We Hardly Knew Ye: Darren McFadden

It’s all a formality, of course, so whether or not Darren McFadden’s father submitted paperwork to the NFL earlier this week to enter his son in the draft, as "learned" today by ESPN, or whether he didn’t, as McFadden Sr. told the AP, at no point in the past year has anyone threatened to replace the Arkansas star as the top running back in this draft, and possibly the top player at any position. In the pantheon of platonic running back ideals, McFadden was chiseled by the ancient Greeks alongside Jim Brown, Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson and brought to life by some dark Ozarkan magic. One more time, let him blow your mind (the jaw drops around 2:45):

For the record:

McFadden is easily the most prolific runner in Arkansas history, passed Kevin Faulk’s conference-best four-year rushing mark in the Cotton Bowl and with another healthy season would have easily smashed the only career rushing numbers still in front of him in SEC history, Herschel Walker’s 5,259 yards and 49 touchdowns. Not that any statistics really do justice to the best combination of size, speed, power and violence of the era. Raiders fans want him. Falcons fans want him. Dolphins fans have already put him in a Miami uniform. His car is pimped. He got that wood. And only SEC defensive coordinators can pretend they’re sorry to see him leaving school.

Pig sooie, amazingly fast sir. Pig sooie.

Also Declaring Early: USC guard Chilo Rachal, one of the many key Trojan injuries for part of the season, called his father from an "unspecified location" Thursday to tell Chilo Sr. he was going pro, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of the fifth round. Elsewhere, it was a good day for future free agents: Louisville linebacker Lamar Myles, Florida State defensive tackle Letroy Guion and Middle Tennessee State tackle Franklin Dunbar all declared their intentions to enter the lottery today, though none are expected to actually be drafted.