I'm Calling It: A Sophomore Slump for Clay Matthews
by Green and Bold on Jul 17, 2010 5:09 PM CDT
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An article from JonBob's Packer Blog
Aside from Aaron Rodgers' MVP-caliber year and Charles Woodson's DOPTY campaign, no individual storyline from the 2009 season was quite as compelling as Clay Matthews' sensational rookie performance.
With it clear that Aaron Kampman was not ideally suited for the 3-4 scheme, the Packers were in desperate need of a playmaker in the front seven. Clay Matthews filled the void in a big way. He started by ripping the ball straight out of Adrian Peterson's hands and didn't relent until he'd racked up 10 sacks on the season and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl. His tenacity and resiliency were exactly what the Packers needed off the edge. He was more or less a godsend.
However, as great as Clay's first year heroics were, and as much as I'd like to believe he'll only be more productive in 2010, I just can't convince myself that it'll play out that way. Basically, I'm expecting Clay Matthews to have a bit of a sophomore slump. Here's why.
Click here for my explanation.
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Hard to believe but he will be better.
One he’s the most relentless player that I can remember coming through Lambeau. He reminds me of the energizer bunny(keeps going,going,going).
Next he used some new age fitness guru to put that weight so he’d lose no speed or quickness
The increased emphasis on getting a rush from the interior is a outside rushers best friend.
We shouldn’t be running out our 7th and 8th best corners. Hopefully the quarterback has to hang onto the ball a fraction longer with better overall coverage.
Also If I was Capers I’d be scheming to free up my best rusher
I agree with everything you said...
But I still feel that teams will be giving him far more attention than he saw for most of last year. Who knows, maybe this will give Brad Jones or our ILBs opportunities to get after the QB more. But not adding a quality LOLB has made Clay a marked man. I hope I’m wrong.
"stay (green and) gold"
by Green and Bold on Jul 17, 2010 7:20 PM CDT up reply actions
Yeah, I mean even if he does draw a lot of double teams (which wouldn’t surprise me and will probably happen), it’ll still mean a single team for another guy. It will just come down to whether or not that guy can take advantage of those single teams.
by packallday555 on Jul 18, 2010 12:37 AM CDT up reply actions
AND
I’m not completely convinced that adding 1 (2-1) body to the defensive line is really going to make an overwhelming difference…although I do like Raji at the nose and neal and jenkins on the ends in pass rush situations.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see, and until then, i’m playing devils advocate.
"stay (green and) gold"
by Green and Bold on Jul 17, 2010 7:26 PM CDT up reply actions
fair enough
and I’ll add one more the bloodlines(it’s a family tradition)
Well if Raji can manage to collapse the pocket a bit more some of the time it will be an improvement. We almost never got any push from the guys in the middle last season, which hurt Matthews but most of all Jones. Both are good speed rushers, and both ended up going to wide a lot of the times because the Qb was simply able to step up in the pocket to avoid them.
by packallday555 on Jul 18, 2010 12:39 AM CDT up reply actions
It's a fair point, and I feel a lot of us are afraid of the sophomore slump
However, when you think of a lot of 3-4 teams, they really only have 1 elite pass rusher. The only exception is Pittsburgh. That’s it. When Green Bay drafted Neal and Wilson, and resigned Pickett, they were following the footsteps of Baltimore. Baltimore has one elite OLB in Suggs. Now think back to New England’s dynasty just a few years ago. Who was their outside pass rush specialist? Mike Vrabel? Trust me, he was not as special as James Harrison, Demarcus Ware, or Terrell Suggs. What made NE’s defense click was the dynamic schemes and blitz packages they had with the MLB’s. This is something Capers did once in a while with Hawk and Barnett. I think he really had an emphasis with MLB crossing blitz packages in Week 1 against Chicago and against Dallas.
Now we are in Year 2. Teams are more aware of Clay, indeed. If the defense continues to learn more from Capers and Capers becomes more and more unpredictable, opponents won’t be able to focus on Clay Mathews.
I think our pass rush problems really come out of the Nickel and Dime Packages. It’s a lot more difficult to be less predictable with the defense being spread out. I think if Capers can utilize more CB blitzes in this situation, it will help. These formations basically have 2 DT’s and 2 OLB’s lined up at the line. There’s 1 MLB and 6 DB’s. This means Clay and Jones will have to do their job in getting after the QB. With some CB or S blitzes with 1 of the 6 CB’s, we can still provide that unpredictability we seek on defense.
