Vikings Fantasy Football Running Back Breakdown | Is Alexander Mattison a Fantasy Starter Again? Is Ty Chandler a Player to Add?
The Minnesota Vikings backfield remains a fantasy football headline each and every week.
For a decent portion of the season, Alexander Mattison was the clear lead back, and the question was whether or not you could start him, as he got lots of touches with limited production. Then Cam Akers started to carve out a role, and the topic was changed to which back would lead the way every week.
Now Akers is out for the season with an injury, so Mattison is back to the clear lead back. But should Mattison be a fantasy starter every week? With Akers now out, Ty Chandler looks poised to serve as the backup. Will he carve out a role and should you add him? Let’s discuss it all.
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The Season Breakdown After 9 Weeks
The season numbers still have Mattison as the clear No. 1 option in the backfield. He’s played 395 offensive snaps and gotten 145 touches.
Akers is a distant No. 2, with 111 snaps played and 49 touches. Chandler has barely been utilized since Akers carved out a role and has just 34 snaps and 13 touches for the season.
Week 9 looked a lot like week 8 for the Vikings. Mattison got 18 touches, while Akers finished with 11. Neither guy did much on the ground, with Mattison rushing for 44 yards on 16 attempts, while Akers had 25 yards on eight carries.
Mattison made a bigger impact as a pass catcher, catching both of his targets for 49 yards and a touchdown. Akers caught all three of his targets for 13 yards.
Chandler did not play a single offensive snap in week 9.
Vikings Running Back Fantasy Outlook
We’re now back to square one with the team’s backfield, with Mattison starting and Chandler looking like the top backup. That’s how the Vikings opened the season.
In week 1, Mattison played 47 snaps and got 14 touches, while Chandler had four touches on 11 snaps. Mattison got 11 touches over 44 snaps in week 2, while Chandler received only three touches over seven snaps. Week 3 saw Mattison get 25 touches across 66 snaps, which resulted in his best day from a scrimmage yardage view. Chandler only was on the field for 12 snaps, getting four touches.
Week 4 is when Akers got his first playing time with the Vikings, and Chandler’s playing time has pretty much dried up since. Chandler only played four offensive snaps between the team’s fourth and ninth games.
It’s pretty clear that the Vikings don’t want to give Mattison a true workhorse role, but it’s also apparent that Chandler is not a player the team trusts all that much, even in a backup role.
The Vikings haven’t made a transaction to add another running back after Akers went down, so the plan appears to be rolling Mattison out as the lead back and then having Chandler spell him. Kene Nwangwu is the only other back on the active roster, while DeWayne McBride is a possibility on the practice squad.
The Vikings’ offense is in a much different place than it was at the start of the season. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson isn’t on the field, although he’s due back soon, and quarterback Kirk Cousins has been replaced by Joshua Dobbs.
The Vikings were a pass-happy offense behind Cousins, but would probably like to be a bit more balanced with Dobbs now back there. The problem is that now Mattison is the only back the Vikings really trust.
How to Proceed with the Vikings’ Backs
For week 10, I would expect Mattison to get most of the snaps and touches out of the backfield, and then Chandler to play sparingly. That makes Mattison one of the better fantasy starting options, regardless of what defense the team is facing.
Of course, Minnesota plays the New Orleans Saints in week 10. That’s one of the tougher matchups a running back can face, as New Orleans only allows 16 fantasy points to opposing backs.
With how I expect the backfield snaps and touches to shake out, that still means Mattison could have a pretty solid fantasy showing, since he’s going to be the guy on the field for almost every play.
If you picked up Chandler - which means you are probably in a deeper league - I would not start him this week. Maybe he plays more than he did at the start of the season, and if he does, you can feel better about starting him going forward. Based on what we saw at the start of the season and then seeing how Chandler has barely been used these past several weeks, chances are probably pretty slim that he’s going to be a fantasy option consistently.
The only way I could see Chandler being start worthy in any format is if Mattison were to go down with an injury. I wouldn’t add Chandler in standard leagues as a backup policy for Mattison. If the lead back were to go down, you’ll just have to take your chances on waivers at adding Chandler. Mattison isn’t a strong enough fantasy player to handcuff him in standard leagues.
I think moving forward, Mattison will remain a pretty solid fantasy starting option, meaning you start him regardless of the opponent. If for some reason he does start splitting the workload with Chandler, or another back, then that’s a topic we’ll have to cover at a different time.
