Darren McFadden News
Jones, McFadden: Pick your poison
If Heisman Trophy front-runner Darren McFadden were to get injured this season, it would be a blow to the Arkansas Razorbacks ' offense. But not a fatal blow.
The scary thing about Arkansas is that Darren McFadden's backup at tailback, fellow junior Felix Jones, is almost as good. In 2006, the 6-foot, 207-pounder out of Tulsa rushed for 1,168 yards on 7.1 per carry.
Against LSU, which came in with one of the top defenses in the country, Jones reeled off runs of 12, 16, 18 and 40 yards and finished with 168 yards and a touchdown. Together, he and Darren McFadden became only the third running back duo in SEC history to top 2,000 yards in a season.
Naturally, the Razorbacks' offensive coaches are trying everything they can to get Jones and Darren McFadden on the field at the same time -- including occasionally installing Darren McFadden at quarterback in what used to be called the "Wildcat" formation (under one-year-and-out offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn) and now the Wild Hog.
Jones, however, is also one of the most lethal kick returners in college football -- a first-team All-America specialist chosen by College Football News as a 2005 freshman. For his career, he has averaged 27.4 yards per kickoff, making him a human field position machine.
"I like the rush," he recently told Wally Hall of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. "You got guys coming at you full speed, and you have to read everything that is happening in a split second. To me, that's just fun."
LSU, Nebraska, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Kansas are among the schools that recruited Jones (who was actually listed higher than Darren McFadden on a lot of recruiting charts). Oklahoma, of course, had Adrian Peterson at the time.
At most of those schools, Jones would now be the featured back. But at the same time, he would also be getting all the attention from opposing defenses.
The way it is now, if you flex your defense toward the inside to stop Darren McFadden, you become vulnerable to Jones around the edges. And vice-versa.
The two not only complement each other, they compliment each other. If the Arkansas coaches are smart, they will decree that Jones and Darren McFadden never ride together in an automobile, just in case.
Now, if only Arkansas had a blue-chip quarterback. But that's just too scary.
[More at www.realfootball365.com ]
|
