With Michael Bush moving on in free agency, the Raiders are counting on McFadden this season. Head coach Dennis Allen told our "NFL AM" crew that McFadden, who turns 25 next week, is healthy and the team has no intention of babying him this season.
"He's 100 percent," Allen said of McFadden. "He's been extremely explosive throughout camp and in the preseason. He's very vital to our offense and giving our offense a chance to be explosive and keeping defenses honest. So we're going to have to be able to keep him healthy and use him throughout the year.
"I think the thing that you look at is as a running back, I mean, it's a tough position. They take some shots and that's part of football. We can't baby him. We can't protect him. We got to go out there and play football and give him an opportunity to carry the ball, and we hope that he's able to stay healthy."
If McFadden plays a full season, he'll finish as a top 5 RB. His problem has always been staying healthy. It's tougher to draft McFadden now that his insurance, Michael Bush, has left town, but he certainly worth consideration in the back half of the 1st round.
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