Ryan Mathews' last carry on Saturday was a costly fumble near the goal line. The Chargers still found a way to score on the play but it was a small blemish on what's otherwise been an outstanding preseason for Mathews.
Over three games the rusher has 121 yards on 26 carries (4.65 avg.) with a touchdown. That's nice to see. He's running full-steam ahead between the tackles, fighting for yardage and playing tough. While it's not necessarily conducive to a back who is coming off a season with twin broken clavicles, Mathews at least is showing he's not playing scared. He's also the only real candidate the Chargers have to work at running back in non-obvious passing situations. To wit, Mathews has yet to catch a pass this preseason as other backs have done that work.
Mathews is a candidate for well over 200 carries, and when you find him in your draft there won't be a lot of 200-carry running backs left you could look at and feel real good about. He might not be an elite back but at least he should begin the year routinely picking up 15 carries per game, maybe a few catches too, and working at the goal line.
Part of the problem with Mathews' 2012 in Fantasy was that you needed a Top 20 pick to get him. Now it's almost a bargain -- he's pretty much a "good enough" running back worth taking in late Round 4 in deeper drafts (14-plus teams) and Round 5 in standard leagues.
It's a risky choice, but compared to Ahmad Bradshaw, Rashard Mendenhall, Eddie Lacy and Darren McFadden, does it really matter?