"No player is greater than a team."
-Vince Lombardi
Good point
I agree with Clay bring more of a marked men but let’s remind ourselves that Brad Jones did fit in nicely adding 4 sacks in 8 games…Jones came out of a 34 in Colorado at OLB and hopefully that continues to translate to him being successful early on…if we see brad get 7.5 or 8 sacks this year then teams won’t know where its coming from therefor harder to key in at 52….
by SpaceGhost34 on Jul 17, 2010 11:21 PM CDT up reply actions
Jones
Jones was nonexistent most of the time! He got mostly coverage sacks and I expect that trend to continue. If he gets 7 or 8 sacks thats still not nearly enough to keep teams from doubling Matthews! Unless Jones gets somewhere around 12, Matthews is still a marked man. I hope he has a really great year, but I don’t see it. Even at CU he wasn’t much of a playmaker and as a 34 LOLB he needs to make impact plays! Gaining nearly 20 lbs will help him stand up vs the run, but it will likely slow him down in pass rushing!
Sorry, but I think your faith in Jones is entirely misplaced!
That's why I'm worried about our Nickel/Dime Packages
I don’t think Jones will apply the pressure when we need him too. I’m trying to be as optimistic as I can about him, but 2 of his 4 sacks came against Pittsburgh when Roethlisberger ran into him. In face Jones was still stuck on his blocker.
Clearly the team and a lot of Packer fans here have faith in him. I’ll stand by the team’s decision to keep him there, and I’m sure Capers will do what he can to apply pressure. He is young yet, so hopefully he does progress and get better.
"No player is greater than a team."
-Vince Lombardi
I disagree
I understand where everyone is coming from but, assuming that he isnt worth atleast one whole season to show what he has learned is ludacris..Aaron Kampman wasnt really getting it done over there either…Atleast Jones has had the offseason to put some size on, learn the Defense everyone knows is in year 2…Give the kid a shot, at the very least he could prove to be a descent in coverage which is a upgrade for our linebacking corp..
by SpaceGhost34 on Jul 18, 2010 10:47 AM CDT up reply actions
coverage
Everyone already knows he is fine in coverage. And the added size and strength will help him vs the run. But he just never really showed anything as a pass rusher, and I have the same worries as Jabooty… IMO, another pass rusher at LOLB is the only way to keep Matthews from being doubled. The interior rushers will be handled by the OG and C leaving the outside rushers on the OT. Matthews is going to get chipped by a RB or TE on every down until the rusher opposite Matthews shows he needs to be accounted for!
If Shawn Merriman were available for a 2nd round pick I would trade for him in a minute and roll the dice.
someone who speaks my language!
"stay (green and) gold"
by Green and Bold on Jul 18, 2010 11:24 AM CDT up reply actions
If Raji's move to NT turns out for the better
then our MLB’s will have a less difficult time getting after the QB up the middle. They may not get the sacks, but they’ll force the QB to throw sooner than he would prefer. I don’t think that bodes well for opposing QB’s throwing to a ball hawking secondary that Green Bay has. So again, if Raji is a beast in the middle, it will make the MLB’s job’s a lot easier when asked to blitz.
"No player is greater than a team."
-Vince Lombardi
Hopefully
that helps… Barnett could really get alot more and better opportunities coming from the inside. I don’t see Hawk being a good pass rusher, nor will he be on the field much in passing situations.
I think Hawk will do fine blitzing inside, but he needs to keep his pads lower and take advantage of his speed. Sometimes he hesitates too much and thinks about what he’s going to do. Instead, he needs to attack! He needs to know where Raji is going to attack, whether it is to the right or left side of the Center…maybe even head on. If Barnett and Hawk are on the same page, then we may have results.
"No player is greater than a team."
-Vince Lombardi
If were blitzing up the middle we better hope to get there now and then or you have a open area that will be exploited
Well of course
It’s not something you can do all the time, but something you should do once in a while to make your defense unpredictable. It doesn’t always have to be 2 MLB’s though, it could be just 1 once in a while.
"No player is greater than a team."
-Vince Lombardi
Merriman
I think Merriman is one of those guys who cheating paid off for regretably. He hasn’t been the same player since the steroids were taken away. Don’t think he will ever be the same player
actually
After the suspension, he still got sacks that season, then the next year he tore his ACL… Since then he hasn’t produced. He was suspended in 06 and still had 17 sacks in 12 games, in 07 he had 12.5 in 16 games and had the ACL in 08, and 09 had some foot and ankle injuries. Assuming he’s healthy and fully recovered from the ACL he could stil be a monster! SD wasn’t willing to take a 2nd for him during the draft and Merriman wants a HUGE contract. If we could get him for a 2nd and an incentive laden contract I would do it, but SD wants a 1st and Merriman wants guarenteed money, alot of it…
Also...
