Can Jordan Matthews Blossom Into A Number One Receiver In 2015?

The Eagles will need second-year wide out Jordan Matthews to take his game to another level, as he is moved from the slot position in Chip Kelly’s offense to one of the outside receiver spots.  Kelly spoon-fed Matthews in his the rookie a year by using him in the slot almost exclusively because it allowed him to focus on that position and that position alone.

The rookie pass catcher was able to master the routes and assignments from the slot postion and he had a very good rookie season.  He caught 67 passes for 872 yards and eight touchdowns.  Those are outstanding numbers for a rookie, but they need him to make a big jump in 2015 to become a dominant player.

If he is able to take over from the departed Jeremy Maclin, as the team’s number one receiver, defenses will not treat him like they did a year ago.  He was always singled-covered in 2014, but that won’t be the case this time around, if he comes into his own.

If he progresses to become the Birds number one target, the second year wideout is going to be facing the opposing team’s best cornerback and at times, he will be double-teamed, but he still will need to find a way to get open.   Matthews thinks he can handle it.

“I think you would think that I might get a whole lot more outside reps now just because Maclin is gone, but I already had talked to coaches, and they were already going to implement me more on the outside as opposed to just the inside regardless”, said in an interview with Zach Berman of Philly.com.  “I don’t think that’s a crazy, huge deal.”

Maclin was a Pro Bowler in 2014.  He caught 85 passes for 1313 yards with 10 touchdowns and 56 of those catches were for first downs.  Third down and long and in the red zone is where the rubber meets the road for a number one receiver.

Matthews proved in 2014 that he’s a guy who can make plays when it counts and that’s an important trait of a number one receiver.  He contributed eight touchdowns and 42 first down catches in his rookie campaign.

Can Matthews be the kind of receiver, who gets open despite every person in the stadium knowing the quarterback is coming to him?  He has to develop his self-confidence to the point where he refuses to be covered by anybody.

Kelly’s decision to use Matthews exclusively at the slot position in his rookie year not only allowed him to focus on the position, it also allowed him to not have to deal with a weakness in his game.

One of the negative scouting reports on Matthews coming out of college, concerned his inability to get off a jam.  He didn’t have to deal with the jam versus press technique, when he was playing the slot because he was lining up off the ball.

They’re moving him outside this year and he’ll need to establish himself immediately, as a nonsense big wide receiver, who refuses to let corners jam him.  A lot of this is attitude.  He should try to break the arms of cornerbacks with his forearm, if they try to jam him.  He should attack them like he’s the defender.  You always want to be the aggressor. A guy of Matthews size should dare a little defensive back to try to jam him.

He must learn to use his size 6’3″ 212 pounds against defensive backs.   Matthews needs to be a bully when he’s coming off the line, and a bully when the ball is the air as well as when he’s blocking the little guys.  The former Vanderbilt star doesn’t need to get into altercations with defensive backs, but he should be pushing them around every chance he gets.

Matthews will be getting in some good work versus the jam in practice because that’s all the Eagles defense plays.  They move their corners up and try to delay the release of the wide receivers.  The young wideout will have some great battles with big corners like veteran Byron Maxwell and rookie Eric Rowe.  If he can get off the line against Maxwell, he will handle most of the corners in the league.

The young wide out does have some speed.  He ran a 4.46 forty-yard dash in his NFL Combine workout in 2014, but can he be a deep threat for the Birds. Can he take the top off the coverage or is he just an intermediate threat?   Will he be a big yardage after the catch guy?

Matthews will also need to show he has the burst in and out of his breaks to get open consistently against some of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. He’s got to be able to get separation on a consistent basis in order to be the Eagles number one wide out. He will need to perfect his routes, so that he can set up corners to double moves.  Of course going up and getting the football at its highest point is a technique, which will benefit the 6’3″ receiver.

Eagles new quarterback Sam Bradford has been throwing the football with Matthews and the other receivers at the Nova Care Complex.  The work that Bradford and Matthews get in this summer will probably shape how they play together.  Will Matthews gain the confidence of Bradford to the point that any time he gets in trouble, he looks up Matthews?

There are two people that Matthews needs to win over if he wants to become the team’s number one receiver.  He needs to make Kelly a believer and he must gain the confidence of Bradford.