate.
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