This is a big difference maker for the defense.

[GreenBaySlacker]

Mathews seems OK in his dual inside /outside role... Him not wanting to play that way, was the only thing that I thought was not good about it all. heres the link.
http://espn.go.com/blog/green-bay-p...e-in-dual-linebacker-role-for-packers-defense

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

This is good news. I didn't realize the majority of his sacks came from inside. He's clearly a team- first guy. I'm glad he's on our D rather than another team's.

 

[GoPGo]

I don't understand why anyone was ever worried about it. I never saw anything to indicate he had a problem with it. From what I can tell, the #1 priority with CM3 has been to win.

 

[AKCheese]

He said months ago he was fine with playing inside

 

[Deleted member 6794]

This is good news. I didn't realize the majority of his sacks came from inside. He's clearly a team- first guy. I'm glad he's on our D rather than another team's.

Matthews had two sacks while lining up at ILB. While he accumulated most of his sacks after the bye week the majority of them happened with him rushing from the edge.

I don't understand why anyone was ever worried about it. I never saw anything to indicate he had a problem with it. From what I can tell, the #1 priority with CM3 has been to win.

He said months ago he was fine with playing inside

The article mentions it several times that he was reluctant at first about the move. During the offseason there were rumors that he doesn't want to line up inside anymore. I'm glad to hear he's fine with being moved around.

 

[ivo610]

http://host.madison.com/sports/foot...cle_cb07ee06-5e1d-5877-b20c-5045bd481aff.html

 

[Jerellh528]

I don't understand why anyone was ever worried about it. I never saw anything to indicate he had a problem with it. From what I can tell, the #1 priority with CM3 has been to win.

If you ever watched his interviews through the duration of last season, it seemed as if he was happier outside, and his preference was outside. Clay obviously is putting the team first, like he should. But I was slightly concerned about clay's level of being okay with the move, judging by his comments. I still would prefer him on the outside, any snap that doesn't have clay rushing the passer, is one where we're not utilizing his strongest skill. I hope Ryan blossoms into a guy who can take a lot of snaps away from clay, moving him back to his rightful position. I'm all for this move in the short term though, anything to improve our defense. I don't think perry is the long term answer outside either and I think it's easier to find a productive inside backer than it is to find an elite outside guy like clay.

 

[scotscheese]

looks to me like he is being a true professional in this instance, a lot of sportsmen could learn from this example

I red a few storys further down that page, and was ammused by AR saying that he had "nice looking calf muscles" and they were kinda his thing

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

Matthews had two sacks while lining up at ILB. While he accumulated most of his sacks after the bye week the majority of them happened with him rushing from the edge.





The article mentions it several times that he was reluctant at first about the move. During the offseason there were rumors that he doesn't want to line up inside anymore. I'm glad to hear he's fine with being moved around.

Hi captainWimm. Thanks for the clarification on CMIII's sacks and where they came from. He's a great team player. He's so athletic that having him line up inside or outside or in between makes it hard for a D to anticipate what he's going to do. All this reporting about him working exclusively this week with the ILBs may be a little misdirection on MM's part. Regardless, the guy is an incredible weapon on D. I do expect the majority of his snaps come from the Edge. But he's a nice insurance policy for an ILB group that still has to prove its worth.

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

looks to me like he is being a true professional in this instance, a lot of sportsmen could learn from this example

I red a few storys further down that page, and was ammused by AR saying that he had "nice looking calf muscles" and they were kinda his thing

That is hilarious. And echo your comment on his professionalism. The players around him will hopefully take note. Fortunately, team means more than individual accomplishments on this team. A credit to MM.

