WR Jordan Matthews Is a TE. And now released, again. And a 49er, again.

Originally posted by TheXFactor:

according to who? Typically starters aren't on 1 year contracts signed at the tail end of FA.

Originally posted by Scarlettlove:
His time in Buffalo isn't even worth mentioning because he was injured and on the worst passing offense in the league.

Originally posted by SteveWallacesHelmet:

You keep repeating that his Buffalo time isnt worth mentioning because he was injured.

He played 24 of 32 games.

That isnt "injured" enough to warrant it being a valid excuse. Period.

Originally posted by SoCold:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by TheXFactor:
according to who? Typically starters aren't on 1 year contracts signed at the tail end of FA.

Dude has $300K in guaranteed cash. He was out there with Jimmy in MNF, ran a s**tty route/slipped and almost got JG intercepted.

wasn't that the batted ball that he tried to stop while running full speed and almost caught? I hope you're not blaming the WR on that one. lol

would be pretty funny if they cut him after he spent all that money to get #81

Originally posted by Scarlettlove:
In three seasons with Philadelphia, Matthews caught 225 passes for 2,673 yards and 19 touchdowns.

That is great production for someone's first 3 years in the league. You obviously are talented and worthy of a roster spot on most teams with those types of numbers.

His time in Buffalo isn't even worth mentioning because he was injured and on the worst passing offense in the league. Surely if you can point to Chip Kelly for inflated stats you can point to Buffalo for regressed stats.

Philly thought enough of him to bring him back. Not something you do if you traded him because he is a cancer or underperforming.

NE thought enough of him to bring him in and he even caught a TD pass from Brady in practice only to get hurt afterwards. NE put him on the IR with intentions of keeping him. But they worked out an injury settlement which allowed him to be a free agent so he could play again that year after healing up. Since he actually practiced with the team in TC he wasn't available for the pup list.

Did I mention both of those teams have recently won the SB?

I don't hate Jordan Matthews. I felt the need to tell you that because I'm anticipating a lot of criticism and negative response on this post. I also felt the need because it's true. Matthews is a hard-working, likeable guy. If money weren't a factor, I'd probably want to keep Matthews around in Philly for quite some time.
But that's the problem. Money is absolutely a big consideration with the NFL salary cap in place. And I think there's a strong case to be made Matthews, who is set to be a free agent after this season, will not be worth the money he commands.
It all comes down to the stats. If/when Matthews and his agent approach the Eagles in contract negotiations, there's little doubt Matthews' numbers will be brought to the table. Since being drafted in 2014, Matthews has racked up 225 receptions for 2,673 yards and 19 touchdowns. Since 1920, only 41 wide receivers have posted better numbers in their first three seasons.
Of course, stats don't always tell the whole story. This is especially true when it comes to Matthews. As I've stated numerous times before, Matthews' stats are inflated. There are three main reasons why.

1 - The Chip Kelly Effect

Kelly was arguably the most fantasy football friendly head coach in the NFL during his tenure with the Eagles. His fast-paced offense made it so that Philadelphia often ran a lot more offensive plays than other teams. More plays meant more statistical opportunities for the players. Here's a look at how the Eagles ranked in offensive plays per game during the Kelly era (while Matthews was also on the team) PLUS the first year of Doug Pederson's tenure, which also saw the Eagles run a lot of plays.
2014 - 1st (70.7)
2015 - 2nd (68.9)

2016 - 4th (67.5)
It's no coincidence a number of players had career years in Kelly's scheme. It was a volume-boosting offense. But while Kelly's scheme looked successful in terms of volume, it did not hold up in terms of efficiency. It doesn't matter how plays you run if you're not gaining yards on them.
Matthews gained a lot of production simply based on the fact the Eagles ran so many plays over the past three years.

2 - The Best Of The Worst

Matthews' stats aren't just the result of the Eagles running a lot of plays. They're the result of the Eagles running a lot of plays ... and having no other viable targets to catch passes. Check out the last three years of Eagles receiver targets.

2016 Eagles wide receiver targets
1 - Jordan Matthews - 117
2 - Dorial Green-Beckham - 74
3 - Nelson Agholor - 70
4 - Josh Huff - 17
5 - Paul Turner - 14
6 - Bryce Treggs - 12
2015 Eagles wide receiver targets
1 - Jordan Matthews - 127
2 - Nelson Agholor - 44
3 - Riley Cooper - 41
4 - Josh Huff - 40
5 - Miles Austin - 31
6 - Jonathan Krause - 4
7 - Seyi Ajirotutu - 3
2014 Eagles wide receiver targets

1 - Jeremy Maclin - 143
2 - Jordan Matthews - 105
3 - Riley Cooper - 95
4 - Josh Huff - 8
5 - Jeff Maehl - 5
6 - Brad Smith - 3
Other than the 2014 season when Maclin was still around, it's not exactly like Matthews had much competition in terms of targets. He became the obvious No. 1 guy as soon as 2015. Some of that is a credit to Matthews for not being as awful as the other receivers, but a lot of it has to do with the fact the Eagles have employed some truly dreadful "pass catchers." The quarterbacks had to throw to someone, and Matthews ended up being that guy.

