Malcolm Smith is indeed a wonderful person. His thinking loop is not normal, which makes Lu Yiqi look forward to his future performance.

"Coach." Walker patted Lu Yiqi's arm and signaled with his eyes:

Just as they were talking, the primary goal they needed to pay close attention to today was on the stage.

Clay Matthews!

Like Malcolm, Matthews also grew up under Peter Carroll. His body of 6.23 feet (190 cm), 255 pounds (115 kg) has enough confrontational ability and flexible explosive power. He has a natural sense of sensation in the line guard position.

Matthews' personal desire to raid on the top is very strong. He always likes to capture the dynamics of quarterbacks and wide receivers at all times, and relies on his beast's sense of smell to find gaps, and then continues to put pressure on the quarterbacks, playing an important role as a terminator in passing defense.

In other words, Matthews is a natural outside linebacker - short pass defense and raid rushing passes. At this position, he is definitely in the water.

But because Matthews' physical talent and tactical awareness are very good, people have more expectations for him. In his last life, McCarthy also asked him to try the role of an inside linebacker, responsible for the connection and transformation of ground defense, short pass defense and front-line pressure. Of course, his performance is still very good and excellent, but it can still be seen that he is not adaptable. He has repeatedly missed the best fighter at critical moments, and his consciousness conversion is slightly insufficient.

If Matthews is a top player as an outside linebacker, then Matthews can only be considered an excellent player as an inside linebacker.

It is worth mentioning that Matthews also came from a rugby family. His younger brother Casey Mattews, cousins ​​Jake Mattews, Kevin Mattews, Mike Mattews, and his father Clay Mattews II (clay-mattews-jr.), grandfather Clay Mattews (clay-mattews), and uncle Bruce Mattews, are all rugby players, and they are all from the defensive team.

He is from a famous family.

But despite this, Matthews was not a popular player in the first round top five picks in the 2009 draft. Even among the linebackers, he was not able to make it to the top three of the hottest players.

Currently, the most noteworthy candidates in the linebacker lineup are: Aaron Curry from Wicker Forest University, Brian Orakpo from the University of Texas, Brian Cushing from the University of Southern California, and Larry-english from Northern Illinois University.

Then? It's Clay Matthews.

reason?

Actually it is not complicated? Because the linebacker's position is quite special, it is necessary to consider whether it is the "3-4" formation or the "4-3" formation.

If it is the former? Then the main responsibilities of the linebacker are more complicated? Coaches hope that their linebacker will be more comprehensive and the coverage area can be increased? The most important thing is explosive power, whether it is a raid quarterback? or a short pass coverage? This requires many judgments and choices in a short time.

If it is the latter, then the main responsibility of the linebacker is passing and defending, which also means that the coaches need the linebacker to gradually move closer to the cornerback - the physical fitness must be stronger, and it doesn’t matter if the tactical awareness is weaker? But the physical confrontation ability must keep up? Especially for short pass defense, strong collision ability is a must.

It is precisely because of this that each team must select the right linebacker according to their needs. However, when professionals and scouts predict and judge linebackers, it is impossible to list a list suitable for the "3-4" formation? Then list a list suitable for the "4-3" formation, but consider it comprehensively? Therefore, linebackers with outstanding physical fitness and balanced defensive abilities often have more advantages.

Matthews is more suitable for the "3-4" formation, but his height is more than a linebacker of such a formation? He may be a little overwhelmed when dealing with the quarterback pulling up the passing arc; at the same time, his ground defense ability is a shortcoming? He is not a good thing to focus too much on the habit of rushing forward.

At the same time? Curry and Olakebo's physical fitness is better than Matthews; Cursing, who is also a teammate at the University of Southern California, is a versatile player, more comprehensive and balanced; Ingrish and Matthews are comparable, and each have their own strengths, it depends on the team's preference.

The above five linebackers are generally believed to be excellent choices that can still stay in the first round after the 15th pick.

But no one can accurately predict the direction in the draft. If teams that urgently need linebackers give up choosing linebackers for other reasons, it is very normal for some of them to fall into the second round. After all, they are not the top choices worth the top five picks.

Today, except for Ingrish's absence, Curry and Orakpo both arrived at the USC training camp and were training on the field.

Judging from the future that Lu Yiqi is familiar with, only Matthews has made a breakthrough among the five linebackers, and the other four linebackers have been submerged in the torrent of the times. However, things like "tactical consciousness" and "game intuition" are difficult to capture with the naked eye, so temporarily putting aside the development trajectory that he knows, Lu Yiqi is watching the stadium and carefully observing their respective training habits.

For Lu Yiqi, he does not need to observe the physical test numbers in the training camp, because physical test numbers can only give a rough physical fitness evaluation standard, and Lu Yiqi's head has more accurate evaluation results than physical test numbers; he is more concerned about the team's personal habits-

How to train? What is the quality of training? What is the coordination pattern with training teammates? How to respond to the adjustment opinions for coaches? What is the impact of personal habits on the competition from the change from training to practice games? What is the attitude of practice games? How to respond to mistakes in practice games?

Such things.

Lu Yiqi can understand why Curry can stand out. He has a positive and dedicated attitude in training and practice games, actively cooperates with every tactic, and is willing to communicate with his teammates and coaches, and make timely adjustments. This is a focused and flexible player.

Although Curry's weight is slightly lighter in terms of physical fitness and should be weak in his ability to fight, his flexibility and mobility are better than Matthews. He should be very suitable for the tactical system of the "3-4" formation. If Lu Yiqi doesn't know the future, he is willing to choose him between the fifteenth and twentyth picks.

Unfortunately, Curry's injury index was too high. After entering the league, he was forced to retire early due to serious injuries in just three seasons - but such a "Glass Man Index" cannot be seen in physical tests and training camps, so Lu Yiqi could only express regret.

As for the other two potential players, they could not satisfy Lu Yiqi. Although the reasons were different, Lu Yiqi still preferred Matthews.
Chapter completed!