New England Patriots: The Jordan Matthews signing doesn’t fix the Pats problem
By Sam Minton
The New England Patriots signed Jordan Matthews on Wednesday night. The Patriots still are lacking in the wide receiver department.
The New England Patriots have some problems at the wide receiver position after trading away Brandin Cooks. A lot of their guys are susceptible to injury, and they can’t afford to lose as many wideouts as they did last season. Jordan Matthews is a good wide receiver, but that all depends on his health.
Matthews is most deadly in the slot. In 2016 67% of his routes came out of the slot. In 56 games he has 250 catches 2,955 yards and 20 touchdowns. Not too shabby considering some of his quarterbacks were Mark Sanchez and Sam Bradshaw. Last season Matthews played in only 10 games for the Buffalo Bills. He only caught 25 balls for 282 yards and a touchdown.
The Patriots have had success with former Bills as Chris Hogan has been great ever since he joined the Pats, but I wouldn’t expect Matthews to be as good.
Some troubling traits
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With Tom Brady, Matthews may be able to put up some good numbers, but the wideout has had some issues. Matthews struggles to hold on to the ball. From 2014-2016 he dropped 21 passes. Also, Matthews is coming off of knee, ankle, and thumb surgery. There will be a lot of questions about Matthews ability post-op.
In all honesty, it wouldn’t surprise me if Matthews doesn’t make the roster. He will definitely be fighting for a roster spot with there being 10 wide receivers currently on the roster.
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Hopefully, Matthews will prove to be yet another player who has his career reborn with the Patriots. After last season the Patriots will be gunning for the Super Bowl and they will need all the help they can get. Matthews may help along the way, but Patriots fans shouldn’t get their hopes up. If Matthews performs like he did in Buffalo, he will be looking for another team when September comes.