Your right Jones getting 8 sacks alone wont free Clay up much…But if Jones does get 8 sacks, im willing to bet thats going to make our secondary look better and likely open up the inside for Hawk and Barnett on crossing blitzes…All of that..might help to take the focus off of 52.
by SpaceGhost34 on Jul 18, 2010 10:55 AM CDT up reply actions
Its possible because hes our main threat on the outside
while I like Brad Jones he will NEVER draw double teams
however, there is a chance that he improves too behind our improved DLine of a healthy Raji and rookie Neal Rackers
plus I have his jersey so I hope hes an all pro
something tells me even the mafia wouldn't call on greg walker if a hit was needed.
-MarketMaker
Do you mean Mike Neal
Neal Rackers is the Cardinal’s kicker right
by SpaceGhost34 on Jul 18, 2010 10:58 AM CDT up reply actions
I think he's the Chargers kicker
You know, that guy that can’t kick field goals in the playoffs….
"No player is greater than a team."
-Vince Lombardi
You mean Nate "I singlehandedly ended any hope of the Chargers making the Super Bowl" Kaeding?
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Jul 18, 2010 12:41 PM CDT up reply actions
Yup that's the one!
I think Mason Crosby is following his footsteps, only failing in the Regular Season!
"No player is greater than a team."
-Vince Lombardi
You might be right as far as his production, but that’s okay. Some guys have got it and some guys don’t, and CMIII showed last year that he’s got it. So, whether the numbers are there or not, 1) other teams will have to account for him, and 2) he’s shown that he’s the relentless, high-motor sort of player that won’t quit and will continue to bother the QB.
Some guys would stop trying once they realize that they’re not going to get the stat. In reality, though, the number of sacks the team gets is less important than making the offense work for everything and being in the QB’s mind all day. Clay’s the real deal, and he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with on the edge of the defense for years to come.
It would’ve been nice to get him some more help, though, I agree.
I agree 100%
Clay can still make a big impact. Heck, drawing double teams IS making an impact. I’m just not so confident that he’ll be able to post 10+ sacks again after TT neglected to upgrade on the opposite side. Of course, if CMIII is taken out of plays but opens the door for others to make plays, I won’t be complaining.
"stay (green and) gold"
by Green and Bold on Jul 17, 2010 11:36 PM CDT up reply actions
#59.............
Will be a beast! Last pre-season displayed alot of his talents. His starts during the season were decent yet he seemed like he was thinking too much. I revert back to pre-season because I feel he was just playing without getting bogged down with the mental.
I guess you were impressed w/ his few coverage sacks
It’ll take ALOT more than that to convince me!!! And how about all those game changing plays he was involved in… All ZERO of them!!!
Got alot of work to prove he is playmaker!
We shall see!
And take this as humor,……….May you be wrong!
I hope so.
He is our best option right now… But as I noted he got a couple coverage sacks and was involved in not game changing plays! No INT’s. No Forced furmbles. No fumble recoveries.
He’s going to have to start making some!!!
its crossed my mind too
I really hope it doesn’t happen but honestly a slump is probably as or more likely to happen than him improving on a stellar rookie year. I just hope he can maintain…if he maintains, I’ll be PUMPED!! If the D around him improves I am sure he will too…the skills are there, the coaching is there, now he just needs to act on it.
What were you watching?
There was nothing stellar to the way Jones played! Unless you thing being virtually invisible is stellar… No impact plays isn’t stellar. A couple coverage sacks isn’t stellar either.
He played his position, thats about all you can really say about Jones… Hope he starts to show up on the field!
Haha “hope he starts to show up on the field?”. We all get by now that you don’t like the guy but saying he didn’t show up last season is absolutely ridiculous. He came in, and IMPROVED our defense. No if, ands, or buts. He was an upgrade over Kampman, and was very, very reliable out there. The coaching staff praised him nearly every week for his consistency, and rightfully so. He only played in 8 games last season. He didn’t have a second half of the season to improve like Matthews and Raji did. Going from D1 to the NFL is a huge transition, and a much faster game. Most guys need some time to adjust, and like I pointed out earlier, he wasn’t lucky enough to have a full season to adjust.
