• March 28, 2024

Eagles Draft LB Casey Matthews & Nebraska Kicker In Fourth Round

The Eagles drafted the little brother of Packers Pro Bowl linebacker Clay Matthews, Oregon All-Pac 10 linebacker Casey Matthews and they also may have punched Pro Bowl kicker David Akers or punter Sav Rocca’s ticket out of town by drafting Nebraska kicker/punter, Alex Henery.

The Birds had flown Matthews into town and spent time with him, so the youngster was familiar with the organization and he’s thrilled to be an Eagle. They got him with pick #116. He’s a very active player, who does a great job of getting to the ball.

I liked the instincts of the young linebacker when I saw him play at Oregon. Matthews doesn’t have great speed or size but he does have a great feel for both the passing and running games. You can tell that he’s been schooled about formations and tendencies of offenses. He’s quick to recognize screens and draws, plus he does a good job of getting off blocks and making plays.

“I’m trying to reach a level that my brother and my father didn’t reach,” Matthews said. “I don’t want to be known as Clay’s little brother, but I want to be known as Casey Matthews.”

In fairness to the younger Matthews, he’s not the physical specimen as his brother or for that matter, his father, but he should be able to compete for playing time at one of the linebacker position in the near future.

In a somewhat of a surprising move, which could mark the end of David Akers career in Philadelphia, the Eagles just selected kicker/punter, Alex Henery from Nebraska. He is said to be capable of making an NFL club as either a kicker or a punter and they youngster has a very strong leg.

I have no idea, whether he is being brought in as a kicker or punter, but you can believe that both Akers and Eagles punter Sav Rocca have gotten the word about this selection.

GCOBB

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J Hart
J Hart
April 30, 2011 2:18 pm

Huge huge picks. I like them Both esp the matthews pick. He will be a starter on the OLB posiition. He has “IT”.. in time he will be a very good pro. Dont view this guy as merely a special teamer bc he’s more than that. This guy in time can change your lb core and your defense. He had a very good senior bowl week…

Also he’s on the same exact workout plan as his brother, this kid is focused and motivated to be great

vricchini
vricchini
April 30, 2011 2:48 pm

Man this guy knows where to go with his plays. Watch him and you will see him around the ball everytime. He needs to beef up if he is going to push around these NFL linemen. But his instincts are just amazing. Great pick

jott1972
jott1972
April 30, 2011 2:52 pm

Eagles day 3 picks have been outstanding…

vricchini
vricchini
April 30, 2011 2:53 pm

Alex Henery numbers with the huskers 76 attempts career attempts and missed only 8 kicks. Perfect in 2010 between 40-49 yards. Goodbye Akers nice knowing ya

J Hart
J Hart
April 30, 2011 3:02 pm

Eagles drafted RB Dion Lewis former teammate of Lesean McCoy!!!

vricchini
vricchini
April 30, 2011 3:04 pm

Jott and J Hart just like his brother. Played under sized most of his life until college and became a beast. When you look at him in college he was no where near as big as he is now (clay). I see the same in his brother passion, cockiness and amazing instincts.

J Hart
J Hart
April 30, 2011 3:09 pm

Giants fans wanted casey soooo baaaad there furious right now 🙂

schiller
schiller
April 30, 2011 3:10 pm

Guys, I like the Casey pick too, but everybody says that he’s not as good as his brother. The ONLY place I’ve heard otherwise is from fans on this site. NOBODY (including G who’s live on the team website now) thinks he’s anywhere near as good as his brother. He’s a good prospect and hopefully will work out well, but you guys are going WAY WAY WAY WAY overboard on him.

schiller
schiller
April 30, 2011 3:12 pm

Now Lewis, that kid is awesome. I am a PItt alumn so, yes, I AM biased. But I watched him at Pitt and I’ll tell you this, McCoy was amazing at PItt but he wasn’t missed. Dion picked right where McCoy left off. He’s much smaller and runs low to the ground. This kid can be very hard to catch running up the middle (especially with good blocking, can you say Watkins!). Great pick as a change of pace back, and good on the goaline with blocking.

J Hart
J Hart
April 30, 2011 3:12 pm

V, I told you he’s on the same workout regimen as his brother, he’s gonna be a monster

J Hart
J Hart
April 30, 2011 3:18 pm

Birds went guard again

dawkplex1221
dawkplex1221
April 30, 2011 3:33 pm

i love mathews pick

vricchini
vricchini
April 30, 2011 3:36 pm

I hear you schiller but we talkin bloodlines!

