Clay Matthews ... Inside linebacker?

[Einstein McFly]

I don't understand why some of you are so skeptical about this. Sure, it's ok to be cautious but the move makes all the sense in the world for several reasons:

1. The development of Nick Perry and Mike Neal. Perry is not a bust. He's not Clay but he is doing well enough. We have a glut at OLB and moving Clay to the inside is smart.
2. Clay instantly improves our run defense and he can play a roamer in certain defense schemes, which actually better utilizes his talents rather than limits him.
3. Given the woeful state of our ILB core, this is most definitely an improvement to the weakest area of our defense without sacrificing anything. You are only so good as your weakest link, as they say, and our OLB talent is sufficient.

Good post. They can get away with this because of the depth at OLB. Also, there aren't really any plays that Lattimore/Barrington/Jones/Hawk can make that Mathews can't IF HE'S NOT OUT OF POSITION. Those coaches should get a raise if they can manage to not make Mathews a liability for not knowing what to do. That's something that has always hampered Latimore and kept Bishop as a backup for years. But in position, he's a huge upgrade. They're smart to try this.

 

[Forget Favre]

Somewhere I read that MM indicated that CM may not always play ILB.
I hope he was just saying that to throw off future opponents.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Hawk is a solid tackler but I find it very hard to believe that over his years they could not upgrade that position.

While Hawk doesn´t miss a lot of tackles ball carriers normally gain an extra three or four yards after contact.

 

[Mklangelo]

While Hawk doesn´t miss a lot of tackles ball carriers normally gain an extra three or four yards after contact.

Yeah. He's nothing special, that's for sure.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

well I like him

 

[Shawnsta3]

Somewhere I read that MM indicated that CM may not always play ILB.
I hope he was just saying that to throw off future opponents.

He is likely to be used in a hybrid role just like he was versus the Bears.

According to profootballfocus.com, he aligned inside the tackles on 29 snaps, over them on four and outside of them on 23. He also aligned all over the place from outside the left tight end to outside the right tight end.

 

[GoPGo]

Those coaches should get a raise if they can manage to not make Mathews a liability for not knowing what to do.

How do you know Clay doesn't know what to do? Would DC put him at ILB without knowing his responsibilities? I doubt it. It's not like he's never played in coverage before.

 

[GoPGo]

While Hawk doesn´t miss a lot of tackles ball carriers normally gain an extra three or four yards after contact.

I haven't seen that to be true at all, and I would venture to say I've seen 90% of games since Hawk has been on the team.

 

[easyk83]

I haven't seen that to be true at all, and I would venture to say I've seen 90% of games since Hawk has been on the team.

Hawk's problem with being dragged usually happens when he has to come out of his gap to do what the other guy failed to do. His problem isn't physicality or even speed, but rather his reaction time. For Hawk it's always been read pause and react, likely a symptom of spending most of his career overstuffed and too slow because of it.