Ryan Mathews

                           RUSHING                            RECEIVING                            FANTASY

(+) Mathews averaged 4.9 yards per carry in a year where many experience a sophomore slump (4.3 YPC his rookie season)

(+) NORV TURNER!!! Norv LOVES getting his RB a ton of touches, as evidenced by the fact that in between 1991 and 2008, Turner’s main RB finished in the Top-5 in touches 11 times

(+) More than doubled his receptions from 22 to 50 catches and should see his total increase even more being the 3-down back now

(+) With Mike Tolbert gone, he should handle most of the goal-line situations

(+) His unique skill-set will make him the focal point of the entire offense

(+) Mathews has improved his pass protection greatly which should keep him on the field in passing situations a lot more

(+) Ryan was on the field for a mere 47.75% of the Chargers offensive plays in 2011, ranking 20th in the league…yet he STILL had the seventh-most fantasy points. This year, he’ll be on the field as much as anyone in the league

(+/–) Had just four 100-yard games last year…but in only 14 games

(–) 13 total TDs in two years isn’t bad, but not a single receiving TD as of yet

(–) Mathews has yet to play a full NFL season and was known to be a bit injury-prone in college. Pretty scary little tidbit if he's your RB1

Let’s just say this right off the bat:  Mathews will have a significant contribution to the Chargers offense in 2010.  With LT gone, the Chargers don’t have a clear number one back on the roster.  Slim-Jim Darren Sproles is the best of ‘em, but odds are he’s not going to have the type of breakout season that Michael Turner did in Atlanta the year after he was released from LT’s shadow.  There are also fullbacks Jacob Hester and Mike Tolbert, but they will only carry the ball sparingly.

Thus, the stage is set for Mathews to contribute right from the get-go.  There was talk about the Chargers taking him too early with the 12^th overall pick, but this season should prove that they didn’t just hit the target, they stuck the bulls-eye.  Coach Norv Turner has said he could get upwards of 250 carries which isn’t hard to fathom given the lack of a feature back in this offense.  He will also be used in the red zone.

~ QB Philip Rivers will chuck the ball a lot this season, giving Mathews more space to run

~ Sproles will still play a significant part in the offense, but he’s not an every-down back

~ Mathews led the nation with 150.67 yards per game last year and had 39 positive runs in 41 attempts in the red zone.  He doesn’t mess around

During this last offseason, the Chargers shipped the face of the franchise for the last nine years, LaDainian Tomlinson, to the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets.  The staff wasn’t happy to see him go, but there was nothing they could do about it, they just couldn’t keep him.  Or so they thought.

Up comes the 12^th pick of the NFL Draft in April and who do they grab?  Hometown Cali kid Ryan Mathews, a running back from Fresno State.  Mathews grew up idolizing the Chargers and studying LT.  While LT is a more elusive and agile demon, Mathews is a downhill runner with the ability to break tackles.  But Mathews may be more like LT than you think.  Check out the numbers from the two in college.  Keep in mind that both of them played for WAC teams, Fresno State and TCU, so they were playing very similar competition.

Vitals:

Tomlinson   5'11" 216 lbs
Mathews    5'11" 220 lbs

40-yard dash at Combine:

Tomlinson  4.38 
Mathews   4.45

Bench Press Reps:

Tomlinson   18
Mathews    19

College avg Yds per Carry:

Tomlinson  5.7
Mathews   6.0

Junior year (last comparable college season):

Yds per Season/Per Game/Touchdowns

Tomlinson:  1850 /154.2/ 18 TD'S
Mathews:   1858/ 154.8/ 19 TD'S

As you can see, those numbers are pretty identical.  So like D-Rose came to be with the Bulls, Mathews could become a hometown hero for the Chargers in his first season.

Ryan Mathews (@rmathews24) can be followed on Twitter at:  http://twitter.com/rmathews24

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This guy is a red zone machine.

"My main thing is to get into camp as soon as possible," Mathews told Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune.  "I've talked to my agent; I need to be there.  Too many guys hold out for all the wrong reasons and I'm not going to be one of them."

Ryan kept good on his word and signed a five-year contract on the 1st of August worth $20.467 million.  The deal contained $15.083 million guaranteed, a $3 million signing bonus, and a one-time "likely to be earned" escalator of $5,183,750.  In addition, Mathews will be able to void the sixth year of the contract (which he will do) if he participates in 35% of the offensive snaps his rookie season or 45% of the snaps in any season thereafter.  Here are the partial particulars:

2010 - $320,000 (+ $911,000 roster bonus)

2011 - Under Contract (+ $5,668,750 option bonus due in March)

2012 - Under Contract

2013 - Under Contract

2014 - Under Contract

2015 - Voidable Year

2016 - Free Agent

Darren Sproles should be the handcuff to Mathews this year, a role he's become quite familiar with...

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