Don't give up on Ryan Mathews

There is a saying in many NFL front offices that a season should not be judged on a weekly basis but in four-game increments. Taking this approach helps assure that a team will not overreact to single-game anomalies and thus will likely make better personnel decisions.

That same mindset also can be also useful in terms of determining the highest percentage moves to make in the world of fantasy football. The traditional fantasy 13-game regular-season schedule tends to amplify short-term perceptions well beyond where they should be, but wise fantasy owners realize that the current four-game sample size can afford roster opportunities that might otherwise be missed in a smaller sample size.

Some of those opportunities include:

The San Diego Chargers' rushing attack

Any fantasy football owner who has Ryan Mathews on a roster has got to be wondering if it's time to keep fishing or cut bait on this highly touted prospect. It was one thing when Mathews missed the first two games with a broken collarbone, but his racking up only 13 points over the course of the next two games (the second of which saw him serve as a backup) has him starting to seem like a potential bench or trade candidate.

After breaking down the tape, it's clear this isn't the time to throw in the towel on Mathews.

The Chargers' run-blockers are giving their ball carriers good blocking at a 44.2 percent clip, a total that is almost identical to their 44.0 percent good blocking rate (GBR) last year, so the blocking is certainly not holding this team back.

To read more about why fantasy owners shouldn't give up on Ryan Mathews and Antonio Gates and more of the answers to fantasy football's biggest questions, plus access to all of Insider's NFL coverage, sign up today.

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KC Joyner

NFL Insider

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• NFL and CFB analyst for ESPN Insider
• Known as "The Football Scientist"
• Uses proprietary metrics from game tape study