Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spoffer, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Wes Hodkoitz. We're coming to you
Speaker 1: hear from our studios at lambeau Field and Wes. The
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four Packers Rookie Mini Camp is in the books.
Speaker 1: It took place last weekend, the rookies arriving on Thursday,
Speaker 1: practices on Friday and Saturday. Lots of meetings, orientation stuff,
Speaker 1: playbook stuff, find your way around the building stuff. But
Speaker 1: the rookies have gotten their introduction to the Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers and how businesses conducted here. What were your overall
Speaker 1: impressions when you came away from the weekend.
Speaker 2: I on Saturday evening, I was gathering my thoughts after
Speaker 2: we got done with practice. I was working on Insider
Speaker 2: Inbox and finishing up our five Things story. I was
Speaker 2: just sitting at my desk is very quiet, and I
Speaker 2: actually ended up tweeting this too. It hit me that,
Speaker 2: in my opinion, I've covered these going back to twenty eleven.
Speaker 2: I believe I helped out on it the first time
Speaker 2: and that was one of the most if not the
Speaker 2: most competitive rookie mini camp or if you can go
Speaker 2: back to Macarthy era rookie orientation that I'd been a
Speaker 2: part of. I felt just like there were so many
Speaker 2: young guys that made plays. And certainly we can talk
Speaker 2: about the inside linebackers and the speed and the vocality
Speaker 2: of the safety position, but there were undrafted free agents,
Speaker 2: there were tryout guys. A few of them ended up
Speaker 2: getting a signed to the roster that I felt like
Speaker 2: really captured the moment. And Matt Lafuer set the tone
Speaker 2: for this on Friday evening when he said, you know,
Speaker 2: we're trying to do our walkthrough and these guys, we're
Speaker 2: trying to pull them back a little bit, because I
Speaker 2: think what you had is you had this mesh between
Speaker 2: rookie draft picks that want to end press and are
Speaker 2: taking their job very serious. A guy like Kyln King
Speaker 2: was actually talking about, Hey, I'm going to be the
Speaker 2: most competitive player on the field, and those guys lived
Speaker 2: up to that. But then you also had the undrafted
Speaker 2: free agents trying to make an impression. You also had
Speaker 2: the tryout guys trying to earn a job. And with
Speaker 2: those fifty players that were out there on the field
Speaker 2: on Friday and Saturday. I just felt from an overall
Speaker 2: structural standpoint, it was one of the more competitive organized
Speaker 2: mini camps that I'd been a part of on the
Speaker 2: rookie front.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it seemed. You know, Matt Lafleur talks a lot
Speaker 1: about energy and whatnot at practice, and there was certainly
Speaker 1: no lack of that with with these young guys on
Speaker 1: the field. I want to get your impressions, particularly of
Speaker 1: the draft picks. Is the first time we actually get
Speaker 1: to see them in person. You know, they put on
Speaker 1: a packer jersey, put on a packer helmet. Granted it's
Speaker 1: not in pads, it's not, you know, a full NFL uniform.
Speaker 1: But other than you know, the college film and whatnot,
Speaker 1: you know, this is this is That's all we've gotten
Speaker 1: to see of these guys to this point. And if
Speaker 1: I were to pick out one guy from the draft
Speaker 1: class that that just the from from a physical sense
Speaker 1: like stood out to me, I think I would have
Speaker 1: to say it's Edger and Cooper. And it's not because
Speaker 1: edgerin Cooper is some you know, massively ripped like huge guy,
Speaker 1: you know whatever, That's not what I mean. It's that
Speaker 1: it's that Edger and Cooper. When Brian Gudokuns talked about
Speaker 1: having these off ball inside linebackers having some length to
Speaker 1: be able to play in space, take a look at
Speaker 1: Edger and Cooper and that's the definition of length at
Speaker 1: the linebacker position. He he's got he's got a wingspan,
Speaker 1: I mean, long arms. You can see you can see
Speaker 1: through the legs and the torso he's long. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, he's two hundred and thirty pounds and
Speaker 1: he can run like the wind. I mean, there's a
Speaker 1: there is a physical presence even though he's not some
Speaker 1: you know, three hundred pound guy, or he's not some
Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy five pound edge rusher. There's a
Speaker 1: physical presence to Edger and Cooper when you see him
Speaker 1: on the field. And that's what really stood out to me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and to kind of bring it back to what
Speaker 2: I was saying about the inside linebackers and the safety
Speaker 2: group when they did some of the seven on seven stuff,
Speaker 2: when the little bit of the team stuff they did,
Speaker 2: whether it was Cooper, whether it was Tyron Hopper. You
Speaker 2: know Tyron Hoppers listed at six two two twenty nine.