Moving forward, there's a two-fold argument with Matthews regarding the Eagles' improved receiving corps. Yes, the additions of Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith could help Matthews by taking the defense's attention away from him. But the addition of Jeffery and Smith also likely means Matthews will see less targets. And that means his volume stats will likely decrease.

3 - Garbage Time

An anecdotal observation of mine has been that Matthews seems to really excel in garbage time. So I went back and looked at every game of his career to see if that was true. Before I reveal what I found, it's only fair to point out that there's a good deal of subjectivity in defining garbage time (click here to see my method). There's no also information easily available to see how Matthews compares to other receivers in terms of garbage time numbers. With all that said, here's what I found.

Jordan Matthews' actual stats: 225 recs, 2673 yards, 19 TD
Jordan Matthews' garbage time stats: 42 recs, 549 yards, 9 TD
In other words, nearly 20% of Matthews receptions, nearly 20% of his yards, and nearly 50% (!) of his touchdowns have been scored in garbage time. The touchdown number is especially alarming.

Philly knows he's on the last year of his deal. They also might realize the disparity in his asking price versus his actual value. Matthews is not a flat out bad player by any means, but he is very flawed. He can't play on the outside regularly. He's had drop issues dating back to college. Some of them are just soooooo bad, too.
(clips of poor drops which you can see in the article)

So he's Not versatile. Doesn't have great hands. Can't consistently drag his feet. What is Matthews particularly good at, exactly? I recently posed this question on Twitter. There wasn't any kind of consensus answer.

Look, it's not personal. It's just that this is not the kind of guy worth prioritizing when there's only so much money to go around.
There's a very good chance the 2017 season is Matthews' last in Philadelphia ... if he's not traded before then.

Originally posted by Scarlettlove:

.

Philly thought enough of him to bring him back. Not something you do if you traded him because he is a cancer or underperforming.

Originally posted by NCommand:

"He's had a hell of a camp."

Shanahan on WR Jordan Matthews. He says the coaching staff knows what they have in Matthews so they don't need to play him as much in the preseason. They let Richie James get a few more snaps as a result.

— Jennifer Lee Chan (@jenniferleechan) August 22, 2019

Originally posted by SoCold:
wasn't that the batted ball that he tried to stop while running full speed and almost caught? I hope you're not blaming the WR on that one. lol

would be pretty funny if they cut him after he spent all that money to get #81

Originally posted by evil:

Originally posted by Scarlettlove:
.

Philly thought enough of him to bring him back. Not something you do if you traded him because he is a cancer or underperforming.

Philly also thought enough of him that they traded for Golden Tate some six weeks after bringing JM back.

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by NCommand:

"He's had a hell of a camp."

Shanahan on WR Jordan Matthews. He says the coaching staff knows what they have in Matthews so they don't need to play him as much in the preseason. They let Richie James get a few more snaps as a result.

— Jennifer Lee Chan (@jenniferleechan) August 22, 2019

see, just when some write him off. i see this..

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Like I already stated what I thought about throwing out his inflated #s in philly...this backs it up even more....

https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2017/6/7/15728632/jordan-matthews-stats-eagles-philadelphia-garbage-time-inflated-contract-nfl-wide-receiver-slot

This was written back in 2017 when he was actually sorta something

I don't hate Jordan Matthews. I felt the need to tell you that because I'm anticipating a lot of criticism and negative response on this post. I also felt the need because it's true. Matthews is a hard-working, likeable guy. If money weren't a factor, I'd probably want to keep Matthews around in Philly for quite some time.
But that's the problem. Money is absolutely a big consideration with the NFL salary cap in place. And I think there's a strong case to be made Matthews, who is set to be a free agent after this season, will not be worth the money he commands.
It all comes down to the stats. If/when Matthews and his agent approach the Eagles in contract negotiations, there's little doubt Matthews' numbers will be brought to the table. Since being drafted in 2014, Matthews has racked up 225 receptions for 2,673 yards and 19 touchdowns. Since 1920, only 41 wide receivers have posted better numbers in their first three seasons.
Of course, stats don't always tell the whole story. This is especially true when it comes to Matthews. As I've stated numerous times before, Matthews' stats are inflated. There are three main reasons why.

