Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

For those of you who do not engage in the porn of the sports world that is fantasy football I’d suggest moving along to other more engaging topics today such as celebrating Lionel Richie’s belated birthday or searching Octomom videos. The rest of you, follow me, we’re going to take on the dicey subject of debating Darren McFadden’s fantasy value.

Now there really shouldn’t be any debate about this one. Darren McFadden is a top 5 fantasy stud that, obviously, were it not for health reasons would be in the top pick conversation. He is the quintessential fantasy running back racking up points in multitude of ways as a runner and a receiver…basically you name it and Run DMC does it. Most important of all is he finds the end zone. Anybody that had McFadden for the first half of last season was likely contending until disaster struck.

Of course if you were really proactive you didn’t sweat McFadden’s health issues because if you were hip to the game you went out and grabbed Michael Bush too. In my league I missed out on McFadden but landed Bush. For the first half of the season he sat on my bench but once McFadden went down I rode Bush and Marshawn Lynch to the title game…which I eventually lost no thanks to Drew Brees’ pursuit of history. But we’re getting off course here.

So here we are again. It’s June and your fantasy draft is a month or two away. By now you’ve already pegged a few sleepers, guys ready to breakout and you’ve also got your list of wildcards.

At the top of the wildcard list is McFadden. Unlike other rolls of the dice like Chris Johnson last year, there is no concern over McFadden’s ability to produce. Even in games when he doesn’t eclipse the golden 100-yard rushing barrier McFadden is still getting you at least 100 total yards. Johnson, on the other hand, just didn’t produce – at all.

For McFadden’s value to be so closely tied to his health is frightening. If he’s there and anyone you valued ahead of him is gone you’ve got to take McFadden. He’s a gamble but not the Peyton Manning type of gamble. Quiet as kept Manning is the biggest fantasy gamble this year and anyone taking him in the first round is really spinning the wheel. No telling how productive Manning will be or if he can even take a hot.

What confounds the McFadden dilemma is there is no insurance policy this time around. He’s not being backed by Bush any longer and there is no reason to think that Taiwan Jones, Mike Goodson or even Cedric Benson should he join the ranks can crank out Bush type numbers.

So the reality is this season you’re simply twisting in the wind with McFadden. Naturally every fantasy running back needs a backup plan. With injuries, bye weeks, bad matchups, etc. However with a healthy McFadden all you need to worry about is the bye. There is no such thing as a bad matchup for Run DMC. Ask the Jets and their supposed top notch run defense about that.

In short, McFadden is a fantasy stud that really shouldn’t last past the first 5 picks of any fantasy draft based on talent alone. Then there is all the uncertainty surrounding some of the other top backs around the league. Contract situations are making the likes of Matt Forte, Maurice Jones-Drew and Ray Rice a little less attractive in the fantasy market. Adrian Peterson’s health has taken him out of the conversation and top back Arian Foster has a new deal which, in recent years, has been a little like the Madden curse when it comes to top producing fantasy running backs.

Aside from his injury issues the other gamble with McFadden is the zone scheme Greg Knapp is installing. During the Raiders offseason program McFadden was singing the praises of the new scheme. But everything looks good when you’re not hitting in May. Then again, with McFadden’s talent he should be able to produce in any system. The problem is there is no system that guarantees his health.

What fantasy value do you give McFadden?

So you can’t read anything into Mel Kiper’s C- grade applied to Reggie McKenzie’s first draft class as the Oakland GM.

I’ll be the first to say that taking one glance at Oakland’s 2012 class doesn’t exactly inspire Super Bowl talk. But that has nothing to do with the players selected. For all we know Tony Bergstrom could be the next offensive lineman to enter Canton as a Raider. Thing is we’ll have to wait and see.

I realize taking a wait and see approach doesn’t make for great television. So Kiper has no choice but to inspire draft talk via meaningless grades. That’s just the nature of the ratings beast.

Fact of the matter is we all know you can’t evaluate a football draft until years later. Even then it is pretty much an impossible task. I feel that the Raiders had an excellent draft in ’08. Still, here we are four years later and this franchise is still .500 at best.

