Penn State Coach James Franklin Gushes About Eagles Draft Pick Jordan Matthews
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- With their second round selection, the 42nd overall pick, the Philadelphia Eagles drafted wide receiver Jordan Matthews. Matthews played four years at Vanderbilt, racking up 112 catches for 1,477 yards and seven touchdowns his senior season. Matthews played for the last three years for James Franklin, who is now the head coach at Penn State.
"Yeah, I got a man crush on that guy," Franklin told Anthony Gargano and Rob Ellis on the WIP Afternoon Show on Tuesday. "He's the whole package. He graduated from Vanderbilt with an economics degree in three and a half years. He's the all-time leading receiver in SEC history, single season and career. Everybody in that conference knew he was our play maker and we were going to get him the ball and he still would have 10 to 12 catches every game in a good conference, and everybody was game planning to stop him. So I think that kind of tells you about the guy."
Listen to Penn State football coach, James Franklin, on the WIP Afternoon Show
Franklin also spoke highly of Matthews character off the field.
"I recommend you strongly to get him on your show as soon as you possibly can because the guy is as charismatic and articulate as any guy you are going to be around," Franklin said of Matthews. "He's driven and he's passionate to be great and it won't surprise me if he doesn't find a big role on that team this year, because that's just who he is. I mean, he wants to be the best."
Another guy Franklin has a man-crush on is Penn State sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg. As a true freshman, Hackenberg threw for 2,955 yards, 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, earning him Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. Many experts predict Hackenberg to be a first-round NFL draft pick in the near future.
"Well first of all I don't like to stand to close to him because he's beautiful, I mean the guy is like an Alpha-male," Franklin said of Hackenberg. "He's six-three, 230-pounds, doesn't have a hair out of place. I'm six-two and I'm kind of a skinny-fat guy, a little bit disgusting at this point. I have no hair on my head, so I try to kind of give him coaching points either in the office or from afar because I don't like being to close to him. He's doing really, he had a great Spring and I could see what all the fuss is about. The guy's got all of the physical traits you are looking for and I've been really pleased with his approach as well."
