Ryan Mathews is the top fantasy football RB draft option for the San Diego Chargers over Danny Woodhead and Donald Brown in PPR leagues and the team has a number of draft sleepers this year with Keenan Allen, Malcom Floyd and Ladarius Green for quarterback Philip Rivers, as he is coming off of a strong year into 2014 and could be a major surprise in FF leagues.
Mathews is coming in as the starter and he had a great season last year after staying healthy for the first time in his career and that makes him a strong option in PPR leagues. Mathews is a good draft pick, but owners would be wise to also snag either Danny Woodhead or Donald Brown, as they are good handcuff options and with Mathews potentially an injury risk, getting one of those players as a backup is a must. The team uses their RBs a lot out of the backfield and that makes those players solid in PPR leagues.
Mathews played in all 16 games last season and he had a career best 1255 yards and he also was solid with 26 catches for 189 yards. Mathews has not been used as much in passing downs with Woodhead there, as he had gone down from 50 catches, to 39 to 26 last season, but he still can contribute out of the backfield. Mathews has looked good in the preseason and he is a good draft option past all those top RB players in the early rounds.
Danny Woodhead signed an extension with the Chargers and he has acclimated well to this offense and he has been a safety net for Philip Rivers. Even with Donald Brown now there, Woodhead should be a strong player in PPR leagues, as he is coming off of a career season with his second best high in rushing yards and career best numbers with 76 catches for 605 yards. Woodhead should be in that mix again and it comes after he made 40 catches the previous season and he should be more productive this year.
Donald Brown may take away some points from Woodhead, but he is expected to be the third running back behind him and Mathews. Browns is coming off of one of his best seasons, rushing for 537 yards while playing in all 16 games for the Colts and he also had 27 catches for 214 yards, which were career highs for him. The three headed monster of RBs here should be good for the offense and fantasy owners should grab one handcuff with Mathews.
Eddie Royal and Malcom Floyd are options behind Keenan Allen, but Allen is the top name among WRs for Rivers and he is coming off of a great season as a rookie. Floyd was injured last season and missed the entire year apart from two games, but he is back healthy and reports have him looking very good in training camp. Floyd had just six catches for 149 yards last season, but over the past two years he set career highs, including with 56 catches in 2012 and 856 yards in 2011. Eddie Royal is the player likely to suffer with Floyd coming back.
