Casey Matthews Scouting Report

There were questions regarding Oregon's defense early in the 2010 season, but the Ducks have remained undefeated in large part due to the overlooked defense. Casey Matthews is the leader of the Ducks defense. The 6'2, 235 pound linebacker does a little bit of most things and a lot of everything else. Matthews started making an impact as a true freshman in 2007. He played in the first 11 games of the season and even earned a start before missing a couple of games with a shoulder injury. He only tallied 18.0 tackles during that season, but 4.0 of those were for a loss.

Matthews stepped up his game as a sophomore, but still started the season coming in off of the bench. By November he was a staple in the starting lineup and he ended the season ranking sixth on the team with 67 tackles and added 13.0 tackles-for-loss. Matthews kept getting better as an upperclassman. In 2009 he totaled 81 tackles and became much more versatile and spent less time getting in the backfield and more time dropping back in coverage. In 2010, Matthews has done everything. Through the regular season Matthews not only leads the team with 73 tackles, but has also added 8.5 tackles-for-loss, 3.0 sacks, three interceptions and five passes defended.

With Oregon heading to the BCS National Championship game, Matthews will get one more shot to show the nation that the Ducks are about more than just their explosive offense. Matthews is arguably one of the top five inside linebackers in this class, but that will not likely be enough to get him drafted in the first three rounds.

3/15 Update: Matthews injured his shoulder at the NFL combine while doing the bench press. It was a freak accident and turned out to be a minor one. Matthews was ready to go for Oregon's pro day on March 10th and performed all the workouts except the bench press. As expected, Matthews did not blow anybody away with his physical attributes. He is a football player, not an athlete. That means he will be drafted in the fourth or fifth round, but be around the NFL a lot longer than many players drafted before him.