Ryan Mathews a Bust? UT Article

[captaind]

[Fleet]

He needs to prove me wrong. Im not going to place blame solely on the OL. Hes missed wide open holes. Really hope he pans out under MM.

[Beerman]

Wish I had more faith in this guy. Hope he proves me wrong.

[cyberbolt]

Wish I had more faith in this guy. Hope he proves me wrong.

This. Not counting on him being anything special, but at least decent and able to last a season would be better than he's shown so far.

[Fleet]

Great thing is based on recent drafts is that we can probably replace him without having to use a 1st rounder. RBs top end value is pretty low these days.

[BoltBalls]

Great thing is based on recent drafts is that we can probably replace him without having to use a 1st rounder. RBs top end value is pretty low these days.

Agreed, a player would need to be the second coming of LT or AP going into the draft to be really worth their value as a 1st round RB these days. CJ Spiller was drafted 9th overall in the same draft as Mathews and even though he has shown flashes of greatness, his value is nowhere near worth that high of a pick IMO.

[Mister Hoarse]

The culture change needs to start by weeding out thin skinned players.

[Beerman]

RM didn't make LT's list of top backs...I'm shocked and outraged!

[cyberbolt]

The culture change needs to start by weeding out thin skinned players.

Yep. Mathews has always seemed like a hurt little boy to me when things don't go his way. One fuck up just compounds it and his whole psyche is crushed.

[RobH]

I think there's no denying that he has the athletic talent to be an extremely productive back. I'm also pretty sure that he's not very intelligent and lacks common sense, both of which are kind of important in an RB. I just think that Norv's system was confusing for him, and maybe his teachers of the system just couldn't get him to understand his assignments. I can remember several times Rivers looking at him in frustration, because you know Mathews ran the wrong route or screwed up an assignment in other ways. I'm hoping and thinking that McCoy realizes his mental deficiencies and will tailor his assignments to keep them at a minimum. Basically, Ryan, hit the four hole kinda stuff. I watch some of the things he does on the field, and I can't help but think that he could have a break out year if injuries and mental mistakes are cut back. I'm sure hoping so.

[Steve]

He needs to prove me wrong. Im not going to place blame solely on the OL. Hes missed wide open holes. Really hope he pans out under MM.

Fleet,

If you go back and watch some of those, you see that a lot of the holes he makes (and a lot of his poor decisions in general) come on plays where we are doing power blocking. Mathews was pretty effective running behind our zone blocking plays, which we did far more of to accommodate him then we have in the past. The toughness is still a big problem, but I think a smaller playbook and different staff could fix a lot of his problems and relieve him from being dazed and confused.

[Fleet]

Fleet,

If you go back and watch some of those, you see that a lot of the holes he makes (and a lot of his poor decisions in general) come on plays where we are doing power blocking. Mathews was pretty effective running behind our zone blocking plays, which we did far more of to accommodate him then we have in the past. The toughness is still a big problem, but I think a smaller playbook and different staff could fix a lot of his problems and relieve him from being dazed and confused.

I hope your right bro. We really need to get him going somehow. Problem is i think he hates it here. He just dosnt sound focused at all. Coming out with the "Fans are wishing AIDs on me" bullshit shouldnt be made public. I think hes probably not very close with the guys on the team. I have said that i think hes struggling mentally. He needs to get his head on straight and play up to the level that was expected out of him.

And sorry i didnt see your post. Sort of late.