Casey Matthews bulks up… does it matter?

Casey Matthews has bulked up from 232 pounds to 250 under the tutelage of his brother Clay (Green Bay Packers)… the idea is to become bigger so it’s easier to shed those medium-downfield blocks by the 300-pound OL behemoths of the NFL.  Some folks worry that the extra weight will slow Casey down in nickel coverage of pass receivers… Does that really matter in this stage of Casey’s career?

Casey knows this is a make-or-break year for him in Philadelphia. So why not go into training camp with an extra 18 pounds of resistance? Screw the coverage issues, he’s got to prove he won’t be pushed around…

The latest RotoWorld update on Matthews: “Eagles LB Casey Matthews indicated that he now weighs in at 250 pounds, up 18 pounds from last year’s listed weight.Beat writers noted that Matthews looked “huge” at workouts a few weeks ago. The added bulk should help Matthews in the run game, where he was too often washed out as a rookie. As the team’s primary nickel backer down the stretch, though, the extra bulk could slow him in coverage. Matthews still projects as a situational player for 2012.”

I totally get where Casey is coming from… If I can’t stop the run, they’re not going to pass against me anyway…

Nothing to lose…

And it’s that time of the year when Casey has to look at the total 90-man roster and figure his odds of sticking at LB in the Eagles scheme of things: Matthews at 250 ?  Why not?… It couldn’t hurt his overall performance as long as he sticks with his receivers in nickel.  You don’t have to outrun them… just stay arm’s length. That’s all we ask…

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