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On Tuesday, Bovada released stat predictions and prop bets for a few players from each team. We’ll be looking at one player each day from now until the start of the season.
We already looked at Carson Wentz and Ryan Mathews. Today, we sneak a peek at Jordan Matthews.
Total Receiving Yards in the 2016 Regular Season: 900
Matthews is a possession receiver. He gets a lot of touches, but his yards per reception numbers are never too eye-popping. His 13.0 yards per reception as a rookie was a solid mark; his 11.7 yards per reception in 2015 was a little underwhelming.
But it’s hard to blame Matthews for that lackluster number. He was catching passes last season from Sam Bradford, who looked to check downs with aplomb and essentially refused to throw the ball downfield.
I’m going OVER on this prediction because of Carson Wentz.
The Eagles’ rookie gunslinger likes to look for big plays. He keeps his eyes downfield, and has the ability to extend plays with his feet and his physicality. With a more adventurous quarterback, and a sizable threat on the outside in Dorial Green-Beckham to distract opposing secondaries, Matthews should hit 900 yards by the end of the year.
Total Receiving TD's in the 2016 Regular Season: 6
In each of his first two seasons, Jordan Matthews caught eight touchdown passes. In 2014 he was catching passes from Nick Foles — remember him? — and Mark Sanchez, neither of whom is a starting quarterback two years later. Last season, as I mentioned, he was hauling in passes from a timid Sam Bradford. And yet he still has 16 touchdowns in two years!
Matthews is nothing if not a picture of consistency. From the way he practices to the way he performs, he’s not terribly explosive, but he’s reliable. Matthews already seems comfortable with Wentz, even though he didn’t actually have a chance to line up alongside the rookie in Wentz’s lone preseason outing. I’m taking the OVER here, because Jordan Matthews is going to catch eight touchdowns, yearly, until he retires.