Oakland Raiders: Looking at Position Battles After Preseason Week Two

August 15, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden (20) is congratulated by running back Jamize Olawale (49, right) for scoring a touchdown against the Detroit Lions during the second quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Darren McFadden vs Maurice Jones-Drew

Now this is a pure, 2-man battle for the No. 1 ball carrier on the team!

Or is it?

On my official score, McFadden went up 10-8 with a 23-yard run in the preseason opener in Round 1. Then according to reports, both of them did well with good runs for an even Round 2 against the Cowboys. Against the Lions Friday, it was another even round as Jones-Drew had a 22-yard screen pass and McFadden had a touchdown.

My unofficial scorecard sill has McFadden ahead in fight and with the eye-test advantage. While Jones-Drew is still good, he either lost some of his burst or McFadden is making it look that way because of the burst he has. I believe McFadden would have taken that same screen pass Jones-Drew caught to the house as Jones-Drew was just one cut and one burst away.

But I question if this is even a competition as they rotate in with the ones and neither works with the twos. If this is a move to simply do it by committee because they’re afraid McFadden will get hurt, they should have said so. But for what it’s worth, McFadden is ahead on my scorecard as it probably doesn’t matter because they both with have roles on the team.