Every expert say Tolbert is the SD back to own. Matthews wasn't worth a 3rd pick, even in your 14 team league. I think a Tolbert injury is the only way you will get your value for him.
10 team STD yahoo league: -Dallas Clark taken at the top of the 2nd round. (I took Witten at the end of the 6th). -2 kickers (Crosby, Kaeding) in the 6th round! I don't know what some people are thinking sometimes......
The only crazy reaches in my league were Matt Ryan in Round 3 (lol) and the guy who drafted David Garrard (after he had been cut). Yes, Eli Manning is going to suck this year, and I wouldn't even draft him as a backup QB in round 9. People who reached for him are going to regret it. Also anybody who drafts a kicker earlier than the 13th or 14th round is reaching, regardless of who that kicker is. Not a reach: Philip Rivers in the 1st round, Antonio Gates in the 2nd, Michael Vick in top 5 (that's a play to win it all pick IMO).
Not saying it is the be all and end all, but Ryan Mathews is rated 19th at rotowire. Tolbert is 38th. Also, of the running back rankings at espn: http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=11ranksWeek1RB Only Mathew Barry rates Tolbert higher than Mathews. Here is Mathew Barry's reasoning: San Diego Chargers: Mike Tolbert, who went four rounds later than Ryan Mathews, has more fantasy points at the end of the year. My thinking: Tolbert is the better blocker and will be in on more passing downs, they'll ultimately wind up splitting carries and Tolbert is the goal- line back. Mathews has yet to prove anything. I think that based on what he is saying, you can at best put Tolbert as a sleeper pick. But to say that Tolbert is the number 1 guy to own in SD for running backs is going a little bit far. Also, I will say this about Barry's reasoning. He marks it as a given that Tolbert will get the lion share of the passing downs, yet SD has been working with Mathews to make him more of a pass receiving back. Sure, historically, Tolbert is better at it, but Mathews is by far the more electric back. The other point is that if you didn't draft mathews in the 3rd or early 4th round you weren't going to draft him at all. Cendric Bensen, and Tim Hightower, for example, went in the 4th round and shortly after that Bennie was off the board. By the end of the 5th round, nobody was left.
ESPN lol. Might as well get stock tips from TMZ. yahoo's guys are the best free readers out there in terms of fantasy. The genius guys are smart enough to charge money for their services.
If you pay attention to rankings (I read them out of curiosity), they have Tolbert 23rd and Mathews 27th this week.
Well I can't deny that I think that some of their reasoning is flawed. Maybe it is because I own Mathews and I a projecting my own hype onto him. They say that Mathews hasn't proved nothing, well what has tolbert proved? I think this is just a case where a lot of people got burned by mathews last year and since he was so hyped last year that the reverse is happening this year. Tolbert is basically a journeyman back that is getting overhyped by a combination of a subpar Mathews season and the fact that he dons the "sleeper" tag. Hell, in 12 injury-riddled games Mathews still had 7 tds to tolberts 11 tds. If Tolbert were the only back in SD, they'd be looking for another quality back to carry the load.
There is some merit to what you are saying, but I still wouldn't invest anything higher than a 5th in Mathews based on the concerns I have already stated.
I took Neil rackers in the 12th round cause I'm a moron and am in love with the texans. Some kid took bent Tate in the 4th. N some cougs took Kevin moon in the 3rd..
It's more than that. Tolbert was very effective, especially in goal line situations. No matter how healthy Mathews is, Tolbert is still the better goal line back. Plus, he's better at pass protection so he's going to be on the field at other times as well, regardless. It's for the same reason, for example, that I don't like Knowshon Moreno at all this year, because he has a Tolbert-type vulture too in Willis McGahee. Even if Mathews plays at the top of his potential, his production will be handicapped by the presence of Tolbert. You wonder why the same Ray Rice that turned in a relatively subpar performance last year is suddenly being hyped this year as a top 2-3 producer? It's simple: Willis McGahee is gone.
someone took the ravens D/ST in the 3rd or 4th round, dont remember. and picking vick at no.1, I dont think he should be up there.
As I said before, I recognize that some experts (Mathew Berry, for example) are making those very astute points. In my prior post which you can read above I think I posted, almost word for word what you just said about Tolbert. But like I said, I'll have to disagree with the absoluteness of the statements that seem to suggest that those that own Mathews are fools for not recognizing that the all the fantasy points going forward in the San Diego backfield will be Tolberts. My point is that those that take tolbert as that kind of back are taking his sleeper tag and turning it into something he isn't. You mentioned Ray Rice. Last year, Ray Rice had 245 points in my ppr league which was easily in line with the top 2 or 3 backs not named Arian Foster. You wanna know how many points Old man Willis got? I didn't think you did. The reason why I am illustrating this is because it explains a whole lot about the Mathews-Tolbert time share. People who want to "educate" us Mathews owners I for one believe decide to disregard that Mathews is the more dynamic back by far on that team. And, as I said before, this may stem from the fact that a bunch of people were burned last year because of him. I also believe that even the more staunch denouncers of Ryan Mathews have to agree that San Diego is going to, at the very least, give him more carries than they give Tolbert for the most part. I mean Mathews will be the starting back, and so he is going to get his opportunities to gain yardage, and based on last year's numbers it is certainly not out of the question that he gains 1000 yards with 10 tds. I can't say the same about Tolbert, and that's why I like having Mathews rather than him.
Mathews is a sleeper this year compared to where he was projecting last year. Some people were taking him as the 6th RB overall last season.
Also, just to cement what I am saying which flies in the face of Mathew Berry is saying. This quote comes from San Diego-Union Tribune, August 22. Kudos for Mathews The early training camp concerns about Ryan Mathews’ fitness are gone, especially after he rushed seven times for 35 yards, including a spectacular 15-yard touchdown, against Dallas. Turner said Mathews had an “outstanding” game. “He’s going to get a chance to show he’s in great shape because he’s going to get opportunities,” Turner said. “I love what we’re doing. I love the combination of he and (Mike) Tolbert. “Ryan is making great progress in the passing game and in the protection process, the third-down stuff. He had four or five outstanding plays in the scrimmages in the third-down packages.”
