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Most of you know I went to Fresno St. Bulldogs football is a passion of mine and I’ve loved watching Mathews the last 3 years. I’ve had the chance to meet him and he’s a really nice guy. I’m not too wild about a lot of the offensive players headed into next year’s draft and the potential fantasy impact that they’d have, but Mathews is not one of those players. If he goes to the right team, he could definitely be a 20+ carry back in the NFL. CJ Spiller may have more flash and get drafted higher than Mathews, but should Mathews go to a playoff team picking in the late 1st round like SD, NE, or GB, he could be fantasy gold and next year’s #1 fantasy rookie. For about Mathews draft stock, check out this awesome preview by my friends over at RookieBlitz.com.

Article by Brandon LaClair of RookieBlitz.com, follow Rookie Blitz on Twitter

We will take a look at Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews as he enters the 2010 NFL Draft. We’ll examine his strengths/weaknesses, college career and our expectations for his upcoming NFL career.

Strengths

• Size: At 5-11, 218 lbs, Mathews has premium size for the beating he will endure once he steps foot into the league.  His solid frame will enable him to deliver the hit and take the hit and the durability to withstand a season’s worth of it.
• Patience: In many instances, college running backs don’t allow the offensive line time to open lanes to run through, but Mathews is different.  He allows the play to develop and manipulates his running lanes with great precision.
• Possession skills: In three years at Fresno State, Mathews has never fumbled the football.  When combined with his size and strength, Mathews is a very intriguing prospect as he enters the draft.

Weaknesses

• Receiving: Inconsistency as a pass catcher has been detrimental to Mathews’ game in college as he has only caught 19 balls in his career.  While NFL running backs can still have a level of success with possessing very limited receiving skills, it would have been beneficial for Mathews’ draft stock if he could have displayed a level of commitment to that aspect of his game.
• Injury prone: Physical running backs tend to have a difficulty staying healthy at times because of the overwhelming beating they tolerate on game days.  This phenomenon is true with Mathews as well as others.  Mathews has missed seven games during his college football tenure, five of which occurred in 2008.  In the league, the pounding will be much worse. Mathews must play with pain and endure the punishment to stay relevant in a league booming with talented players waiting to take a starting role away from another.
• Speed: While Mathews burst through the hole of the defense is as good as anyone in the nation, his top-end speed is lacking.  While overall speed is important, I don’t foresee this being an issue in the pro game because while Mathews has the ability to be an every down back to tire the defense, it’s almost assured that there will be a two-back system where Mathews ends up landing.  Hopefully for the franchise that selects him, the other running back to assist Mathews will be a speedy, versatile player that is a change of pace to the bruising style that Mathews provides, a player such a Darren Sproles.

(All statistical information obtained from ESPN.com and Wikipedia.com

Matthews had a very productive college career.  In his first two seasons, Mathews shared the rushing load; still, he managed to provide two very quality seasons.  In total, Mathews rushed 258 times for 1,472 yards and 20 touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards-per-carry.

His junior year propelled the young 21-year-old into a stratosphere where only the best players in the country reside.  The outstanding season provided 276 rushes for 1,808 yards and 19 touchdowns.  In 2009, Mathews only registered one game where he rushed for under 106 yards rushing. He had seven rushes of 50+ yards.  He rushed for over 150 yards four times, and two games exceeding 200 yards rushing. Mathews averaged 6.6 yards per carry, and 150.7 yards per game (YPC), which led the nation.

Mathews finished with 534 rushes for 3,280 yards and 39 touchdowns.

This year’s rushing class is very deep with many immense talents that are ready to showcase their athletic prowess for the team that selects them.  There are many varieties of running backs in the draft, but Mathews relates to Dwyer because of their straight-ahead rushing style, leaving both of them vulnerable to injury.

His pure rushing knowledge and capabilities should have him ranked as one of the Top-5 rushers in the nation. Mathew’s balance, intelligence, passion and possession skills are implausible gifts, and will serve him well as he enters the NFL.

Injuries will be a concern in the league as knee, ankle, and foot problems significant limited his career, mostly in the 2008 season.  He also had a difficult time catching the ball in college, but it is more imperative in the league because of shutdown secondary’s that can limit receivers and at times the quarterback’s only option would to be to check it down to player such as Mathews, and he better be produce when presented with the opportunity, or his NFL career could be vastly limited.

Mathews is one of the more powerful and explosive players in the nation who literally exploded on the scene and took the college football world by storm.  He has scored 39 touchdowns in 32 career games played, most of those while sharing carries for two of those years.  Mathews is a player that has a great asset of throwing a great stiff-arm, when combined with his strength will make smaller defensive backs think twice before attempting to make a tackle on him.

If Mathews can stay healthy, he will be the most impressive running back prospect to come out of college in a long time.  He has all the tools and passion to be a huge success in the NFL.  I fully expect that within two years, he will be a main contributor as a #1 running back in the league.