Las Vegas Raiders RB Alexander Mattison was a fantasy football flop last season with the Minnesota Vikings, having averaged under 4.0 yards per carry for a third straight season. He also failed to score on any of his 180 rush attempts.
That said, Josh Jacobs left the Raiders for the Green Bay Packers, leaving a largely unproven Zamir White as the only thing between Mattison and weekly volume. Should fantasy managers embrace the discount from just 12 months ago and stash the 26-year-old?
Alexander Mattison’s 2024 Fantasy Outlook
- Total Fantasy Points: 97 (76 non-PPR)
- Rushing Yards: 405
- Rushing TDs: 2
- Receptions: 21
- Receiving Yards: 141
- Receiving TDs: 1
These are PFN’s consensus projections, correct as of August 16. The most up-to-date projections can be found in our Who Should I Draft Tool.
Should You Draft Mattison This Year?
We always preach the value of volume — Mattison has proven to be the exception.
83 seconds of Alexander Mattison jumping over people pic.twitter.com/TOEMhK50rK
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) May 16, 2023
Over the past three seasons, 32 running backs have at least as many carries as the former Viking. Mattison’s rankings in a few interesting metrics are as follows:
- Percentage of carries that gained yardage: 29th
- Yards per carry: 30th
- Percentage of expected fantasy points earned: 32nd
A change in scenery can only be a good thing, but I’m not optimistic that Mattison can return value if given the opportunity — and I don’t think he will be barring an injury.
It became clear down the stretch last season that Jacobs wouldn’t be on this team in 2024, giving the Raiders a trial period with White as their lead back. In those four games:
- Touches: 23.3
- Yards per carry: 4.7
White proved capable of handling a workload, so the Raiders weren’t overly aggressive in addressing the position during the offseason. The lack of stability under center naturally creates a low floor for everyone in this offense, and when you combine that with no path (barring an injury) to meaningful work, you have yourself a player better left on waivers.
Instead of gambling on a backup RB with talent and situation question marks, why not invest in the offenses that we know will move the ball?
Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Keaton Mitchell aren’t likely to be involved from the jump, but should they find themselves moving up the depth chart, valuable carries are more likely to follow than with Mattison.
You could make a similar case for rookies Isaac Guerendo and Will Shipley. We’ve seen Mattison struggle at the NFL level, and at this point in fantasy drafts, I’d rather take an unknown quantity than one that has no proof of belonging despite having the opportunities.
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Mattison will be a must-add in-season if White goes down because there isn’t much in the way of depth at the RB position on this roster. That’s exactly what he is. Add him if he fits in your build and has a role in his grasp, but there’s no need to cut in line and get exposure to Mattison before that.
Use your late picks on players who will have the opportunity to show you something early in the season and cycle through options until you land on some upside. Mattison isn’t that.