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Darren McFadden looked like the second coming of Adrian Peterson in fantasy land after a breakout 2010 season. Except it was not a break out, but rather an apex season, so far. Similar to AP, McFadden is a tall running back who, that season, ran hard with long strides for 1,157 yards, caught the ball well and finished as the sixth ranked RB at his position. But now it is 2014 and you should sit McFadden in your week 4 fantasy football league.
With a healthy Maurice Jones-Drew set to return to the Oakland Raiders, it’s every word fantasy football managers hate to hear attached with a running back they own — timeshare.
McFadden had an opportunity to separate himself and prove his worth while MJD was on the shelf in Weeks 2 and 3, but he did no such thing. He was good for 132 yards from scrimmage combined in those two contests and a single touchdown. The oft-injured McFadden is unproductive when he is hurt, but also when he is healthy these days. Only once did he rush for more than 75 yards in 2013.
What’s worse, Oakland has a rookie quarterback guiding their offense in Derek Carr. He has a 74.9 passer rating through the first three weeks. The Raiders are yet to score more than 14 points in a game this season, which does not bode well for McFadden or MJD’s outputs.
Then the location must be factored in. The Raiders will play the Miami Dolphins in London. These games have traditionally not always been of the highest quality. Clearly lethargy and jet lag factor into player performance. What would have been a 10:00 am PST kickoff for the Raiders, since they are the “home” team, will now instead be played at 6:00 pm local time in the UK. Internal clocks will be discombobulated a bit.
Given the far way and probably neutral environment, MJD’s health and ability to play on third downs, as well as the Raiders’ rather anemic offense this season, steer clear of starting McFadden if you have other options.
If there are any notable starts to play in this game, it should be either teams defenses. Look for sloppy play on offense to translate to turnovers and decent defensive fantasy point tallies on either side in this ball game.
Jordan Wevers is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JordanWevers, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.
