What Kiffin said on Saturday afternoon: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>"I knew months ago that this was the guy that we had to have and we had to figure out a way to get him," Kiffin said. "Hopefully, he was going to fall to us. ... Fortunately, he was still available and in the end we got everybody on the same page. We're all really excited."</div> What Kiffin told us on Thursday: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>What they don't need is another playmaking running back, Kiffin said over and over. It could be a smoke screen, but he sure handed critics a good argument against McFadden if the Raiders take him. "As I've said it before, we're so stockpiled at that position," said Kiffin, who pointed out the team's zone-block run game does not need a superstar athlete to succeed. "Obviously, we've done a lot of research on him, but there's so many different directions for us to go before we get to running." That doesn't mean other teams couldn't use McFadden, and Kiffin was more than willing to dangle him in the trade winds. He all but mentioned the No. 6 Jets as a potential suitor. Arkansas alum Jerry Jones could also come calling with the Cowboys' picks at Nos. 22 and 28. "That fits right into the trading back scenario," Kiffin said. "There are going to be guys that people are valuing, McFadden especially, because he's so unique and so dynamic." Kiffin would much rather draft a defensive lineman, or so he insisted. LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, Virginia defensive end Chris Long and Ohio State end Vernon Gholston are all on the team's wish list.</div>
With some hindsight, I have the feeling the Al wanted D-Mac from the get go and obfuscated just enough so the media bit on maybe taking Dorsey or C Long if available. Hypothetically speaking; what would have happened if the ewes took McFadden given Jackson's health issues?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (blackadder @ Apr 27 2008, 11:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Hypothetically speaking; what would have happened if the ewes took McFadden given Jackson's health issues?</div> They would have been more serious about trading down at that point. Chris Long to the Chiefs might have been the outcome
Jeremy Green from ESPN believes McFadden will likely be offensive rookie of the year in 2008....Is that so far-fetched considering our rush ranking last season? We did it with 3 different RB's! If DMC stays healthy all year, imagine how many yards he will end up with.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Lane Kiffin with the local media following the selection of Darren McFadden with the fourth pick of the draft (but before the first round was over): Q: Was this just a matter of McFadden being too good to pass up? Kiffin: That was definitely the case. I remember mentioning that running back wasn't a need for us, and it wasn't. We're kind of piled there with a number of really good running backs and guys coming back, including Michael Bush, who we really don't know enough about yet. It was not a need but it became a situation … speaking for myself, I knew months ago that this was the guy that we had to have and we had to figure out a way to get him. Hopefully, he was going to fall to us. We lost the coin toss and moved to four and that scared me a little bit there. Fortunately, he was still available and in the end we got everybody on the same page. We're all really excited. Q: Any chance of trading McFadden for additional picks? Kiffin: No, there's no chance of that. There was too much work that went into this. We're so fortunate for him to fall to us the way he did. There was even at one point, there was even a conversation where we were even thinking of going up to get him. At one point, where we thought somebody else was going to go up and get him, we were going to try to beat them. Fortunately, the information we ended up with was accurate that he would be there and it worked out perfect. Q: Can he be used like Reggie Bush? Kiffin: Yeah, he does have a lot of similarities to Reggie because he is a dynamic pass-catcher as well. Obviously, the speed and acceleration. You can use him outside. When you talk about guys who can catch the ball, he's one of those guys that can do it out of the backfield but he can also do it outside. There's a lot of options to explore. But at the same time, learning from when we first got Reggie, and even as you watched New Orleans when Reggie first got there, you don't want to do too much right away with him because you want him to master some things first before you try to put too much on him. So, we'll monitor that as well before we throw everything at him. Q: Was there heavy trade talk from teams trying to beat you to McFadden? Kiffin: Not necessarily. I think more teams, my guess is, were after Dorsey right there because there's more teams that had a need for a defensive tackle and a player like Dorsey so there was at least one deal that we had in place if Darren wasn't there, we were going to go back. But once he was there, no one jumped us to get him or someone else to take him so then it became easy. We were prepared to go back if he was not there if he would have got taken right before us. Q: