The Oakland Raiders were an extremely unbalanced offensive team last season after dealing with injuries at the running back position and now that the team has a new quarterback in Matt Flynn, rushing the ball consistently will be one of the biggest keys to success for the offense and head coach Dennis Allen will be relying hard on Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings.
McFadden might end up being the most important players for the Raiders this season due to his role in the offense and now that he is entering a contract year, the running back will be even more inclined to try and stay on the field after dealing with injuries over the past two years. McFadden is one of the most explosive players in the league when healthy, but that has been the biggest issue for the running back during his career, including last season when he appeared in just 12 games and rushed for 707 yards and two touchdowns, his lowest amount in three seasons. McFadden has rushed for over 1,000 yards just once in his career and Allen is hoping that a move to a power blocking scheme will open things up for the running game.
McFadden is entering a contract year and the Raiders may be waiting to see if he can remain healthy before deciding to sign him to an extension or to re-sign him in free agency. Over the past two seasons McFadden has missed 13 games and he has yet to play more than 13 in any season, doing it two out of his first three years. McFadden will have some support in the running game from Rashad Jennings, who is set to replace Mike Goodson as the next running back in line.
Jennings was solid for the Jaguars last season in spots despite averaging under three yards per carry and he is expected to be much more active in the offense for the Raiders than he was for Jacksonville. Jennings and rookie Latavius Murray are battling for position behind McFadden and the offensive line will play a big part with rookie Menelik Watson as well as veteran Khalif Barnes. McFadden has high expectations for himself heading into the 2013 season and he is finally back in an offensive running scheme that suits him after Greg Olson implemented the power scheme and he feels the team is ready to improve from its 4-12 record.
"Last year is last year," McFadden said. "We put that behind us. We have a lot of new faces here, a new offensive scheme, and there are a lot of new things going on. We're not going to concern ourselves with what went on last year. We'll look forward to this year."