Tiki Barber
Ronde Barber

Pouncey brothers

manning brothers

ok im only kidding hahaha but I like what I see from him and I think its a good pick

vricchini
vricchini
April 30, 2011 3:37 pm

yea J a year on roids and he’ll be ready to go! 🙂

J Hart
J Hart
April 30, 2011 4:25 pm

hahaha lmao

paulman
paulman
April 30, 2011 4:30 pm

Good solid picks, but was a little surprised they passed on RB Tawian Jones from Eastern Washington and TE DJ Williams from Arkansas or FB O Marecic from Stanford who were on still on the board in the 4th.
I called for a Kicker to be selected, and Henerey is the Highest Rated Kicker in the Draft..but I was thinking more in the 6th/7th Round but they selected the one of the best ones.
Besides Henery’s strong and accurate leg, one of the things I like about him
is that he was a 3 year Kicker for Nebraska and can kick in bad weather whether it’s the cold,wind and rain,sleet or snow.. Many times College Kickers are drafted from the Deep South or Texas/california after good College Careers only to struggle in the NFL in North/Midwest Teams/Cities due to dealing with the bad elements..
ILB Casey Matthews will contribute on Special Teams and possibly get in on some nickel pass coverage packages but needs to add some strength and is not the Pass-Rusher/Blitz player athlete that his Brother is at this stagge of his development, but is still a tough,tenacious football player who never quits and your typical “high motor” guy that the Eagles love.
With these 2 4th Round picks, you can officailly say goodbye to K D Akers and ILB O Gaither who will not be offered contracts from the Eagles and will move on and more importantly, these selections tell me the areas that are going to pursue in Free-agency.. Buy not going after some of the DE/CB’s that were still on the Board in the 4th and actually traded down from the of the #104 Spot to lwoers in the round tells me they will not only target CB/DE in Free-agency, but they actually will succeed in getting proven players at this Positons..I believe if they didn’t feel strong about signing a proven,experienced CB & DE thru Free-agency, they would have selected some more players at these positions
. DE’s Acho,Klug,McPhee,CB’s House,Burton,Skrine,Carmichael,Allen were all on the board in the 4th & 5th Rds if they wanted to add more picks at these postions..

BigE
BigE
April 30, 2011 8:35 pm

The guy has chicken lips. He needs to get in the weight room and build strength
to get off NFL blocking but he does have a good nose for the ball.

J Hart
J Hart
April 30, 2011 9:03 pm

BigE, why you worried about the mans lips ugh… he’s on the same workout regimen as his brother clay, he wants to make a name for himself outside of his family… he said hes motivated and pumped to play here in philly… the genes are strong too! This was my favorite pick out of all three days… I been wanting the birds to nabb him for months… he will help the birds right away…

nsidious
nsidious
May 1, 2011 5:20 pm

G:

Spot on, G! I’m Henery the 8th, I am, I am. Henery the 8th I am, I am. I got married to the widow next door, she was married 7 times before…. Whoop – TEA time!

Cant Climb
Cant Climb
May 1, 2011 10:19 pm

I think Matthews is too small to play the middle. Too slow for weakside.

J Hart
J Hart
May 1, 2011 11:33 pm

I decided to do a small comparison of Clay and Casey Matthews… Here it is

Clay Matthews III
HT: 6’3. WT: 240. 40 Time: 4.62. Bench 225: 25 Reps (Beastly)
Pos: DE/OLB

Casey Matthews The 1st
HT: 6’2. WT: 231. 40 Time: 4.79. Bench 225: 13 Reps (Injured)
Pos: ILB (Subject To Change)

J Hart
J Hart
May 2, 2011 2:09 am

Not that much of a difference between the two when coming out of college… but casey is only 22 so he has a lot of time to develop and get bigger and stronger

Listen to this quote from Casey Matthews: “I’m my own player and my own man. Obviously what they’ve done motivates me, but I’m trying to reach a level they haven’t reached. I know its going to take a lot of work but that’s my goal. Again I’m my own player and I’m just looking forward to not just being “Clays little brother” and just be known as Casey”

Sounds like someone that’s motivated and driven to be better then his brother and make his own name… I’m happy we have someone that hungry on our team…

PCrow
PCrow
May 2, 2011 10:25 am

If Casey can do half of the things his brother can, we would be happy campers.

