Jordan Matthews could benefit from Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith
Jordan Matthews could have his best season with the help of Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith.
The Philadelphia Eagles haven’t seen much production from their receivers in quite some time. The last time the Eagles had a wideout post over a thousand yards was in 2014 by former Eagle Jeremy Maclin. Current Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews came close. He was three yards shy of a thousand yards in 2015. His numbers dipped in 2016, when he put up only 804 yards in 14 games played.
So how does the recent signings of Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffery affect Jordan Matthews? Well let’s take a look at some of the NFL’s best slot receivers according to Sports Illustrated’s Doug Farrar. A few of the big names were Larry Fitzgerald, Jarvis Landry, Randall Cobb and Eric Decker. Matthews was ranked fourth.
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So let’s exclude Jordan Matthews. What do these other slot receivers have in common? They all have another receiver or two producing on the outside. Over the past two seasons, Matthews has been looked at as the number one receiver on the Eagles roster when the reality is he isn’t a true number one receiver.
This season, defenses will start to shift their attention to Jeffery and Smith leaving the pressure off of Matthews. That will give him the opportunity to be a true slot receiver. With all eyes on Matthews the past two seasons, Eagles fans seemed to have developed mixed feelings about him. He caught a lot of heat for dropping passes in 2016 and was ranked ninth in dropped passes with six drops off 117 targets.
This upcoming season will truly determine who Jordan Matthews really is. This will be the first time in his professional career where he will be playing with the same quarterback for the second year in a row. He is also entering the final year of his rookie contract, which gives him every reason to prove his worth. The bottom line is that Eagles fans should be excited to see what this young man can really do with some experience, stability and help from his fellow receivers.