With the seventh overall pick in their pockets, thanks to a draft-day trade in 2007 with the 49ers, the New England Patriots are preparing for the possibility that Arkansas running back Darren McFadden will be on the board when their turn to turn in a card arrives.

According to Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe, the Pats will bring McFadden to town for a pre-draft visit.

Though the Patriots have Laurence Maroney, a 2006 first-rounder, under contract, it takes multiple solid and consistent running backs to succeed in the NFL.  Maroney has proven to be fragile in two pro seasons, and he’ll surely never be a guy who can make it through a season of touching the ball 25 times per game.

So if McFadden is on the board, would the Pats consider taking him?  Hell yeah.  His speed and versatility would make a record-setting offense even more, um, record-settinger. 

The broader inquiry is whether McFadden’s off-field entanglements can be explained in a manner that placates the turd-averse Patriots.  In this regard, the Pats would be wise to study items like this excellent profile of McFadden from Rich Cimini of the New York Daily News.

Whether it’s Randy Moss or Corey Dillon or Brandon Meriweather, the Patriots have shown a willingness to look below the surface in an effort to get to a man’s true character.  Though the franchise might ultimately decide that McFadden presents too much risk for off-field trouble, the powers-that-be won’t know unless and until they sit down and talk to him, man to man and eye to eye.

They’ll do it in April, and it’ll make them ready to decide whether to take the two-time Heisman finalist if he’s still around when the time comes for the Pats to make their pick.

Then again, it could be that the Patriots have already decided that McFadden is an overhyped turd, and they’re merely trying to spook the Jets into taking him.  Either way, it only adds to the whole draft-day drama.