College: Oregon
Height/Weight: 6-2, 237
The Eagle spent one of their two fourth round picks on a player I love, Casey Matthews, the LB from Oregon. Matthews joins the family business, becoming the sixth member of his family to be a player in pro football. The Eagles are expected to see Ernie Sims, Omar Gaither, and Akeem Jordan all to depart during free agency so they had need at all three linebacker positions. Matthews is not going to begin his career as a starter but his non-stop motor presents great value as a backup at all three positions, and we should all expect to see him tearing it up on special teams.
Matthews’ biggest strength is his athleticism. He’s also been highly regarded as an intelligent football player reading and reacting well to the offensive play at hand. Like his brother, the Super Bowl champion, Clay, he has a non-stop motor, playing sideline-to-sideline football and is very fundamentally sound, a great tackler. He has also been highly regarded as a great coverage guy; he has a knack for the ball and is patient in his zone. He is however, considered small for the linebacker position, as he is not the biggest or strongest player on the football field. Also his playing in Oregon’s loose defense, which highlighted his athleticism, may have taken away from the football player he really is.
The bright side is these weaknesses were similar to those that were attached to his brother Clay coming out of college and look what happened to him. Hard work skyrocketed Clay into superstardom and it could do that same for Casey. He won’t have the same opportunities Clay had in his first year but hard work runs in the family and with the youthful line backing corps, Casey may see his career be greeted with the same success Clay’s has. If all else fails, the kid nonetheless has a great head of hair.
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