Moreno vs. Matthews

[casper87 0]

Here's the first of a couple of these I will post. Please give some details as to why you feel what you feel. Both of these players are young backs that I would love to see do well because I think both are kinda under the radar (in my league) and would love to get them as a value pick. If you had a shot at both, who would you take and when would you take them? (what round)

[KSB2424 3,083]

I think both will produce very similar fantasy numbers in 2010 (based on my projections). Considering you can get Moreno a full round later than Matthews (sometimes even later) then I will more than likely end up Knowshon on my team than Ryan.

[gimethedamnball 2]

I think Moreno will end up with better numbers at the end of the year and considering people are taking Matthews a full round earlier, would definitely wait for the better player. Don't get me wrong, I think Matthews will do OK, but as of today there are some question marks with the o line and receiving group. If they end up resolving Mcneils contract dispute by the time training camp starts, then I can see Matthews as a definite higher upside player warranting the higher ADP but too much uncertainty for me. I think Moreno will do very well this year and with a change from less zone blocking to more power run blocking will suit his running style. He is a bigger back than Buckhalter and should assume goal line carries also. As long as Orton can maintain drives and the receiving corps steps up, Moreno should put up double digit TD's and be a solid RB2 maybe RB1. Matthews is being drafted as a 1 and to me it is too high without any body of work to go by and question marks around the offense.

[Favre4Pres 0]

I'd go with Moreno, for sure.

 

This point of the fantasy season is still about potential. We all know what Matthews might live up to in San Diego, a la, LT. For this reason, Matthews is getting picked much higher. Until I see him play, and know the makeup of the SD offense, I remain hesitant. I know Matthews can catch the ball, good for him he plays in the NFL, but he won't be near as effective as Sproles. Who got their franchise tag. All things considered, Matthews currently sits as a RB2.

 

Moreno's game, on the other hand, can be judged since we've seen him play in the NFL. Mind you this guy was a freak is college, far better than Matthews. In denver Moreno is poised to pick up alot of carries in a run heavy system. He'll also get alot of goalline touches. After a year of dealing with dents and dings of a 17 week NFL season he now knows how to prepare himself. He'll carry this offense and yours and be a low RB1. The one thing in his way from having a great season is the unknowns at WR and QB. Heck with Tebow under center they could just run option and easily have 2 1000 yd rushers. Lots of choices for McDaniels but he'll find a way to make it work. All things considered and you can draft Moreno a round later. Thats significant bang for your buck.

[Chargersin08 0]

Moreno, not saying I don't think Mathews will be good. Moreno has a year under his belt and has shown he can run decently in this league. I think it will be close, but if it's true Mathews is going a round earlier than Moreno, then Moreno is the better pick by sheer value. Another thing I've noticed is that Moreno's numbers don't look that strong, he didn't reach 1000 yards, sub-4.0 ypc, only 7 tds, but if you look deeper, he hit a huge rookie wall in week 14 and only managed 2.7, 2.2, 2.0, and 3.6 ypc in his last 4 games, against only one good defense: Philly compared to Indy, KC, and Oakland.

[MicktheGreat 1]

I'd go with Moreno too.

 

Personally, I see both Matthews and Moreno having pretty good seasons. I think Matthews may end up with slightly better stats at the end of the year; however, as others have said, you can get Moreno much later than Matthews -- which makes Moreno the better value. Right now, you've probably got to spend a 2nd rounder to get Matthews, which I think is too high. I'd rather try to grab a stud WR in the 2nd round and hope that I can nab Moreno in the 3rd-4th round.

 

[casper87 0]

Thanks--I find it interesting that although Matthews has the hype factor he isn't as well regarded by the "everyday Joe". I was hoping to find out something about Matthews that really made sense to me (in regards to why he is so highly sought after) To me, Jahvid Best might just have a better year than Matthews. Who knows--that's why they play the game.

[Chargersin08 0]

Thanks--I find it interesting that although Matthews has the hype factor he isn't as well regarded by the "everyday Joe". I was hoping to find out something about Matthews that really made sense to me (in regards to why he is so highly sought after) To me, Jahvid Best might just have a better year than Matthews. Who knows--that's why they play the game.

