Keys to revival for the Raiders’ Justin Fargas

By Anthony Carroll  |   Monday, June 26, 2006  |  Comments( 11 )

Oakland Raiders
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A career average of 4.5 yards-per-carry looks good enough for the Silver and Black.

Reportedly, the Oakland Raiders' late third-rounder of 2003, Justin Fargas, will take on a larger role in 2006. Attempting just a handful of rushes last season, the 220-pound speed back will likely alleviate the substantial workload previously placed entirely on starter LaMont Jordan. As an oft-injured, highly-criticized member of a second-rate backup running crew, Fargas' chance at substantial playing time next season is unexpectedly high.

With likely one final run at an NFL career with the Oakland Raiders, Fargas will need to improve on three major elements of his game:

Running lower: Easier said than done. Fargas' natural comfort zone is higher than most running backs. Unfortunately, that comfort zone has caused consecutive seasons of discomfort for both Fargas and his team. In his first three seasons with the Raiders, the 26-year-old has missed over 10 regular season games due to injury. The 6-1, upright speed back has been bothered with knee, toe, and hamstring injuries throughout his short career, limiting him to just 80 carries. At 220 pounds, he runs with a style equivalent to better-known Chris Brown of the Tennessee Titans. Like Fargas, Brown uses his frame to dance through the line at a more upright stance than typical. Not coincidently, Brown has been afflicted with hamstring, ankle, toe, head, shoulder, and elbow injuries throughout his three-season NFL career. For Fargas, who has little to lose and a permanent roster spot to gain, making even a slight adjustment in running style a necessity. Turning into a Jerome Bettis clone surely isn't the answer; however, compressing his running form a bit will give defenders less to hit and less to injure.

Blocking better: With a player like Justin Fargas, you are not asking for a handful of pancakes week in and week out. Nevertheless, blocking for the quarterback is an aspect of the game that silently will help Fargas transition into a dependable backup. Providing full-time starter, LaMont Jordan, with sideline time is a requisite in 2006. However, if Fargas proves to be incapable of holding off an average blitzer, more of the work is spread onto Jordan and the less-than-stellar halfback crew behind him. Again, Fargas won't be knocking defenders down in '06; however, buying some time for his quarterback will help the bruised runner quickly regain some respect.

Choosing better lanes: For a one-sided runner like Justin Fargas, breaking off a long scamper is always the desired result when touching the ball. However, despite his tremendous speed, Fargas has been very sketchy when behind the line of scrimmage. On most occasions, panic or impatience seemingly sets in on the young runner, often forcing him to run through closed doors and high traffic. At the NFL level, few running backs find their way out of traffic with a chunk of yardage; at most, falling forward becomes the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, falling forward isn't the USC grad's area of expertise. By the time the 2006 season rolls around, Fargas will need to shape up his vision-and-decision point, as hitting the first hole is the only way to exploit speed into the secondary.

"I don't look at it as a make or break year," stated head coach Art Shell. "Justin is doing well. He has really improved. I was talking to [Skip Peete] and he said, 'I'm seeing Justin doing some things out there I haven't seen him do over the last couple of years.' That comes from maturity."

Despite Art Shell's opening comment, 2006 is unquestionably a "make or break year" for Justin Fargas.

Perhaps the word "break" should remain distant from the oft-injured Fargas for now, though.

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Anthony Carroll can be contacted at acarroll@realfootball365.com
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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CommentsComments: 11  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
stan		09:43 AM
06/26/2006
how many people would love to slam huggy bear,it goes without saying.he is intimitated by his fathers fame.my opinion
No.2
RaiderJF		11:50 AM
06/26/2006
Easy to say that he needs to run lower, but a guy's running style is his running style. I have never seen a guy at this point in...
No.3
Gator Monroe		04:08 PM
06/26/2006
Fargas will do fine as Second or Third String Tailback but a Pre-season cut pickup from the Bounty of cuts soon to come could...
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