Some Jordan Matthews 101, if I may so presume, gents, as I've noticed that a lot of folks have an extremely inaccurate idea of what he brings to the table:
01 ~ His skill set is very different than that of Edelman or Amendola. There are some similarities, and all of our wideouts play multiple roles, but as skill sets go: very different.
02 ~ Those guys are SlotBacks. That's an ancient FootBall term that I don't see in use much outside of my Site, but it's the only correct term to describe the Wesley Welkers, Julian Edelmans, and Danny Amendolas of the world, who're not fast, like a Flanker, and not tall, like a Split End or a Slot End, but are quick and slippery. They tend to line up off the line, technically in the BackField, and catch a ton of short, high percentage passes.
03 ~ Jordan Matthews is a Split End. Split Ends optimally line up outside, on the line, as opposed to Flankers, who optimally line up outside, off the line. Split Ends are most noteworthy for their size and target area. And because they're on the large size, they're usually not anywhere near as quick or explosive as SlotBacks.
04 ~ "Slot End" is a term that I've invented to describe WideOuts who line up in the Slot but on the line. I've even dabbled with defining it as a definitive skill set, but generally these guys are just Split Ends who've played primarily in the Slot just to get'm some Snaps, because they're on a team that already has a starting Split End, or for other tactical reasons.
05 ~ Matthews isn't especially quick, but he's fast enough, and he's remarkably slippery for a Split End, hence his success in Philly in the Slot. But he's huge and pretty slippery, whereas Edelman is small and extremely slippery. Different skill sets. Different roles.
06 ~ His skill set is very different from Edelman's, and that's awesome news because that means that they compliment each other: He can be lined up at Slot End with Edelman at SlotBack to enormous tactical advantage, and he can be split out wide, and be effective in either role. He's got Gronkowski's "build up speed" which'll enable'm to be extremely dangerous down the seam, yet he's an outstanding, cerebral Route Runner who I expect to master this Offense quickly, enabling our man Brady to put'm to work quickly...And he's a big target ~ with good hands!!! ~ who should become an excellent weapon both in Moving The Chains and in closing Drives in the End Zone where they belong.
