Rams dodged a Bullet

[NoCoNite]

By not drafting Jake Mathews, I know G-Rob hasn't been impressive, but he's looking up. Mathews had bad reviews in camp, played bad in the preseason and has been battling nagging injuries.
G-Rob looks promising now that he is on the field. We also got the best defensive player in the draft. Great building blocks!!
Any one remember the draft we had 3 first round picks and I think the only consistent starter we got was Archleta. Yikes.

 

[Mikey Ram]

By not drafting Jake Mathews, I know G-Rob hasn't been impressive, but he's looking up. Mathews had bad reviews in camp, played bad in the preseason and has been battling nagging injuries.
G-Rob looks promising now that he is on the field. We also got the best defensive player in the draft. Great building blocks!!
Any one remember the draft we had 3 first round picks and I think the only consistent starter we got was Archleta. Yikes.

Gosh, I wish that you hadn't mentioned Archuleta, I just finished dinner...He was advertised as a big thumper and proved to be such a liability in coverage that he wore out his welcome pretty quick...Turned out to be a over-hyped workout warrior...The 'Skins got sucked in and gave him a BIG contract for no apparent reason...They got zero return on that investment...Coaches and scouts sometimes fall in love with a particular strong suit and don't pay attention to the overall package...Same with Canidate...Martz fell in love with his speed...Again, wasted pick...

 

[Thordaddy]

By not drafting Jake Mathews, I know G-Rob hasn't been impressive, but he's looking up. Mathews had bad reviews in camp, played bad in the preseason and has been battling nagging injuries.
G-Rob looks promising now that he is on the field. We also got the best defensive player in the draft. Great building blocks!!
Any one remember the draft we had 3 first round picks and I think the only consistent starter we got was Archleta. Yikes.

Ryan Pickett is still playing

 

[NJRamsFan]

By not drafting Jake Mathews, I know G-Rob hasn't been impressive, but he's looking up. Mathews had bad reviews in camp, played bad in the preseason and has been battling nagging injuries.
G-Rob looks promising now that he is on the field. We also got the best defensive player in the draft. Great building blocks!!
Any one remember the draft we had 3 first round picks and I think the only consistent starter we got was Archleta. Yikes.

The jury is still out on both Robinson and Matthews but to this point I definitely agree i'm glad we got GRob. Time will tell who the better pick is they are both very early in their careers.

As far as Aaron Donald goes...

 

[LazyWinker]

They weren't willing to trade what might have been the world for him. Could have gotten Matthews or Lewan later in the draft but Greg was their guy.

 

[mr.stlouis]

I really think out OL would be in bad shape without Big Greg. I love this pick! He's only gonna get more comfortable, too.

Tre Mason seems to look for him every snap.

 

[NoCoNite]

Ryan Pickett is still playing

Yea but he didn't come on until he left the rams.

 

[ReddingRam]

I really think out OL would be in bad shape without Big Greg. I love this pick! He's only gonna get more comfortable, too.

Tre Mason seems to look for him every snap.

Even if ne never makes a great OLT ... I think he will make an great OG no matter. LOVE the pick

 

[HE WITH HORNS]

Gosh, I wish that you hadn't mentioned Archuleta, I just finished dinner...He was advertised as a big thumper and proved to be such a liability in coverage that he wore out his welcome pretty quick...Turned out to be a over-hyped workout warrior...The 'Skins got sucked in and gave him a BIG contract for no apparent reason...They got zero return on that investment...Coaches and scouts sometimes fall in love with a particular strong suit and don't pay attention to the overall package...Same with Canidate...Martz fell in love with his speed...Again, wasted pick...

Arch was a playmaker, he caused many fumbles, and a few defensive TDs. He was anything but a bust. We won games because of him more than once.

 

[Boston Ram]

I like the Robinson pick but dodging a bullet by not getting Matthews is a bit of a knee jerk.

Not to mentioned by all accounts Fisher preferred Zach Martin, so Matthews may never been in play.

I think both Robinson and Matthews will be good players.

I do agree with the OP's other points though!

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I'd giveMatthews some time before labeling him a failure. GRob seemed like a bad pick to me a few weeks ago when he couldn't beat Davin Joseph for a starters spot. At the time I said, "Joseph is terrible and even if our second overall pick is raw, if he isn't at least better than terrible, then I am sorely disappointed."