 

[dbain21]

I don't know...hearing his voice and tone when asked about playing inside...he says the right things but I think he truly wants to play on the outside. Heck..I want him on the outside, unfortunately we need him to play inside for the time being. I have huge respect for Clay and his ability to be able to go outside of his comfort zone and play a position with different skill sets, and less glamorous then OLB.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Hi captainWimm. Thanks for the clarification on CMIII's sacks and where they came from. He's a great team player. He's so athletic that having him line up inside or outside or in between makes it hard for a D to anticipate what he's going to do. All this reporting about him working exclusively this week with the ILBs may be a little misdirection on MM's part. Regardless, the guy is an incredible weapon on D. I do expect the majority of his snaps come from the Edge. But he's a nice insurance policy for an ILB group that still has to prove its worth.

Matthews played slightly more than 50% of the snaps inside after the bye week with the run defense improving significantly after the move although that had something to do with the fact the Packers faced five teams ranked 24th or below in rushing offense over the second half of 2014. I expect the team to move him around again in 2015, how much he will play inside depends a lot on the development of Barrington, Ryan and the other ILBs on the roster.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I don't know...hearing his voice and tone when asked about playing inside...he says the right things but I think he truly wants to play on the outside.

You were able to get that out of a three minute interview posted on the team's website??? I don't get the impression that Matthews is afraid to voice his opinion if he's not on board with something. I was a little worried about it during the offseason but after listening to him talk about it I think he's absolutely fine playing inside as well.

 

[TJV]

I expect the team to move him around again in 2015, how much he will play inside depends a lot on the development of Barrington, Ryan and the other ILBs on the roster.

IMO it will also depend upon specific match-ups with opponents. And I hope with what happens at OLB absent Matthews: If Peppers’ production doesn’t fall off much or at all and another OLB elevates his play, it may make sense to keep Matthews inside even more than they did last year after the bye. I don’t think it makes sense to expect more from Neal, but Perry played through a shoulder injury last season so perhaps he can step up his pass rush. And if one of Elliott, Mulumba, or Hubbard can add a consistent pass rush... I think Elliott is the best candidate to do that right now. Of course Matthews will still rush some from the outside but right now they like the depth behind him at OLB better than that at ILB and they should. And BTW, while Matthews no doubt would rather play exclusively outside, I never heard him say or do anything after last season that would indicate he’d cause trouble if he was asked to play inside as he did after last season’s bye.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

IMO it will also depend upon specific match-ups with opponents. And I hope with what happens at OLB absent Matthews: If Peppers’ production doesn’t fall off much or at all and another OLB elevates his play, it may make sense to keep Matthews inside even more than they did last year after the bye. I don’t think it makes sense to expect more from Neal, but Perry played through a shoulder injury last season so perhaps he can step up his pass rush. And if one of Elliott, Mulumba, or Hubbard can add a consistent pass rush... I think Elliott is the best candidate to do that right now. Of course Matthews will still rush some from the outside but right now they like the depth behind him at OLB better than that at ILB and they should. And BTW, while Matthews no doubt would rather play exclusively outside, I never heard him say or do anything after last season that would indicate he’d cause trouble if he was asked to play inside as he did after last season’s bye.

I don't expect a ton of pass rush out of Perry. It's possible Mulumba, Elliott, Hubbard or Vaughters (keep an eye on him) can provide pressure from the edge but the Packers will for sure continue to play Matthews outside as well.

 

[Curly Calhoun]

The Packers like their defensive players to play multiple positions. Matthews is an inside/outside linebacker. Micah Hyde is a safety/cornerback, and the same may become true for Demarious Randall. Mike Neal and Julius Peppers were defensive ends who are now linebackers. Nate Palmer, Andy Mulamba and Carl Bradford were all outside linebackers who will get looks at inside linebacker. It's Dom Capers hybrid style of defense, and it is designed in part to keep the opposition guessing.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I don't understand why anyone was ever worried about it. I never saw anything to indicate he had a problem with it. From what I can tell, the #1 priority with CM3 has been to win.

There was a news report quoting his brother saying Matthews did not want to play in the middle. Matthews quickly debunked it. It doesn't matter if it's his preference; what matters is that he accepts the role.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

The Packers like their defensive players to play multiple positions. Matthews is an inside/outside linebacker. Micah Hyde is a safety/cornerback, and the same may become true for Demarious Randall. Mike Neal and Julius Peppers were defensive ends who are now linebackers. Nate Palmer, Andy Mulamba and Carl Bradford were all outside linebackers who will get looks at inside linebacker. It's Dom Capers hybrid style of defense, and it is designed in part to keep the opposition guessing.

