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Jake Matthews (American football)

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Jake Matthews
refer to caption
Matthews in 2021
No. 70 – Atlanta Falcons
Position:Offensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1992-02-11) February 11, 1992 (age 32)
Missouri City, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:310 lb (141 kg)
Career information
High school:Elkins (Missouri City, Texas)
College:Texas A&M (2010–2013)
NFL draft:2014 / round: 1 / pick: 6
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2024
Games played:163
Games started:163
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Jacob Thomas Matthews (born February 11, 1992) is an American professional football offensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Falcons sixth overall in the 2014 NFL draft. He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies. He is a member of the Matthews family of football players.

Early life

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Matthews attended Elkins High School in Missouri City, where he was a standout offensive lineman for the Elkins Knights high school football team.[1] He was teammates with D. J. Hayden. In his senior season, Matthews was a first-team all-district and all-greater Houston honoree as his team finished the season with a 9–3 record. Matthews was invited to play in the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl and also earned 2009 High School All-American honors by USA Today, Parade, and SuperPrep.

Regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was listed as the No. 7 offensive tackle prospect in the class of 2010.[2] He chose Texas A&M over offers from Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Oregon, Texas, Texas Tech, Southern California, and Stanford.

College career

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As a junior in 2012, Matthews was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection in recognition of his successful season.[3] He also received first-team All-American honors by the Football Writers Association of America.[4] During his senior season, Matthews played left tackle after playing right tackle for the previous three seasons.[5]

As a senior in 2013, Matthews was again a first-team All-SEC selection.[6]

Professional career

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Matthews during Falcons training camp in 2014

Matthews was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the sixth overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft.[7] With Luke Joeckel having been selected second overall in the 2013 NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Texas A&M became the first school with consecutive top-10 selected offensive lineman since USC's Tyron Smith and Matt Kalil in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 5+1⁄2 in
(1.97 m) 		308 lb
(140 kg) 		33+3⁄8 in
(0.85 m) 		9+7⁄8 in
(0.25 m)		 5.07 s 1.75 s 2.94 s 4.47 s 7.34 s 30.5 in
(0.77 m)		 8 ft 9 in
(2.67 m)		 24 reps
All values from NFL Combine[8][9]

In his first NFL game, Matthews suffered a high ankle sprain in a season-opening win against the Saints. Despite the injury, Matthews started in all but one game in his rookie season.[10][11] In 2015, Matthews' blocking improved, allowing only 38 quarterback pressures compared to 51 in 2014. That season, Matthews was named as the third most improved player of 2015 by Pro Football Focus.[12]

In the 2016 season, Matthews and the Falcons reached Super Bowl LI, where they faced the New England Patriots. In the Super Bowl, Matthews played all offensive snaps, as the Falcons lost in overtime to the Patriots, 34–28, after giving up a 28–3 lead.[13] In the second half, Matthews was flagged twice for offensive holding, and both of those penalties proved costly in the end, as they pushed the Falcons out of field goal range twice, despite already being in range, therefore erasing two opportunities for the Falcons to put the game away.

On April 25, 2017, the Falcons picked up the fifth-year option on Matthews' contract.[14] He started all 16 games at left tackle for the third straight year for the Falcons in 2017.

On July 27, 2018, Matthews signed a five-year, $75 million contract extension with the Falcons.[15]

Matthews (left) playing against the Washington Football Team in 2021.

On January 23, 2019, Matthews was named to his first Pro Bowl as a replacement for Redskins offensive tackle Trent Williams.

During the 2020 season, Matthews played in all 16 games, allowing only three quarterback sacks, six quarterback hits, and three total penalties on 1,113 offensive snaps. For his 2020 performance, he earned a 75.5 overall Pro Football Focus grade, with a 84.0 grade in pass blocking and 57.4 grade in run blocking. His pass blocking ranked 9th among all tackles in the NFL and his run blocking ranked 47th. The 75.5 overall grade was the lowest he received since the 2016 season. Matthews has played at least 1,000 snaps every season since 2015.[16]

On March 14, 2022, Matthews signed a three-year, $52.5 million extension with the Falcons.[17] By the end of November 2022, Matthews started 138 consecutive regular season games, the longest active streak for a left tackle in the NFL.[18]

Personal life

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See also: Matthews family

Matthews was born in Houston, Texas. He is the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews and the younger brother of Kevin Matthews, a center who also played for the Aggies and last played for the Carolina Panthers in 2015. His younger brother, Mike, last played center for the Miami Dolphins. He is also the cousin of former linebacker Clay Matthews III, who spent the majority of his career playing for the Green Bay Packers, and Casey Matthews, a linebacker who last played for the Minnesota Vikings. He is the nephew of NFL veteran Clay Matthews Jr., the grandson of NFL veteran Clay Matthews Sr., and the great-grandson of H. L. Matthews. He is married to Meggi Matthews and they have one son, Beckett Matthews.

References

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  1. ^ Hammond, Matt (January 31, 2017). "Jake Matthews: "I Love Houston"". Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  2. ^ "Offensive tackles 2010". Rivals.com. January 20, 2010. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  3. ^ "2012 All-SEC Football Team Announced". SEC Digital Network. December 4, 2012. Archived from the original on December 7, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
  4. ^ "FWAA NAMES 2012 ALL-AMERICA TEAM".
  5. ^ Paul Kuharsky (June 18, 2013). "Luke Joeckel on help from a tight end". ESPN. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  6. ^ "2013 All-SEC Football Team Announced". SEC Digital Network. December 10, 2013. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  7. ^ D. Orlando Ledbetter (May 8, 2014). "2014 NFL Draft: Falcons select OT Jake Matthews". Archived from the original on January 6, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  8. ^ "Jake Matthews Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  9. ^ "Jake Matthews, Texas AM, OT, 2014 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  10. ^ McClure, Vaughn (January 8, 2015). "Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews recovering from Lisfranc injury". ESPN. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  11. ^ D. Orlando Ledbetter (January 16, 2016). "Jake Matthews was one of NFL's most improved players". AJC.com. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  12. ^ Chris Phillips (January 13, 2016). "David Amerson tops PFF's award list for Most Improved Player". Pro Football Focus. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  13. ^ "Super Bowl LI – New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons – February 5th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  14. ^ Kelsey Conway (April 25, 2017). "Falcons Exercise Jake Matthews' Fifth-Year Option". AtlantaFalcons.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  15. ^ Patra, Kevin (July 27, 2018). "Falcons, Jake Matthews agree on 5-year, $75M deal". NFL.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2018.
  16. ^ "Falcons post-2020 roster review: Tackle edition". January 15, 2021.
  17. ^ "Falcons, LT Jake Matthews agree to three-year, big-money extension". NFL.com. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  18. ^ Haley, Matt; Deighton, John (November 18, 2022). "Nerdy Birds: Jake Matthews streaking, stopping Justin Fields, and getting off of the field on third down". AtlantaFalcons.com.
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