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On Saturday, former Eagles scout and current NFL Network personality Daniel Jeremiah caught attention with the following comments he made on his podcast.
At the receiver position, I think they’re in great shape. Nelson Agholor has had a total rebirth. He’s in the slot. He’s gonna live in the slot. He’s gonna be their slot receiver. I’ll be shocked if he’s not. I don’t know what that means for Jordan Matthews.
Matthews fired back at Jeremiah following Philadelphia’s training camp practice at Lincoln Financial Field. Via Philly.com:
“It’s so early in training camp. People make so many bold predictions,” Matthews said. “The craziest thing is I make a bold prediction or say something outlandish and it’s wrong, I would get scrutinized. He might do it, and it’s like, ‘OK …’ His mock drafts are pretty bad every year. Nobody gets on him.”
As it turns out, Jeremiah actually has a pretty good mock draft record. Here’s a look at how his mocks have graded out on Bleeding Green Nation’s annual study.
Matthews said something else worth disputing.
“My biggest thing is am I getting reps now? Am I getting opportunities to go out there and make plays? That’s my only focus. I can’t really worry too much about what Daniel Jeremiah says or any of those guys. They don’t play ball. They’re not in the front office.”
It’s obviously true that Jeremiah isn’t actually part of the Eagles’ front office. But to paint the picture like he’s an outsider who knows nothing is disingenuous. Jeremiah isn’t just some blowhard NFL analyst. He used to work with Howie Roseman in Philadelphia. He also used to work with Joe Douglas and Andy Weidl in Baltimore. The Eagles reportedly interviewed Jeremiah for the player personnel job that Douglas ended up getting last year. Just how much Jeremiah knows is up for debate, but it’s not like he doesn’t have legitimate Eagles connections.
I feel like Matthews kind of comes off looking salty/petty by making these comments about Jeremiah. I think he should have just left it at ‘I’m not worried about what anyone else has to say.’
But what’s done is done and this isn’t a huge deal. We still don’t know for sure if Jeremiah’s claim will even come true. Although Agholor has had a good offseason, Matthews has still been taking first team reps in the slot. It’s certainly a situation worth monitoring moving forward.