Matthews is an outside linebacker who was moved inside midway through last season out of desperation. He succeded because he's an All-Pro talent but even he admitted that he mostly relied on his instincts and actually didn't have a clue about the position.

I haven't heard anything suggesting Mulumba will move inside as well.

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

Matthews played slightly more than 50% of the snaps inside after the bye week with the run defense improving significantly after the move although that had something to do with the fact the Packers faced five teams ranked 24th or below in rushing offense over the second half of 2014. I expect the team to move him around again in 2015, how much he will play inside depends a lot on the development of Barrington, Ryan and the other ILBs on the roster.

Agree. Hopefully Barrington's strong words this offseason are realized on the field. I think Ryan will eventually be a 3 down player. All things considered, I think Ryan is a good pick. CMIII will also create more competition at the position. At this time last year Hawk and Jones were locks, so training camp competition probably dropped off.

A lot if "ifs" with this D. But if they want to win a SB, the D has to step up, or at least play at the level it was at by the end of the season last year. Hopefully the questions at ILB and CB will be answered positively.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Agree. Hopefully Barrington's strong words this offseason are realized on the field. I think Ryan will eventually be a 3 down player. All things considered, I think Ryan is a good pick. CMIII will also create more competition at the position. At this time last year Hawk and Jones were locks, so training camp competition probably dropped off.

A lot if "ifs" with this D. But if they want to win a SB, the D has to step up, or at least play at the level it was at by the end of the season last year. Hopefully the questions at ILB and CB will be answered positively.

I'm kind of surprised that Thompson didn't address ILB and outside corner in a way most of us would feel comfortable with. Entering training camp those positions will still be huge question marks which is disappointing as they were the only ones entering this offseason.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I'm kind of surprised that Thompson didn't address ILB and outside corner in a way most of us would feel comfortable with. Entering training camp those positions will still be huge question marks which is disappointing as they were the only ones entering this offseason.

I'll go on record in saying taking Randall over Kendricks in the first round was a mistake, as if that needed to be repeated.

We'll get at least two up close looks at Kendricks this season.

 

[wist43]

Matthews is going to have to play inside - we don't have anyone else who can... that's all on TT.

TT is notorious for ignoring needs. After the SB season he completely ignored the defense altogether, and we set a record for defensive futility. He ignored the glaring hole at Safety for too long, and it cost us; and now he's been ignoring the ILB hole for 3 years running.

We have a HOF QB, and have had 2 HOF QB's for over 20 years now, and we only have 2 Lombardi Trophies to show for it??

Say what you will about Belichick, at least he goes for it, and acquires the necessary veteran talent to get across the finish line - TT simply doesn't do that. He is always working from the position of a perpetual youth movement, regardless of how close he may be to having a team good enough to win it all.

Last year he signed Peppers and drafted Clinton-Dix, i.e. he filled to major holes. Now this year... we're "that" close - fill the holes and lets make a run at a championship!! But not Ted... Ted goes youth across the board and pretty much ignores the biggest hole on his roster.

As good a GM as he is, TT has a major blind spot when it comes to signing veterans and filling holes.

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

I'm kind of surprised that Thompson didn't address ILB and outside corner in a way most of us would feel comfortable with. Entering training camp those positions will still be huge question marks which is disappointing as they were the only ones entering this offseason.

Well his picks at CB were interesting not mainstream. There wasn't an ILB worth a round 1 pick, and no one worthy by pick 60. So I think both positions will be very competitive, a good thing.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Matthews is going to have to play inside - we don't have anyone else who can... that's all on TT.

TT is notorious for ignoring needs. After the SB season he completely ignored the defense altogether, and we set a record for defensive futility. He ignored the glaring hole at Safety for too long, and it cost us; and now he's been ignoring the ILB hole for 3 years running.

