More than three months after coach Mike McCarthy insisted it was time to move Matthews back to his original position, it’s worth wondering whether he now has the roster depth to allow that to fully happen.
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“Clay prefers to play outside”.
Fans hoping the Green Bay Packers’ 2016 draft will push this team over the top will be sorely disappointed this season. “So, anytime we can add someone inside that helps facilitate that, it’s a good thing”.
The 6-foot-7, 301-pounder from San Clemente, California was particularly great in pass protection in both of his seasons as a starter against some of the best edge rushers in the Pac-12.
“I think first off when you look at the big men that have been drafted, there’s definitely, in my opinion, a desire to get bigger”. And Ryan, a fourth-round pick from MI, moved into a starting role late in the year and impressed the coaches. “I don’t think that’s a big secret”. We’ve got inside linebackers here in house that are capable of doing that.
“The inside linebacker position’s important”, McCarthy said. “I think this is a fluid situation”.
“Yeah, theoretically”, is all Thompson would say. Scouts raved about Spriggs’s athleticism and footwork, and project him as a really solid starter for years to come.
The family had season tickets for seven years to University of Arizona football games where his mom is an alumna. “‘Don’t overthink it. With the team, feel comfortable, ‘ and that’s what I did with the Packers”.
A year ago at Indiana, Spriggs started every game and was named an All-American. “Of course, I watched Eddie Lacy at Alabama”, he said.
Murphy wound up being the last Packer draft pick of the weekend as Ted Thompson traded his 7th round choice to move up in the second round to grab Kyle’s rookie book-end in Spriggs.
They took Northwestern defensive end Dean Lowry six spots after selecting Martinez.
Clark and Lowry will be part of a revamped defensive line.
Adding blue-collar Northwestern end Dean Lowry on the fourth round indicated just how thin the Packers thought their line was, especially with Mike Pennel being suspended by the National Football League for the first four games.
“It’s a big man’s game”, McCarthy said Saturday. “When you get into a season, when you look at challenges that you have during the season, you have to make sure you take care of things up front”.
He joins 6-7, 305-pound Jason Spriggs in the Packers’ draft class, a left tackle from in selected in the second round on Friday. The Cardinal have now seen seven offensive linemen taken in the last five drafts as well.
Murphy can’t wait to join the Packers and his college teammate David Martinez, the linebacker taken in round four.
“I’ve been watching James Starks a long time”. Elflein is widely considered the best in the draft next year. “Just go in there to work, ‘” Burks said. Davis returned two kickoffs for touchdowns as a junior. The Seattle Seahawks and the Atlanta Falcons, he said, were also among the callers. “He was still sitting there on the board, and we were fortunate enough to pick him”. He is a plug-and-play replacement for B.J. Raji inside. The veteran nose tackle announced in March he’s done playing football for at least a year. “He played in space a lot at Stanford”.
-Round 3/88 – Kyler Fackrell, LB, 6-5, 245, Utah St. The rangy Fackrell excelled as a playmaker in his three years as a starter.
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The signing of free agent Jared Cook gave the Packers the luxury of skipping the position in this draft. So they needed to find a guy like Martinez, who could compete for the starting job at inside linebacker. Green Bay builds through the draft like not other. He’s not an impactful, behind-the-line-of-scrimmage guy.