Mathews is the new guy, thus the hype. Living in SD, I know he'll go too high in my draft, so I've pretty much resigned to knowing I won't draft him, unless somehow he should fall to where I would feel comfortable taking him.

 

I don't buy Jahvid Best having a better year than Mathews, San Diego has the more dynamic offense, and they will be ahead in a lot more games than the lowly Lions will, meaning Mathews will be allowed to grind the game out and get those fruitful endgame carries, and Jahvid Best will find his team behind most of the time, throwing downfield to try and get back into the game. Add in the injury history, coupled with his small stature (it wouldn't be a surprise if he didn't make it 16 games), along with the fact he might be headed into a full-on committee situation with Maurice Morris and Kevin Smith if he recovers from his knee injury well, and I don't see how he will manage to put up better numbers than Mathews.

[Boston Three Party 6]

From what I've read so far (not alot yet) - I don't like Denver's line so I'm not high on Moreno as much as I was coming into say - June.

 

I'd rather take the gamble on Matthews - guaranteed carries and transitioning while still on the West Coast. Moreno will have the carries too - and his ADP is alot better in terms of sleeper RB1 Ray-Rice stats - which could happen.

 

I'll wait til' training camp sets in to really decide.

[GridIronAssassin#1 0]

I think Ryan Mathews is a class above Knowshon. We've seen what Moreno brings to the table already. Do you like those numbers? Sure, one can say Moreno will get more work now that Brandon Marshall is gone, but are you a believer in Moreno's durability? I like the fact that San Diego is a realistic superbowl candidate team with a great offense. We know that Ryan Mathews will have the opportunities inside the redzone to have several multiple touchdown games. Unless it's a team putting up great defensive game, it should be no problem expecting a 2 touchdown, 100 yards rushing, and extra receiving yards on top of that for Ryan Mathews. I think it's night and day difference where Mathews easily finishes top 5 as running back and Moreno struggles to finish top 20.

[BobSanders_33 127]

I think Ryan Mathews is a class above Knowshon. We've seen what Moreno brings to the table already. Do you like those numbers? Sure, one can say Moreno will get more work now that Brandon Marshall is gone, but are you a believer in Moreno's durability? I like the fact that San Diego is a realistic superbowl candidate team with a great offense. We know that Ryan Mathews will have the opportunities inside the redzone to have several multiple touchdown games. Unless it's a team putting up great defensive game, it should be no problem expecting a 2 touchdown, 100 yards rushing, and extra receiving yards on top of that for Ryan Mathews. I think it's night and day difference where Mathews easily finishes top 5 as running back and Moreno struggles to finish top 20.

 

I agree that Moreno has done nothing to impress me. Maybe its just that he hit a huge hall but as a rule I never draft a guy who averaged less than 4 yards/carry the year before. Moreno also plays on a team that has huge questions in the passing game. I'll take a back that plays on a team that has an offense that will get the ball into the redzone in San Diego. A washed up LT was able to get in the endzone 12 times and he would go down if a breeze touched his shoelace.

[Homerj24 0]

When evaluating Moreno's numbers from last season, let's remember that he was a late show to camp & then sprained his knee. He was also learning a new playbook in an offense with a new head coach. I think that we can expect his numbers to improve greatly. There was a reason why he was taken as high as he was in the draft. The kids was an excellent runner in college and translates well to the NFL. The only negative that should be considered here would be that Tebow may steal some GL carries .... or so it's being speculated. With Marshall gone too, I could see his more passes thrown his way as well. I really like Moreno for this season.

[giraldi02 470]

The biggest question to me regarding both players is their competition. Darren Sproles and Correll Buckhalter.

 

Buckhalter...when healthy last season, was the clear better RB in Denver. The dude averaged nearly 5.5 yds per carry. This is a situation that I will be watching closely as training camps and pre-season gets underway. Moreno is the future, but the NFL is a win-now league and the potential RBBC might exist if Bucky can stay healthy.

 

As for the situation in San Diego...Ryan Matthews is going to need to learn how to pick up the blitz and defend the prized possession at QB. The biggest problem with rookie running backs is that they often have problems in passing situations protecting their quarterbacks from the blitz. LeSean McCoy lost countless snaps last season to Leonard Weaver due to his inability to read blitzes correctly. If Matthews can't do this, Sproles will be playing a much bigger role behind an already suspect O-Line with it's number one receiver gone for at least the first three games.