Speaker 2: I believe he looks like a full grown man though.
Speaker 2: And I felt like and he was even working some
Speaker 2: of the mic stuff there too, both of those guys
Speaker 2: getting some of those reps. I just felt like, here's
Speaker 2: the thing, Michael, it's a rookie camp, but you do
Speaker 2: want to see your draft picks be the ones that
Speaker 2: sort of catch your eye. Yeah. Absolutely, And I felt
Speaker 2: like both Cooper and Hopper did that. From Cooper's perspective,
Speaker 2: the number one thing you saw in addition to the
Speaker 2: speed was his ability to collapse and his decisiveness to
Speaker 2: the ball carrier. I felt like there was that aggressiveness
Speaker 2: in that mindset. You could tell that it's not something
Speaker 2: he tries to play with. He just does play that way.
Speaker 2: And I feel like that's gonna be really valuable for them.
Speaker 2: And when you threw that question out there about which
Speaker 2: rookies caught my eye, that definitely starts for Evan Williams
Speaker 2: for me. I was there on Saturday for that practice
Speaker 2: and just seeing where Evan Williams is, how vocal he
Speaker 2: was on the back end. There was no timidity with
Speaker 2: that safety group. In those defensive backs, guys were communicating now,
Speaker 2: it's going to be a lot different when it's Rashan
Speaker 2: Gary on the field and Kenny Clark and Jay r
Speaker 2: Alexander Xavier McKinney. But in that moment, those guys were
Speaker 2: being asked to be the commanders of this defense, and
Speaker 2: I felt like they really did that and the amount
Speaker 2: of guys crashing to the line of scrimmage. This was
Speaker 2: the first time we saw Jeff Haffley's version of a
Speaker 2: four to three in the base system, and I just
Speaker 2: felt like, listening to Halfley talk on Monday as well,
Speaker 2: he wants these guys to play confidence. He doesn't want
Speaker 2: them to have to think about things, and even though
Speaker 2: it was just their first orientation in this thing, they
Speaker 2: still have a lot to learn with his playbook. I
Speaker 2: just came away so impressed by that group, and specifically
Speaker 2: those inside linebackers being able to manage all of that
Speaker 2: chaos and what can be a very busy three days.
Speaker 1: Yeah, going back to Hopper for a second, Tyron Hopper
Speaker 1: from Missouri again. For me, the reaction I had was
Speaker 1: reflecting on a comment from Brian Gudokunz during the draft.
Speaker 1: The comment that stood out to me the most after
Speaker 1: the selection of Hopper was he said was he said
Speaker 1: this is a defender. This is a linebacker who's got
Speaker 1: stopping power. And when you look you look at his
Speaker 1: body type on the field, then you see exactly what
Speaker 1: Gutakuns is talking about, because yes, Edrin Cooper and Tyron
Speaker 1: Hopper essentially play the same position, but they are two
Speaker 1: very very different body types in terms of how they
Speaker 1: look on the field. And that that description of stopping
Speaker 1: power with Hopper, Now we didn't get to actually see
Speaker 1: like hits and tackles and things that we're going to
Speaker 1: see in the preseason games coming up in August, but
Speaker 1: you can you can see, you can see that he
Speaker 1: had he has the body and I understand where that
Speaker 1: comment came from, you know, from Brian Guduacun says someone
Speaker 1: who has not, you know, watched a whole ton of
Speaker 1: film on these guys, you know, from their college careers.
Speaker 2: When you can pack that punch at two thirty two,
Speaker 2: it is the difference as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's not a two hundred and fifty five pound
Speaker 1: linebackers who's who's gonna lay the wood with all of
Speaker 1: that extra weight he is, he's two hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: pounds because he can still run in the four five.
Speaker 2: And as Jeff Hafley said, I mean, that's just the
Speaker 2: way this thing is gone. You need those guys to
Speaker 2: be able to cover. You're just not gonna be able
Speaker 2: to have those plotters that are just filling gaps like
Speaker 2: you were maybe a nineteen eighty nine. I think the
Speaker 2: packers again, they factor in those guys, go right in
Speaker 2: with Isaam McDuffie, they go right in with kway Walker
Speaker 2: here in two weeks, and they'll they'll let that competition
Speaker 2: play out. But when you're looking at day two picks
Speaker 2: in that investment that Green Bay made, I felt like
Speaker 2: you saw some of those initial returns.
