7th (Final) RND Pick- Tyler Matakevich-LB Temple

[franco32]

Tyler had a slightly better 40 and short shuttle than Foote. The 3 cone was very close.

[R_S]

Who wants to bet this guy makes the roster?

[Legacy User]

Who wants to bet this guy makes the roster?

Agree with you, he's a player.

[Mick]

Agree with the spence comparison. Wouldn't be surprised if he packed on 10 pounds for the combine (spence added 15), which kills your quickness numbers. Like marakevichca lot more in the 7th than I did spence in the 3rd tho.

[bradshaw2ben]

he doesn't run like Spence on tape. Matakevich on tape is a top-heavy Vince Williams type, without the base VW has in his build. Matakevich looks like too stiff to play coverage ILB and not quick bursty or base enough to get by or take on blockers in the NFL. His smarts help but against speedy teams in college, he compiled stats but didn't make a lot of plays. See: Houston game, for instance.

He might make the team, just because depth at ILB is thin.. but I wouldn't count on it.

[R_S]

i'll go avatar bet with anyone that he is at the least on a practice squad in the NFL this year.

I won't say the Steelers because i won't forget the John Kuhn cut in favor of Carey despite him being vastly outplayed in the preseason.

[bradshaw2ben]

Practice squad wouldn't surprise me, even though I think he's behind the 8 ball, unless there's an injury.

Timmons, Shazier, VW, Dupree, Harrison are locks
Moats is in pretty good shape
Zumwalt and Feeney the inside track, because he can play ILB, coverage in 3-3-5, and backup at rush OLB.
KC is on record praising LJ Fort as a great add AND they signed FA Steven Johnson-- those cheap vet FAs almost always make the club.
Jarvis likely gets another year.

That's 10 or 11

That leaves Matakevich, McCord, Chickillo, Cory Magwood, Jamal Palmer, and Grant Campbell basically having to knock out a guy or two in the above list to make the team. I see PIT moving towards LBs who are position flexible, which make me lean towards guys like Feeney, Zumwalt, and McCord, and away from Jarvis, Matakevich, & Chickillo.

[Obviously]

If RS wins - Peyton Manning for B2B
If B2B wins - Ashley Graham for RS

[jebrick]

Zumwalt and Matakevich are even. Zumwalt has yet to make it to the regular season not on the IR

[bradshaw2ben]

They kept him on the payroll for two years-- he's getting a shot.

Even if Matakevich is ahead of him, he's STILL behind the 8-ball-- still 10-12 in the LB hierarchy and he is more a fit for what they liked to do under Lebeau.

[cop1211]

Hes the kind of uy everyone pulls for but I'd guess practice squad at best.

[Legacy User]

Who wants to bet this guy makes the roster?

Ventrone keeps on making the squad. Hines is in contention for HOF with a zero WR skillset. AB is a smurf with a frame (low HIG wrist circ) that most NFL players only see the field with as a PR for a few years before disappearing forever if even that

. I'm thinking he's the same kind of tenacious guy. Works harder, works smart, never gives up. I'm hoping to see some good stuff in preseason. If we see some impressive kick coverage skills that harken back to a young Hines Ward in his rookie preseason then he will make the squad and he will see successful subpackage snaps in the regular season and playoffs.

You heard it here first. That's my call and I'm standing by it. Here's looking at some beer spilling exciting plays by the young man in critical situations on the way to a Lombardi for Deebo's farewell tour...

Looks like Cheetah, plays like Tarzan
vs washout: Looks like Tarzan plays like Jane
Need all the Cheetahs that we can get.

I said Cheetah, not Cheater

Sure beats the nay sayer whine around here

[R_S]

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/zeis ... 1605090107

By Paul Zeise / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
There are some guys in sports who are really hard to root for. Unfortunately, we spend an awful lot of time and energy focusing on them.

Then there are guys like Steelers rookie linebacker Tyler Matakevich, who was born to be a Steeler.

