The Landry Hat
Fansided

Cowboys are relying too heavily on Darren McFadden’s health

By Matthew Conner

facebooktwitterreddit

The Dallas Cowboys are putting their faith in injury-prone running back Darren McFadden as their every-down workhorse, but is that a wise move?

The Dallas Cowboys off-season plan of using a triumvirate of capable running backs to shoulder the load of the ground game has disintegrated leaving the team with only Darren McFadden as a legitimate option to carry the ball. And while the lion’s share of the focus moving forward will be on the health and performance of quarterback Tony Romo, Dallas cannot take McFadden’s health for granted.

With the Oakland Raiders, McFadden played in every game only once in seven seasons (2014). Now, not only is McFadden being asked to be the every-down running back for the Cowboys, he is going to see more work than he has in his career.

More from The Landry Hat

Since entering the NFL in 2008, McFadden has averaged 12.6 carries per game. But since taking over as the lead running back for the Cowboys he has carried the ball on average 23.2 times in four games.

Prior to last week’s game, McFadden carried the ball 20 times in three consecutive games for the first time in his career. And it does not appear that the Cowboys plan on giving McFadden much relief during the game based on the experience of the other running backs on the roster.

And now there is the troublesome news that McFadden is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins. Throughout his career, leg injuries have been a problem McFadden cannot seem to shake and now he is listed as having a strained groin.

He was limited in practice on Thursday and Friday this week but the team claims that it was merely for precautionary reasons.

"“We didn’t want to push anything, give it as much rest time,” Cowboy’s owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on Dallas radio this week. “No need to win it out here these next couple of days.” Link"

Considering that McFadden had a hamstring injury in 2013 that cost him to miss six games, an ankle injury in 2013, a foot injury in 2012, another hamstring injury in 2010 and a knee injury in 2009 there is no guarantee that the former Arkansas Razorback will be able to remain on the field for the final seven games of the season.

"According to the Dallas Morning News, “McFadden suffered 15 injuries in his first six seasons with the Raiders that caused him to miss 29 games. He’s undergone three surgeries: in 2006 at Arkansas on his left foot, in 2008 at Oakland on his shoulder and in 2009 with the Raiders on his knee. He’s also suffered hamstring, toe, ankle and head injuries.” Link"

Placing the entire running game on a player with such injury history is concerning enough but then doubling his career workload should give Dallas fans cause for concern.

And should McFadden once again come up lame, the options on the Cowboy’s roster are scant.

Backup tailbacks Trey Williams and Rod Smith have a combined two NFL carries. And the newly signed Robert Turbin has only 18 carries in three games played this season for the Seattle Seahawks.

Making matters worse is the fact that the Miami defense is a stout unit built around All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh meaning McFadden will likely be in for a tough day on the ground as he has to pound the defense to get his yards.

In addition, the forecast for Sunday’s game is not favorable calling for a 90% chance of rain during the game. This means that the natural grass playing surface in Miami will be slick making players more prone to injury.

Next: With Tony Romo's return, NFL.com gives shocking Cowboys prediction

Ultimately, Dallas’ fortunes likely lie on the right arm of Tony Romo (after all they are 0-7 without him) but if the injury bug bites Darren McFadden once again, the Cowboys’ will be out of answers at running back and almost certainly out of any discussion for a playoff spot as well.

Home/Cowboys News