We have a HOF QB, and have had 2 HOF QB's for over 20 years now, and we only have 2 Lombardi Trophies to show for it??

Say what you will about Belichick, at least he goes for it, and acquires the necessary veteran talent to get across the finish line - TT simply doesn't do that. He is always working from the position of a perpetual youth movement, regardless of how close he may be to having a team good enough to win it all.

Last year he signed Peppers and drafted Clinton-Dix, i.e. he filled to major holes. Now this year... we're "that" close - fill the holes and lets make a run at a championship!! But not Ted... Ted goes youth across the board and pretty much ignores the biggest hole on his roster.

As good a GM as he is, TT has a major blind spot when it comes to signing veterans and filling holes.

A lot of Packers fans don´t like to hear it but some parts of this statement are unfortunately true.

Well his picks at CB were interesting not mainstream. There wasn't an ILB worth a round 1 pick, and no one worthy by pick 60. So I think both positions will be very competitive, a good thing.

I think we will see it up close twice a year that Kendricks would have been worth of spending a first round pick on him.

 

[Mondio]

Matthews is going to have to play inside - we don't have anyone else who can... that's all on TT.

TT is notorious for ignoring needs. After the SB season he completely ignored the defense altogether, and we set a record for defensive futility. He ignored the glaring hole at Safety for too long, and it cost us; and now he's been ignoring the ILB hole for 3 years running.

We have a HOF QB, and have had 2 HOF QB's for over 20 years now, and we only have 2 Lombardi Trophies to show for it??

Say what you will about Belichick, at least he goes for it, and acquires the necessary veteran talent to get across the finish line - TT simply doesn't do that. He is always working from the position of a perpetual youth movement, regardless of how close he may be to having a team good enough to win it all.

Last year he signed Peppers and drafted Clinton-Dix, i.e. he filled to major holes. Now this year... we're "that" close - fill the holes and lets make a run at a championship!! But not Ted... Ted goes youth across the board and pretty much ignores the biggest hole on his roster.

As good a GM as he is, TT has a major blind spot when it comes to signing veterans and filling holes.

and he's still considered one of the best in the business. Who's signing your checks? I"m betting nobody football related. Ignored the safety position? He picked one of the best to probably ever play the position out of a school you probably never even heard of. As unfortunate circumstances would have it, he had a freak injury on pretty innocuous play. But yeah, he ignored it. He picked a few others, and they didn't work out. That happens. They looked promising, there was a time when people were wondering who would be better, turns out they both fizzled. I"m sure you predicted that, but then you seem to predict gloom and doom in every post you're bound to get one right once and a while.

he simply ignored the defense the year after the super bowl, did nothing. except draft Davon House, DJ Smith (linebacker) Ricky Elmore (linebacker and one a lot of people thought would be a steal because he could jump out of a pool i guess?) and a later round DE. About half the picks on defense, ignored Other than Cobb, he didn't get much from that draft, maybe we should have traded that pick for another defensive guy too. Anyway, that's picking at the end of every round I guess.

Next year, Linebacker, DE, CB first 3 picks Guess what the next 3 were? DT, S, LB in the first 5 rounds. TT COMPLETELY ignores defense and linebackers, LOL.

The next, he took a DE, CB, another DE a CB and a couple linebackers, again, completely ignored . I say we toss Eddie Lacy and Bakhtiari back in the draft pool. Wasted picks on offense. should have gone linebacker

anyway, people act as if there aren't consequences to picks. You think you're pointing out revelations that he hasn't scored a home run on every pick?????????? Would you trade Ha-Ha, Devante, Linsley from last year for a chance at picking a linebacker in that prospective round? I wouldn't. Sure some of the others, but then you don't get to pick and chose to give back only the misses and take a sure thing. It doesn't work that way, i hate to break it to you.

anyway, I think BOTH our first 2 picks will be better at their respective positions than Kendricks will be at his. I'm not disappointed ILB wasn't chosen first in this past draft.