However if Matthews doesn't turn out to be good it may cause concern that Texas A&M linemen are beneficiaries of the offense they run. Baylor linemen have raised some similar concern with recent failures.

 

[Alan]

I'm not sure what you're talking about when you say he looked bad in TC/preseason. I was under the impression that he was playing very well until his ankle injury. Hard to maintain your stance or get any push with a bad ankle. Here's an article about his performance:

http://www.thefalcoholic.com/2014/8/5/5965593/reports-rookie-tackle-jake-matthews-is-pure-magic

Reports: Rookie Tackle Jake Matthews is Pure Magic
By FalconsM5  @FalconsM5 on Aug 5 2014, 3:00p 76

Jake Matthews dripping with pure awesomeness. - Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Is anyone else struggling to keep up with all of the praise heaped upon Jake Matthews? The 6th overall pick in the draft appears to be ready to produce, and produce well, in his rookie year.

 TWEET (18) SHARE (17)  SHARE 76 COMMENTS ⋆ REC 1
Jake Matthews was the second tackle drafted in the 2014 NFL draft but was always considered the most pro-ready and polished player. Reports are suggesting those beliefs are true, with the 22 year-old tackle impressing coaches, teammates and media.

Gil Brandt was just at Falcons training camp and came away impressed.

Gil Brandt ✔ @Gil_Brandt
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Jake Matthews really looks good at @Atlanta_Falcons camp. Had 1 @nfl personnel exec tell me Matthews looks like 5-yr vet. I agree.


Of course this is great news. Tackles usually take a few years of getting beaten up before they become a strength at the position. If Matthews can buck that trend, our offensive line may very well become a strength. At the very least, he is not Lamar Holmes, which is very exciting for me.

The AJC's D. Orlando Ledbetter passed along this quote from Peter King.

A quick little picture in my practice day with the Falcons: Jake Matthews (was) in the two-minute drill (and) playing right tackle. "(He) stoned the pass rusher on seven consecutive hurry-up snaps in the two-minute drill. Let me tell you, when the Falcons saw that, they said, ‘We haven’t seen this in years. A right tackle who could actually stop people.’

This is pretty surprising, as a younger Tyson Clabo was the team's last intimidating right tackle. It sounds like Matthews could quickly outperform Clabo's peak years. I am starting to think the Falcons lucked out when the Houston Texans rejected offers for the first overall pick.

Do unimportant people tweet about Jake Matthews? Yes. Yes they do.


Alex Welch @alexmwelch
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Ryan praises Jake Matthews. Said he's done a great job in camp so far. I haven't heard anything negative about the rookie.


Alex somehow brought up a great point. I have yet to hear anything negative about Matthew's conditioning, preparation, speed, understanding of the playbook, or any number of problems teams encounter with both rookies and veterans. Matthews has everything so under control, he is working at other positions.

Alex Marvez ✔ @alexmarvez
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Not only is @ATLANTA_FALCONS rookie Jake Matthews wowing teammates at RT, he also spends post-practice time long-snapping w/ C Joe Hawley

9:38 AM - 4 Aug 2014

The following is borderline insane.

vaughn mcclure @vxmcclure23
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Tice said he sometimes doesnt even watch Matthews on film. More worried about cleaning everyone else up.

11:06 AM - 4 Aug 2014

I have never heard of a rookie offensive lineman outperforming a bunch of veterans. Matthews looks to be every bit of the real deal and is the type of player who can be a difference maker early and often in his career.

Here's something else about his play:
http://espn.go.com/blog/atlanta-fal...to-gut-through-injuries?ex_cid=espnapi_public

As for Matthews, he suffered a left high ankle sprain in the season opener against New Orleans and missed just one game. Matthews said he tweaked the ankle again during a Week 5 loss to the New York Giants.

It obviously has affected his play. Matthews had a tough time against Jason Pierre-Paul in New York, then gave up two sacks against the Bears as the offensive line, as a whole, wore down and struggled to protect Matt Ryan.

Matthews"Jake has done a very good job of dealing with that ankle all through this season," coach Mike Smith said. "I'm not going to say that it's affecting his play. I think that he's toughing it out in practice and in the games."

I fully expect him to be a stud at either RT or LT when he gets healthy and gets more experience.

 

[Tron]

I think Matthews will be a great tackle for many years.

He got thrown into the starting LT spot and also suffered the high ankle sprain. He will be very good.