He’ll have that time this season, he added weight to his previously smaller frame, and had time to work with Greene. He has the athletic ability to become a playmaker as well. Let’s at least give him a full seasons worth of games before we go deciding that he isn’t the guy for us.
by packallday555 on Jul 20, 2010 4:35 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm with you there
Of coarse Stroh and I have gone round and round about this. I am excited to see Jones play this year. I think he could be a steal out of last years draft and if he can be half as good as he is being advertised right now then the Packers D will be in great shape.
by PackApologist on Jul 20, 2010 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions
I don’t dislike Jones. I hope he does very well… He hasn’t shown me anything yet though! Most games he was pretty invisible on the field! I will become a fan when he starts making plays. And I know he was a rookie 7th rd pick, and in that regard he did as well as can be expected. But for you to think he is going to do more is a projection. Nothing more, nothing less…
Or maybe the D got better cuz everyone else had 8 games under their belts...
Kinda hard to know which it really was… Don’t you think? I mean if Jones had made any plays you would have a strong case, but he didn’t, so how can you say it was him? You Can’t!!!
I think Jones certainly went a long way in making it better. It allowed us to use Matthews as the primary rusher off the edge, while Jones was solid in coverage. He did a comparable job to Kampman against the run as well. I know he needs to get home more, and faster then he was able to last season, and that’s an area I think he could and probably will improve upon. He certainly has the tools to do so.
by packallday555 on Jul 20, 2010 9:32 PM CDT up reply actions
I think that had a lot to do with Capers not knowing Clay’s full potential. Our D was very predictable when we had Kampy in there. It was rush 3 linemen, blitz Kampmann. In our Dime/Nickel Packages though, we were at our best as Kampmann put his hand in the dirt attacking from the left side as Clay attacked from the left. At that point though, Clay’s discovering was still not seen.
The injury to Kampmann did pose a positive take though. Capers was forced to try and use different looks, schemes, and strategies. Through all that, we all witnessed the incredible progression by Clay. The other thing was our opponents having a lack of game film to defend this and not fully understanding Clay’s abilities.
I still wish we could have resigned Kampman. Now that Capers knows what he is dealing with, I think he could have better utilized him with Clay. Together, we would have no worries on passing downs. It’s not the end of the world though. Brad Jones proved to be serviceable, nothing more. By serviceable I mean he wasn’t bad, he was plugged in there and did enough to make sure out defense wasn’t God awful. He wasn’t anything more because he simply was not and is not a playmaker. If we need him to get a sack, he is not going to get it. Well, I along with some others here feel that way. He is better in coverage though. We can all agree with that. One thing I fear about this season is Capers will get too comfortable in blitzing just Clay, that he forgets the main idea in having the 3-4 is being unpredictable. He needs to send different guys in different situations. One thing with Kampman gone, is the fact that our defense got faster. That can be worked to our advantage.
"No player is greater than a team."
-Vince Lombardi
Just think
How much more production Matthews might have had if the opposing team also had to worry about Kampman coming off the other edge! Matthews would have seen no double teams at all, the opposition would have had to account for Kampman being the far more proven pass rusher.
In that way you can also make a case that Jones limited Matthews cuz the opposition really only had to worry about Matthews as a rusher! Works both ways…
I never said that Jones was bad either… Just not the playmaker a 34 D needs from its OLB. He is decent in coverage, not great, but decent. Hopefully the wt he gained makes him better vs the run and he learns more pass rush moves and counters when his speed doesn’t work. Course the added wt might also slow him down…
In that way you can also make a case that Jones limited Matthews cuz the opposition really only had to worry about Matthews as a rusher! Works both ways…
Your right, it does work both ways.
Whether or not the defense improved because of him, or because it forced Capers to become more creative is probably something we really can’t measure.
I think his pass rush is a little better then people on here give him credit for. He’s not a great bull rusher but his speed rush is actually pretty decent. A lot of the time he’d get around the edge, we just didn’t always have the push up the middle to force the Qb outside or back further in the pocket. The same happened to Clay quite a bit, IMO. A lot of his sacks were in large part because of his motor, and his relentless effort in chasing the Qb down. I’m not trying to compare Matthews and Jones as far as rushing the passer either. Just trying to point out that both of them were often hurt by the lack of push from our middle guys.
