The Oakland Raiders are ready to start training camp next week after a very active offseason and with general manager Reggie McKenzie making a number of moves, there are many questions still up in the air for the team, including whether Darren McFadden can stay healthy and what the impact of D.J. Hayden will be after his surgery.
McKenzie has high hopes for McFadden and the running backs as head coach Dennis Allen changes the running scheme on offense and along with McFadden, the team is planning to rely on Latavius Murray and Rashad Jennings to get things going. Last season the Raiders ranked 28th in rushing yards per game while McFadden dealt with injuries and another reason the offense was so unbalanced was because the team was playing from behind so much and needed to throw the ball with Carson Palmer more.
The running game will be even more essential this year for a number of reasons, including the fact that Palmer was traded to the Cardinals. Matt Flynn is untested as a starter and while he may put up some fine numbers for the Raiders, there is a good chance the team will try to run more to take the pressure off of him in his first stint starting since coming over from the Seattle Seahawks. The team presumably signed him as a starter, but after the way Russell Wilson performed in camp, there was no way Pete Carroll was going to go with Flynn and clearly that worked out last year, as the team made it to the playoffs and won a game.
This season McKenzie is hoping that Flynn will show the skills that saw him throw for six touchdowns in a start with the Packers and having a healthy and strong running game with Darren McFadden, Latavius Murray and Rashad Jennings will only help that. Murray comes into the summer after dealing with an injury and depending on how he performs in camp, he could end up second string over Jennings, but that isn't likely yet. Murray is a quick runner and has amazing speed that he showed off at the combine and new running scheme should only play into that speed.
McFadden is entering a contract year and that could mean some big numbers from him if he can stay healthy. He has never played in more than 13 games in any season and his lone 1,000 year was in 2010 and the team is hoping for another performance like that after he was injured again last year. The team went just 4-12 and made a number of solid veteran signings, including Charles Woodson, Mike Jenkins, Tracy Porter, Nick Roach and Kevin Burnett and after adding Menelik Watson in the draft, the offensive line should be better as well.
Hayden and Tyler Wilson are still unsigned and while that usually happens with players of that caliber, it might be an issue once training camp starts since both players are expected to learn this summer as they prepare for the season. McFadden and the running back will play a huge part in the success of the team this season and 4-12 should improve if McFadden is healthy.
