The Oakland Raiders are putting a lot of faith in Darren McFadden having a strong season in 2012. They allowed star back up running back Michael Bush walk during free agency, and only have second year burner Taiwan Jones, and former panthers back up Mike Goodson available to replace McFadden should he get injured again.
Luckily for the Raiders, it appears as though McFadden has returned to full health after suffering a lisfranc sprain that kept him out for half of the year in 2011. Raiders runningback coach Kelly Skipper spoke to the press about McFadden over the weekend and gave the most comprehensive report on the Raiders play making running back we have seen this off season.
Per Skipper, McFadden is making cuts at full speed and looks ready to play at a high level. Skipper even went so far as to say that if you did not already know McFadden is coming off of an injury, you would not be able to tell by looking at him in practice right now.
This is big news for the Raiders. They will need McFadden to play well early in the season as the passing game gets used to the west coast system that is being installed by new offensive coordinator Gregg Knapp. Having McFadden healthy will allow the Raiders to lean on their running game while the passing game works out the kinks. Now, the only question that remains for McFadden is how long he will be healthy before getting injured again.