Matakevich is the classic undersized overachiever who never wins the beauty prize at combines or in a 7-on-7 setting.

Far too many coaches are fired because they’re enamored with guys who are 7-on-7 champions but can't play the game in pads.


All Matakevich does is make plays when the pads and lights are on and the games actually count.

Obviously, you need to have enough players with the right size and speed in order to win, but you also need guys who are just straight-up productive football players of any shape, size or speed.

And frankly, Matakevich has made a living out of beating up on a lot of guys who look far better than him in combines and 7-on-7s. He has proven people wrong his entire career.

He is humble but confident. He’s hard-nosed. He loves football and wants to prove people wrong about not being fast enough for the NFL.

Of course, that’s what they said when he was coming out of St. Joseph High School in Connecticut, and that is why his only scholarship offer was from Temple.

All he did after that was become one of the best defensive players in the country and help lead Temple to a place of respectability.

You think a few schools would love to go back and recruit Matakevich a little harder now?

Last season, he won the Bronko Nagurski and Chuck Bednarik awards as the top defensive player and led Temple to its first win against Penn State since 1941.

He had 138 tackles, 15½ tackles for loss and 4½ sacks, and if you watched Temple this season you saw him around the ball on just about every play.

It’s pretty simple to understand why he slipped to the seventh round. But it’s also easy to see why the Steelers drafted him: he was way too productive to overlook.

Mike Tomlin’s exact phrase was “football justice” when he described drafting Matakevich. What he meant was that a player like him — a productive, great college player, who by all accounts is a great guy and a hard worker — deserved to be drafted, even if late.

That doesn’t mean he is a lock to make the team. He has long odds to overcome, but he now has a foot in the door, an opportunity of a lifetime with a team that seems to be rooting for him to make it.

He will always have to overcome his perceived lack of speed, even if he does make the team, as the Steelers will continue to draft guys who are a step faster and maybe a little bigger.

My guess is that he will be in a Steelers uniform this fall and will make himself a hard guy for the team to let go.

Matakevich is simply too good of a football player — a raw, pure football player — to not find his way onto the roster, if even as just a special teams ace.

He’s only about 6 feet, 233 pounds, but he is a linebacker’s linebacker, which Steelers fans love.

And that’s why I will make two more predictions about him:

• He will do something to catch eyes in the preseason games, even if it’s late in games against other guys trying to make their respective teams.

• If he makes the roster, he’ll become an instant fan favorite. Steelers fans embrace everything that has made him the player he is today: toughness, perseverance and a refuse-to-lose mentality.

If ever there was a player who was born to be a Steeler, it’s Matakevich. He’s one of the good guys we should be rooting for to realize his dream and fulfill that destiny.

nice fluff piece but i have a very similar opinion. I just hope the staff doesn't pull a Kuhn, Carey Davis move on him. Because I have little doubt he will be productive somewhere, at the least.

[Jobu]

That story is/can be written every year, with dozens of names.

who was born to be a Steeler.

but he is a linebacker’s linebacker, which Steelers fans love.

Steelers fans embrace everything that has made him the player he is today: toughness, perseverance and a refuse-to-lose mentality.

If ever there was a player who was born to be a Steeler, it’s Matakevich. He’s one of the good guys we should be rooting for to realize his dream and fulfill that destiny.

Fluff away!!!

[Legacy User]

Not hard to root for the guy.

Plus decent frame, normal first name.

Win all around.

[Scunge]

I was not really impressed by the ILB class in this year's draft.

I don't see how Matakevich is any worse than any of the ILBers taken way before him.

Everyone is gushing over Cleveland drafting Scooby Wright and how he is a steal, he ran a 4.90 40, our guy Tyler ran a 4.81. Somehow Wright has Zach Thomas instincts and his speed does not matter, while our guy is slow and is a longshot to make the team? Whatever.

Reggie Ragland runs a 4.72, and isn't that much better athletically than Matakevich, yet he is a 2nd round pick? Again, whatever.

