Why Darren McFadden Will Lead the NFL in Rushing This Season

This may come across as a bold statement, depending on how you look at it. But at the end of the day, Darren McFadden is fully capable of leading the NFL in rushing yards for this upcoming 2012-2013 season, and I'll tell you why.

First off, many people have had their concerns about "Run DMC" this year because of the foot injury that he suffered last year which sidelined him for most of the season. However, before Darren's injury, the league saw something special. He rushed for 614 yards in the first six games of last season, including a game against the New York Jets at home when he rushed for a career-high 171 yards. A superstar was emerging, and the injury was just a delay to the stardom that was in line for McFadden. But now, throughout training camp, the internet was blowing up with columnists and beat writers reporting how vigorous and tenacious Darren looked as he ran through the Oakland plays and practiced hard with the team. He has ran the ball efficiently throughout the presesason and has stayed healthy heading into their last game before the regular season. As NFL superstar Drew Brees once said, "A setback is just a set-up for a comeback". Darren McFadden is showing all signs of battling back from this Lisfranc injury stronger than ever to show the league what he really has in him. Whether its Drew Brees, Victor Cruz, or Kobe Bryant, we've seen several professional athletes recover from major injuries and stun the world. You can add McFadden to that list.

Another key reason why McFadden will dominate the NFL rushing game this season, is his value to the team. Now, obviously every star player on their respective team is indispensably valuable, but in Darren's case it is different. Last year, McFadden shared carries with another quality running back in Michael Bush, who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards last year and hauled in seven touchdowns. With Bush off to Chicago on a four year, $14 million dollar deal, McFadden will predominantly own the number of carries amongst the Oakland running back core, especially with the Raiders' lack of depth at the position. The door is now wide open for Darren to step in, fully healthy, and take as many snaps as he needs to get the job done. He won't have to worry about splitting touches with the back-up Taiwan Jones, who is progressing but still learning a lot from McFadden. And there's not many running backs that you can learn from more than Darren McFadden.

A key reason to Darren's success this season will be the competetion. With Vikings running back Adrian Peterson still not recovered from a torn ACL and MCL injury, or Maurice Jones-Drew's holdout from the Jacksonville Jaguars, it helps to ease up the race to the league's top rusher. Superstar running backs such as LeSean McCoy, Chris Johnson, and Arian Foster are still there and are going to be hungry, so McFadden is going to have to prove himself.

All in all, leading the league in rushing for Darren McFadden will come down to his health and consistency. We saw glimpses of stardom last year, and hopefully McFadden is able to break through his shell and show the world that he can reach that extra plateau and rack up the most rushing yards this season.

Posted in: Darren McFadden,football,NFL,Raiders,rushing