Arkansas's McFadden to try NFL draft

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Arkansas junior running back Darren McFadden, a two-time runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting, has made himself available for the NFL draft.

McFadden and fellow Razorbacks running back Felix Jones said at a news conference Monday that they were both passing up their senior seasons at Arkansas and entering the draft. Both are projected to be first-round selections, with McFadden likely going in the first five picks, when the NFL has its draft April 26-27.

McFadden was second in the Heisman voting to Ohio State's Troy Smith in 2006 and second again in 2007 when Florida's Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy. He is, however, a two-time winner of the Doak Walker Award, given to the country's top college running back.

McFadden ran for 1,725 yards and 15 touchdowns over 12 regular-season games last season. He tied an SEC record with 321 yards on Nov. 3 against South Carolina. He had 785 rushed for 4,590 yards and 41 touchdowns over his career.

Jones also managed to top 1,100 yards each of the last two seasons and 2,956 for his three-year Arkansas career.