McFadden rushes for 121… in the 1st half

By: T. Love

It might be a little too early for this, but what the hell. The Atlanta Falcons have plenty of problems to solve, but there is one player that could be a huge offensive boosts for Atlanta and could be a surge of excitement that the Georgia Dome is missing.

Hailing from North Little Rock, Arkansas, and currently destroying kids on the college level. Darren McFadden is the player, the man that the Atlanta Falcons need to pickup with their first pick in the 2008 draft.

Checking in at 6-2 and a “listed” 205 pounds (there is no way this dude weighs 205, at least 220), McFadden is a bulldozer between the tackles, has the agility to make defenders miss and possesses the speed to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. That is the definition of a playmaker. Oh, did I mention the guy can also catch AND throw the ball too. Bobby Petrino will not draw up any plays where McFadden would throw the ball, but it is a nice “LT” type card to have.

On Saturday, McFadden rushed for 173 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown in Arknsas’ 42-29 loss to Kentucky. For the season, Darren (I’m already getting on a first name basis) has rushed for 519 yards on 86 attempts. That is six yards per carry. This guy will be wearing red and black next season.

Warrick Dunn is at the end of the road. He was able to get the best years of his career with the zone-blocking system, but that is gone and so are his rushing numbers. Jerious Norwood, so far, looks like a complimentary player. He doesn’t appear to have the strength to carry the offensive workload.

From now until the end of the season, I’ll be keeping up with Darren and his run into a Falcons uniform.