Green Bay --- The switch, initially, could have been interpreted as forced, as messing with a good thing.

JSOnline Blog  wrote:

I don't have a lot of faith in this move and I'm not counting on Mike Neal being there when the season opens.
It seems like the Packers are grasping at straws trying to find an opposite for Mathews.

Originally Posted by: yooperfan 

He's gonna most likely backup Matthews and Perry. I'm actually pretty confident in Neals ability. The guy has always be athletic for a 3-4 DE. Now he's at an acceptable 275 which I am fine with at OLB. I bet he could surprise with his coverage too. I think if he can translate to the position we'll have some depth at OLB, that after the draft we thought we didn't have. He just needs to be healthy and he could be dynamic.

Imagine Matthews, Perry, Neal, and Jones on the field at the same time. Woo, wow that sounds a lot better than years past.

Originally Posted by: Gaycandybacon 

Pretty nifty move put on Kuhn at the end there, who almost fell over.

It would be nice if Neal functioned well as a LB. Given his past experience he would then be able to provide depth at both LB and DL. He might not end up being great at either but it would be valuable to have a solid player to sub in and give CMIII, Perry, and the DL a breather.

Originally Posted by: olds70supreme 

Look at him in pictures next to Matthews and Perry. He certainly looks the part. Interesting development. He was my biggest surprise last pre-season, so I really hope he stays healthy now!

Originally Posted by: DarkaneRules 

Losing some of that excessive muscle mass might help him stay healthier.

Knock on wood!

Originally Posted by: nerdmann 

Pretty nifty move put on Kuhn at the end there, who almost fell over.

Originally Posted by: olds70supreme 

Neal should be moved to the 3rd outside linebacker spot to make room to keep Jolly. If all these guys stay healthy, we just might have one mean ass front seven for a change. That should coincide well with all the ballhawks we have in the secondary. Now if we can just get 100% effort out of Raji's fat ass, the D could be dangerous again.

Originally Posted by: DakotaT 

Also there were rumors about them going to a 3-3 dime package which I haven't heard about them doing in training camp, so the rumor could be false ...

But a pass rush passage of

DL: Daniels, Raji, Jones

LB: Perry, Matthews, Neal

should be a good pass rush unit ... at least on paper.

Originally Posted by: beast 

Will this group be able to stop things up the middle, though? It doesn't matter if the edges can do their thing to the nth degree if the middle allows the quarterback to step up and run/throw dink passes up the middle.

I'm less worried about their ability to get outside pressure from people other than Matthews than I am about their ability to keep the middle unavailable consistently.

If we get the Raji of late 2010, it'll be fine. But will we get that Raji or the other one, the one that only needs the attention of one OL?

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm hoping for Jolly to have a Comeback-Player-of-the-Year-type year.

Originally Posted by: Wade 

Will this group be able to stop things up the middle, though? It doesn't matter if the edges can do their thing to the nth degree if the middle allows the quarterback to step up and run/throw dink passes up the middle.

I'm less worried about their ability to get outside pressure from people other than Matthews than I am about their ability to keep the middle unavailable consistently.

If we get the Raji of late 2010, it'll be fine. But will we get that Raji or the other one, the one that only needs the attention of one OL?

Originally Posted by: Wade 

I think Raji will be fine. Last year there was no supporting cast on the line. The coaches are on record saying he had a good year last year. So I'm guessing he was double and triple teamed a lot because the only other player they had to worry about was Clay. Opponents didn't have to worry about anyone else on the DL. Hopefully Jones, Jolly and Daniels can change that. But you are correct, we need to be strong up the middle both on the run and passing plays. Also this is Raji's contract year so there should be motivation from that.

Originally Posted by: PackerTraxx