id like to see your reasoning.

Kids a stud, love him, he's got intensity and a ton of athleticism I am very happy with that pick. A little shocked on draft day when we traded up but not disappointed.

I don't recall anyone saying anything negative about getting Matthews during the draft

Being upset after the fact about draft day decisions is a waste of time and is almost always fueled by Woulda's-Coulda's-Shouda's assisted by the 20/20 vision of hindsight.

My memory of the buzz about Thompson trading up instead of down was most Packer fans and draftniks were excited to see Ted Thompson change it up and head in a direction he usually avoids.

The worst I ever heard about trading up for Mini-Clay was that some thought Thompson paid too much to move up.

The final analysis of that is at least a couple of years away. When that time comes Clay should be evaluated fairly at that time based upon his performance and production - not a hindsight assisted cherry-picking what we could have gotten if we had done this, that,-and the-other-thing.

It was certainly a risk and gamble by TT that has so far paid off and just as Bruce has eluded too, Matthews play and the move to get him will be better evaluated in a couple of more years. However, I do more reading then posting on here and it is very difficult to find a poster who does not like Matthews or the trade to get him.

I was never upset (I like Matthews)but our need if offensive linemen.

Who was upset about drafting Matthews?

Maualuga and Cushing both have more tackles, but Matthews has 4 sacks compared to 1.0 (Maualuga) and 1.5 (Cushing) which is pretty sweet. Not only that, but he seems to be MUCH more comfortable out there now. He's playing with confidence which is awesome to see.

Loved the player, didn't like the trade. I am not a draft geek, so don't know if there was an OL of the same caliber that we could of done the same trade to obtain. If there was I would have gone in that direction.

I don't think anyone complained about the player.

I remember people being upset with what we gave up, not the player. I was on the fence. I am a draft geek but as we've seen before, if you think a guy is going to be a difference maker then you give up what you need to. Right now I would trade our next 2 or 3 first rounders for a guy like Joe Thomas.

Oher had just gone to Baltimore a few picks earlier.

Eben Britton was available and was picked in the second round by Jax. He has started every game at RT and I believe he has not allowed a sack. At the time I thought Ted might be targeting this guy.

There's not much to dislike about Matthews. He's continued to improve over the course of the year. He's a very good athlete and will only get better at sacking the QB as his technique improves.

I remember several posts complaining about the guy from Florida state and English being available at the Packers second round pick and also there were many complaints about the price Green Bay payed in comparison to value charts.

EDIT.

Here is an article by a Packers Chatters OP Ed about the choice between Brown and Mathews. Article. There is also a thread about this article in the draft forum, interesting to re-read. So, there really was some opposition to the trade for Mathews and some thought that he was the wrong pick.

All this being said, I agree with Bruce's post earlier. Way too early to make any strong judgements about any of these players and while I am excited about Mathew's future - I would like to see how he plays over a longer period of time before I judge whether the price was worth it.

Loved the trade. Loved the player. Clay Matthews is a strait up stud. Midway in his rookie season and he's clearly the team's best LB and already one of the team's leaders. He's going to be a great player for the Green Bay Packers. I only hope that once the defense gets a little bit more established and comfortable that DC and company will start moving him around all over the place like the Giants used to do with LT. He's a game-changer and getting better each and every week he's out on the field. Nice to see Raji getting some decent playing time, and contribute. I'm hoping that they start playing B. J. inside at NT more often so he can get comfortable playing that position.

FWIW Orakpo has more sacks and tackles. I'd rather have Matthews though.

edit - brain fart, for some reason I thought Orakpo went after Matthews.

Good for Orakpo. I liked him a lot as well. I thought that the comparisons to Vernon Gholston were pretty laughable. I'm surprised that he's done as well as he has, but I had no doubt that he'd be an excellent player for the Redskins. I'm very happy with Raji and Matthews. I think those two guys filled two of our biggest needs and will end up being very, very special in this defense, and I agree that I'd rather have Clay III instead.

People may be high on Matthews, but they need to WAKE UP and LOOK AT THE FACTS:

• FACT: Clay Matthews has never given more than 100%, even on key third-down plays.
• FACT: Clay Matthews has never been to the probowl. He's never even received consideration.
• FACT: Clay Matthews is not discussed in the media as being an automatic first-ballot Hall of Famer.
• FACT: Clay Matthews has never returned a punt for a touchdown, thrown for more than 300 yards in a game or even coached a high school football team to the state finals only to suffer a last-second heartbreaking loss when the other team makes a field goal, but where everyone on the team none the less comes away having learned a priceless lesson about themselves.
• FACT: Clay Matthews' number is only 52. Mason Crosby, by contrast, is #2 -- 50 numbers better.

As these facts clearly demonstrate, Ted Thompson was a fool to draft Clay Matthews.

Sky, i think someone forgot to give you your medicine tonight!

Fantastic analysis, Sky. Bravo!

Seriously though, CM3 is my boy. How can you not be excited about his potential? I just think about the strip, recovery, and TD against the Vikes...

But I do agree with KC, love the player, hate the trade. Don't think we could have found a LT or RT with just one of myriad of picks we gave away?

We could be saying, 'Well, we have Lang and (insert what hould have been draft pick here).'

I vaguely recall some people here saying things along the lines of "He's not even USC's 4th best LB." (Though some people did say he was one of their best), and that "He's just a one year starter in college", or things about his weight, possibly being undersized.

But I'm happy. It was exciting to see TT trade up. Glad it's working out so far.

I love the kid. He looks (so far) like one of the better picks in TT's regime. I actaully really like how this entire LB corps is playing. We need another "Clay Mathews" for the other side. Maybe it's Brad Jones? I think that needs to be a high priority in 2010, but so far mathews looks like a real find. If he keeps it up, he'll be a big time fan favorite.

FACT: It is impossible to give more than 100%.