It seems the great debate these days, instead of who General Manager Ted Thompson has signed in free agency, is whether Clay Matthews would be moving back to the outside instead of staying in the middle. The latest poll on Packers.net has 61 percent saying stay inside.
I'm in the stay inside camp. I think, and the statistics will back me up, the move inside energized him and gave the Packers defense a new dimension that made it harder to victimize the middle as was being done on a regular basis for years.
2013 was Claymaker's second worse season to date. After registering 10 sacks in rookie season and 13.5 his second he fell off to just six sacks in 2011 despite starting 15 games. He rebounded with 13 sacks in 2012, but 2013 was beginning to look like another lost season before and after a broke thumb kept him out of games six, seven and eight, made his one armed in games nine through 12 and then had him sitting out the final two games of the season. He finished with just 7.5 sacks.
The beginning of the last season was just a continuation of 2013. He seemed lost as the Packers tried to deal with the read-option. When the bye finally came he had only 2.5 sacks and 19 tackles in the first eight games and the Packers defense ranked last against the run.
Then came the CHANGE (if I may borrow a phrase from you ladies). Who made the change? I don't know. I don't remember reading anything about Dom Capers making the decision or Mike McCarthy finally asserting his new role as he stated before the season when he said he would be more involved in the defensive planning. Whoever made the decision it turned out to be the greatest thing since slice bread both for Matthews and the defense as a whole, which finished ranked 18th overall and 10th against the run (23rd against the pass).
Matthews rebounded in his second life. He had 8.5 sacks with 49 tackles in the last eight games. While I will admit he seemed to be moved around during this time - rushing at times from the outside - it was the move that made his the Energizer Bunny he was his first two seasons. I liked what I saw.
It seems the powers that be are bent on returning him to the outside, but I think that would be a mistake. It is time for Nick Perry to step up and become the No. 1 draft pick he was supposed to be and take over Matthews spot on the outside. He could be the pass rusher they need from the outside. I think Perry is still suffering from the penalty he got on his first sack when they called him roughing the passer and has been somewhat subdued ever since. It is time for him to unleash himself.
I also think Mike Neal's transformation from defensive end/tackle to outside linebacker has been a success. I think 2015 might be a breakout year for him as Julius Peppers will drop off a lot. I think history will agree with me that players who change teams when they've been told they are either washed up or not wanted anymore tend to have one of those "show you" seasons. Just look at Darren Sharper's first season with the Vikings (9 interceptions) and with the Saints (9 interceptions). More on him in a later post. In the second season the anger or adrenaline drops off and they become the washed up player their previous employer thought they were becoming. I think this will happen to Peppers, so now is the time for Neal and Perry to step up.
After releasing A. J. Hawk and Brad Jones that left Sam Barrington as the only true inside linebacker left from last year's active roster. Carl Bradford was drafted after being an outside linebacker from Arizona State. He was a bust on the outside and was moved inside where he made no impact at all.
Last year Jamari Lattimore (one of Thompson's famous undrafted rookie free agents from Middle Tennessee State) was a bust after replacing Brad Jones as a starter for 5 games and was replaced by Barrington. He eventually was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury. He is now a unrestricted free agent who made one visit with the Jets and didn't sign. He has since been removed from the depth chart, although Mike Flynn is still on it as a UFA, so I'm guessing Lattimore will not be back.
The Packers have signed an inside linebacker type in Josh "Road Close" Francis, former Indoor Football League player and they say a former Winnipeg Blue Bomber, but I found no evidence he ever played a down for them. He was an outside linebacker at West Virginia his junior and senior year in college after playing at Lackawanna College.
Nice Hit. Road Close (#55) making a behind the line of scrimmage tackle for the Nighthawks.
They also have Joe Thomas from South Carolina State on the practice squad. They were very high on him in last year's training camp, but Bradford beat him out. I know most of you will say only because Bradford was a draft pick and Thomas would make it through waivers, but still if he was the real deal he would have made the team either at the beginning or when Lattimore went on IR. He didn't.
So unless they sign free agents middle linebacker Brandon Spikes or outside linebacker Dwight Sweeney or use their No. 1 draft pick at #30 for an inside linebacker (one of the mock drafts has Green Bay taking Benardrick McKinney from Mississippi State for the specific purpose to return Matthews to the outside) then either Bradford, Thomas or even Road Close will have to be the starter next to Barrington. I think Matthews is the better option for various reasons.
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