Tough to pass on Dorsey? Kiffin: It wasn't only because the position. As you look at Glenn, he's going to be a great three-technique in this league. To take a guy fourth overall and put him at nose with Tommy Kelly already there at three-technique just doesn't make very much sense to do. To pay a guy what you're going to pay a guy in the fourth slot and move him to nose, which isn't even his natural position, it's just too hard of a switch to do. Glenn's a great player. I actually was hoping he wasn't going right after us so we've got to play him twice a year. I was hoping he'd go somewhere else. It just didn't make sense. Q: Could you still add picks? Kiffin: There's a possibility of that. That's going to be more watching the draft and how it goes. There's a couple players where we've said at a certain point if they're there at this pick then we're going to have to look at giving away something next year to go get them. It will be more about how the board goes than just trading up to get another pick. We're not just going to get another pick to get one today. It has to be one of these few guys that we have targeted who we think can really help our team. Q: Do you envision him in two-back system sharing the role like Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister in New Orleans? Kiffin: There's too many variables to know that right now. We'll look at a number of things. The same things that we did with Reggie and what they ended up doing in New Orleans. One of those things will be playing him with Justin or the other back at the same time in the same backfield, as well as possibly playing him outside as a receiver at times too. The last thing we want to do and I feel fortunate having learned this with Reggie his first year there and even as you talk to New Orleans with what Sean (Payton) went through with Reggie you get so excited about these guys and you start doing all these things with them and they don't get really good at anything. The last thing we want to do is do too much where he's not becoming a great running back back there in the tailback position. What else can we look at? But we want to make sure we use him there first and we don't put him in a situation where he's not developing there. Q: Did you look into his character issues? Kiffin: Here's the first thing on Darren. I can't find a person who will tell me that when walks in the building until the time that he leaves they've ever had any type of issue, whether that's been weight room issue or the way that he practices or his relationships with coaches. This is a guy who really loves football and is passionate about football and is passionate in the way he prepares for it. The way that he works out for it and the way he goes about it on game day as well. That was the first thing to look at. Then you look at the off-field issues and there are some things there. They've been based on other people's actions that have brought him into them. What was very important to me the first time I sat down with him, I wanted to know was he going to make excuses for them or was he going to be accountable for them. And he says, 'Those are situations that I should have made a better decision. I've learned from them now and I am going to make better decisions now.' As opposed to, 'This is why I did it because I had to protect my brother or whatever the situation is. He realizes that and we had another conversation this morning about that myself and Darren again just to make sure. 'Darren, if you're there when we go, I need this, this and this. And you need to understand this is how you need to be.' He's right on the same page and he understands it as well. Q: How good can the Raiders be on offense? Kiffin: As I talked about the other day, that's going to be our job to put these personalities and different type of players together. This isn't just where we've added one guy at a certain spot. We're going to have possibly a number of new starters on our team, especially on offense. We have to get these guys together and get them gelling together and working together. That's why this offseason is going to be so important and it's so important for our guys to be in here right now, our newer guys working with the coaches as well as our guys coming into their second season as well. Have we increased expectations? Yes, if that's what you really wanted to know. We've increased our expectations on offense with our group a lot and we've added a lot of speed with Javon and Darren. Q: How will this affect JaMarcus? Kiffin: I think it's going to help JaMarcus a lot. It gives him another tool to work with. As you go back and you research quarterbacks that have done really well over a long period of time it's because they have the right things around him. It's the same thing after the San Diego game we talked about in the press conference afterwards. We need to surround him with better talent. We think we've done it this offseason. That's how young quarterbacks do really well. There's not a better way than having a great running game and adding to that with a guy who can also catch the ball as well. Q: What do you do to get McFadden ready to handle the sudden riches, fame? Kiffin: Yeah, the league does a great job of that before you even get to