Casey Matthews Update
Posted: May 16th, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 22 Comments »PE.com has a good story up on Casey Matthews and what he’s up to this spring. It isn’t all hype on how Casey is ready to become a Pro Bowl LB and change the game of football. There is a mixture of information and reflection on last year’s struggles.
Matthews is up to 250 pounds. He was 231 pounds at the Combine in February of 2011. He reportedly bulked up to 240 when the Eagles told him he was going to play MLB last year. The problem is that we don’t know if he was able to hold that weight or if he had the right kind of weight. Barry Rubin is a great strength coach, but last year Casey was working with non-Eagles employees due to the lockout.
Rubin knows how to put together a program to get the right kind of build on his players. He will know how to get Matthews bulked up in a way that the weight will stay on through the rigors of Training Camp. Rubin will add bulk, but mostly muscle. Matthews isn’t an overly fast guy so you don’t want him just packing on pounds for the heck of it.
I was happy that Matthews acknowledged his struggles from 2011. Some young players have this mindset that they didn’t do anything wrong and they can’t understand why they were benched or didn’t get a chance to play. Matthews admitted that getting benched was “humbling”. Heck yeah it was. And embarrassing. But that’s okay if you learn from it. Sounds like Casey is doing just that.
He worked hard in practice last year and also showed up on Special Teams. That helped him to impress the coaches. They saw a young player who didn’t shrink from adversity. He responded to it.
What happens in 2012? The fact that he’s up to 250 pounds makes me think they are probably keeping him at MLB. OLBs in the Wide-9 generally want to be about 235-240 pounds. Matthews says the has been told to learn all 3 spots, but I’m guessing MLB will be his primary spot. Matthews is happy that the Eagles traded for DeMeco Ryans. Casey is happy to have a leader for the LB corps. Casey can sit back and learn this year. I’m sure Ryans will be a great influence on him and the other LBs.
Casey is bigger and stronger this summer. Now he must show that he can be a better run defender. This means shedding blocks and being a more physical tackler. If he can do those things, it will be a sign that there is some hope for him as a future starter. If Casey continues to struggle in these areas, he may be restricted to role player and STer. The Eagles spent a 4th round pick on him so that’s not the worst thing in the world. Guys from the first 3 rounds are the ones you really need to become starters.
I’m pretty indifferent with Casey. I didn’t think he was as awful last year as some made him out to be. On the flip side of that, I wasn’t a huge fan of his going into last year’s draft. I thought the Eagles liked him so I wrote about him a lot, but guys from Oregon make me nervous. They play a creative scheme and always seem to score 50 points. Those defenders have a lot to learn when they get to the NFL, as we saw with Casey last year. Now that he’s an Eagle I certainly want him to succeed.
What is the one thing that could help put him over the top? Must hit “Post” button now to avoid using cheesey dinner joke…
Tommy,
I never knew PBR and pudding could lead to this.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/broke-tom-lawlor-gets-40-000-knockout-night-132021050.html
Yep. You don’t get a body like that without the right fuel.
Pudding Skin Singles are great for blogger-athletes on the go. Just throw a few in your gym bag and get at it.
Are you spying on me?
Just thinking of fundraiser ideas. Don’t know if I want to work with the Boy Scouts to go door-to-door selling Pudding Skin Singles or make this more of a pyramid scheme kind of thing.
Just thinking of fundraiser ideas. Don’t know if I want to work with the Boy Scouts to go door-to-door selling Pudding Skin Singles or make this more of a pyramid scheme kind of thing.
Make sure you buy an exacto knife.
For get the pro bowl Casey is going to be on the All Pro Hall of Fame team.
So backup at SAM Fokou, Simmons, or Jordan backup ay MLB Mathews and WLB battle of Chaney and Rolle. I still want Keenan Clayton. Man eagles are getting big figuratively and literally.
“What is the one thing that could help put him over the top?”
Hard work? Being put into the right situation to succeed?
Hopefully in time he can become a heckuva player.
Those answers soundly oddly familiar. Where could they be from? Hmmmmm….
Mmmm, cheesey dinner.
So what are they serving for dinner in the Matthews household?
Juice, and lots of it.
Thank you! There is no way Clay doesn’t juice. And sounds like Casey is getting on his workout plan.
So would you say he gained 20 lbs of muscle? He must be working out with Considine. 😉
We’re very lucky the NFLPA is really fighting the NFL’s proposal of increased drug testing.
I find Clayton a much more intriguing prospect than Matthews.
In an effort to add bulk to become a better overall player, Casey may have lifted/eaten his way out of the running for a roleplayer spot in the Nickel D. Casey’s weight gain might have cemented a roster spot for Keenan Clayton, alongside Ryans in that formation. Chaney is poor at defending the pass. Rolle is fair–nothing special, and Fokou and Jordan are both much better at playing the run, IMO. I don’t think any of those guys compare favorably with Clayton’s coverage ability.
If I had my druthers, I’d shake it out like this:
WLB:
Rolle (S)
Clayton (compete for Nickel)
MLB:
Ryans (S, Nickel)
Camp Battle between Chaney & Matthews, cut the loser
SLB:
Kendricks (S, compete for Nickel)
Camp battle between Jordan & Fokou, cut the loser.
Don’t know much about Monte Simmons, but I’d say the remainder is pretty much deadweight.
Putting the cart before the horse here, it would be nice if Clayton really has added some functional strength to play the run, and could eventually take over for Kendricks, when Kendricks takes over the middle for Ryans in a few years.
I agree with your logic. I would like to see the Eagles keep Jordan, but I have a feeling they will end up cutting him to keep Chaney and Matthews.
Looks like the Eagles are interested in Yeremiah Bell after all. Per ESPN he will sign with choose between the Eagles, Jets, Titans and Chiefs within the next 24 hrs.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/features/rumors/_/date/20120517#15451
ugh. He’s really better than Atogwe, Abudullah, or G. Wilson?
Tommy,
I have wanted to comment on Matthews since Reid’s Recap of the draft on PE.com.
I feel Andy is becoming more direct/honest with some of his comments. At the 4:45 mark Andy starts talking about the defense and gets into the linebackers pretty quick. This comment stood out…”Brian Rolle came in and started for us and did a nice job. Casey started for us and didn’t and then came back and started in the nickle for us.”
The big comment from Reid that surprised me was that he mentions Casey had major shoulder surgery after the bowl game. I don’t remember hearing about this surgery, or just totally forgot. You did not mention the surgery in this write-up. PE.com didn’t in their column. Casey didn’t mention it in his comments.
This seems to be a big reason why I, and so many others said he looked weak strength-wise on the field. Thoughts?
4:45 defense 5:05 linebackers 6:00 Casey Surgery
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/multimedia/videos/Reid-Recaps-Draft/f4ae10fc-b80b-47fe-8b36-6f29f2bd4622
It is great that he is up to 250 lbs but that doesn’t change his mentality. He has spent a lifetime avoiding blocks, not taking them on. I remember that Cosell broke down one of his “better” tackles after a pre-season game. Good play, but he ran around the blocks. I thought it showed his limitations more than his strengths…and that was a highlight.
I think that in order for Matthews to be succesful in the NFL, he has to be protected a bit more, like an ILB in a true 3-4 defense. In Philly, in this defense, I don’t see him more than a special teamer.