Darren McFadden

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Full Name: College: University of Arkansas Height/Weight: 6'2"/215 lb. Birthdate: August 27, 1987 Birthplace: North Little Rock, Arkansas Current Team: Oakland Raiders

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[edit] Biography

Darren McFadden was born on August 27, 1987 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. He was the 2006 All-American starting tailback for the University of Arkansas and the 2006 and 2007 Doak Walker Award winner as the nation's top running back. He is now a member of the Oakland Raiders, who drafted him in the first round (4th overall), and was also the first running back to be drafted in the 2008 NFL Draft.

In 2005, his true freshman season, McFadden rushed for 1,113 yards and 11 touchdowns on 176 attempts, earning Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year honors. Although being a backup for the first two games of the season, and even gathering interest from defensive coordinator Reggie Herring to become a safety, a position he also played in high school, McFadden stuck with his position at running back.

McFadden slowly transformed into the breakout star he would soon become, rushing for long touchdowns in several games. He ended the season with the most yards a freshman running back had ever gained in an Arkansas uniform, and joined Herschel Walker as the only two SEC players to rush over 1,000 yards as a freshman.

As a sophomore, despite a slow start due to a dislocated toe from an off the field incident at night club in Little Rock, Darren McFadden rushed for a school-record 1,558 yards, scored 15 touchdowns, and threw for 3 more touchdowns on just 7 passing attempts, becoming a first-team All-American. Thanks to his efforts, Arkansas streaked to 10 straight wins, the SEC Western Division Championship, but lost to University of Wisconsin in the 2007 Capital One Bowl.

On December 6, 2006, Darren McFadden was named 1 of 3 finalists for the Heisman Trophy, along with Troy Smith (Ohio State University) and Brady Quinn (University of Notre Dame). The next day, McFadden became the first sophomore to win the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation's top running back. In the final 2006 Heisman vote, McFadden placed second behind Smith and several points in front of Quinn.

By any measure, McFadden's 2007 season was a success: McFadden was selected as the Sporting News magazine National Player of the Year, was a consensus 1st Team All-American for the second straight season, won the Doak Walker Award (given to the nation's best running back) for the second year in a row, was selected as the SEC Offensive Player of the Year by SEC coaches, and he was also awarded the Walter Camp Award (given to the nation's best overall player).

On November 3, 2007, McFadden tied the Southeastern Conference single-game rushing record (also held by Frank Mordica, Vanderbilt, 1978 vs. Air Force) with 321 yards rushing against the University of South Carolina.

On November 23, 2007, McFadden led Arkansas to a 50-48 triple overtime victory over the #1 ranked LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. McFadden rushed 32 times for 206 yards and 3 TD's, and completed 3 of 6 pass attempts for 34 yards and a passing TD.

McFadden is third all-time in career rushing yards in the SEC with 4,485 yards, behind only Kevin Faulk of LSU (4,557), and Herschel Walker of Georgia (5,259) and is also currently tied for seventh place in the SEC with Charles Alexander of LSU for career TD's with 40. McFadden has 1,725 yards rushing on 304 carries and 15 TD's, plus he has thrown for 4 TD's, and has 1 TD reception. He leads the SEC and is third in the nation in rushing yards. He was selected to the 1st Team SEC squad for the third year in a row, and was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year by the league coaches.

On December 6, 2007, McFadden was announced as the winner of the Walter Camp Award and as the winner of the Doak Walker Award. He became only the second person (along with Ricky Williams) in history to win the Doak Walker Award twice. McFadden finished as the runner-up for the 2007 Heisman Trophy for the second year in a row. This makes him the first person since 1949 to finish second in Heisman voting in consecutive years.

Many consider McFadden to be the single greatest football player to ever strap on a Razorback helmet. He is the most decorated player in school history, and holds many of the university rushing records, and is in a number of the SEC's all-time top 10 rushing spots. After Arkansas plays the University of Missouri (and fellow 2007 Heisman finalist QB Chase Daniel) in the January 1, 2008 Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, many expect McFadden to forego his senior season and declare for the 2008 NFL Draft. Early projections have him being taken in the first five picks.

[edit] The "Wildcat" Formation

McFadden's other strange claim to fame is Arkansas' "Wildcat" formation, an offensive formation whereby McFadden -- who played some quarterback in high school -- lined up behind center.

In this formation Felix Jones becomes the primary running back, giving McFadden the option to throw, run, or handoff/lateral to Jones. This exceptional versitile formation has lead to a handful of passing touchdowns credited to McFadden.

[edit] Collegiate Awards and Honors

• Won the Doak Walker Award in 2006 and 2007, becoming the second player (Ricky Williams being the first, in 1998 and 1999) to win the award twice.
• Finishing second in Heisman Trophy balloting in 2006 and 2007; the first player to earn back-to-back runner up honors since 1949.
• Won the 2007 Walter Camp Award
• 2006 consensus first-team All-American.

[edit] Scouting Report

McFadden is a running back in the Ronnie Brown mold. He runs a 4.3-4.4 forty yard dash and is able to shift on the fly, with solid stiff-arms. He is reliable between the tackles and can turn on the speed outside the box. He will keep fighting for yards after being hit. He is also a good pass catcher out of the backfield.

Like Brown, McFadden split carries in college with another top prospect; Felix Jones is the Carnell Williams to McFadden's Ronnie Brown. Some may question his ablity to handle a full-time, 25-plus carry load in the NFL.

Accolades for McFadden are wide-reaching. ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit called him "THE most outstanding player in the country" while Herbstreit's colleague Craig James echoed that sentiment, calling McFadden "unbelievable" and "college football’s most outstanding player." Former NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein, now a CBS analyst, called McFadden "the most dangerous player in college football.

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[edit] College Rushing

at the University of Arkansas:

[edit] College Receiving

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[edit] Trivia

• McFadden was one of only two running backs in the history of the Southeastern Conference to rush for 1,000 yards in his freshman and sophomore seasons. Georgia's Herschel Walker was the other.
• McFadden's career rushing average of 111.3 yards ranked fourth in SEC history behind only Georgia's Herschel Walker, Florida's Emmitt Smith and Auburn's Bo Jackson.
• McFadden's 1,558 yards rushing this season in ninth on the SEC single season rushing record list.
• McFadden was one of only seven true freshmen in SEC history to rush for 1,000 yards. The others were Herschel Walker (Georgia), Emmitt Smith (Florida), Reggie Cobb (Tennessee), Chuck Webb (Tennessee), Jamal Lewis (Tennessee) and Justin Vincent (LSU).
• In 2007, McFadden had more rushing yards (1,558) than 54 of the 119 Division I-A teams (45.3%) including Alabama, Notre Dame, Boston College, Tennessee, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Miami (Fla.) and Syracuse.
• "501", McFadden's hometown telephone area code, is tattooed on his arm.

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[edit] See Also

• Official Site, owned by University of Arkansas.
• Wikipedia entry, a source for this article.

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