I liked him in the preseason and thought he was solid when called upon near the end of the season. I'd definitely like to see him on the team next year but we can't be counting on him big time or anything.
I liked him in the preseason and thought he was solid when called upon near the end of the season. I'd definitely like to see him on the team next year but we can't be counting on him big time or anything.
He had 10 receptions on 17 targets in the month of December. He catches the ball well and looks like a NFL receiver. He seems to be emerging given his strong finish, but he needs to emerge from training camp as contributing receiver. My expectation is he will be the 4th or 5th WR coming out of training camp.
I'm thinking we bring in at least 2 new WR's via free agency and the draft, and assuming we keep Bess and Hartline, Matthews is going to have a hard time finding a roster sport.
I like Matthews. It seems like he competes for every ball thrown his way. To me his style of play is similar to Boldins. If given the opportunity to develope, I think he can contribute.
All of us fans have a lot of love for Rishard. Unfortunately the coaching staff didn't share that love or he would have gotten more burn this past year. I think he showed himself to be a natural playmaker in college and was by far my favorite WR we picked up.
He has to be part of our future moving forward. Of course if we pick up a big name WR FA and resign Hartline AND draft 2-3 WRs as expected then things become much more muddled.
The thing that stuck out to me in his limited action was how natural he looked. I haven't gotten a chance to really look at how he fared one on one, and to be honest I would much rather defer to other guys about how he looked, but just as far as the eye test goes.... that boy is a football player. I'm a big fan of the limited action I saw from him.
With that said, he shouldn't be anything more than a 4 or a 5 WR on the depth chart going into the season. He is exactly the kind of player you want to keep around and hope he blossoms but by no means do you want to hitch any sort of wagon to him as far as relying on him to be a serious part of the offense.
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He shouldn't be tossed to the 'scrap heap' nor should you rely on such limited sample size to proclaim him the next coming.
Bring in your FA and draft pick, resign Hartline. And let the competition begin.
Think Rishard has the potential to be a decent receiver. Not sure he has great explosiveness but he probably will be our 4th or 5th receiver next year. I still think Bess gets traded, and so Hartline, a free agent and a high draft pick will probably all be ahead of Rishard, depending on how far along the rookie is.
I predict he will have a huge offseason and emerge as one of our best receivers come preseason. He will be the number 2 guy. Hartline on the slot and Jennings at the 1.
Rookies in this O take time to learn to read the D and run the right route. I'm sure that's why the let the vet have the reps. Who knew Landee? was a POS. That said I have high hopes for Matthews, and hope he can make the team next year...I hope he has a LOT of new competition for his job though!
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