On the surface, it sure seems like Chip Kelly intentionally sought the anti-DeSean Jackson on Friday night when he traded up for Vanderbilt product Jordan Matthews.
Jackson, the stud wide receiver whom Kelly showed the exit in March, made his living off world-class speed despite his tiny frame. His off-field hobbies included founding a rap label and hanging with friends who had alleged gang ties.
Matthews (6-3, 217) is about five inches taller, about 40 pounds heavier and feasts off size mismatches across the middle and jump balls outside the hashes. His non-football accomplishments include graduating early from a prestigious university, serving a 10-day mission in Africa and playing the piano.
But if there’s a common bond between Jackson and the first new receiver to join the team since Jackson’s departure, it’s the chip on each one’s shoulder for being overlooked.
Matthews, like Jackson did in 2008, slipped into the second round of the NFL draft despite being among the 30 prospects invited to Radio City Music Hall.
Matthews will forever remember his draft experience, for being slighted once again.
“Coming out of high school I wasn’t the highest-recruited guy,” he said via conference call. “So I was made for this. I wasn’t going to get complacent, but now I’m really definitely not going to. I’m just glad that I landed in a great situation.”
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Matthews (see bio) landed in perhaps the most ideal scenario possible. The all-time Southeastern Conference leader in receptions and yards will start his pro career on the inside, manning the slot while Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper occupy the outside.
For the first time in a long time, Matthews won’t see double teams and won’t lock up against the bigger corners on the outside. His 6-foot-3 frame against a nickel corner or safety is a matchup Kelly said he welcomed.
“It’s definitely going to be a little bit different than my time at Vanderbilt,” Matthews said. “But like I said, I’m gonna go in, just be the best teammate I can be. I want to definitely earn the respect of those guys. I’m going to go in, shut my mouth and do my work.”
Kelly showed plenty of interest in Matthews throughout the pre-draft process. He attended Vanderbilt’s pro day, then chatted up Penn State coaches -- many of which left Vandy for Happy Valley in January, along with head coach James Franklin -- about Matthews at the Nittany Lions’ pro day.
“One of the things they said is that [he’s] the most competitive guy that they've ever been around in terms of his confidence and his work ethic,” Kelly said. “He went to Vanderbilt and graduated in 3½ years. He's the all‑time leading receiver in SEC history.
“I mean, when you just keep adding it up, if you look at the resume, he's 6-3, 217 pounds, runs 4.46, there are not a lot of holes there. So you're going to get a guy that's going to give you everything he's got, and we're really excited to have him, and we'll see what we can do with the third here."
Turns out, Matthews did his homework on Kelly, too.
“We actually had four films from the Eagles in our office,” Matthews said, “so before I even got to go meet with them for my interview, I got to watch a couple of those films from last year to kind of get a taste for it.”
His thoughts on the Eagles’ offense?
“There’s just an answer for everything,” he said. “If you want to go two [safeties] high, they can run up the middle with a great running back, or if you want to go one high and leave man-to-man coverage on the outside, you’ve got great receivers also to exploit in man-to-man coverage. I definitely got a taste of it, but I can’t wait to actually [see] the playbook and really learn it for myself.”
Matthews, a two-star recruit out of high school, is Jerry Rice’s cousin. His numbers against the dominant defenses of the SEC seem to earmark him for stardom in the pros.
He was a first-team All-America and holds nearly every Vanderbilt career and single-season receiving record. More importantly, he picked up his degree in economics in less than four years just to make sure schoolwork didn’t interfere with his pro ambitions.
“I wanted to make sure that I was completely done with schooling once I got into the NFL because I wanted to wake up a professional athlete and go to bed a professional athlete,” he said. “I don’t want have to worry about going back to school or doing any of that stuff.”