Thursday Night Football: Should You Play Ryan Mathews Tonight?

Obviously the answer to the question depends on who your alternatives are. For argument’s sakes let’s take a look at Mathews.

He has been practicing and is expected to play in tonight’s game against the Raiders, who rank 29th in the league with 139.6 rushing yards allowed per game. They are also one of seven teams to allow nine rushing touchdowns.

Mathews is expected to get a fair share of looks tonight but Mike Tolbert will certainly play a significant role as well.

While Mathews hasn’t scored since Week Three, only has three touchdowns on the year, and has only scored in two games, he does his damage with his total yardage. In seven games he’s averaging 121.6 total ypg. He’s been particularly effective in PPR league averaging 4.3 catches per game.

Aside from the injury there is a little reason for pause. Mathews only averaged 88.5 total yards in his last two games. While that is still a solid number, not to mention the ten catches he had for PPR owners, it’s a far cry from the 134.8 total yards and 0.6 TDs he averaged in the first five games.

In standard scoring leagues that’s 17.08 points in the five games before the bye and 8.85 (8.23 point difference) in his last two games.

Is it enough to sit him? Probably not unless you have a quality option to play in his place. It’s just something to keep in mind.

Also check out:.

• Week 10 Fantasy Football QB Rankings
• Week 10 Fantasy Football RB Rankings
• Week 10 Fantasy Football WR Rankings
• Week 10 Fantasy Football TE Rankings
• Week 10 Fantasy Football DEF Rankings