The Dallas Cowboys are banking on former Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden having a renaissance season of sorts in 2015, and owner Jerry Jones is convinced that he has the talent necessary to get the job done.
“[Y]ou’ve got a good chance to not live up to expectations,” Jones said regarding the pressures a first-round pick like McFadden face in the league, via Mike Florio of NBC's Pro Football Talk. “Because when you are drafted that high, people think that you are going to be the next Jimmy Brown. So, yes he would have liked to have had a more productive career. But the kinds of skills that got him drafted with the fourth pick in the draft, he still has."
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While Jones understands the injury risk that McFadden presents, he explained that the team was more apt to spend less many on a project like McFadden than to break the bank on a running back like DeMarco Murray with his own extended injury history.
“You worry about injury, but we were worried about injury with Murray," he said. "In eight seasons, four in Oklahoma and four with the Cowboys, Murray only had two injury free seasons. And so the position is one you have to take into consideration no matter what the skill level is, they take a lot of hits, lot of punishment, and you got a good chance to have an injury issue. And that’s why we couldn’t make that kind of commitment of dollars to that position.”
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