Mike McCarthy wants Clay Matthews to go back to outside linebacker
Matthews shifted inside for much of the last two seasons but McCarthy would prefer him back at his natural position.
By
Jared Dubin
•
2 min read
In 2014, the Packers struggled so badly with their run defense that they actually shifted star outside linebacker Clay Matthews inside to help deal with the problems. They got significantly better defending the run after that and made a run to the NFC title game. Heading into the 2015 season, the plan was to have Matthews split time between the two spots. But when inside linebacker Sam Barrington got injured in Week 1, that plan went by the wayside and Matthews spent most of the season playing inside.
That move had a great effect on his role, as should be expected. Per the tracking from Pro Football Focus, he rushed the passer 10 percent less often than he did in 2014, and over 18 percent less often than he did in 2013, when he was still playing outside linebacker full-time. He also spent significantly more time in coverage. Per PFF, he dropped back in coverage on 30.5 percent of the plays when he was on the field, a gigantic rise from the 18.9 percent in 2014, and the 9.1 and 9.2 percent he had in 2012 and 2013.
Next year, Mike McCarthy would like to get Matthews back to his natural position. “Frankly, my goal with Clay is for him to play outside linebacker," McCarthy said, via PackersNews.com. "That’s always been the case. I’ve never really made any bones about it. I think it shows the type of player Clay is, just as far as the type of teammate he is, to go inside and to play as much as he did really full time there.”
While getting him back outside is the priority, he made sure to note that he did like some of what Matthews brought on the inside.
“There’s things specifically that he does from that position that we’ll continue to do because he’s a great weapon,” McCarthy said. “He’s so disruptive. It gives you obviously an opportunity to match him up against offensive personnel from that location. We’re obviously a lot better with him playing the outside position. He’s an outside linebacker, and we need to get back to him playing there and just going inside when needed, or just to change the targeting challenge for the offense and things like that.
“That’s the goal. We’ll see what the offseason brings and how our personnel shakes out.”
