'Model of consistency' Jake Matthews might be NFL's most underrated offensive tackle

For a decade, the Atlanta Falcons have always been able to have faith in their incredibly underrated left tackle. Jake Matthews comes from one of the most famous famous in football. His father Bruce is one of the best offensive linemen in NFL history from his storied Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans career. His uncle and cousin, both are named Clay, should be pushing for Canton inclusion as well.

Lost in the shuffle of the seemingly never-ending madness that is Falcons football, there is Jake doing what he does best, which is set the tone for his team's front five. He may only have one Pro Bowl and a Super Bowl appearance to his name, but those who have been paying attention for a while know he is the Real Deal Holyfield. Have you been watching closely? We know that Drew Dalman has!

In my conversation with Dalman on The Blogging Dirty Podcast for FanSided on behalf of CoolMitt, he spoke about what a incredible leader and example Matthews is to the rest of his Falcons teammates.

"Yeah, I mean, you said it. Jake, his production and consistency kind of leaves me dumbstruck at times. You know, a decade of excellent quality play and continuing. In the O line room, he is the leader, the example, what we all kind of aim for. He does a great job in that role. As a professional, just comes to work every day."

Dalman expounded on how Matthews is an inspiration for Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary as well.

"That's like in my mind, one of the most admirable characteristics because the NFL is so volatile. It really lends itself to up and down production, and then the emotional ups and downs. He is just very steadfast and his production remains consistent. I think he is the ultimate role model for a lot of us."

Here is the YouTube episode from my conversation with the Falcons center on behalf of CoolMitt.

Atlanta should be one of the best teams in the NFC this year, in large part to its great offensive line.

Jake Matthews is an ideal role model for Drew Dalman on Atlanta Falcons

While Lindstrom and McGary were both first-round picks like Matthews was out of Power Five universities, Dalman was a fourth-round pick out of Stanford in the 2021 NFL Draft. Although he starred in the old Pac-12, Dalman wasn't given anything with the Falcons. In fact, he had to battle Matt Hennessy for the starting center job. Hennessy was only drafted the year prior to him out of Temple.

In time, it became clear that Dalman's NFL pedigree was a huge boon he had in his corner. As soon as he emerged as the team's starting center as a second-year player in 2022, the offensive line started to coalesce. Lindstrom became the best guard in football. McGary started to improve after a challenging first two years in the league. Matthews stayed the ever-present for he has always been.

Even though his father Chris played in the league with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1990s, it has to be such a wonderful feeling to have a guy in your position group you can trust, learn from and grow with like Matthews. While he starred in the same college offense as Mike Evans and Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M, as expected, Matthews remains criminally underrated. He probably wants it that way.

There are so many reasons Matthews is the longest-tenured Falcons as an emerging Atlanta legend.

Drew Dalman spoke with FanSided over on The Blogging Dirty Podcast on behalf of CoolMitt.