When San Diego selected Fresno State's Ryan Mathews in the first round of April's draft, the rookie immediately became an intriguing fantasy player, as the Chargers had released LaDanian Tomlinson and needed a feature back. San Diego rookies are scheduled to report to training camp on July 25, but as we all know, many rookies show up later than they are supposed to after their contracts are finally worked out. Mathews doesn't like the thought of holding out.
"My main thing is to get into camp as soon as possible," Mathews said. "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. I’m looking ahead, to winning that last game of the year, the Super Bowl."
Mathews has been through minicamp, and he was not overwhelmed. He felt he fit in nicely.
“When I first got here, I didn’t know what to expect, but I got more and more comfortable, Mathews stated. "It’s so much faster. They threw a lot at me, but I picked up everything fast. I knew I should be playing with those guys after I got here. I didn’t struggle. It was good. A running back has to be confident; you can’t second-guess."
Mathews is currently at 14 in 4for4's rankings and has generated a lot of buzz in the fantasy football world. His goal of reporting to camp on time enhances his value. He has the potential to produce a big rookie season, but if you want to draft him, you are going to have to select him pretty early. His current ADP has him going late in the second round of a 12 team draft and early in the third round of a 10 team draft.
