This was Doug Pederson in March when asked about using wide receiver Jordan Matthews less in the slot and more on the outside: "I think he can play outside. I'm going to look at him outside as we go through this spring. With his skill set, I think he can play both (inside and outside)."
This was Pederson Friday when asked the same question about Matthews: "Jordan, again, he's been good on the outside. (But) he's better inside, because he's got that big body and he knows how to sort of use it in space.
"One thing he can do, particularly in tight areas, is separate from man-to-man type coverages. That's one thing we've seen (from him) this spring from the slot position. But again, he's a position-versatile guy that you can move around."
Matthews: "Obviously, I've done slot two years in a row. Inside, I feel I'm at another level when it comes to playing inside. But I definitely want to be able to move around and do some other things for this offense. And I think coach is going to let me do that."
Matthews may play outside in two-WR sets, but it looks like he's mainly going to play in the slot. He finished 25th and 16th in PPR formats in his first two seasons, and may be hard-pressed to match those numbers since Pederson's offense is likely to operate at a much slower pace than Chip Kelly's. Pederson will have to feature Matthews like he did Jeremy Maclin last year for Matthews not to see a significant dip in targets.
Eagles news
