Fantasy owners are cut-throat, throwing talent under the bus at the drop of a hat. Some never seem to remember anything past a couple weeks of production. If you asked any fantasy owner (who wasn’t a Raiders fan) what they thought of Darren McFadden, their reaction would be lukewarm at best. Yet, if Darren McFadden hadn’t suffered a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot week 7 of last year, he would have had a chance to crack 2,000 all-purpose yards. McFadden was also on pace to punch in 14 touchdowns for the silver and black.

Kelly Skipper, the Raiders running back coach, had some reassuring things to say about this fallen fantasy stud.

“The thing about Darren is, he didn’t have any major surgeries, so he’s able to come back here healthy and he’s playing at a high level right now and it’s offseason,” Skipper said. “So, that’s a good thing. He didn’t have surgery so he’s going to be off the whole spring. Nah, that’s not the case. He’s out here. You would never know he got hurt. He’s making cuts at full speed, everything.”

Darren McFadden Stats

Career Rush Season G Rush Yds Avg TD Rec Yds Avg TD Fum FumL 2008-09 13 113 499 4.4 4 29 285 9.8 0 3 1 2009-10 12 104 357 3.4 1 21 245 11.7 0 5 3 2010-11 13 223 1157 5.2 7 47 507 10.8 3 4 3 2011-12 7 113 614 5.4 4 19 154 8.1 1 1 1 Career 45 553 2627 4.8 16 116 1191 10.3 4 13 8

Fantasy Factor: McFadden’s history of injuries has fantasy owners skeptical of his value. In four seasons, the Raiders have yet to get a full 16 games out of McFadden, making his 2012 fantasy value very high risk/high reward. At the moment, there is no threat to lose carries to the running backs behind him on the Raiders depth chart, making McFadden’s role in the offense a non-question.