Ryan Matthews place as RB1

[SkinnyElvis]

In a PPR, Matthews is probably in the middle of the top 10. I would prefers Matthews/Nicks over Shady; I don't think Shady will get the same number of TDs next year and the Eagles need to get another back in to take some of his touches to keep him fresh.

[skip]

Skip- I think your misunderstood me. I am acknowledging Shady > Ryan Matthews... I questioning by just how much though. When I say Matthews stock will be "higher" I mean higher than it is right now... NOT higher than Shady's stock. But I also think Shady cant live up to the hype people have heaped on him. I love Shady, I'm an eagles fan. But I dont think he'll be the best RB in the league... he'll be top 5.

Appreciate the clarification. I already have McCoy as the best RB in the league so someone needs to know him off that perch. It isn't hype...he is already there. IMO, Mathews is the hyped player and owners are valuing him too high right now. He is ranking in top 5s, which in my estimation is just crazy. He has dealt with perpetual injury issues and his ppg places him outside of the top 10. I do not believe the lofty expectations that some have for him are going to be met.

[Buddy]

He has dealt with perpetual injury issues and his ppg places him outside of the top 10.

It's funny that you would put those two statements in the same sentence. You knock Mathews for injuries yet go on to move 3 or 4 injured guys in front of him using PPG. I have a hard time believing he finished lower than 6th or 7th last year in any PPR league, and that's in a partial timeshare with Tolbert.

SD RBs, over the last 2 years, have averaged 409 carries, 1762 yards, 16.5 TDs rushing and 125 receptions, 1001 yards, and 3 TDs receiving. The offense has been remarkably consistent. When Sproles left, receptions didn't decrease but were split between Tolbert and Mathews. So unless SD brings in someone equal to or better than Tolbert, Mathews should see a good chunk of those carries, receptions, and TDs.

That's why Mathews is in people's top 5.

[hamburglar]

Skip- appreciate your input. respect your opinion. I just want to further clarify. I still love shady... not downing him in the least. i just have my doubts that he will be the top back or top 3 back in fantasy... I dont think he'll be the 12th back either though... i just think because he did so well this year he's getting a little over hyped. i think the eagles will be a lot better on offense overall this season. bear in mind this will be THE FIRST season mike vick has a real training camp as a starter. d-jax is now signed, and toward the end of the season mike vick FINALLY developed a rapport with brent celek... people forget that mike vick's top receiver most of those years in ATL was alge crumpler...a TE.

i think the arc of ryan matthews career can go two ways- he either cant stay healthy and isnt a top back or he does stay heathy and becomes a top 8 guy for a few years. i rank him after shady, rice, foster, cj2k, and forte. mjd is a toss up for age. i think i curently rank him ahead of AP or Charles due to injury/age mileage etc. of course time will tell and I could just s easily be proven wrong.

for all we know right now, demarco murray could lead the NFL in rushing in 2012.

[mrockwell]

I think McCoy has to be top 2 or 3. He is one of the purest runners I've seen in awhile. He plays a key role in an explosive offense. I haven't seen someone with his cutting ability in ages. He's still pretty young. If you take his talent, situation, and age into consideration I think he is very hard to beat. Matthews is not close. With that said, I wouldn't give nicks and matthews for him unless I had another WR1. Nicks is a beast. If I could get mccoy and a pick or a wr2/3 for nicks and matthews I would do it. I'm to the point where I value WRs at least as high if not higher than rbs.

[skip]

Skip- appreciate your input. respect your opinion. I just want to further clarify. I still love shady... not downing him in the least. i just have my doubts that he will be the top back or top 3 back in fantasy... I dont think he'll be the 12th back either though... i just think because he did so well this year he's getting a little over hyped. i think the eagles will be a lot better on offense overall this season. bear in mind this will be THE FIRST season mike vick has a real training camp as a starter. d-jax is now signed, and toward the end of the season mike vick FINALLY developed a rapport with brent celek... people forget that mike vick's top receiver most of those years in ATL was alge crumpler...a TE.

When I was calling McCoy the #1 RB in the league a year ago I was criticized because people said there was no way he would ever get enough TDs because there were too many weapons around him and the opportunities wouldn't be there. Obviously there was plenty of room for growth. I still don't believe he is at his ceiling and expect a 2k total yard season sooner than later.

[Buddy]

If you take his talent, situation, and age into consideration I think he is very hard to beat. Matthews is not close.

Mathews is 1 year older, had 70 less yards in one less game last year, and plays for a coach who routinely gives about 2700 yards and 20 TDs to his RBs. What would you consider close?

[Barian Fostate]

Try unloading Matthews and Nelson as a package. People might still be high on Jordy.

edit: And I'm talking about for something other than Shady. Like a Roy Helu/Brandon Marshall level of trade.

[tidewaterjc]

Agreed. It's not that Mathews is a bad player, it's just that his value right now is too high relative to the risk. The Chargers offensive line has been neglected a long time, and they really don't run block that well. Mathews gets hit behind the line far too often. Yeah, Mathews catches passes, so in PPR he gets an obvious bump. But, Norv Turner's lack of confidence is of concern. I also think Mathews toughness is questionable, relative to other running backs like MJD or AP.

