It wasn’t so much that the running game was a surprise but who ran the best that was.  Justin Fargas was the #3 running back on the depth chart early last off-season behind LaMont Jordan and free agent signee Dominic Rhodes.  After Rhodes was suspended by the league Fargas moved up a notch on the totem pole.  He earned the starting job by outplaying LaMont Jordan early in the season.  Fargas played in 14 games (7 starts) last season for the Raiders and he carried the ball 222 times for 1,009 yards (4.5 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  He also caught 23 passes for 188 yards (8.2 avg).  Fargas has now played in 66 games (14 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 480 times for 2,025 yards (4.2 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He also has caught 50 passes for 358 yards (7.2 avg) with 0 TD grabs.  Fargas will likely be the starting running back for the Raiders next season and he will now be known more for what he does than what his daddy did.  His dad was “Huggy Bear”, the pimp on the original Starsky and Hutch T.V. show in the 70’s.

LaMont Jordan fell out of favor with new head coach Lane Kiffin early last season and he lost his starting gig to Justin Fargas.  Jordan played in 12 games (7 starts) for the Raiders last season and he carried the ball 144 times for 549 yards (3.8 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 28 passes for 247 yards (8.8 avg).  Jordan has now played in 97 games (29 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 792 times for 3,285 yards (4.1 ypc) with 24 TD runs.  Jordan has also caught 158 passes for 1,301 yards (8.2 avg) with 3 TD grabs.

Free agent signee Dominic Rhodes lost ground early in the season due to a league suspension but he played well late in the season for the Raiders.  Rhodes played in 10 games (2 starts) last season for the Raiders and he carried the ball 75 times for 302 yards (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 11 passes for 70 yards (6.4 avg).  Rhodes has now played in 81 games (29 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 625 times for 2,576 yards (4.1 ypc) with 20 TD runs.  He also has caught 101 passes for 719 yards (7.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.

Fullback Justin Griffith did a solid job for the Raiders last season.  Griffith played in all 16 games (11 starts) for the Raiders last season and he carried the ball 7 times for 27 yards (3.9 ypc).  He also caught 26 passes for 165 yards (6.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Griffith has now played in 76 games (59 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 88 times for 405 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also has caught 113 passes for 786 yards (7.0 avg) with 10 TD grabs.

Rookie fullback Oren O’Neal didn’t get to show what he could do in his first season.  He played in 14 games (1 start) and he caught 1 pass for 1 yard.