Will Alexander Mattison Be A Top-12 Fantasy RB In 2023? Fantasy Football Outlook

Alexander Mattison was the backup to Dalvin Cook for four seasons, now Mattison will assume top running back duties in Minnesota this season. Will he be a top-12 fantasy running back in 2023?

Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison was the backup to Dalvin Cook for four seasons to begin his career. Mattison was drafted in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft and only saw six starts from 2019-2022. 

With Cook's release this offseason, Mattison will assume top running back duties in Minnesota this season. Second-year running back Ty Chandler and rookie DeWayne McBride figure to back up the 25-year-old in 2023, so he should be in store for a big workload as the full-time starter with the Vikings. 

Will Mattison be a top-12 fantasy running back in 2023? Let's dive in. 

Alexander Mattison's Career Starter Stats

Mattison might not have had many opportunities in his career so far, but in six starts with the Vikings, he was a fantasy football RB1 and superstar. He averaged 20.05 PPR fantasy points and 115.5 scrimmage yards on 67% of snaps. 

It's a small sample size, but Mattison had 693 total scrimmage yards on 200 touches with five touchdowns in those games. Those numbers helped the former Boise State product finish with four games over 20 fantasy points, including a fantasy career-high 29.5 PPR points in Week 17 of 2020. He had 24 touches for 145 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns in that game. 

Mattison averaged 4.1 yards per carry in those six games and finished with 20-plus touches and 100-plus scrimmage yards in four of those starts. With Cook now gone, the 25-year-old running back will finally get his shot to shine for a full season. 

Will Alexander Mattison Be A Top-12 Fantasy RB In 2023?

There's a little unknown with Mattison compared to players like Aaron Jones, Joe Mixon, and James Conner. Those three veterans have multiple top-12 fantasy finishes in their careers and are all drafted in the same range as the Vikings' running back. However,  it's hard to ignore what Mattison did without Cook.

He had multiple 20-point finishes, and there's a very likely chance Mattison could put up similar numbers in 2023 given the Vikings' lack of talent behind him. Minnesota only added a seventh-round rookie in McBride to an existing room of Chandler – a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft with six career carries – and return specialist Kene Nwangwu. 

Mattison has a very strong chance to finish as a top-12 fantasy running back in 2023 and is a borderline RB1 entering the season. He'll be the focal point of Minnesota's ground game, and he won't be splitting the backfield touches like other running backs drafted in front of him. 

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