I could see Matthews moving inside on certain downs as well. He's very versatile.
Jeremy Thompson is the starter right now, but there is a long ways to go. Like stated, OTA's are more of a preview of sorts and not really the full blown thing. Thompson vs. Matthews will be a position battle and it's only right to play the better player and not the guy who was drafted to be that.
It also helps that Thompson has been working with Capers for at least three months more than Matthews has and is probably further along in the defense. Doesn't mean Matthews won't catch up, but it's just worth pointing out.
Also don't forget the NFL is a faster game than college. Matthews needs to work on that transition as well too.
"porky88" wrote:
I think the important thing is that hopefully Thompson is a great fit and will be good player for us. Mathews moving in over time will happen but if Thompson is better there now that's great for us. Like they say you can't have enough good LB's in this defense.
The more guys on the roster that can go in and we don't lose a beat having them in there the better off we will be as the season wears on. That was definately not the case last year when Barnett went down. The level of play went down when that happened.
I think a key to our winning the North is the guys backing up starters are better than what the rest of the division has behind their first line players. The Vikes D, for example, will be strong that first few weeks but if guys start going down their second tier guys aren't even close to the starters over there.
Teams with poor depth will be getting exploited by week 10 or so. That's one reason why a lot of teams tail off at the end of the year.
"The train is leaving the station."