We have a need for LBers that can play special teams and play them well. Terrance Garvin and Sean Spence were two of our best special teams players the past couple years. Matakevich should have no problem picking up the playbook on defense and knowing it completely in his first season, to be able to do that and to be able to play special teams gives him a big edge in my book. Who else is he competing with at ILB? Fort? Johnson? Zumwalt?

[jebrick]

He compares directly to Vince Williams. Combine-wise, Vince is .1 faster in the 40 and Matakevich crushes Vince in the 3-cone drill. Other than that they are nearly identical.

At the very least they will have a very good ST player. When Vince becomes a Fa after this season they have a replacement waiting.

[Legacy User]

Not hard to root for the guy.

Plus decent frame, normal first name.

Win all around.

Mr Pickles would die for his wrist circumference and forearm HIG.

[bradshaw2ben]

I was not really impressed by the ILB class in this year's draft.

I don't see how Matakevich is any worse than any of the ILBers taken way before him.

Everyone is gushing over Cleveland drafting Scooby Wright and how he is a steal, he ran a 4.90 40, our guy Tyler ran a 4.81. Somehow Wright has Zach Thomas instincts and his speed does not matter, while our guy is slow and is a longshot to make the team? Whatever.

Reggie Ragland runs a 4.72, and isn't that much better athletically than Matakevich, yet he is a 2nd round pick? Again, whatever.

We have a need for LBers that can play special teams and play them well. Terrance Garvin and Sean Spence were two of our best special teams players the past couple years. Matakevich should have no problem picking up the playbook on defense and knowing it completely in his first season, to be able to do that and to be able to play special teams gives him a big edge in my book. Who else is he competing with at ILB? Fort? Johnson? Zumwalt?

I think Matakevich is insurance against an injury to Timmons or Williams. He fits that spot better than the Shazier side of things, where Feeney, Fort, Johnson, and Zumwalt all fit better. I wouldn't underestimate the team's praise of Fort nor their propensity for low-profile FA signings like Johnson and the likelihood those FA signings make the 53.

There were only a handful of ILBs I had ahead of Matakevich- in particular Elandon Roberts, who went just before our 6th round pick. He seems like a real Steelers kind of LB and might have been in the conversation for that pick at 220.

[R_S]

He compares directly to Vince Williams. Combine-wise, Vince is .1 faster in the 40 and Matakevich crushes Vince in the 3-cone drill. Other than that they are nearly identical.

At the very least they will have a very good ST player. When Vince becomes a Fa after this season they have a replacement waiting.

I agree. Except Matakevich has done nothing but produce on the field since his freshman year. I could see him playing well in the preseason....getting cut for some schlub, picked up by another team, and be a starter in a year or two.

[bradshaw2ben]

in 1993


in 2016 and beyond, I think he's not quite loose enough in coverage nor quick enough with first step for NFL speed. I hope to be wrong.

[steelclan]

in 1993


in 2016 and beyond, I think he's not quite loose enough in coverage nor quick enough with first step for NFL speed. I hope to be wrong.

I have doubts the lad will make the PS. If you look at college football it has a long history of producing ILBs that rack up impressive stats. It is fun to project those to the next level but you have to look at some other things to get context in that production. Who did Temple play? What sort of players did Matakevich have around him? Where his TFL/splash plays a product of a great individual play, good fortune or unblocked Jervis stats? If you watch several games yes he makes plays but you begin to see a pattern develop; he simply isn't quick/fast or explosiveness enough to get to many, many plays. That is covered up by the fact he played on one of the best defenses in the country.I saw a limited, try hard football player. Yes sounds great but in the NFL you need much, much more than that. I simply don't see it.

If the game was still played in a phone booth he would have a shot as back up/spot starter. It isn't and he isn't playing against UCF, SMU or UMass type talent in the NFL. His flaws will be exposed big time. I see him as an outside shot for 53 at best.

