Here's the quote from Rhodes:
I don't really think Lane Kiffin wanted to take a running back in the first round, let's just put it like that ... he has to deal with it now, but I don't think that's what he wanted to do.
He doesn't say Kiffin promised him anything. He just says he doesn't think Kiffin wanted to take a RB.
http://www.propeller.com/viewstory/2008/04...&frame=true
I see your Rhodes quote and raise you a Kiffin quote...No debate among Oakland brass about McFadden
Raiders able to land Arkansas running back with No. 4 pick overall
By PHIL BARBER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
ALAMEDA -- Before draft day, there was plenty of talk about the Raiders trading down, out of the No. 4 spot in the first round, to gain additional picks.
As it turned out, they nearly traded up. That's how badly they wanted Darren McFadden.
"At one point, where we thought somebody else was going to go up and get him, we were going to try to beat them," coach Lane Kiffin said Saturday. "Fortunately, the information we ended up with was accurate, that he would be there (at No. 4), and it worked out perfect."
A majority of mock drafts had McFadden landing in Oakland, but it didn't necessarily make sense. Kiffin acknowledged as recently as Thursday that the backfield was the least of his needs. But McFadden's combination of speed, strength, agility and pass-catching ability was simply too much to bypass.
"It was not a need, but it became a situation. . . .
Speaking for myself, I knew months ago that this was the guy that we had to have, and we had to figure out a way to get him," Kiffin said.
That explanation exploded many of the notions that have been hovering over the Raiders of late. The accepted theory was that owner Al Davis was agog over McFadden, while Kiffin and his scouting department figured it made more sense to go for a defensive lineman like LSU's Glenn Dorsey or Ohio State's Vernon Gholston.
Both of those defenders were on the board when Oakland made its choice.
But to hear Kiffin tell it, there was no debate at that point. McFadden became the Raiders' highest-drafted running back ever. The three others selected in the first round went at No. 7 (Tony Lorick, 1964), No. 10 (Marcus Allen, 1982) and No. 18 (Napoleon Kaufman, 1995).
The Raiders made only one selection Saturday. They traded their second-round choice to Atlanta for cornerback DeAngelo Hall, and did not complete any late-hour deals for another second-rounder.
McFadden was a two-time Heisman runner-up at Arkansas, where he rushed for 4,590 yards and scored 44 touchdowns in three seasons. He caught 46 passes for 365 yards in an offense that didn't throw to the backs a whole lot, threw seven touchdown passes (often on direct snaps) and returned a kickoff for a score.
Watching him on film, Kiffin couldn't help but make an association to another dynamic college tailback: Reggie Bush, Kiffin's prodigy at USC. "Yeah, he does have a lot of similarities to Reggie, because he is a dynamic pass-catcher as well," Kiffin said. "Obviously, the speed and acceleration. You can use him outside (as a split end). . . . There's a lot of options to explore."
"I like the way he uses his running backs," McFadden said from New York on a conference call. "When he was at USC he moved his running backs around a lot. I just love the way he does that. I feel it's something I can bring to Oakland, being a versatile player."
Kiffin noted that the Raiders generated a lot of interest in the fourth pick, but said most of the teams that came calling seemed to be more interested in Dorsey. The Raiders didn't budge, refused to discuss trades for McFadden after they got him, and watched division rival Kansas City select Dor-sey with the following pick.
"Glenn's a great player," Kiffin said. "I actually was hoping he wasn't going right after us, so we've got to play him twice a year."
Not that Kiffin didn't acknowledge his good fortune. Many self-anointed draft experts had McFadden rated as the top athlete on the board. But none of the teams choosing ahead of Oakland -- the Dolphins, Rams and Falcons -- needed a running back.
Less fortunate, perhaps, were Justin Fargas, Dominic Rhodes and Michael Bush -- the other members of the Raiders' fleet of runners. (LaMont Jordan is there, too, but will probably be traded.) Fargas recently signed a contract extension and got $6 million guaranteed. Rhodes finished the 2007 season with a pair of 100-yard games, and Bush is supposedly healthy and ready to vie for carries. Now all of them are shoved to the back seat.
McFadden, meanwhile, is mentioned in the same breath with Adrian Peterson, who rushed for 1,341 yards as a rookie with the Vikings last year.
Unlike Peterson, however, McFadden carried some personal baggage into the draft. He was involved in two public brawls in Arkansas over the last two years, getting handcuffed after one of them and breaking his toe in the other (though he was arrested at neither). He also has admitted to at least two out-of-wedlock children, to different mothers. The Raiders' investigation didn't scare the team off.
"You look at the off-field issues, and there are some things there," Kiffin said. "They've been based on other people's actions that have brought him into them. What was very important to me the first time I sat down with him, I wanted to know was he going to make excuses for them, or was he going to be accountable for them?"
According to Kiffin, McFadden took responsibility for the incidents and called them mistakes, rather than trying to rationalize them. When the Raiders were on the clock, Kiffin called McFadden one more time and asked for assurances that the back understands what is now expected of him. McFadden agreed, and joined quarterback JaMarcus Russell and wide receiver Javon Walker in a suddenly interesting offense.
In fact, in his first chat with Bay Area reporters, McFadden sounded just one discordant note. He admitted that he was a Broncos fan growing up, rooting for Terrell Davis, John Elway, Ed McCaffrey and Shannon Sharpe.
Asked if he had divulged that information to Al Davis in their face-to-face meeting, he laughed and said: "No, sir, not at all."
Now Davis knows. But if McFadden is the player the owner thinks he is, all will be forgiven.
You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.
Jones also had two very nice blocks on blitz pickups in there as well.
Jones also had two very nice blocks on blitz pickups in there as well.
Jones also had two very nice blocks on blitz pickups in there as well.