J Hart
J Hart
May 2, 2011 11:19 am

P crow, he’s motivated to be… this was a huge pickup for the team… andy spoke about how intense casey is, just like his brother… I ll tell you this he had better numbers then his brother coming out of college, his bro clay did bulk up fast but I believe casey has that in him to hulk up and become monsterous… he already has the instincts, the toughness, and motivation and determiination to be better then all his family he just gotta do it… and I see him being a great player after he puts on 10-15 pounds of muscle…

schiller
schiller
May 2, 2011 11:45 am

j hart, we ALL GET IT. You want to have Casey’s kids, we understand you. We hear you loud and clear. But before you anoint the kid the savior of our LB corp, let’s see what he does in real life, on the football field in the NFL. Most of us ARE excited about him, but you sir, in my opinion, have gone overboard (and you’re not even looking to get back on the boat).

paulman
paulman
May 2, 2011 11:54 am

I think CAsey will develop nicely and maye projects at the SAM spot once he settles in and gets a little bigger and stronger.. He strength is play recognigtion,running to the ball and dropping back in pass coverages..
At this stage, he doesn’t quite have the athleticism of his brother and is not really a pass-rusher,get in the backfield type of player, but then again, he was not asked to do those things while in College for Oregon where he was man roaming the middle and picking up Recievers/TE?RBs coming into the middle of the field.. I see him as a demon on Special Teams right out of the gate and a quality back up at Sam & MLB positions..

J Hart
J Hart
May 2, 2011 11:59 am

I heard you and birdo are expecting a child, its a boy and your gonna name him Birdoschillermen… eww you guys should be ashamed of yourselves..

I wouldn’t get on any boat with you id rather drown you sick freak

J Hart
J Hart
May 2, 2011 12:08 pm

Paulman, that’s where we disagree… I feel that this kid will pick up the defense rather quickly and can start day 1…. remember they’re gonna simplify the defense significantly so rookies can have contributions early… he’s probably better then the majority of our LB core… I just see a bright future not just a special teamer… that’s also how his brother started out as a special teamer but quickly became more than that…

paulman
paulman
May 2, 2011 12:42 pm

I Dion’t see realistically how he is a starter at any LB positon in 2011 J Hart
He not only have to get bigger and use his hands better to shed blockers, but even with the new dummy-down System that Castillo will employ, it’s still the NFL as opposed to College Schemes so there is definitely a learning curve for him as there is for every rookie..
I think he’s a Special Teams Stud in 2011 and gets on the field for some packages and really spends the 2011 Season learning, getting bigger and stronger and becomes the back-up at every LB Position and then has a legitimate shot at competing for a Starters spot come 2012 and definitely by 2013.. LB and CB are probably the most difficult poistions for a Rookie to become a Starter in for there is a ton to learn..

schiller
schiller
May 2, 2011 1:03 pm

J Hart – I respond with a reasonable argument, and you counter with irrelevant, unwarranted, and unprovked homophobia? Ok then, how’s middle school treating you? Way to spread hate and cultural predjudice while contributing nothing of value to the conversation

J Hart
J Hart
May 2, 2011 1:07 pm

The kid realizes that he has a huge target on his back the matthews name he so has a lot to prove…I ll ask this who bettter than him on this roster at LB? He comes in more talented then 95% of the LB here… a special teamer early on but a full time starter as the yr goes along, we ll see him in mor and more packages and plays.. he does have alota work ahead of him but I see him forcing there hand by outplaying everyone else… but he ll be on the weak side… not the middle or strong…

J Hart
J Hart
May 2, 2011 1:17 pm

Schiller, I believe you made a homo comment first by implying I wanted to have another mans kids? How sick are you?

This is about a player that will change our LB core, he brings more toughness, instincts and athleticism then any of the LBs we currently have… look for him to play a lot of weakside but I think there going to move him all over the place, similar to what they do with his brother in greenbay…

J Hart
J Hart
May 2, 2011 8:00 pm

J Jarrett and Casey Matthews project very well to the nfl… as do all of there picks but I really like these two… rolle is another one that has the ability of covering a fast RB coming out of the backfield, covers a lot of ground side line to side line… he’s just short standing at only 5’9