He looks good as an NFL RB but it likely won't compute to fantasy stats. Here is a case where talent is losing out to opportunity.
I was mulling over starting him this week so checked out some things in depth and came away convinced he'd remain on my bench:
In the passing game he had half his catches in one game.
In any league he's a non-factor in the red zone. He's had exactly one carry inside the 15 yard line this year. Not a single carry inside the 5.
This all adds up to the kind of game we saw last week where he you have a RB who can run for 100 yards and get you measly 10 points.
FWIW, he's had 6 carries in the red zone and 2 receptions. Obviously 0 carries inside the 5. He is their best short yardage back with 4 carries for 9 yards on 3rd and 2 or less.
Ronnie Brown has 3 carries for -2 yards inside the 5 and 4 carries for 5 yards between the 6 and 20 yard lines, as well as 2 receptions.
Woodhead has 2 rushes for 3 yards inside the 5 and 1 rec. He's also had 6 rushes and 9 receptions from the 6 to 20 yard lines. He's had 2 carries for 4 yards on 3rd and 2 or less. I guess they were trying to catch the defense offguard on those and it seems it worked.
Woodhead has also allowed 2 sacks and a pressure whereas Mathews has allowed zero of either (stats courtesy of JWB). At some point SD is going to realize that Mathews has more utility than just a 1st down battering ram and they'll realize that if he's their 1st down battering ram and 3rd and short battering ram then maybe he should be used at the goal line... but I guess it'll take some time for him to gain his coach's trust after fumbling earlier this year.
I'm guessing because he was in on more passing plays ? Don't know, just wondering. Mathews did look tough running.
great point. They barely pass the ball when Ryan is in, so you can't compare apples to oranges.
Per PFF, here are how the SD RBs have performed this year on pass blocking snaps:
Brown - 0 pressures on 22 snaps
Woodhead - 3 pressures (2 sacks, 1 hurry) on 19 snaps
Mathews - 0 pressures on 7 snaps
McClain - 0 pressures on 4 snaps
Regardless of what you think of Mathews, Woodhead has performed poorly as a pass blocker. It's not surprising, given how small he is. He just isn't good at it. But they are already asking him to do it on the lowest percentage (14.2%) of pass plays of any of the RBs, it's just that Woodhead has been in for a lot more pass plays than the other RBs:
Woodhead - 133
Brown - 56
Mathews - 46
McClain - 12
It's at least possible this will eventually result in Woodhead seeing fewer pass plays and Mathews seeing more. That is what should happen. Woodhead is a good receiver, but so is Mathews. Mathews has proven that the previous 2 seasons, when he combined for 89 receptions in 26 games and averaged 7.9 ypc, which is higher than Woodhead is averaging this season.
There is a big sample size discrepancy, but here is how they have performed as receivers this year:
Woodhead 36 catches, 7.4 ypc, 2 drops, 5.6 YAC/rec
Mathews 7 catches, 9.4 ypc, 0 drops, 8.7 YAC/rec
Looking at that, Mathews merits more looks. And here's another thing. People talk about Mathews having a fumbling problem. He has 1 fumble in 96 touches this season. Meanwhile, Woodhead has 2 fumbles in 73 touches.
Bottom line, the coaches are underusing Mathews. And I think it's fair to believe that if he continues playing well with the opportunities he is given, they will start to give him more touches going forward.