Tag: Clay Matthews (Page 5 of 5)

      The Packers would be a great fit for Thomas

      April 26, 2010 /

      It was only a matter of time before the Patriots gave outside linebacker Adalius Thomas the boot. He was already stealing money from them with his poor play before he became a distraction last season, thus leading to his release on Monday.

      One team’s trash is sometimes another team’s treasure, as the Packers could emerge as serious contenders for Thomas’ services. Even though GM Ted Thompson insists that the left outside linebacker position in Dom Capers’ 3-4 defense isn’t a dire need, it is.

      2009 seventh round pick Brad Jones saw a fair amount of playing time last year when Aaron Kampman went down with an injury. But while he was decent against the run, he’s not the pass-rusher that Clay Matthews is on the other side. And in Capers’ system, both outside linebackers have to be able to get after the quarterback.

      That’s where Thomas comes in. While the 33-year-old has lost a step over the past couple of years, Thomas can still get after the quarterback when he’s motivated. And seeing as how Thompson did nothing to upgrade the outside linebacker position during the draft, the Packers could use someone to push Jones for the starting job.

      The Packers could upgrade their LOLB spot by adding Thomas to a one-year deal and still groom Jones for the future if they wanted. If Thomas turns out to be a bust, then Jones has already shown that he’s a capable starter and the team could rid themselves of Thomas after the season.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      Anthony Stalter vs. Ted Thompson

      April 28, 2009 /

      Regular readers know that Anthony Stalter is our NFL guru and that I’m a huge Packer fan. And since Green Bay’s general manager, Ted Thompson, made one of the more questionable trades of the day — giving up a second round pick and two third round picks to move up and select USC linebacker Clay Matthews — we thought it would be interesting to have Anthony play general manager for those three picks and see if things would have turned out better had the Packers stood pat (and drafted on Anthony’s recommendations). So Anthony is going to pick players at 2.09, 3.09 and 3.19 (the three picks Thompson gave up for Matthews) and see if he can do any better.

      Thompson has a reputation for being one of the best general managers in the league on draft day, but Anthony sure didn’t agree with how much the Packers gave up in order to land Matthews:

      But to give up their second round pick and two third round selections was just too much – especially considering Matthews could be one of the more overrated prospects in this draft. Some believe that he’s more of a bodybuilder posing as a football player (i.e. he looks great in workouts but could fizzle once he gets onto the field) and his character has come into question after it was made public that he and fellow USC teammates started a Facebook group called, “White Nation,” in which they posted a picture of an African American baby in handcuffs and had a caption underneath that read, “arrest black babies before they become criminals.” He claims it was just a joke and maybe he will turn out to be a versatile pro. But the trade and selection were very un-Ted Thompson-like for draft day.

      We’ll revisit this after each of the next three seasons (unless the winner becomes obvious before then) and see how the two strategies compare. In the interests of fairness, I asked Anthony to make his pick at 2.09 without thinking about who slipped to 3.09 or 3.19.

      So, without further ado, Anthony’s picks…

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      NFL, NFL Draft

      NFL Draft: 5 Questionable Day 1 Decisions

      April 26, 2009 /

      It’s unfair to criticize a team for reaching on a prospect or making a trade (or two) on draft day because obviously nobody has a crystal ball to see how those moves will inevitably pan out. But it’s hard not to question some of the decisions that teams made during the first two rounds of the draft on Saturday. Below I’ve compiled five questionable decisions from Day 1 of the NFL draft.

      1 and 2. Broncos trade their 2010 first round selection to the Seahawks for their second round pick (37th overall); Panthers trade their 2010 first round selection to the 49ers for their second round pick (43rd overall)
      I have no qualms with the two prospects that the Broncos and Panthers traded for. Denver got arguably the most underrated cornerback in the draft in Alphonso Smith, while Carolina landed a player in Everrette Brown who many believed would go in the top 15. But it’s hard to fathom why both of these teams would give up first rounders in next year’s draft, to trade up in what some are considering the worst draft in some time. Granted, it’s hard to speculate whether or not this draft will be turn out to be horrible or if next year’s draft will be strong. But there’s a good chance that Denver and Carolina could each be picking in the top 15 or 20 picks again next year and to give up those picks for two second round prospects is highly questionable. What happens if either of these teams implodes next year and the picks they gave up turn out to be top 5 or top 10 selections? That’s just too much of a risk in my opinion.

