macbob
  • macbob
  • Veteran Member Topic Starter
13 years ago
Clay Matthews III moving to ROLB and going up against LTs?

It's a little curious in that Nick Perry played on the right side last year.

Will be interested in seeing if he stays at 270 or the coaches get him to shed 15 lbs or so.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/packers/notes.htm 

Green Bay Packers Team Report

Having a player talented and worthy enough to follow in Clay Matthews' footsteps may be unthinkable, but the Packers are about to find out.

The team's rookie orientation camp, held May 11-13, foreshadowed what likely will be another position switch for Matthews in his spectacular young career.

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers had Nick Perry, this year's first-round draft pick, line up at left outside linebacker in the three practice days for rookies and select first-year players. That's the spot that has been occupied by Matthews the last two seasons.

"That will be the starting point for him," head coach Mike McCarthy said of Perry.

Matthews and Perry were teammates for a year in college at USC. The Packers' selection of Perry at No. 28 overall in last month's draft not only reunited the former Trojans but set the stage for them to become the bookend pass rushers at linebacker in Green Bay's 3-4 system.

The Packers already took a leap of faith by taking Perry with the idea of moving him from defensive end to linebacker, where he has little experience of playing. Now, they apparently have every intention to try Perry on the left side - or "strong side" of the defense - and thereby free up Matthews to apply pressure on the right side.

Perry claimed to not have any inside knowledge on what's up Capers' sleeve with Green Bay under the gun after having the league's worst-ranked total defense and pass defense.

"They gave me a spot to play (in the rookie camp), and that's where I'm going to play," Perry said. "Hopefully, if all goes well, I may play the left side. So, we'll see.

"I just worry about today and focus on the rest later."

After Perry expressed before the draft he preferred to stay at defensive end, he isn't averse to going to linebacker and lining up on the opposite side from where he excelled as a pass rusher at USC.

"It doesn't matter," Perry said. "Last year, I played on the right side. The year before that, I played both sides. That's really not an issue. I can play both sides. I'm just ready to play."

Perry, however, doesn't seem to be inclined to cut weight. He reported to the rookie camp at about 270 pounds, which is on the heavy side for a player who will have to occasionally drop back into pass coverage.

"That (weight) will probably be where I end up playing," Perry said. "It's where I'm comfortable. Obviously, I have great athleticism. I guess they want to use that. Weight isn't really a concern."

If the apparent switch takes hold going into next season, the 255-pound Matthews will go back to lining up against many of the league's elite offensive linemen at left tackle.

Matthews' rapid rise to stardom began at right outside linebacker, where he had 11 sacks (including the playoffs) as a rookie in 2009.


Capers moved Matthews to the left side the following season, and Matthews performed at a higher rate with 17 sacks in the Packers' Super Bowl-winning season while finishing runner-up for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Matthews, though, encountered a heavy dose of multiple blockers last season from the left side, and his production dipped considerably to six sacks.

Fresh off signing a four-year deal for $7.5 million with a signing bonus of $4 million - the Packers signed all eight of their draft picks by the first day of the rookie camp - Perry wasn't ready to predict he will be the second coming of Matthews right away.

"I can't really say that I'm going to be the savior (for the defense)," Perry said. "But, I'm going to put my best foot forward to help the situation - just to try to help the team any way I can."

USAToday wrote:

zombieslayer
13 years ago
Perry better be the savior of this D. The Packers worst D to ever win a SB was '67 when they were only #3.

We were #19th last year.

(Can you tell I'm a little bit obsessed with D rankings?)


Now if this works out, awesome. Still trying to get VR to make another bet...
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wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
13 years ago
I am not sure if it is going to matter which side he lines up on. he and CM3 will get it done. (i hope)
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DakotaT
13 years ago
Perry and Worthy are going to do wonders for our pass rush; and what I'm hoping for is that McMillan can win the SS job and play well while he learns, and Manning subplants Hawk on 3rd down.

I know, "you can wish in one hand, and crap in the other and see what fills up first"; but this looks like a very fine defensive draft and they will be pushing for playing time.
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Zero2Cool
13 years ago
in case its not in the article, Clay Matthews III has played both sides and if I remember correctly they moved him all over, so this doesn't really mean much. It's about as valuable as Ryan Grant starting 14 or whatever games. He simply took first snap at RB, which of course is the definition of starting, lol.
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nerdmann
13 years ago
I think the theory is that since Perry is 270 lbs, they'll put him against the other team's RT, which traditionally has been more of a run blocking type dude, like Bulaga.

Then they will switch Clay back over to the right side to go up against opposing LTs, which are more often pass blocking specialists like Chad Clifton.
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
buckeyepackfan
13 years ago
Looks like Ted is starting a year early looking for CM3's replacement, another down year by Clay and there is no way Ted will sign him to a big contract extension.

Face it next year is all about signing Aaron Rodgers, somebody has to go, will be a hard decision but a team can't keep all their superstars and whether Clay has an up year or another down year, there will be plenty of teams who will be willing to overpay for him.

Will be a shame to see him leave, but hey this is a business. Always get rid of a guy a year to early rather than a year to late.

I for one am going to miss CM3 after this year, but Packers football will go on.
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nerdmann
13 years ago

Looks like Ted is starting a year early looking for CM3's replacement, another down year by Clay and there is no way Ted will sign him to a big contract extension.

Face it next year is all about signing Aaron Rodgers, somebody has to go, will be a hard decision but a team can't keep all their superstars and whether Clay has an up year or another down year, there will be plenty of teams who will be willing to overpay for him.

Will be a shame to see him leave, but hey this is a business. Always get rid of a guy a year to early rather than a year to late.

I for one am going to miss CM3 after this year, but Packers football will go on.

Originally Posted by: buckeyepackfan 



lol
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
Stevetarded
13 years ago

Looks like Ted is starting a year early looking for CM3's replacement, another down year by Clay and there is no way Ted will sign him to a big contract extension.

Face it next year is all about signing Aaron Rodgers, somebody has to go, will be a hard decision but a team can't keep all their superstars and whether Clay has an up year or another down year, there will be plenty of teams who will be willing to overpay for him.

Will be a shame to see him leave, but hey this is a business. Always get rid of a guy a year to early rather than a year to late.

I for one am going to miss CM3 after this year, but Packers football will go on.

Originally Posted by: buckeyepackfan 



Sacks are such a stupidly overrated stat. Clay was significantly better last year in run defense and in coverage than he had ever been while he was still putting pressure on QBs and causing disruptions but he had a down year because of .4 less sacks per game. Sacks don't even happen very often per game and when they do they aren't even guaranteed to stop a drive unless they happen on 3rd or 4th down. On top of that he was the only person on the team actually getting significant pressure on QBs.
blank
macbob
  • macbob
  • Veteran Member Topic Starter
13 years ago

in case its not in the article, Clay Matthews III has played both sides and if I remember correctly they moved him all over, so this doesn't really mean much. It's about as valuable as Ryan Grant starting 14 or whatever games. He simply took first snap at RB, which of course is the definition of starting, lol.

Originally Posted by: Zero2Cool 



The significance (in my opinion) is that they're taking Perry, moving him to OLB from DE, and they're not going to want to be switching him back and forth a whole lot (or they shouldn't be). They should be letting him get the footwork, etc for one side down.

On a side note, according to the article CM3 had 17 and 6 sacks his two years on the left side (11.5/year), and 11 sacks his rookie year on the right side.

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