1 - The Chip Kelly Effect

Kelly was arguably the most fantasy football friendly head coach in the NFL during his tenure with the Eagles. His fast-paced offense made it so that Philadelphia often ran a lot more offensive plays than other teams. More plays meant more statistical opportunities for the players. Here's a look at how the Eagles ranked in offensive plays per game during the Kelly era (while Matthews was also on the team) PLUS the first year of Doug Pederson's tenure, which also saw the Eagles run a lot of plays.
2014 - 1st (70.7)
2015 - 2nd (68.9)

2016 - 4th (67.5)
It's no coincidence a number of players had career years in Kelly's scheme. It was a volume-boosting offense. But while Kelly's scheme looked successful in terms of volume, it did not hold up in terms of efficiency. It doesn't matter how plays you run if you're not gaining yards on them.
Matthews gained a lot of production simply based on the fact the Eagles ran so many plays over the past three years.

2 - The Best Of The Worst

Matthews' stats aren't just the result of the Eagles running a lot of plays. They're the result of the Eagles running a lot of plays ... and having no other viable targets to catch passes. Check out the last three years of Eagles receiver targets.

2016 Eagles wide receiver targets
1 - Jordan Matthews - 117
2 - Dorial Green-Beckham - 74
3 - Nelson Agholor - 70
4 - Josh Huff - 17
5 - Paul Turner - 14
6 - Bryce Treggs - 12
2015 Eagles wide receiver targets
1 - Jordan Matthews - 127
2 - Nelson Agholor - 44
3 - Riley Cooper - 41
4 - Josh Huff - 40
5 - Miles Austin - 31
6 - Jonathan Krause - 4
7 - Seyi Ajirotutu - 3
2014 Eagles wide receiver targets

1 - Jeremy Maclin - 143
2 - Jordan Matthews - 105
3 - Riley Cooper - 95
4 - Josh Huff - 8
5 - Jeff Maehl - 5
6 - Brad Smith - 3
Other than the 2014 season when Maclin was still around, it's not exactly like Matthews had much competition in terms of targets. He became the obvious No. 1 guy as soon as 2015. Some of that is a credit to Matthews for not being as awful as the other receivers, but a lot of it has to do with the fact the Eagles have employed some truly dreadful "pass catchers." The quarterbacks had to throw to someone, and Matthews ended up being that guy.

Moving forward, there's a two-fold argument with Matthews regarding the Eagles' improved receiving corps. Yes, the additions of Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith could help Matthews by taking the defense's attention away from him. But the addition of Jeffery and Smith also likely means Matthews will see less targets. And that means his volume stats will likely decrease.

3 - Garbage Time

An anecdotal observation of mine has been that Matthews seems to really excel in garbage time. So I went back and looked at every game of his career to see if that was true. Before I reveal what I found, it's only fair to point out that there's a good deal of subjectivity in defining garbage time (click here to see my method). There's no also information easily available to see how Matthews compares to other receivers in terms of garbage time numbers. With all that said, here's what I found.

Jordan Matthews' actual stats: 225 recs, 2673 yards, 19 TD
Jordan Matthews' garbage time stats: 42 recs, 549 yards, 9 TD
In other words, nearly 20% of Matthews receptions, nearly 20% of his yards, and nearly 50% (!) of his touchdowns have been scored in garbage time. The touchdown number is especially alarming.

Philly knows he's on the last year of his deal. They also might realize the disparity in his asking price versus his actual value. Matthews is not a flat out bad player by any means, but he is very flawed. He can't play on the outside regularly. He's had drop issues dating back to college. Some of them are just soooooo bad, too.
(clips of poor drops which you can see in the article)

So he's Not versatile. Doesn't have great hands. Can't consistently drag his feet. What is Matthews particularly good at, exactly? I recently posed this question on Twitter. There wasn't any kind of consensus answer.

Look, it's not personal. It's just that this is not the kind of guy worth prioritizing when there's only so much money to go around.
There's a very good chance the 2017 season is Matthews' last in Philadelphia ... if he's not traded before then.

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by NCommand:

"He's had a hell of a camp."

Shanahan on WR Jordan Matthews. He says the coaching staff knows what they have in Matthews so they don't need to play him as much in the preseason. They let Richie James get a few more snaps as a result.

— Jennifer Lee Chan (@jenniferleechan) August 22, 2019

see, just when some write him off. i see this..

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by NCommand:

"He's had a hell of a camp."

Shanahan on WR Jordan Matthews. He says the coaching staff knows what they have in Matthews so they don't need to play him as much in the preseason. They let Richie James get a few more snaps as a result.

— Jennifer Lee Chan (@jenniferleechan) August 22, 2019

see, just when some write him off. i see this..

said the same exact thing about Bourne as well

Originally posted by Scarlettlove:

Originally posted by TheXFactor:
according to who? Typically starters aren't on 1 year contracts signed at the tail end of FA.

What are you talking about? Verrett is a starter on a one year deal signed towards the end of FA.