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      NFL, NFL Draft

      Where’s the accountability?

      April 8, 2009 /

      Last Thursday, a site called NFLDraftBible.com posted this “breaking news” story:

      Written by NFL Draft Bible Thursday, 02 April 2009 22:36
      Boston College DT BJ Raji, Illinois CB Vontae Davis & Florida WR Percy Harvin tested positive for marijuana at the combine, according to various sources, including one NFL team.

      And this one:

      Written by NFL Draft Bible Thursday, 02 April 2009 22:38
      USC LB’s Brian Cushing & Clay Matthews tested positive for steroids at the NFL Scouting Combine, according to various sources, including one NFL team.

      On Sunday, NFL drug policy administer Dr. John Lombardo informed Cushing and Matthews that they had nothing to worry about in terms of any failed steroid tests and on Tuesday, Raji was informed that he didn’t fail any drug tests either.

      This morning I went onto NFLDraftBible.com and surfed the site a bit. Nice site – really nice site, actually. But what I want to know is: Where’s their accountability? As far as I can tell, they had no reports updating the players’ situations and nothing that stated they spread false rumors. As one of our readers pointed out, the site put these players’ careers on the line with these reports and now they’re not even responsible enough to come out and say that they made false claims. It looks like they made the reports up by claiming they got the information from “various sources” and then went on with their business once the players were cleared.

      What’s great about this is that NFLDraftBible.com got what they wanted. They’re probably flooded with hits now and what do they care if they potentially could have ruined the careers of Cushing, Matthews and Raji? The whole thing is ridiculous and I feel bad for the players who presumably did nothing wrong.

      NFL, NFL Draft

      2009 NFL Mock Draft Version 1.0

      March 19, 2009 /

      It would probably be good for me to do an intro to this piece, but I’m going to skip all the foreplay and just get right to the action. And let’s be honest – you probably wouldn’t have read the intro anyway.

      Below is my first mock draft of the year. You can disagree all you want, but just make sure you go into detail in the comments section so I know you care. I hate those bastards that trash my work and don’t have the common courtesy to tell me how much of a moron I am in print…

      Let’s mock!

      1. Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia
      Jason Smith (Baylor), Eugene Monroe (Virginia) and Aaron Curry (Wake Forest) are all possibilities for new GM Martin Mayhew with this pick. But the offensive tackle and linebacker positions are deep in this year’s draft – the quarterback position is not. Mayhew can get his franchise quarterback in Stafford, select an offensive tackle at No. 20 and then fill the middle linebacker need in the second or third round. There, I just fixed the 0-16 Detroit Lions in less than 100 words.

      2. St. Louis Rams: Jason Smith, OT, Baylor
      If Smith goes No. 1 to the Lions, then I fully expect the Rams to take Virginia offensive tackle Eugene Monroe. With the jettison of long-time veteran Orlando Pace this offseason, St. Louis needs to address their need at left tackle and they’ll do so with either Smith or Monroe depending on who’s available. If it’s Smith, then they land one of the most athletic offensive lineman in the draft.

      3. Kansas City Chiefs: Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest
      The Chiefs could really use a right tackle to pair with last year’s first round pick, Branden Albert, but Curry would be too good to pass up here. GM Scott Pioli put a premium on versatile defenders while he was in New England, and that’s exactly what Curry is. The Wake Forest product could play either outside or inside in a 4-3 or 3-4 scheme and is easily the best defensive prospect in this year’s draft.

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      NFL, NFL Draft

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