I understand Jones didn’t look like Ware, Woodley, or even Matthews out there but he did a solid job for us. But he does have similar athletic ability to all of those guys. His primary job in college wasn’t too be a pass rusher either, which is different from most of the best 3-4 OLB’s in the league. He’s a project, and I’m sure the FO knew this when deciding to select him in the 7th round. Whether or not he’ll reach that potential, I’m not really sure. I do think the way he played is a positive sign though, and for that reason I feel like the chances of him becoming a good player for us are greater. I think even the FO feels this way too, or at least that would appear to be the only justifiable reason for them not taking an OLB in this years draft, which was deep at the position.
This was kind of a response to both you guys too, in case you didn’t notice haha!
by packallday555 on Jul 21, 2010 12:52 AM CDT up reply actions
What the heck are you talking about?
its a post about clay matthews, I wrote about Clay matthews and you jump down my neck about Jones? What the hell are you talking about dude? Get your glasses on or stop TRYING to pick fights with people. Geez.
post
Your post didn’t mention anyone by name. So I assumed that since Jones is the one who needs to improve alot more, that you were talking about him…
Settle down there son… No need to get your panties in a bunch!
meh…Just settle down yourself. You jumped down my throat about something I never even talked about. I shouldn’t have to specify a name in a post about a specific person. I guess you assumed wrong, no biggie, just settle down some yourself with your posts. Thanks for only using ONE exclamation point though!
Did you notice that you started a whole string of posts about something that was never even mentioned! haha
Does it matter?
I know this is going to sound very odd, but there is something to look forward to even if Matthews does slump a bit. Since this defense is designed to be flexible to the current strengths of the team, then it doesn’t matter if one player is keyed on or is under performing. In that case then the pressure should come from another player.
The offenses decide to double CM3? Fine, he can show blitz then drop into coverage and let the two inside guys run an X blitz., or Jones has more single looks, drop in a safety blitz now and then, etc.
Right now I trust Capers to be flexible to what the looks of the offenses are giving us and adjust for the problems occurring. My bigger concern is who is going to be the #3 corner and can Barnett and Hawk step up in coverage.
Matthews proved himself a pass rusher last season. He’s explosive off the line, and is absolutely relentless. Maybe his stats will decline from last season but if that happens it’ll liklely be because he’s seeing double teams a lot of the time, which will in turn makes things easier on everybody around him. Either way, he makes the guys around him better and that’s all that ultimately matters.
by packallday555 on Jul 20, 2010 4:38 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
#3 corner?
Tramon Williams will be the #3 definatly…But I agree the biggest questions are if Hawk and Barnett can “find work”…They have to stick to recievers and backs longer or start breaking face masks to do something about what Kurt Warner exposed in the playoffs…I also agree that Mathews is a proven pass rusher at this point but i think he can be effective in other area’s…Pack is right about Capers, and alot of people will be surprised at how much more complex our blitz’s will be this year…
Williams is assumed to be the #2 CB for now. Unless Harris is making a miraculous recovery from his gruesome injury. Right now the #3 CB is between Underwood and Lee… With Underwood holding a slight edge heading into training camp.
Yeah, those bunch formations the Cardinals ran in the playoffs killed us. It was obvious that the ILB’s and Cb’s in the slots had no idea how to defend it. It kind of had me somewhat disappointed in Capers actually. The Cardinals did the same things over and over, and for the most part they continued to work. At the same time though, I had to keep in mind our communication in the defense still isn’t where it eventually needs to be, which probably made things difficult at times last season.
by packallday555 on Jul 20, 2010 9:36 PM CDT up reply actions
Wow
Someone finally recognizing what I’ve been sayin for months!!! And it wasn’t just AZ that used the bunch formations… Pitts showed AZ the way! They used them repeatedly to beat our DB’s and LB. Big Ben had 500 yds passing on the same route combinations that AZ mostly used.
Capers has to get the communication up to par in that regard, not that it was his fault last year. Our inexperience in the 34 was the culprit…
Yeah, the Pittsburgh and Arizona games were basically the exact same. They did a great job game planning for our defense, which probably shouldn’t be a surprise as they both run the 3-4 themselves.
I’m sure the communication will be better next season but like you said inexperience was the culprit. If nothing else, more experience in this defense should do wonders. Transitioning to a new defense is difficult to do, especially the 3-4 too. I remember hearing last offseason that no team had ever statistically improved in their first year in the 3-4 defense. We obviously did, which is pretty impressive.
by packallday555 on Jul 21, 2010 1:04 AM CDT up reply actions
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