what we do, specifically, with the rookies. They take them for a whole week and really educate them on all the issues they're going to have in the first year. Then, we also have a number of meetings — Willie Brown heads up a program for our rookies here — and we really have to monitor these guys because you think that they're old enough to handle all the stuff. But that's not it. And it's our job as coaches as well to always be communicating with these guys. What really excites me about Darren is he's got Tom Rathman as his coach. So, here's Tom Rathman, a guy who has been in the league, a guy who has been with great players. He has seen players that have got to the top and then went right back down to the bottom, or guys that even never got to the top because of how they acted and how their rookie year, how they went about things. That went into this, as well, knowing that Tom has done a great job with our running backs in our first year and what a good job he'll do with Darren, as well. Q: The reaction of RB coach Tom Rathman? Kiffin: It's interesting because there were scenarios that we had to go over, with Darren not being there, and trading down. It just shows you the type of guy Tom is. You can have those position coaches, 'Well, we got to do whatever it takes. Let's trade up.' He wasn't that way at all. Tom the whole time was, 'We got to do what's best for the team. We'll get a great player regardless.' That just shows you who he is. Q: How is McFadden different from Fargas and Rhodes? Kiffin: Yeah, Darren's faster than either of them. Justin at one time was comparable speed-wise but Justin through the injuries over the course of time isn't the same speed that Darren is now, and neither is Dominic. So, you have a different speed factor there and you also have a guy that's going to catch the ball outside of the backfield better than either of them do. Like I said before, it's really good to have guys that are different instead of just having a couple of guys that are very similar. We're real excited to go to work with this and figure it out and how much can we do right away that's going to help us win. And not (do) too much. Q: Do you mean line up McFadden on the outside? Kiffin: Yes. Q: When did Al Davis let you know this is the guy you wanted and were going to get? Kiffin: About 30 minutes ago. It's a long process. It's weeks of meetings. In the end, we end up on the same page. I can't tell you where he was right away because we have separate meetings initially before we come together. But I know right now that we're both extremely excited abou the pick and how we're going to utilize him and use his talents best. Q: Did you recruit McFadden when you were at USC? Kiffin: No, we didn't. He was someone that we contacted really early, and it became apparent that he was not going to go far away from home so we didn't pursue him.</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Darren McFadden's conference call with local media: Q: Were you pretty sure this would be the team for you? McFadden: For me, I really didn't know what to expect. I heard a lot of talk about New York, I heard a lot of talk about Oakland too. For me, I was sitting back and I was going to be happy with my name being called. Q: Lane Kiffin said he called you this morning, what was that conversation like? McFadden: It's just a great feeling, he told me if I'm there at No. 4 pick, we was going to call my name. And right before he got off the phone he said he hoped to be talking to me again soon. It was something I was very proud of. I'm very happy, to be able to go to Oakland. Q: What do you know about Lane Kiffin's offense and how it might be a fit for you? McFadden: I like the way he uses his running backs. When he was at USC he moved his running backs around a lot. I just love the way he does that, I feel it's something I can bring to Oakland, being a versatile player, that I can move around and give them a different style. Q: He's compared you to Reggie Bush and that he can use you in similar ways. Is that what you see? McFadden: I feel like he can use me some of the same ways they use Reggie Bush. Those are real good things and I'm very versatile. Q: Your thoughts on coming to a place with a lot of running backs? McFadden: Me, I want to come in and just learn the offense. I'm going to sit back and let those veterans teach me. And when the coaches call upon on me to go out there and play I'm going to go out there and give it my all. Q: Surprised the Raiders drafted you because they had so many RBs? McFadden: Yeah, it surprised me, but I feel like after talking with the coaching staff, that they were missing the big-play ability and that was something I could help with. Q: What did you assure the Raiders that any off-the-field issues, character issues, were not going to be a problem? McFadden: You know, they did a lot of research on me. They talked to everyone, and asked questions about the type of guy Darren McFadden is. And the people they talked to, evenyone than knows me, told them Darren McFadden's a great guy. That off the field I made mistakes and it was nothing they had to be concerned with. Q: Your thoughts on Raider nation, the Black Hole, the history of the organization, an important thing for you