 

I think both players shouldn't be drafted until the late third or early fourth round...but if you're going to take one, I'd take Moreno by an inch. Either way, both should be RB2s

[Corky76 2]

The biggest question to me regarding both players is their competition. Darren Sproles and Correll Buckhalter.

 

Buckhalter...when healthy last season, was the clear better RB in Denver. The dude averaged nearly 5.5 yds per carry. This is a situation that I will be watching closely as training camps and pre-season gets underway. Moreno is the future, but the NFL is a win-now league and the potential RBBC might exist if Bucky can stay healthy.

 

As for the situation in San Diego...Ryan Matthews is going to need to learn how to pick up the blitz and defend the prized possession at QB. The biggest problem with rookie running backs is that they often have problems in passing situations protecting their quarterbacks from the blitz. LeSean McCoy lost countless snaps last season to Leonard Weaver due to his inability to read blitzes correctly. If Matthews can't do this, Sproles will be playing a much bigger role behind an already suspect O-Line with it's number one receiver gone for at least the first three games.

 

I think both players shouldn't be drafted until the late third or early fourth round...but if you're going to take one, I'd take Moreno by an inch. Either way, both should be RB2s

 

I agree almost completely with this. However, a couple key points left out.....

 

Sproles couldn't block in passing situations, which is why LT got as much playing time as he did. LT was quite obvioulsy the inferior runner but at the same time the superior blocker. That is the only reason Sproles didn't get almost all the action last year. Matthews doesn't have to be the best blocker in the world, but simply better than Sproles to stay in on about 80% of all offensive plays (assuming the fresh rookie legs are as good or better than Sproles). That shouldn't take much to accomplish that.

 

Buckhalter on the other hand was not only the better runner, but the better blocker as well. Moreno was outplayed in both key categories by a 30 something RB coming off of multiple knee surgeries - not good to say the least.

 

Personally I think Matthews is by FAR the lesser risk. A lot will play out in preseason but if I was to draft a league tonight based on what I've seen I would rank Matthews as a late 2nd rd-early 3rd rounder and Moreno as a mid 4th rd.-5th rounder - regardless of ppr or not.

[Gepetto 988]

I like both Matthews and Moreno quite a bit and think both will be top 12 RBs in fantasy football this year.

 

Here's my running back rankings

 

Chris Johnson

Adrian Peterson

Maurice Jones-Drew

Ray Rice

Steven Jackson

Frank Gore

Michael Turner

Deangelo Williams

Rashard Mendenhall

Shonn Greene

Jamaal Charles

Ryan Mathews

Knowshawn Moreno

Pierre Thomas

Chris 'Beanie' Wells

Matt Forte

Ryan Grant

[soopacee 0]

i love moreno this year....cake schedule

 

 

as for mathews, he has the perfect opp to produce....but i am always scared of rookies

[Turf CamelToe 1]

Moreno, better player (IMHO), better Value.

[PATSSOX 22]

Moreno, better player (IMHO), better Value.

 

 

+1

 

Moreno for me.

[Raider 84 29]

It's a close call, but for one year I'll roll the dice with Matthews.

[BoltAddiction 0]

Were the Chargers 2009 running woes the fault of an aging running back or something more systematic to the team? Clearly Nick Hardwick's absence last year was a problem for the o-line. But a 3.3 ypc and 31st overall rushing attack was not ony LaDanian's fault. Even Sproles went from a career 5.0 ypc to 3.7 last year. The right side of the line is not the same line that was present during LT II's monster years. Jacob Hester is no Lorenzo Neal.

 

Matthews wasn't even the best back in the draft. If Spiller gets any carries, don't discount the fact that he is in Buffalo. Fred Jackson eclipsed 1,000 yards and did it on 4.5 ypc (8th best in the NFL for a back with 200+ carries). Personally. I don't see all the love for Matthews (and I am a Charger fan). If he were the heir apparent to a dominant run scheme I would think about it, but no way under present circumstances and definitely not given his ADP.

 

P.S. Floyd and Naanee are not going to stretch the field like Vincent Jackson would