It’s no secret that the Falcons have had problems terrorizing quarterbacks, unless you count their own.
Matt Ryan was one of the NFL’s most-assaulted quarterbacks last season. He was sacked 44 times, hit another 42 times and officially “hurried” into throws 190 times. The fact that he emerged at the end of the season with all of his limbs intact and no apparent psychosis was remarkable.
Consider the Falcons’ selection of offensive tackle Jake Matthews with the sixth pick in Thursday night’s draft as an attempt to rescue their quarterback and their team. It was either Matthews or corner the market on bubble-wrap.
“Aggressive,” Matthews said when asked to describe his style. “A guy who knows what it takes to finish, but at the same time not being overly aggressive and doing something stupid.”
The Falcons will settle for healthy and upright. That would put him ahead of his fraternity members in Flowery Branch.
The Falcons need to improve their pass rush, which is why Jadeveon Clowney (who went first overall to Houston) or Khalil Mack (who went fifth to Oakland, the pick before the Falcons’) would’ve been a welcome addition. General manager Thomas Dimitroff was reticent to send a boatload of draft picks to Houston for Clowney to trade up.
But the offensive line is at least as big a need. Ryan has the welts to prove it.
NFL draft picks don’t come with guarantees. A third of the players taken in the first round won’t amount to much, at least this side of the Canadian border. Their selection will lead to general managers and coaches getting fired.
Dimitroff has drafted 17 offensive and defensive linemen, and none has made a Pro Bowl. But Matthews projects as one of the safer picks in the first round. There are significantly fewer questions about him than there are about the quarterback he blocked for at Texas A&M, Johnny Manziel. Matthews was a two-time All-American, a two-time all-SEC selection and was a starter from the seventh game of his freshman season through his senior season.
He was drafted higher than anybody else in his family’s history, and that’s saying something.
Jake will be the seventh Matthews family member to play in the NFL. His father, Bruce Matthews, was one of the greatest linemen in league history. The guard for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans went to 14 Pro Bowls, was named All-Pro 10 times and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer (2007).
“In my opinion, he’s the greatest offensive lineman to ever play the game,” Jake Matthews said. “I’d be happy to do half the things he did.” (In this case, it doesn’t matter that he can’t be objective.)
Jake’s uncle is Clay Matthews Jr., an All-Pro linebacker who played with Cleveland and the Falcons. His cousin is Clay Matthews III, the outside linebacker and passing-rusher extraordinaire in Green Bay. Casey Matthews plays for the Philadelphia Eagles.
It appears nobody named Matthews aspired to sell insurance.
(Family reunion scheduling note: Cousins Jake and Clay will collide Dec. 8 when the Falcons go to Green Bay for a Monday night game. Jake: “I talked to my dad, and he said some of his greatest memories were going against his brother. It’ll be a huge challenge, but I’m looking forward to it.”)
The sincere hope inside and outside the Falcons’ facility is that Matthews works out significantly better than the last time the team invested heavily in a tackle: Sam Baker in 2008.
Dimitroff, in his first draft after taking over, selected Ryan with the third overall pick. He was determined to take a left tackle with the next pick to protect Ryan.
Something you may not know: Dimitroff was enamored of Virginia Tech tackle Duane Brown. But with the team having been burned recently by former Virginia Tech players — Michael Vick, DeAngelo Hall, Jimmy Williams — Dimitroff shifted his focus to Baker. He worked a trade with Washington, trading up from the second round (34th overall) to late in the first round (21st) and took Baker out of USC. The six-pick deal cost the Falcons nearly the equivalent of a second-round pick.
But Baker has had one good season in six and mostly has been injured (back, shoulder, elbow, knee) and struggled. Meanwhile, Brown has been a standout for the Texans, playing in two Pro Bowls and being named an All-Pro in 2012.
Dimitroff knew the line had to be fixed this year.
“We talked throughout this process about improving our team with tough, rugged football players, and Jake Matthews epitomizes exactly what we were looking for,” he said. “He is a solid finisher and has good pass-protection skills. He is the type of player that we are always looking for here in Atlanta — guys who are willing to work and those who come in and embrace the team concept.”
The general manager is hopeful this one works out. So is the quarterback.
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