USA Today Sports Weekly GB team report notes Matthews could play OLB and ILB, but finds more signs pointing towards him playing predominantly on the inside. They let Hawk go and waited until the fourth round to reload at the position. The scary thing is, even with his great success at ILB in the second half of the season (see below), he was winging it and learning on the fly, so to speak, and could have room for improvement as he becomes more technically advanced at the nuances of his his new position. He also pointed out, he could still rush the QB 100% of the time on passing downs within the scheme, just do it from the inside (and he might be more effective from there).
First eight games when he played OLB (2.5 sacks, six games sackless):
Dead last #32 rush defense - 153.5 rushing yards per game
Last eight games when he played ILB (8.5 sacks, two games sackless):
Cut nearly in half on rush defense - 86.2 rushing yards per game (also a reminder in the NFC Championship Game, they held the SEA offense scoreless in the first 57 minutes, before collapsing down the stretch).
* Guessing there may have been other factors than just one player, perhaps some defensive players returned from injury, they played better collectively, etc.?