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Darren McFadden isn’t sure if Arrowhead Stadium was the highlight of his rookie career or the beginning of his decline.

“It was my breakout game, but at the same time, it was my downfall,” McFadden said Friday. “It kind of started everything on a downhill slope.”

Downhill is what the Raiders had in mind when they selected McFadden No. 4 overall in the 2007 NFL draft, but not in the way it turned out.

The beginning of the end was with 10:09 left in the third quarter in the Week 2 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. McFadden took a handoff from JaMarcus Russell out of a shotgun formation, got a key block from Zach Miller and broke free toward the left sideline. For anyone who had watched McFadden in training camp, it looked like a 75-yard touchdown run.

Then something surprising happened. Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard chased McFadden down from behind, reaching out and bringing him down by his shoes at the 25-yard line. A few plays later, McFadden took a toss to the right, ran behind a Cornell Green block and went 19 yards for a touchdown.

It was a 95-yard drive for the Raiders, with McFadden gaining 89 of them on five carries. He’d also opened up the drive with a 21-yard run, getting the Raiders out of a hole at their own 5.

And he was never the same again.

McFadden had injured his right toe on the Pollard tackle, attempted to fight through it when he probably should have rested, and wound up injuring his other toe as well as his shoulder.

He finished the Chiefs game with 164 yards on 21 carries _ giving way to Michael Bush in the fourth quarter. The Kansas City game ended up accounting for 32.9 percent of the 499 yards he would gain all season.

The highest selection at his position in the draft, McFadden trailed Houston’s Steve Slaton (1,282 yards), Chicago’s Matt Forte (1,238), Tennessee’s Chris Johnson (1,228), Detroit’s Kevin Smith (976) and Carolina’s Jonathan Stewart (836) among rookie runners.

So 2009 amounts to a do-over for McFadden, who let his toes heal, had minor shoulder surgery, had a training camp nearly as impressive as the one he had as a rookie, and was named by coach Tom Cable as the starting running back, with Bush and Justin Fargas serving as co-backups.

The NFL’s preseason kickoff press release includes a section on every rookie head coach, answering a series of questions. Asked to name the best pure athlete he’s ever coached, Cable answered, “Darren McFadden.”

In the first half of the season-opening loss to San Diego, we saw the McFadden for whom all things are possible. He lined up as a fullback on the first play of the game, went into motion to his right, and the resulting attention contributed to a 17-yard run up the middle to Bush.

By halftime McFadden had snaked and bulled his way to 62 yards on 11 carries, on one play moving the pile three extra yards, and the Raiders had still only thrown him the ball one time (it was incomplete).

And then . . .

By game’s end, McFadden had 68 yards on 17 carries. He caught two passes for 25 yards and dropped another while open on the sideline. On one run it looked as if a Chargers defender had gotten no more than a finger on one of his cleats and it spent McFadden sprawling to the ground after a minimal gain.

“In the second half, it’s like we got away from things a little bit, and (San Diego) went into halftime and made the adjustments they had to make,” McFadden said. “They came back and did a pretty good job against the run game.”

So we’re still left waiting and wondering. McFadden came out a year early and still was the second-leading rusher in SEC history, trailing only Herschel Walker. His receiving skills were so good one Raiders scout told me at training camp last year McFadden had the best hands on the team and could be a terrific wide receiver.

He’s only 17 games into his career, but it’s not unusual for thoroughbred running backs to produce right away. Through injuries and circumstance, McFadden still has yet to put together a truly complete game, with last year’s performance in Kansas City coming the closest.

He still hasn’t broken through the line and pulled away for that long touchdown run or caught a dumpoff or screen pass and turned a routine play into a touchdown.

During a conference call this week, Chiefs wide receiver, talking about his former college teammate and friend JaMarcus Russell, said, “his time is running out” as an NFL quarterback. In reality, the Raiders will be more patient than fans will be with Russell, because he’s a quarterback and in only his second season as a starter.

During his first training camp, I wrote McFadden was the best Raiders rookie since Charles Woodson and was pretty certain they had something special, a versatile runner-receiver who could do great things for a sagging offense.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it, but McFadden needs to string together a series of games worthy of his skill.

It’s time.

By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
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