to carry on a tradition? McFadden: It's going to be very important for me to carry on a tradition. You never want to ruin a tradition, you always want to carry it on. I love the Raider Nation, they're very passionate about the Raiders so I'm looking forward to getting out and playing for them. Q: When you were reading pre-draft analysis that question your character, what are some things people weren't saying that you think they should know? McFadden: The things they don't say about Darren McFadden is the things I've done around the community. I've been doing community events since I was in high school, going to help out, Special Olympics in high school, being able to do things like that. Then two Christmas breaks ago, we were on Christmas break, there was a plane crash at the airport in Arkansas and I went and visited the kids at the airport, I mean in the hospital. Those are a lot of things people don't talk about. Q: Looking forward to getting away from home, moving out here? McFadden: I feel like it's gonna be a good thing for me, being able to be away from home. It's something I'm looking very forward to. Q: Given thought to playing with JaMarcus? McFadden: I know it's gonna be great to be in the huddle with him. I played against him a couple times in college. I'd much rather be on the same side of the ball he's on. Q: Are your blocking skills underrated? McFadden: A lot of people don't look at those things. Going through the draft, people competing so much, they overlook the good things that you do. And that's something Coach Rathman pointed out that he really enjoyed, my passion for the game. And possibly he can take me to the next level. With him coaching me, he'll be able to take me to the next level." Q: Anyone gonna move out here with you? How many infant car seats do you own? McFadden: I'm planning on having my sister move out with me, where she can help me out around the house. Maybe make me feel at home while I'm away. Q: You mean, like, do women's work? McFadden: (Laughs) She's a great help around the house, you know? She's always keeping me positive. So she can help out, watch over me a little bit for me, it'll help me out in a lot of ways. Q: How have the last 24 hours been for you? McFadden: It's been a whirlwind. You don't know where you're gonna go, sitting back and just waiting, and then you finally hear your name called. And when you finally get the phone call to where you're gonna go, you be so happy. Q: What was your favorite NFL team growing up? McFadden: Growing up I was a Broncos fan because I liked watching Terrell Davis and John Elway play, Ed McCaffrey, Shannon Sharpe, I loved to watch those guys play." Q: You mention that to Al Davis? McFadden: No, sir, not at all. Q: Did you know before Goodell took the podium with Raiders' pick? McFadden: I had already known, because they had called me a couple minutes before. They gave my agent a call and gave me a call, so we already knew before they announced it. Q: You concerned about fumbles? McFadden: No, it's not a concern at all, cause I talked to Coach Rathman. We both sat there and watched game film together on me. He was showing some of the things I was doing. He was telling one of the main things, I was not locking my elbow down. And that's something that's easily corrected, so it won't be a problem with fumbling at all. Q: How are your skills as a receiver. McFadden: That shows my versatility. I have great hands coming out of the backfield. It's something we didn't do much in college at all. We never really threw to the running back the ball. It's something that I feel very confident doing. Q: Maybe they'll let you throw it, too? McFadden: Heh. I don't know if they'll want me to do that. But if they try to put in a play for me to throw it, I'd love to do it." Q: How do you compete about the comparisons to Reggie Bush? McFadden: For them to compare me to Reggie Bush, I feel like he's a very shifty guy. I like to get downhill and get running. Q: How ready are you to step in right away? What do you need to work on? McFadden: I feel like I'm a very skilled guy. You know, I feel like I'm ready to step in there. I'm not the type of guy that's gonna be happy to be in the NFL, and when I get there I want to be doing great things, I don't want to just be out there. I want to play great and make big plays.</div>
There is a possibility that we'll see that damn Wildcat/Wildhog formation in the NFL. Goody! I'm so ^%@!^(%# thrilled.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (blackadder @ Apr 27 2008, 06:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>There is a possibility that we'll see that damn Wildcat/Wildhog formation in the NFL. Goody! I'm so ^%@!^(%# thrilled.</div> Kiffin, being a very young, offensive mind, probably had to change is shorts after he knew he would get DMC. He's probably getting way ahead of himself, drawing up crazy gadget plays designed around Darren. He did tell us that he needs to keep himself under control and not get too crazy, too fast. lol I can see it now, on some random game, he is going to line up Jamarcus at TE, and put DMC into the shotgun.... The offense is going to be fun to watch. It's been a while since we've had something to get excited about on that side of the ball.
