Clay Matthews

[ThunderDan]

In his first year, I think he's going to be a liability in the run game. There are only three DL. The linebackers, together, have to make up for that 4th guy. Every guy in this scheme with the exception of maybe one inside backer that will be free (I don't know why Barnett keeps getting the gravy, but it will probably be him).

This guy is going to be defending the run on the edge against LT's, TE's and FB's. Everyone is going to try to get an LT on this guy. They are going to want to bull him over and will bull him over. He's not strong enough yet.

He's a big framed kid though. He's a hard worker and has huge upside with his power, speed, explosiveness and attitude. He's going to get better.



More than we've ever seen from AJ Hawk and Nick Barnett (chase and drag linebackers), we're going to see this guy make huge plays. There are going to be times he gets a tackle off balance and muscles around the edge. He's going to jar some balls loose. He's an impact player. He'll get beat, but I think, for the first time, you're going to see some monster plays made by a GB linebacker. My only hope is that Barnett is gone, with Bishop or someone else starting. Barnett is "just a guy", coming of a major injury, that makes way too much money.

I use to feel that way about Barnett until he went down with injury last year. I think he is a steady dependable LB nothing great but better than average.

[RashanGary]

That had nothing to do with Barnett. That had to do with our DL that was already thin wearing down even more over the course of a season.


Two years ago we had one of the deeper DL's in the NFL and we won the most 4th quarter games. Last year we had one of the thinnest and we lost the most 4th quarter games. That 4th quarter crumbling had more to do with fatigue and lack of talent up front than it did with not having our best chase and drag linebacker.

[ThunderDan]

That had nothing to do with Barnett. That had to do with our DL that was already thin wearing down even more over the course of a season.


Two years ago we had one of the deeper DL's in the NFL and we won the most 4th quarter games. Last year we had one of the thinnest and we lost the most 4th quarter games. That 4th quarter crumbling had more to do with fatigue and lack of talent up front than it did with not having our best chase and drag linebacker.

It had everything to do with Barnett. Jenkins went down but the D held together. Once Barnett went down the D blew-up after the first game out.

Like I said, I don't think he is great but I wouldn't get rid of him just to do it.

I am very happy we got Matthews. He looks like he really brings the lumber.

[KYPack]

the thing that blew me away about Clay Mathews was that he was 160 pounds his senior year of high school. He walked on as a safety.

Thats dedication. Comes from a good family with wealth but he challenged himself and with hard work made himself into a legit football player.

Yeah, I liked that stuff, too.

A little more on his high school career...

As a junior in high school, Matthews was 6-1 and weighed about 165 pounds. His body ached from growing pains and his father, the team's defensive coordinator, declined to start him. Matthews attended Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, California. Physically, Matthews was a late bloomer. His father was the team's defensive coordinator, but wouldn't start his son because he was physically undersized. Matthews began developing physically his senior season, but only garnered interest from Division I FCS schools and local community colleges
"His mom was giving me the business, but he wasn't ready," the elder Matthews said, chuckling. "He wasn't very big and he wasn't very strong."
Matthews continued to grow during his senior season but drew interest only from local community colleges. He opted to follow in his father and uncle's footsteps and attend the University of Southern California and take a chance at walking on to the team.

[SnakeLH2006]

Everyone is complaining about the trade up for Mathews. Thompson realizes that his roster is already full of 2 and 3 year players that are at the end of their developmental stage, and just adding 12 more picks to his roster is just going to muddle things up even more for his roster. The rebuilding stage and getting younger is over. It is time to add talented player that hopefully can contribute right away. If Mathews was rated that highly on TT's board then it was a good move.

Exactly...Snake stated it was about a 3rd and late 7th loss to move up for Clay...Then Fritz stated the same with value numbers with the web link. Who cares? We got a NEED and VALUE player to START this year.

To those that said it's tough to swallow cuz he might get hurt (vs. 3 guys and spreading out that risk)...I advise you not to worry as his pedigree is such to play hurt/strong/a long time via his bloodline.

Good trade to get a starter to UPGRADE Poops OLB spot. Snake really like it.

[mission]

JH, I agree with you on Matthews. I really think we're going to see out of him what we expected from Hawk. He's gonna be around the ball a lot, he'll force some fumbles, he'll pick one up for a TD, he'll jump a couple slants... it might take a little time but I see Matthews as this kinda player. His highlights show him as a disruptive SOB.

[SnakeLH2006]

JH, I agree with you on Matthews. I really think we're going to see out of him what we expected from Hawk. He's gonna be around the ball a lot, he'll force some fumbles, he'll pick one up for a TD, he'll jump a couple slants... it might take a little time but I see Matthews as this kinda player. His highlights show him as a disruptive SOB.

Agreed...and that's why Snake likes Mission. A disruptive SOB with purpose...Good analysis, though.

[mission]

A disruptive SOB with purpose...

Yalready know!

[3irty1]

He could be a KGBesk liability against the run.

At the same time though, it's a 3-4 defense. There's going to be 3 bigs in the middle doing most of the heavy lifting against the run. When KGB was getting run at, there were only 2 bigs in the middle. The fact that the pass rushers don't need to be stout at the POA is largely the point of the 3-4 from a personnel perspective.