 

[Philly5]

Sammy Watkins is doing very well.

 

[Thordaddy]

I think Matthews will be a great tackle for many years.

He got thrown into the starting LT spot and also suffered the high ankle sprain. He will be very good.

I don't think we know that yet,. I expect he will be but when a guy gets thrown to the dogs early sometimes they develop bad habits to survive. Matthews has a great pedigree and because he'd been Jake' father's coach Jeff Fisher had every reason to draft him over GRob except he saw them both on film and saw their combine numbers as did the rest of the scouting dept. and Snead .
We could have taken him with the pick we had ,if we had it's my bet that Matthews would have sat for us as long as GRob did and possibly longer .would have played guard and tackle in TC and probably this year would likely have played pretty well once the coaches decided to insert him.
The question is for me is once they both get acclimated and are at their highest point of development ,which one adds the most value over his tenure as a Ram not if he could start the first 5 games of his rookie year and turn in middlen performances .

I don't think it would have been "a bullet" to have drafted Matthews and he may yet turn out to be the better choice how anyone could know that is a talent I'd like for them to apply to my investments

 

[Thordaddy]

QUOTE="NoCoNite, post: 431064, member: 1997"]Yea but he didn't come on until he left the rams.[/QUOTE]

Actually Picket played well for us ,our linebacker play behind him was atrocious ,he was never expected to be the playmaker Damione Lewis was , Lewis was the bust of the three ,and FWIW he was the one Lovie had conniptions in the war room over saying they had to draft him or he couldn't run his defense

 

[den-the-coach]

I expect Jake Matthews and Greg Robinson to be future all pros and since Robinson has become the starter I've been very impressed the way they've had success running to his side.

 

[BonifayRam]

Right now this OL is in need of a excellent OLG. Robinson fits this need. Jake Matthews is a OT period IMO not a power run game OG. Rams 2014 OL situation is that GR came into was perfect for GR & the Rams. Snead & Fisher made the right best decision on the drafting of GR.

Not sure just how long GR will continue to work @ OLG pending the outcome of early next yrs UFA OT Barksdale upcoming pending large contract & then the very large 10.5 million $$$ cap hit for OT Jake Long cost to play here too. Rams really do not have any coming up the pipeline bona fide reserve OG's either. But at the same time Snead & Fisher may be OG poor in 2015 if GR has to take up the OLT post , Snead & Boudreau does have the Rams in outstanding shape with a extra large cadre of centers in Barnes, Jones, Person & Rhaney.

Speaking of centers ....Wells will have a cap hit in 2015 of nearly 5 million that's not going to happen after the what we have seen from Wells thus far. Meaning that one of the four centers will get a chance to start.

 

[ZigZagRam]

By not drafting Jake Mathews, I know G-Rob hasn't been impressive, but he's looking up. Mathews had bad reviews in camp, played bad in the preseason and has been battling nagging injuries.

Absolutely not. Matthews was getting positive reviews in camp and looked very good in the preseason games. It wasn't until he suffered the ankle injury that he started to struggle.

He shouldn't even be out there playing with the injury, but with a thin line that already lost their starting LT, the Falcons are desperate.

I'm glad we chose Robinson as his upside and fit made it a perfect choice for our team, but judging Matthews on his performance when he can't slide and step effectively is ridiculous. He's going to be a good player.

 

[Tron]

I don't think we know that yet,. I expect he will be but when a guy gets thrown to the dogs early sometimes they develop bad habits to survive. Matthews has a great pedigree and because he'd been Jake' father's coach Jeff Fisher had every reason to draft him over GRob except he saw them both on film and saw their combine numbers as did the rest of the scouting dept. and Snead .
We could have taken him with the pick we had ,if we had it's my bet that Matthews would have sat for us as long as GRob did and possibly longer .would have played guard and tackle in TC and probably this year would likely have played pretty well once the coaches decided to insert him.
The question is for me is once they both get acclimated and are at their highest point of development ,which one adds the most value over his tenure as a Ram not if he could start the first 5 games of his rookie year and turn in middlen performances .

I don't think it would have been "a bullet" to have drafted Matthews and he may yet turn out to be the better choice how anyone could know that is a talent I'd like for them to apply to my investments

I agree with that. We don't know yet, can't really determine for a few years at least. But I think he will be fine, just my opinion.