[R_S]

yeah, i get it. the kid has been underestimated his whole life because his measurables were not quite good enough to compete.....

As crazy as this sounds. He reminds me a little of Burfict. Not fast, not a physical specimen. But has a nose for the ball and great football instinct. Character issues and dirtiness aside.

[R_S]

in 1993


in 2016 and beyond, I think he's not quite loose enough in coverage nor quick enough with first step for NFL speed. I hope to be wrong.

I have doubts the lad will make the PS. If you look at college football it has a long history of producing ILBs that rack up impressive stats. It is fun to project those to the next level but you have to look at some other things to get context in that production. Who did Temple play? What sort of players did Matakevich have around him? Where his TFL/splash plays a product of a great individual play, good fortune or unblocked Jervis stats? If you watch several games yes he makes plays but you begin to see a pattern develop; he simply isn't quick/fast or explosiveness enough to get to many, many plays. That is covered up by the fact he played on one of the best defenses in the country.I saw a limited, try hard football player. Yes sounds great but in the NFL you need much, much more than that. I simply don't see it.

If the game was still played in a phone booth he would have a shot as back up/spot starter. It isn't and he isn't playing against UCF, SMU or UMass type talent in the NFL. His flaws will be exposed big time. I see him as an outside shot for 53 at best.

The level of competition Temple played against was fine. He's not a Division III player.

Serious question, how do you have 138 tackles, 15.5 TFL 4.5 sacks and 5 int by not being able to get to many many plays?

You said yourself he was on a top defensive team so he wasn't making tackles 7-8 yards downfield on 19 play drives every game.

I know I sound like this kids brother defending him, but I have a soft spot for undersized and undervalued ILB's that produce.

[steelclan]

in 1993


in 2016 and beyond, I think he's not quite loose enough in coverage nor quick enough with first step for NFL speed. I hope to be wrong.

I have doubts the lad will make the PS. If you look at college football it has a long history of producing ILBs that rack up impressive stats. It is fun to project those to the next level but you have to look at some other things to get context in that production. Who did Temple play? What sort of players did Matakevich have around him? Where his TFL/splash plays a product of a great individual play, good fortune or unblocked Jervis stats? If you watch several games yes he makes plays but you begin to see a pattern develop; he simply isn't quick/fast or explosiveness enough to get to many, many plays. That is covered up by the fact he played on one of the best defenses in the country.I saw a limited, try hard football player. Yes sounds great but in the NFL you need much, much more than that. I simply don't see it.

If the game was still played in a phone booth he would have a shot as back up/spot starter. It isn't and he isn't playing against UCF, SMU or UMass type talent in the NFL. His flaws will be exposed big time. I see him as an outside shot for 53 at best.

The level of competition Temple played against was fine. He's not a Division III player.

Serious question, how do you have 138 tackles, 15.5 TFL 4.5 sacks and 5 int by not being able to get to many many plays?

You said yourself he was on a top defensive team so he wasn't making tackles 7-8 yards downfield on 19 play drives every game.

I know I sound like this kids brother defending him, but I have a soft spot for undersized and undervalued ILB's that produce.

Your stating stats not context. It matters. For example; in Matakevich's 1st game of 2015 his Owls played Penn St. He recorded 3 sacks. All 3 sacks were completely unblocked sprints to the Qb. I like he made the tackles but those 3 sacks aren't something I'm going to get overly excited over, if at all.

The rest of the game? He had a few decent stops and one nice pass defensed, outside of that? I saw a player who got swallowed up a bunch in the wash, didn't have the athleticism to make plays that weren't unblocked or right at him and left holes for PSU to exploit by making poor reads. So yes if you just read the box score, looks great! The reality not so much.

It is one of the primary reasons many people groaned when the PS selected Jarvis Jones. A player with a ton of production in a very good conference but lift off the veneer and 16 sacks didn't look so great.