Does that mean Oakland has failed in drafting from a team perspective yet has succeeded on a talent level?

Also, what about undrafted free agents? They’re not considered to be part of a draft class but a team like the Houston Texans has got to get some credit for unearthing Arian Foster. How does that figure into evaluating a team’s ability to evaluate talent? Let that sink in for a second.

A draft grade is really nothing more than an evaluation of a team’s evaluating process. That’s like predicting someone’s ability to predict something before they’ve predicted anything.

My head hurts trying to think all this stuff through. Let’s just move on from this now and we’ll revisit Mel’s C- three or four years later.

Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

The Raiders have been spoiled in recent years. They’ve had the great luxury of being able to insert two game-changing running backs into the game at anytime and in any situation. Darren McFadden and Michael Bush were easily the most dynamic running back duo in the NFL for the last two years.

Be it first-and-ten or third-and-long, both Bush and McFadden were weapons that could gain yards in a multitude of ways. They kept defense both honest and frightened.

Well, that amazing duo is no more. Bush is now a Chicago Bear leaving McFadden’s health at the fore front of any conversation surrounding Oakland’s prospects going forward.

Is it bad luck, the injury bug or brittle bones? Whatever it is Darren McFadden’s got it in the worst way. In years previous McFadden’s injury issues were frustrating only in the sense that we never to see all he can do. Bush isn’t nearly the same weapon but his talents were such that losing Run DMC was made all the easier.

Without Bush the Raiders will need more than McFadden to remain healthy. They’ll need contributions from others to help ease the pressure on McFadden.

Luckily they’ve got the weapons to do so.

One of the more undervalued assets Bush brought to the team was his presence in the passing game. On screen passes Bush was deadly in the open field, just ask the Chargers about that. His hands were reliable, his vision top tier and his downhill style was a nightmare for smaller DBs.

Now we know McFadden can be just as good on screens. In fact he has the homerun speed Bush lacks. So too does Taiwan Jones. In his second season Jones will be expected to step up as change-of-pace back capable of making explosive plays as both a runner and receiver.

Beyond Jones, there’s also another weapon the football world is slowly getting hip to. That would be the beast known as Marcel Reece. He too is threat in the passing game and the Denver Broncos can vouch for that.

During his time calling plays in Houston, Greg Knapp was masterful at ways for Arian Foster to get touches in more ways than hand offs. Expect plenty of that with McFadden, Jones and Reece at his disposal.

Naturally it will not be possible to simply manufacture the 977 rushing yards Bush gave the Raiders last season. That is where McFadden’s health is most important. Aside from an impressive preseason showing Jones didn’t get enough touches as a runner to show what he can do and Reece will never be a fulltime back like Bush.

That being said, let’s not forget that this new NFL is heavily reliant on the pass. With Carson Palmer getting a full camp to learn the new offense and hopefully a full compliment of healthy receivers there is no reason why Oakland’s aerial assault shouldn’t be among the league’s best.

The passing game should help to offset some of what will be lost in the rushing attack.

The most difficult area to address will be short yardage. Bush was a bruiser that could run through defenders as easily as he danced around them. That was his most unique trait that will be the area Oakland will struggle to find new production from. Bush was the type of runner that could wear down a defense, chew up the clock and keep those chains moving. Greg Knapp will have to find creative ways to fill that void.

Overall the loss of Bush is big but not crippling. Even with two dynamic runners the Raiders were still only a .500 ball club. That has nothing to do with the running game but let’s not act like the .500 Raiders losing Bush is like the undefeated Patriots losing Tom Brady. Last I checked neither the 8-8 Raiders nor the 16-0 Pats won the Super Bowl. For the Raiders to lift a Lombardi it will take a total team effort no matter the names on the back of the jerseys. Carson Palmer thinks this team has what it takes. Maybe he’s right. Maybe’s he’s foolish. Either way the Raiders will be going at it without Bush. Next man up!