I keep seeing it falsely reported that Matthews walked on at USC weighing 161 pounds. That is flat out incorrect. It appears as though the latest he weighed that little was at the start of his senior year of high school. Matthews himself states that he was 6'1" 166 his junior year or high school. He walked on to USC at 228 and was sitting at 220 following his first camp there.

Read for yourself near the bottom of this transcript...

http://www.madison.com/wsj/blogs/Packers/449386

The article currently on the front page of this site also lists his current weight as a minor issue. Stating his present weight as 240 lbs, the article notes his size as a con. "Matthews has the height part covered at 6-feet, 3-inches. But he is way off on the weight part at just 240 pounds."

Good news to report on that front as well. Matthews weighed in for the start of his first Packers minicamp at 250 lbs and says he thinks he'll aim for 255 in the next year.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/44237962.html

All in all size not only should not be a concern for Matthews, it should actually be looked at as a strength. He's built extremely strong, (just ask new teammate Quinn Johnson) and has defensive back-like quickness to go with LB size and power.

Hopefully he can maintain it through 2 a days.

Just knowing what I know about gaining and maintaining weight, I'll guess that he'll start the season at round 245 and finish around 240 if he's lucky.

When he says he's shooting for 255, I'd say that is next year at this time. Maybe he can touch that over the next month, but I don't think it will be sustainable at all.

Next year though, he could probably weight 255 legitimately at the start of camp, finish camp at about 250 and finish the season around 245. That's a fine weight for him. Two years down the road, he can probably be finishing seasons around 250.


I also like his size and strength. He's a big kid, but he's still really young. We can't expect the world out of a rookie.

I wouldn't worry too much about what his exact weight is as long as he's effective. This will be an attacking 3-4 defense (as opposed to New England's bend-but-don't-break version. Greg Lloyd was one of the top performing outside linebackers in this scheme and I'm pretty sure that he was only between 230 and 240 lbs. I think that Clay III will be just fine right about where he's at for this year. If he does add some more weight and keeps his speed that should help him to be even that much more effective.

He looks plenty big for what he'll be asked to do. The key thing is that he has the ability to hold the point of attack against large tight ends and tackles. From the footage of him, it looks like he does a decent job there. He's a slippery smart player. What stands out the most though is how quick he changes directions. I'd imagine he will be good in coverage. I'd hate to lose that if he went up to 260.

Exactly. Being on the west coast Ive seen him play a few times. He covers a lot of ground in the passing game. Perfect for handling the flats and his OLB zone. Good speed laterally and a good pass rusher. My concern for him is the point of attack and his build. He's pretty tall and while he weighs 250, his frame is like a basketball player. It will be interesting to see how they use him, and how he handles the running game.

He doesn't have to be much bigger than 240 lbs.

Maybe 245 lbs. The main idea is can he hold the point?

If he can at that weight then OK. I don't want him to lose the other things he has. Like speed and explosiveness and athleticism.

He is supposed to have a real ability to turn the corner on the rush.

For an OLB in a 3-4:

Strength > Size

I agree. I don't think he should add weight if it takes away from what made him a 1st round pick in the first place. Matthews has arguably the fastest first step of any OLB coming out of college. His 10 yard split is about as quick as most of the CBs in this draft and about as quick as any of our WRs were timed at coming out of college. He is super quick for his size. If Kevin Greene could rack up the most sacks from the OLB position in NFL history playing at under 250 pounds, I don't see why Matthews should have to add weight. Matthews is almost identical to Kevin Greene early in his career. I wouldn't see a problem with him playing 250-255 lbs but having him go over 260 pounds might do more harm than good. James Harrison is 240 lbs and was the defensive player of the year. It really depends on the scheme. Pittsburgh has had good success with OLBs in the 240-250 lb range. New England and Dallas like bigger OLBs. Capers runs a scheme more similar to Pittsburgh's. Matthews shouldn't have to add much weight to be successful. He just needs to build strength and master the technique. Who better to teach OLB technique than Kevin Greene?

Great point, I never really realized that Harrison was that light. To be fair though, Harrison is a bit more bulky, checking in at only 6'0 compared to Matthews who I believe is listed at 6'4. Not sure if that's a huge deal or not ( I doubt it) but just saying.. If Matthews could get up to 250-255 and keep his speed, I think he could be pretty amazing.

Definitely. Harrison is thicker than Matthews by far. He has really thick legs which he uses to get leverage coming around the edge. I thought what Thompson had to say about Matthews was interesting. What he noticed was that Matthews has incredible balance which allows him to bend quite a bit when rushing around the edge. A good trait for pass rushing OLBs. OLBs typically have to use their physical strengths to rush the passer instead of relying on moves. They start out pretty wide compared to DEs and also start from a standing position. I hope Thompson is right about Matthews. I was pretty high on Matthews before the draft and literally jumped out of my chair when I heard the pick. When you watch him play, he just simply plays smash-mouth football. That can't be taught. I really think Greene is going to mold him into a MONSTER OLB in the 3-4.

Just read he had showed up to rookie training camp weighing 250, which surprised me. He also said that he expected to reach 255 "next year"...that "next year" part is significant, signifying "quality pounds", which doesn't come overnight. Like many, I'm really excited about Clay's future...especially given his current weight, work ethic, and that Greene is his coach. Those factors suggest he could pick things up quick, perhaps even starting by mid-season, and at the very least be an above-average 3-4 OLB in the NFL. I actually things Matthews has more potential to be great than BJ Raji (and I do like Raji too.)

And yes, I do dream of Clay sacking Favre a bunch of times against the Viqueens this season!!!! We'll see...