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Clay Matthews may leave Green Bay as a free agent in March, but this year's NFL qualifying class may have a carbon copy available to the Packers.
It's impossible to watch Jachai Polite, a Florida striker, and not see similarities with Matthews, the bag leader in the Packers. The two slightly undersized cutting edges are slippery and explosive in small areas, curved around the edge with excellent body control and relentlessly in their pursuit of the wearer of the ball.
Matthews, who is now almost 33 years old, took the assault league as a young player, totaling 23.5 sacks in his first two seasons and 42.5 in his first four.
Polite does not have much length and he is not as excited as Matthews was coming out of USC, but both cutting edges are moving almost identically.
One of Polite's ruthless moves is to use a subtle step to set up the blocker before exploding in the corner and dipping on the edge. It's the same kind of movement that Matthews has been using for years to set up offensive tackles and win at the turn. And like Matthews, Polite has developed a counter. While Matthews was once great to cross the offensive tackle's face and win in the interior, Polite has the beginnings of what could be an unstoppable inner spinning movement that strangely resembles the former grand Dwight Freeney Colts.
Both Polite and Matthews have great feet, excellent body control and the ability to move and accelerate in short areas, eliminating the inconvenience of pruning. Polite uses these explosive movement abilities to bypass blocks and create disturbances in the running game, even if it does not have the sheer power of taking blocks to the point of attack. ;attack. At the NFL level, Polite's explosiveness in short areas and slippery gaming style could be difficult to handle in the stunts inside, once a particularly effective game for Matthews.
When Polite finds the runner or the quarterback, he does not stop until that player is on the ground. Teams must block Polite at the back of a game or he will shoot across the line and chase the runner. The quarterbacks must respect very strict schedules in the pocket, because Polite always finds the way to get rid of and track down the passer. Its engine is always hot and it helps to make games that others do not have. For Matthews, the relentless pursuit has always been one of his greatest assets.
Some players like Polite and Matthews have a different degree of suddenness on the football field. This trait almost always translates into success at the next level. It was obvious once Matthews entered the field as a rookie in the NFL in 2009. Polite has the same type of movement ability. It's so sudden and slippery, and when these traits are combined with effort and pursuit, Polite looks more and more like the next Matthews.
Who knows if the Packers are interested in just finding a player like Matthews. Maybe defensive coordinator Mike Pettine wants a different type of pass. But do not be surprised if the Packers take Polite with the 12th pick and he becomes an instant striker for Pettine, as Matthews had already done for Dom Capers.
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