NFL Soup|Saturday, May 18, 2013
You are here: Home » NFL Draft » Scouting Reports » 2011 Scouting Reports » 2011 NFL Draft Player Profile | Casey Matthews

2011 NFL Draft Player Profile | Casey Matthews 

2011 NFL Draft

If you haven’t heard of the Matthews family by now, you most likely live under a rock. It’s no secret that they are one of the most dominant football families to ever play in the NFL. Clay Matthews Sr., and Clay Matthews Jr. are the most well know, as well as his uncle Bruce Matthews who will go down as one of the best offensive guards to ever play the game. His grandfather Clay Matthews I was a standout in the 1950’s, as well.

While his brother walked on and under-achieved at USC, Casey wasn’t as fortunate. He was an undersized three star recruit coming out of Oaks Christian High School. He received scholarship offers from numerous Pac-10 schools, as well as a few medium ranged ACC schools. He chose Oregon in the end, and played in all 11 games in his freshman year.

Casey may not be as physically gifted as his brother Clay, but there’s no doubt that he’s just as intelligent and has a great work ethic.

Player Name: Casey Matthews

Position: Inside Linebacker

School: Oregon

Height: 6’1

Weight: 231

Strengths

Matthews’ biggest strength is his intelligence. He’s does well reading and reacting to the offensive play on every down. He has a non-stop motor, playing well sideline to sideline. He’s a very good tackler, who’s very fundamentally sound. He doesn’t often get caught out of position, and he uses his athleticism to make up for his lack of overall bulk. Matthews is also excellent in making plays in coverage. He covers his zone almost effortlessly, and has a knack for finding the ball. He’s an underrated pass rusher on the inside, and has the speed to maybe make the transition to the OLB position in a 3-4, although that may not utilize his skill-set to the maximum. However, his versatility is fantastic and will be coveted among teams in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Weaknesses

The biggest knock on Matthews is his size. He’s not the biggest or strongest player on the football field, nor is he the most athletic. He plays in a very loosely based zone defense in Oregon which helps his athleticism shine. He may not be able to transition to a 3-4 defense because of his inability to frequently get off of blockers, but if he improves as a pass rusher he may move outside, although not likely. He’s most likely restricted to a 4-3 role, but he’s versatile enough to play all three linebacker positions in a 4-3 scheme. While he’s not weak by any means, he still needs to improve on his strength and use his arms to get off blocks, rather than getting fully engaged with blockers.

Draft Range

Right now, it’s completely open where Matthews goes. His brother, Clay, had some of the same weaknesses coming out, not being a big, strong linebacker. But hard work propelled him into the first, and Casey could do the same if he works out well enough at the combine. Right now, his ceiling is as high as a middle second round pick, but he’ll most likely be selected between the third and middle of the fourth rounds. Look for teams like Indianapolis, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Detroit to target him. If teams feel he can make the transition to 3-4, it could improve his stock heavily as teams like Buffalo, Arizona, and Green Bay could look at grabbing him in the 2011 NFL Draft.

NFL Comparison: Demeco Ryans

Looking for NFL Tickets for the NFL Playoffs? Go here.

About the author: Keet Bailey

Keet Bailey heads the NFL Draft division of NFL Soup. Bailey's 2012 NFL Mock Draft scored 12th overall among 112 participants according to The Huddle Report's Annual Mock Draft scoring contest. An avid Cleveland Browns fan, Keet hails from and resides in Ohio. Follow Keet on Twitter @NFLSoupKeet

17 Responses to 2011 NFL Draft Player Profile | Casey Matthews

  1. Georgeann Kalkwarf

    This is the correct blog for anyone who wants to search out out about this topic. You realize so much its nearly exhausting to argue with you (not that I actually would need…HaHa). You undoubtedly put a brand new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, simply nice!

     
  2. Ray Busi

    Generally I don’t read post on blogs, however I wish to say that this write-up very pressured me to try and do so! Your writing taste has been amazed me. Thank you, very nice article.

     
  3. Santiago Hanauer

    Very interesting info !Perfect just what I was looking for!

     
  4. visit this link

    I discovered this information earlier today while in the office. Very informative. Sent the link to myself and will possibly bookmark it when I go back home.

     
  5. complexity

    by means of quite a lot of complications to suit your needs to get in touch with it effective.two. Quick. Payday loans appear

     
  6. Sony batteries

    Hey! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be ok. I’m definitely enjoying your weblog and appear forward to new updates.

     
  7. Treasa Greynolds

    After i ordered her Compact disk, I received it quite quickly, and I stay in California. I’ve also ordered textbooks from her which arrived equally fast! She will also respond to email requests. She is an awesome lady! br /Gwen Olson

     
  8. Vanetta Bochat

    Hello my family member! I desire to say this article is amazing, nice created and feature approximately most important infos. I’d like to see more posts such as this.

     
  9. Dorinda Tambunga

    Are all diversified, long lasting, and even now give fundamentally one of the most assist, grip and cushioning from the jogging sneakers. jeremy scott footwear are one of the most powerful working sneakers offered accessible on the market. These footwear arrive with authentic components designed by the particular Adidas Company. Although jeremy scott footwear are made with very tough resources

     
  10. Francie Zerom

    I as well as my buddies were actually reading the best procedures from the website and then all of a sudden got an awful suspicion I never expressed respect to the blog owner for those strategies. These people were definitely for that reason very interested to read all of them and have in effect in reality been using these things. Appreciation for really being indeed considerate and for finding these kinds of awesome topics millions of individuals are really wanting to learn about. Our sincere apologies for not expressing appreciation to you sooner.

     
  11. Eugena Borrolli

    Contemplating about essentially trying to stroll in them, I think your hope is that you’re ballerina where feet are generally trained to resist that situation. Or preferably you’re custom modeling rendering them and wish to just stroll in front of the digicam for a few supports.

     
  12. Clarence Volbrecht

    Sweet web site, super layout, really clean and use friendly.

     
  13. ghd baratas

    Whats Going down i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It positively helpful and it has aided me out loads. I hope to contribute & aid other users like its helped me. Good job.

     
  14. Cristopher Boutot

    “Right here is the sort of information I’ve been looking for. Thanks for posting this information.”

     
  15. http://youtube.com/watch?v=xbL01vfSggg

    Hi. Cool article. There is a problem with the web site in chrome, and you might want to check this… The browser is the market leader and a big element of folks will miss your magnificent writing because of this problem.

     
  16. http://youtube.com/watch?v=xbL01vfSggg

    Hi. Cool article. There is an issue with the site in firefox, and you might want to check this… The browser is the market leader and a huge portion of folks will omit your great writing because of this problem.

     

Add a Comment