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Final Chargers season for Ryan Mathews?

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As Ryan Mathews goes, so go the Chargers?

In 2013, that often was true.

This year, maybe less so.

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The Chargers seem to have made themselves less dependent on the running back who was the offense’s MVP last year.

And that should bode well for both them and Mathews, 26.

In the months since a game but gimpy Mathews sat out most of the Division Playoff loss at Denver, Tom Telesco and Mike McCoy have added three running backs to the 53-man roster while also retaining third-down specialist Danny Woodhead and subtracting Ronnie Brown. Giving the run game another dimension, Telesco signed David Johnson, a fullback-tight end noted for his blocking.

We’ll see how long rookie backs Marion Grice and Branden Oliver will stay on the active roster behind a key Telesco addition, Donald Brown, the ex-Colt who averaged 5.3 yards per carry last year. The kids look they could help in a pinch, but other roster moves this week could affect one of them.

At any rate, it made sense to give Mathews more cushion. As terrific as he was last year, overcoming a concussion and ankle sprain, powering the team’s late run into the playoffs and never missing a start, it would’ve been unwise to be as dependent on him this year.

Only three others in the NFL had more rushes last year, and only six had more touches.

The 6-foot, 215-pounder absorbed several nasty hits. He learned to better prepare his body and read blocks, but why count on him weathering the brutality? He missed at least two games in his first three seasons, 10 in all.

Ride him if you must, on occasion, but it could be crucial to have him at or close to full speed when you really need him. The Chargers simply don’t have another back with his combination of speed and power, though Donald Brown may be close.

Mathews’ abilities in the stretch game, notably, are crucial to the offense. When the high ankle sprain he suffered in Game 15 worsened in January, Mathews’ reduced mobility loomed as a difference-maker going into Denver. And that’s how it played out, the Chargers failing to score until the fourth quarter in their worst offensive performance of the year.

Lesson learned.

Next year?

As for the long-term implications of the Chargers adding three backs with Mathews entering the final year of his rookie contract, let’s see how it unfolds. It’s too early to know if this will be Mathews’ final season here, but the team controls the rights of the other four backs through 2016 (if not longer for the rookies).

The Raiders, if they’re smart, should keep a watchful eye on the Mathews’ situation. They figure to have a lot of salary cap room next offseason. Their top two backs, Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden, are nearing the end, and their young offensive line could be powerful next spring if a few young blockers mature this year.

Mathews, for his part, said last week he’s ready for the season opener Sept. 8. He said he was glad to appear in two exhibitions, working eight snaps against Dallas and 11 versus San Francisco, “because it was good for my timing.” If Norv Turner used to hold out LaDainian Tomlinson for entire preseasons, Mathews wasn’t expecting the same. “L.T.,” he said, “is a Hall of Famer.”

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