[bradshaw2ben]

I watched the game Temple vs Houston near end of the year- Cougars' team speed on offense and to the edge rendered Matakevich ineffective, to my eye.

[R_S]

Your stating stats not context. It matters. For example; in Matakevich's 1st game of 2015 his Owls played Penn St. He recorded 3 sacks. All 3 sacks were completely unblocked sprints to the Qb. I like he made the tackles but those 3 sacks aren't something I'm going to get overly excited over, if at all.

The rest of the game? He had a few decent stops and one nice pass defensed, outside of that? I saw a player who got swallowed up a bunch in the wash, didn't have the athleticism to make plays that weren't unblocked or right at him and left holes for PSU to exploit by making poor reads. So yes if you just read the box score, looks great! The reality not so much.

It is one of the primary reasons many people groaned when the PS selected Jarvis Jones. A player with a ton of production in a very good conference but lift off the veneer and 16 sacks didn't look so great.

And I disagree with your context. As a unit they held PSU to under 200 yards total offense. So those supposed holes he created didn't amount to much.

All linebackers get swallowed in the wash at times during EVERY SINGLE GAME. From Ray Lewis, to yes, Jack Lambert.

You can blow off all his numbers all you like, but he didn't get lucky all season long and stumble into the conversation for best ILB in the country. He produced at a more consistent level than anyone in the nation. And to discredit that by saying he played against poor competition is absurd.

Hard worker, gym rat, film nerd, he is the antithesis of Jarvis Jones.


It will be fun to revisit this thread in a year or two. I've definitely laid it out for this Ginger linebacker.

[bradshaw2ben]

I salute you.

One thing that struck me about Matakevich, in extremely limited opportunities to hear him-- unless I missed something-- he doesn't sound like the smartest/most educated guy. That doesn't necessarily mean anything in terms of football smart and it might mean he has more desperation and single-mindedness about football.

[steelclan]

Your stating stats not context. It matters. For example; in Matakevich's 1st game of 2015 his Owls played Penn St. He recorded 3 sacks. All 3 sacks were completely unblocked sprints to the Qb. I like he made the tackles but those 3 sacks aren't something I'm going to get overly excited over, if at all.

The rest of the game? He had a few decent stops and one nice pass defensed, outside of that? I saw a player who got swallowed up a bunch in the wash, didn't have the athleticism to make plays that weren't unblocked or right at him and left holes for PSU to exploit by making poor reads. So yes if you just read the box score, looks great! The reality not so much.

It is one of the primary reasons many people groaned when the PS selected Jarvis Jones. A player with a ton of production in a very good conference but lift off the veneer and 16 sacks didn't look so great.

And I disagree with your context. As a unit they held PSU to under 200 yards total offense. So those supposed holes he created didn't amount to much.

All linebackers get swallowed in the wash at times during EVERY SINGLE GAME. From Ray Lewis, to yes, Jack Lambert.

You can blow off all his numbers all you like, but he didn't get lucky all season long and stumble into the conversation for best ILB in the country. He produced at a more consistent level than anyone in the nation. And to discredit that by saying he played against poor competition is absurd.

Hard worker, gym rat, film nerd, he is the antithesis of Jarvis Jones.


It will be fun to revisit this thread in a year or two. I've definitely laid it out for this Ginger linebacker.

Fair enough and I hope I'm wrong about him. We shall see.

[R_S]

I salute you.

One thing that struck me about Matakevich, in extremely limited opportunities to hear him-- unless I missed something-- he doesn't sound like the smartest/most educated guy. That doesn't necessarily mean anything in terms of football smart and it might mean he has more desperation and single-mindedness about football.

I haven't really ever heard him interviewed. But you're right, football smarts can be different. I did read that his grades out of HS weren't great. Another reason he reminds me a little of Burfict. Maybe not the smartest tool in the shed but the nose for the ball is unmistakable. Ok, I'll give it a rest. .

PS: clan, he may not make the steelers PS, but I think he'll be playing for someone in this league. Time will tell!