With only 10 starts during his USC career, Matthews is somewhat of a meteor in the 2009 draft class. The 6'3, 240 Matthews began his tenure with the Trojans as a 166-pound linebacker and has shown incredible devotion to the weight room. During his redshirt senior year, he accumulated 56
tackles and was third on the Trojans roster with 9.5 tackles for a loss and second in sacks with 4.5.
Clay Matthews comes from a long line of professional football players with his father and uncle both playing in the Pro-Bowl several times, and Uncle Bruce was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His grandfather played with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1950s. Matthews was honored as a Pac-10 Academic All-American.
Clay Matthews is agile and able to adjust his rush when necessary, shifting directions, and is considered a very versatile player. His upfield speed is an asset and he is very reliable in the open field. He garnered special teams kudos in 2005 and 2006.
Lack of experience has kept Matthews from a higher draft clout. The USC talent pool may have artificially increased his stats. While he has the skills to play any linebacker position, Matthews still isn't as large as NFL standards dictate.
Matthews looks to be a late first-round or early-to-middle second round draft choice. He has solid skills that are still developing and could find himself a good fit for the 3-4 defense at New England.
If he doesn't get called in the first round, Matthews has the versatility and ability to adapt to the middle linebacker position and be an asset to St. Louis early in the second round.
Not too bad for a senior with only ten NCAA career starts.