In the second half of the season Coach McCarthy approached Clay Matthews with a idea and asked him to move inside and see if he could shore up the middle. At the time the Packers were getting slammed for big yards in the run game with a hobbled Aj Hawk and a never was Brad Jones. He was not too keen on the move but agreed to take on the task for the good of the team. Matthews was not having his best year on the outside even with Peppers on the opposite end. Everyone including myself thought with these two attacking the QB they would be hell on wheels but it was not panning out that way in fact Matthews after moving inside seemed to find his motor again and eight of his eleven sacks came after the move! So the question is will McCarthy approach Clay again this year with the same type of plan? The decision will be ultimately Matthews in the end if he says no then the coach will not make him. But with Matthews signed through 2019 he is not playing for a big contract it’s all about the Lombardi trophy now and by the time he is a free agent again he will be 33 years old so most likely his career will be done anyway! So will he take the challenge again knowing his athleticism in the middle will be the best thing for the team?
~I would like to think so~
I am not saying make him a permanent fixture inside because if they did that the OC would be able 
to plan for him being there but if they do like last season and bounce him in an out it will throw a wrench in the gears and offensive coordinators will never knowing when he is going to line up on the line or drop back in coverage or come from the strong side middle to stop the run or the weak side to blitz. We all know he was the sole reason in the last eight games for plugging the middle, well almost I should say. Sam Barrington’s play seemed to evolve as soon as Clay was next to him as well and between the two they shored up what was a weakness for the first half of the season.
So let us know your thoughts:
We don’t know yet what the draft will produce in terms of LBs. I think coaches plan to keep CM3 in the middle on running downs, but also have some plays w/ him on the outside, to keep the O guessing, & in the 2nd half of the season, a rookie ILB & Barrington or bradford may develop by then too. At this pt in the offseason, coaches have to be flexible in the playbook. I believe that we’ll get 1-2 LBs in the draft.