Raji hasn't had his pass rush for two plus years and it isn't present early in the season, so I think that calls into question that his pass rush was diminished simply by over usage. I agree that Raji was a poor fit for the Capers system in a 2 gapping role. But he didn't perform much better at 3 tech no matter the gap responsibility, except he did stay home to plug up the run better than past years. It may be he needs to be at nose like he was in 2010 to fit. But I am not sure that's it.

Pickett and Jolly were used to stuff the run in both base and 2-4. And it worked until Game 7 or 8 and then fell apart. It coincided with rotating injuries to Matthews, Neal and Perry.

A D line with Raji and Daniels was on the field quite a bit. The were with Perry a LOT until he injured his foot. Jones was middling at best for the entire season. They can't all play DE in a four man line. Matthews has to be one of them until another pass rusher emerges. The problem isn't size, its match ups. What I wonder is who will be the run down D lineman this year.

What you might like is that McCarthy at his PC today said they were looking at sending Matthews from different places in the scheme. So they may indeed run multiple fronts, unless they just allow him to roam like an inverted psycho.