Speaker 1: Well, the other thing I'm wondering is which one of
Speaker 1: us is going to be the first to call them
Speaker 1: Hooper and Copper instead of Copper.
Speaker 2: Inevitably, it will happen Opper.
Speaker 1: It's going to happen as probably in the three things.
Speaker 1: But yeah, but anyway, but also following up on what
Speaker 1: you said about Evan Williams and his you know, his
Speaker 1: vocal presence on the field communication aspect of it. I
Speaker 1: was chatting with him during the open locker room and
Speaker 1: we got we got a chance to ask some of
Speaker 1: the rookie draft picks, questions and whatnot. And interestingly I
Speaker 1: hadn't realized this until he brought it up. Obviously he
Speaker 1: was he was a transfer from uh you know, transfer
Speaker 1: to Oregon for his final season. But he mentioned over
Speaker 1: the course of his college career he had four different
Speaker 1: defensive coordinators. So this is a young man who who
Speaker 1: knows what it's like to have to to have to
Speaker 1: learn a new system, to have to jump in figure
Speaker 1: things out early and quickly, and and take that leadership
Speaker 1: role at the safety position, maybe with you know, some
Speaker 1: new terminology, et cetera, et cetera. Now he's going through
Speaker 1: that process in the NFL. But it seems that that
Speaker 1: his the way his college career went kind of sets
Speaker 1: him up to be a guy who can who can
Speaker 1: figure some of this stuff out in the NFL rather quickly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I don't like drawing comparisons. I know it's
Speaker 2: a difficult thing, you know, and you don't want to
Speaker 2: set the bar too high for some of these guys
Speaker 2: when they're just getting their feel for the first time.
Speaker 2: But the thing I was so impressed by him out
Speaker 2: there was there was and I said it to a
Speaker 2: number of different guys, there was a Mica Hyde type
Speaker 2: feel to him in terms of just not only his
Speaker 2: body type, but just the way he looks so confident.
Speaker 2: And I think when you're looking at a guy that
Speaker 2: the Packers moved up to draft in that fourth round,
Speaker 2: you want to find somebody that is a difference maker
Speaker 2: and it's going to contribute to this thing. And one
Speaker 2: of the points I made an insider inbox was, you know,
Speaker 2: it was a really sound investment when you look at
Speaker 2: it from you really can't go wrong with drafting safeties
Speaker 2: to the level that the Packers did considering what their
Speaker 2: need was at the position, because not only are you
Speaker 2: looking for a starter next to Zavier McKinney, you're looking
Speaker 2: for a guy that can be there behind Keshawn Nixon.
Speaker 2: They need another six defensive backup position. That really, for
Speaker 2: the most part, Jonathan Owen's handled most of the last season,
Speaker 2: special teams also has value for them. You know, Ton Oladeppo,
Speaker 2: that could be a situation when he comes back from
Speaker 2: this toe injury, he could factor into that. It's six
Speaker 2: foot one, two hundred and sixteen pounds and Williams's game
Speaker 2: for all of it, no matter how it works out.
Speaker 2: One other point I want to make too, in addition
Speaker 2: to the changeover for him with the defensive coordinator. I
Speaker 2: was looking this up. I forgot about this when I
Speaker 2: was talking when we were talking to him a little bit.
Speaker 2: You know, he played for Jeff Tedford twice at Fresno State.
Speaker 2: Tedford was the guy that got him there in nineteen
Speaker 2: stepped away for a couple of years, and I think he
Speaker 2: had some personal stuff, maybe some health stuff, And he
Speaker 2: came back in twenty twenty too, so he actually coached.
Speaker 2: He actually played for him both as a freshman and
Speaker 2: a senior, and then obviously made that transition to Oregon.
Speaker 2: So when it comes to making adjustments working on the fly,
Speaker 2: this is a smart kid that has kind of dealt
Speaker 2: with that before.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and quickly, before we move on from the safeties,
Speaker 1: I wanted to get your thoughts what your first impression
Speaker 1: was of Javon Buller, the second round pick out of Georgia,
Speaker 1: Because if I were to sum up my first impression
Speaker 1: of him in one word, it would be smooth. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there is a fluidity. There is a smoothness to his
Speaker 1: movements when he is when he is out there, whether
Speaker 1: he's you know, sort of playing the deep center field
Speaker 1: or whether he's a little closer to the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: There's just there's certain guys that just look a certain way.
Speaker 1: There's a smoothness to their movements, and that's what caught
Speaker 1: my eye with Bullard.