Agree on Mathews value, there appears to be two camps - top 5 RB or Low RB1 due to health concerns that date back to college.

Been negotiating with another owner in a league for a deal involving Rice, he sent

Mathews/Little/2013 1.r for RR

I see this as selling RR low, for a oft injured Mathews, potential of Little, and essentially a 2nd round draft pick equivalent.

I countered trying to include Roddy in a deal with:

RR/Roddy for Mathews/Harvin/Little/1.06

That's how differently views are on Mathews as a bell cow RB. This was rejected.

In my mind, couldn't let RR go for less than Mathews/Harvin or Britt/1.06 and I was scoffed at.

Call me a non-Mathews believer, I see him as an above average RB in a good situation that has injury issues. I'll have many that disagree, but that's what makes individual player values interesting. The gap between RR/McCoy/Foster and the next 7 RBs to make the top 10 has widened.

[mjbaum]

I believe in Ryan Mathews (One T in that last name people) and think he's a strong RB1.

I, for one, don't question his toughness. If I remember correctly, he came out of a few games temporarily but usually went back out there after getting checked out and taking a series or two off. That was a luxury the Chargers had because they also had Tolbert. I'm not sure if it's fair to say that it's always Mathews' choice to miss series and not grit it out. I think San Diego often handled him with kid gloves because they had the luxury of a veteran bruiser to take his place.

I remember him playing through a few nagging injuries on limited practice reps and performing quite well. Going into week 12 against the Broncos, for example, he had a limited practice on Wednesday, sat out entirely on Thursday, but came back to practice fully on Friday and then shredded the Broncos for 137 yards on 22 carries on Sunday. I also remember when the Chargers were up against the Ravens with their season on the line in week 15 and Mathews got 26 carries for 90 yards and 2 TDs. A lot of people didn't expect Mathews to show up in that tough matchup, but he came through in a big way and showed a lot of resiliency and toughness in the process.

I also don't question Turner's confidence in Mathews. I remember this quote from sometime after week 4: "He's playing with great confidence," said Turner. "I've been around some great backs ... That's why you want to get them in the (24-25 carries range). He got what 16 carries, 18 carries (last week)? If we can get him that 24, 25 carries it's gonna help him." I think he knows what a talent Mathews is, but a combination of the offense struggling (and trailing in a lot of games) and Mathews having some nagging injuries made it difficult for him to continue to get him the ball as much as he wanted to.

I watched a bunch of Chargers games last year, and the offense was pretty abysmal for a long stretch of games in the middle of the season. They'd start the game with Mathews getting a handful of carries and a few receptions (he usually broke at least one 15+ yard play) and march down the field only to have the drive stall out and end in a FG. Before long they'd find themselves trailing by a couple scores and Mathews would be used only on clear running plays, otherwise he'd be taken completely out of the offense in favor of Tolbert. I understand Tolbert is the better pass blocker, but a lot of the playcalling seemed to be design check-downs to Tolbert (maybe Rivers just made it look that way), which if you're going to check it down to your RB, why not give it to the guy who is more explosive/dangerous in space? Tolbert would get touch after touch while Mathews stood on the sidelines and waited for his chance.

Even with a few nagging injuries, 1 missed game (2 if you count week 17 when they were eliminated from the playoffs and Curtis Brinkley got the bulk of the touches), and the presence of one of the biggest goal line vultures and checkdown RBs in the league, Mathews ended up with almost 1100 rushing yards and 50 receptions for another 450 yards. Take Tolbert out of the picture and there is huge potential for Mathews in PPR leagues. I think Mathews will see this is a big opportunity/challenge and be very motivated to rise to the occasion and cement himself as an elite RB. Mathews and Tolbert caught 104 balls combined - I'd conservatively predict that Mathews can catch 70 on his own next year. We've already seen him go over the 1500 total yard mark, so even conservative projections have to have him within the top 10 RBs for next year, and in PPR I'd say he's pushing for top 5 status.

[ekassor]

Welcome to the boards! I see you really love some Ryan Matthews [sic]

[TXPackFan]

mjbaum, impressive 1st post.

[drobes]

Anyone who questions Mathews toughness hasn't been watching any chargers games. The guy runs angry with no regard for his body.

It's fair to speculate that he is more likely to be banged up with frequent injuries due to his running style but "soft" he is not. On a couple occasions he checked back into games after being knocked out with an injury and played the rest of the game only to be held out the following week. As mentioned previously in this thread, I think the Chargers were being overly cautious with a young RB and wouldn't activate him unless he was 100%. I suspect they will ease up on that and am cautiously optimistic that Mathews will continue to improve this season.

I'd take Mathews/Nicks over Mccoy all day.

[Spinkso]

He's said he now knows what it takes to be a NFL running back and that he's going to do what he needs to... From his twitter feed it sounds like he's adding a little weight to help him.


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Stepped on the scale after my work out and it said 226... #dieseled