Project Matthews

[Charged up]

I'm on the fence with RM. I would love to see him excel. What baffles me is enough force was created to snap his clavicle, twice... There were and are so many people saying he's a chinadoll. Well the floor is littered with potential good running backs through the decades. I think RM would have had a solid season last year if it wasn't for his injuries. Both hits you could just see the force driving him into the ground. I felt bad for him.

I think he and Philip are in the same boat this year. Produce or begone.

[TTK]

I get down on Mathews too, he has a hard time staying healthy and I think he needs to be mentally tougher, I think he is kind of dumb (didn't know the playbook well enough) and not dedicated/professional enough (came in out of shape one year and was gassed in the gassers), he is immature and says the right stuff but he does not DO the right stuff.

But he has the talent, he is explosive (unreal explosiveness), has outstanding balance (still remember his 1st run in pre-season against the Bears and he keeps going after Urlacher had he for no yards, gains yards after 1st contact and runs well in space ... a real natural runner ... And while it is easy to forget, there are not 5 other RB's in the NFL who can do this, after partying til 3 am the night before at Pacific Beach ...

Oh yeah and gets more yards/TD's AFTER solid contact ...

Totally agree. He's oozing with talent but it's a shame he just doesn't have the other traits to put it all together, especially between the ears. Maybe the light bulb turns on this year but I'm not counting on it.

[RTPbolt]

To me he has probowl talent but just hasnt stayed healthy. He is progressing but that will get stunted when you cant practice. Give him a hole and he is dangerous a north south runner ive seen in some time. Armor him up this year, make him take his calcium supplements and go...if he goes down oh well at least we have Woodhead.

[floydefisher]

Ditto....Matthews is not a starter, but can be valuable ala Ronnie Harmon.

Until they correct his role on the team, I don't expect much good out of him.

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Aside from all his ability the question I have to come back to is how can he run between the tackles if he cant take the punishment. To be a rb on 1st and 2nd down you have to be able to do that.

My second question is how can he be a three down back if his QB cant trust him to pick up his blitz assignment?

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

If he cannot answer at least one of those questions what good is dispite his potential?

[HoneDogNoglet]

If he cannot answer at least one of those questions what good is dispite his potential?

That's why I said my projection would come off as best case. But if he can play 14 games as a 2 down back do you think he gets 1000 and 6?

[Fleet]

I still think the bulk of his running issues are mental related. Seems to be worried about the periphery a little to much. I think hes been in his head since day one. Needs to let the fans opinions go and start working on his game. If its my career im in full blown "save it" mode. Meaning im probably chilling out a bit more and not partying. 100% focused on me and my game. Not even reading my twitter and giving 2 shits what fans think. If he wants to model his game after LT doing what he did off the field is a good start. No other RB was more solid mentally than LT.

[floydefisher]

Aside from all his ability the question I have to come back to is how can he run between the tackles if he cant take the punishment. To be a rb on 1st and 2nd down you have to be able to do that.

My second question is how can he be a three down back if his QB cant trust him to pick up his blitz assignment?

Ronnie Harmon was not a pass blocker, but was a change of pace back for Natrone Means, and a third down pass catching specialist.

That is the role I see that he's suited for. Not a total bust, but he's definitely not LT either.

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

But who is our main RB? Does Mathews back up Woodheaf or the other way around. Brown also makes him a backuo as Brown is better in pass protection. So as of now Mathews is third on the depth chart for third down duty and short yardage duty. Id use him between the 20's on 1st and 2nd down, untill he improves in the other aria's of his game.

[Mister Hoarse]

I don't think he's out of the NFL a year from now. Someone else will take a flyer on him because of film. Don't see him here though, unless he remakes himself as a reliable RB.

[Steve]

I'm not sure what a starting RB is anymore. These days, there are only a couple of featured RB in the NFL, everyone else is a role player.

As far as Mathews goes, I think he could really benefit to the change of scheme. He really struggled with the mental side of Norv's offense, and proved he is not a good power (scheme), RB. He is a 1 cut RB, and if you watch his running on the zone plays, he was pretty effective. It would also benefit in the simplification in pass protection that comes with zone blocking. And now that we are going to bigger OL, there is a good chance we can wear down some of the defenses we play, and really improve the pass blocking prior to the 4th qtr.

The big thing he needs to do is hold onto the damn ball. He has the OJ Simpson, pump your arms style to build speed more quickly, but it lets the ball hang out and that is when it usually gets knocked lose. It is pretty tough to forced a fumble if he kept 3 points of contact on the ball at all times. Mathews needs to get better about that, even it it means not accelerating quite as fast into the open field.