I need some advice. I'm in a FF draft tomorrow and I have the #1 pick. Should I take Ryan Matthews of the Chargers, Grant of the Packers, or Stewart of the Panthers? Thanks.
it has to be his first pick cause no one in their right might would take any of those guys #1 overall
Yes. This is the #1 pick overall. I forgot to mention that this a keeper league, so some of the bigger names are already on other teams. I have already: Brees-NO Witten-DALL L. Moore-NO K. Walter-HOUS M. Barber-DALL Thanks. **********Automerged Doublepost********** He's not available. On another team.
Im assuming this is some kind of keeper league if those are your selections. I personally would take Grant, I don't think he gets enough credit. He's the undisputed #1 back who's going to get the vast bulk of the carries in and out of the RZ, and that's rare these days. Matthews is unproven and they didnt tag Sproles to not get him the ball...I like Stewart but I don't think that both him and DeAngelo are both going to keep putting up starting-caliber #'s. Just my 2 pennies.
Ok, well if that's the case then my money would be on Grant. He got less touches last year but was able to stay fresh and be more productive than in the past. I think of the three he'll have a better year. Stewart will play second fiddle to DeAngelo Williams and Ryan Mathews with be splitting with Darren Sproles on a team that is more pass happy than they were in the past.
this is a keeper league, while Grant may a few more points this year and that is a maybe. Matthews will be a beast for years to come and is a much better pick for a keeper league.
In the senario you present, I would say its a toss up between Grant and Mathews. Always take a top dog over a second fiddle Grant is the much safer bet, but while he is riskier, Matthews could put up much better numbers
Matthews over Grant. Matthews will get a TON of carries inside the 10...last season the Chargers ran the ball the most out of any team. The knock on Matthews is that he has had a lot of injuries so that's something to think about, but it is a keeper league and Matthews has more value than Grant in the long run. THe Packers are obviously one of the better offenses in the league and like to throw the ball and Grant is crap catching the ball. That will hurt him a little bit (a lot if you are in a PPR league.) He'll get a lot of carries though. But Rodgers has a history of running so he might steal some short yardage TD's from Grant - Rivers barely ever runs. In the last 2 years, Grant has scored less than half of the Packers rushing TD's. I'd definitely go with Matthews.
Personally, for a keeper league, I'd go with Stewart no questions asked. Its not going to be long before he becomes the #1 guy in Carolina, if not elsewhere, and he's already proven how dominant he is when given his fair share of carries. One-two punches never last for very long, especially when both are as talented as those two. Sure, this year he'll probably share more playing time than either of the other 2 options, but he's easily the most talented, and despite his limited opportunities, he's a TD machine. For that reason, I honestly think he'll even score the most points of the 3 this season. Yeah, down the road Mathews might prove to be a good running back, but its always seemed to me that 1 cut running backs like him hardly ever prove to be much more than average starters at best in the pros, and if they do its usually several years after they were drafted (see: Thomas Jones' career, as well as Donald Brown's rookie production on a great team). Nothing against him, he has just as good a chance as the next guy, but its always a stretch to put any kind of weight behind a rookie on a fantasy team, especially given the differential between those that fail and those that succeed. If it were me, I'd be taking Stewart by a long shot, and Grant would be my 2nd choice.
Thanks a lot for the advice, everyone. For the record, I went ahead and took Matthews. In this keeper league I'm in, I get a rookie exemption. So, if he doesn't do well this year, maybe he will next year.