Only when in the base D. You start adding cornerbacks and the situation looks no different than it did with KGB asked to hold down a side.

[Deputy Nutz]

In his first year, I think he's going to be a liability in the run game. There are only three DL. The linebackers, together, have to make up for that 4th guy. Every guy in this scheme with the exception of maybe one inside backer that will be free (I don't know why Barnett keeps getting the gravy, but it will probably be him).

This guy is going to be defending the run on the edge against LT's, TE's and FB's. Everyone is going to try to get an LT on this guy. They are going to want to bull him over and will bull him over. He's not strong enough yet.

He's a big framed kid though. He's a hard worker and has huge upside with his power, speed, explosiveness and attitude. He's going to get better.



More than we've ever seen from AJ Hawk and Nick Barnett (chase and drag linebackers), we're going to see this guy make huge plays. There are going to be times he gets a tackle off balance and muscles around the edge. He's going to jar some balls loose. He's an impact player. He'll get beat, but I think, for the first time, you're going to see some monster plays made by a GB linebacker. My only hope is that Barnett is gone, with Bishop or someone else starting. Barnett is "just a guy", coming of a major injury, that makes way too much money.

Kampman is in reality a down lineman that will be asked to cover the flat a couple of times a game. He is going to be on the line of scrimmage quite a bit, or he will be out of the game. He may not have his hand down. but he is going to make the 3-4 look quite a bit like a 4-3.

[pbmax]

Here is the video where Mayock gives the Senior Bowl tape a glance. I don't know his background, but my initial guess was [edit] that he is repeating what a scout told him the tape shows. Has to do with hand position, punch and playing on the line of scrimmage.

Somewhere, perhaps in another thread, someone said the OLB in a 3-4 doesn't have to play stout on the LOS. I think the opposite is true. All coaches mentioned that he could hold the point of attack. On the plus side, I will say that of all problems a LB could have, this seems correctable. Weight room, and break a habit. We were never able to make Torrance Marshall more alert.

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80ffbe64

[pbmax]

NFLN had some slightly different numbers for 3 Cone and 40 times.

40 yds: 4.67
3-Cone: 6.92
Vertical: 35 1/2
Bench: 23
Weiht: 240 lbs
Height: 6' 3 1/8"

Combine #'s (H=Hawk, M=Matthews, G=Greenway, C=Curry):

Size (ht/wt):
H: 6'1", 248
M: 6'3", 240
G: 6'3", 242
C: 6'2", 254

Speed (40/10):
H: 4.59, 1.56
M: 4.62, 1.49
G: 4.76, 1.61
C: 4.52, 1.50

Explosion (bench/vert/long):
H: 24, 40", 9'7"
M: 23, 35.5", 10'1"
G: 16, 33.5", 9'9"
C: 25, 37", 10'4"

Quickness/COD/Agility (SS, 3C):
H: 3.96, 6.82
M: 4.18, 6.90
G: 4.22, 7.01
C: 4.51, 7.15

[Chevelle2]

What WAS Torrence Marshall's problem? I was too young to remember.

The only thing I remember is that some fan called into Bill Michaels show and said how good he was at OU, and that we should get more playing time.

[Waldo]

He could be a KGBesk liability against the run.

At the same time though, it's a 3-4 defense. There's going to be 3 bigs in the middle doing most of the heavy lifting against the run. When KGB was getting run at, there were only 2 bigs in the middle. The fact that the pass rushers don't need to be stout at the POA is largely the point of the 3-4 from a personnel perspective.

Only when in the base D. You start adding cornerbacks and the situation looks no different than it did with KGB asked to hold down a side.

But then they are in a passing formation not ideal to run out of, lacking a lead blocker to overload the POA. Often as well, at least with Pit, the team aligned like a 46 defense on the front line when in the 2-4-5 nickel personnel grouping, which is a run strong 4-3 alignement. Something along the lines of:

------TE---RT---RG---C---LG---LT---------
------SOLB---DE----DE-------------WOLB--
-------------------------SILB---WILB-------
----------SS---------------------------------

Seems like an odd alignment but it works well against the pass and run with the talents of the players. If they run to the strength of the formation, the defense has its beef over there and one of the SS or SILB has no blocker on him. If they run to the weak side of the formation, one of the linebackers has no blocker on him. They are also well positioned for either zone drops or man coverage (the SS on the TE), plus all sorts of wild blitzes from the formation.

You almost never see Pit run a traditional 4-2 out of the nickel alignment, like this:

------TE---RT---RG---C---LG---LT---------
---SOLB-------DE-------DE---------WOLB--
----------------SILB-------WILB------------

it just doesn't work to the strength of the players.

[wist43]

What WAS Torrence Marshall's problem? I was too young to remember.

The only thing I remember is that some fan called into Bill Michaels show and said how good he was at OU, and that we should get more playing time.

Athletically gifted... but was a knuckle dragging moron. Very low IQ. Really his problem was that he was just plain dumb.