Found this, saw it wasn't posted. Interesting how we have interest in both Matthews and Johnson. Both of whom are enigmas but skilled, and athletic enough players (in the case of Matthews as Johnson is fluid) players who test well. This from KFFL. http://www.kffl.com/hotw/nfl
Do you see them both as playing on the weakside? I'd like to think if Johnson bulked up a little he could play both...
No, Johnson could play either. His length should allow for that, but his base may need work as will hsi technique at setting the edge. Matthews lacks the speed to play the weakside and would have to stick to the strongside IMO.
The interesting thing about Matthews is he has the second best ten yd split of any Lb, in fact his 10yd split is better then some Corners at the Combine.
I like Matthews. I'm actually quite the fan of him. The problem is that his issues aren't just issues, they stand out big time to me. Is he maxed out? Late bloomer? Lack of production is a concern. Lack of starts is another concern. Is he a STer at best? When Pete Carroll was asked about Clay Matthews, the first thing he said was he's the greatest special teamer ever to play at USC. Is he talented? Yes. Is he a high risk at 25? Yes. Is he a bust possibility? IMO, yes. A big one but I do think he's talented and I think he has the work ethic to be successful. Question is how his skills translate to the NFL.
True that... IMO, Matthews is a maxed out player, he was not productive at USC in a defense that also IMO, underachieved, how can a player be surrounded by top NFL picks and only have a handful of sacks? How does that happen? That is why IMO we should pass on Matthews and Cushing, if they have a NFL ready DT and a NFL ready DE, and a NFL ready ILB, and a Safety that is supposedly a NFL prospect, they should have produced more.
How can you call a guy who was a walk-on, was told he had absolutely no athletic ability or talent, was too small coming out of high school (only 166 lbs. and was told by his father that he was no good & his father didn't even start him in HS) which caused him to have ZERO scholarships from division I and II; also made his way up from ST's to getting playing time on the field an underachiever? Yes he had a lot of talent around him but he played well last year. EDIT: Only one scholarship. My mistake.
I'd take Mathews because I think he'll be good against the run as well as being a solid pass rusher. BUT I'd much rather them take a Cb if one of the top two slip....
On that defense, he is not even a Winston Moss type of NFL prospect. Think about it Alen, will he pick up an extra 2/10's of a second once he reaches the NFL level? He's already given 110% to make it to this point, what else could he possible do? He's gained 80 pds of muscle, how much more would it be reasonable to suppose he could manage? On USC's starting 11 on defense, there are 6 maybe 7 guys who can play in the NFL, meaning the opposing Offensive Coordinators couldn't game plan to stop him, and yet he had how many sacks? 1? 3?
That's the question we're trying to figure out right now, padre. Is he maxed out? Maybe yes, maybe no. He had 4.5 sacks. And don't forget how many times he pressured the QB to force him to throw it.
Will he need to rely on the talent we already have on defense, or will he make our defense better on his own? At USC even surrounded by NFL types, he did not shine, not much. To me, that seals the deal, I'd rather take a shot on a Barwin or Maybin or Johnson, those players have tremendous upside. Look at English in comparison, he was the defense, the one guy that had to be stopped every game and yet he produced, Matthews had no such pressure to produce and he didn't.
He started one year and he had 4.5 sacks and multiple QB pressures. The concerns are there. I didn't say they weren't and I made it clear in my first post in this thread. I doubt you will see Johnson or Maybin at our pick. Doubt it. Barwin I see there and you wouldn't hear one complaint from me if we took Barwin over Matthews. Not one. English is a better player. I've said it before and I stand by it.
Just factor into this discussion that he did not play every snap of every game due to being subbed out.
Situational player then? Heck even UConn's Brown wasn't taken out... Matthews and Cushing...two maxed out players IMO, guys like that tend to spend mucho time in the body shop, kinesological reasons more then anything else, packing that dense of muscle on a body frame meant to carry much much less will lead to problems down the road.
To me, it's not saying much ) The way i see things, the less public attention we pay to a certain player, the higher chances of us signing them. Thats how it turned out so far ))
And with the 25th pick of the 2009 Nfl Draft, the Miami Dolphins select Clay Matthews. This seems to me he is our front runner and I am not a big fan of it. As a fan I'd rather see Nicks as our pick but Tuna doesnt draft WR in the 1st round.