Speaker 2: And I liked when I was asking the athlete about
Speaker 2: that when he very pronouncedly said thick. When you look
Speaker 2: at his frame as well, I mean, this is not
Speaker 2: a guy that you know, is giving up size for
Speaker 2: his speed. It all ties together, and he's been a
Speaker 2: blue chip athlete, you know, from the very beginning, and
Speaker 2: in this incarnation of the Georgia football program, it's four
Speaker 2: and five star guys competing for starting roles, and Bullard
Speaker 2: went through that. He started in the slot for a
Speaker 2: year and the nickel star position. Then he came back
Speaker 2: and he ended up being the true safety last year.
Speaker 2: And the Packers, I think, can feel confident that wherever
Speaker 2: he settles in, this is a guy that could potentially
Speaker 2: go right away. It is going to be fascinating in
Speaker 2: a couple of weeks with OTAs what Green Bay decides
Speaker 2: to do that safety position, because you have Anthony Johnson
Speaker 2: Junior coming back as well, also Zane Anderson but in
Speaker 2: a lot of ways it could be set up much
Speaker 2: like in twenty nineteen, were that first Ota practice, it
Speaker 2: was Adrian Amos and it was Darnell Savage, right, the
Speaker 2: undrapp the un excuse me, unrestricted free agent big signing
Speaker 2: in the first round pick. It could very well work
Speaker 2: out that same way too at Bullard.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I kind of think that that's where things are
Speaker 1: going to start, but of course it's also not about
Speaker 1: where you start, it's where you finish, and we'll have
Speaker 1: to see how that evolves. Want to get your thoughts
Speaker 1: on some other guys as well, but some sponsor business.
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Speaker 1: pick Jordan Morgan. He was getting his snaps at left tackle,
Speaker 1: as Matt Lafleur had promised. That's where they're going to
Speaker 1: start him. I'll be curious to see just where this goes,
Speaker 1: because my first impression on Morgan is that he looks
Speaker 1: the part. And for all the talk about about, well,
Speaker 1: is he going to play tackle? Is he going to
Speaker 1: play guard? He's capable of you know, projected as being
Speaker 1: capable of playing both at the NFL level, I think
Speaker 1: he looks like a tackle. But just took caution everybody.
Speaker 1: There was a guy fifteen years ago who was drafted
Speaker 1: by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round, a
Speaker 1: guy named TJ. Lang. And there was all the talk
Speaker 1: when he was drafted, is he going to be a tackle?
Speaker 1: Is he going to be a guard?
Speaker 2: He was?
Speaker 1: He played mostly tackle at Eastern Michigan. I thought TJ.
Speaker 1: Lang looked like a tackle. I was like, this guy,
Speaker 1: this guy's going to be an edge blocker. You know,
Speaker 1: he's going to make his make his money there in
Speaker 1: the NFL. And he started out playing a fair amount
Speaker 1: of tech when he was, you know, subbing in because
Speaker 1: he wasn't a starter right away in his career. Well,
Speaker 1: lo and behold. TJ. Lang ended up being quite a
Speaker 1: darn good guard in the NFL for a long time.
Speaker 1: For both the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lyons.
Speaker 1: So take my analysis for what it's worth. But I'll
Speaker 1: just I'll be interested to see where this goes with
Speaker 1: with Morgan because there's a lot of uh, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of body, and there's a lot of talent to
Speaker 1: work with their with the new number seventies.
Speaker 2: And give yourself a little bit of grace there too,
Speaker 2: because yeah, I thought Adam Stenovich made a really salient
Speaker 2: point when he was talking to the media on Monday,
Speaker 2: and that you know, David Bakhtiari, his opportunity came at
Speaker 2: left tackle because Brian Blago went down with the ACL.
Speaker 2: If Brian doesn't go down to the ecl maybe Dave
Speaker 2: stays at right tackle like he was sort of trending
Speaker 2: towards and he was going to take over that spot,
Speaker 2: maybe even inside as some people had projected him. But
Speaker 2: that's just the way things went. It's a lot of
Speaker 2: times about what the opportunity is. With all due respect
Speaker 2: to TJ. Lang and he was a heck of a
Speaker 2: player too, time pro bowler. He should have been the
Speaker 2: left tackle at Eastern Michigan University. Yes, what impresses me
Speaker 2: about Jordan Morgan is He played that position for parts
Speaker 2: of five years as a starter at Arizona, and he
Speaker 2: held that position. He said, this is the thing I've
Speaker 2: been dealing with. You know, people ask about the short
Speaker 2: arms and all this stuff. He's like, they don't turn
Speaker 2: on the tape. They don't see how I use my body.
Speaker 2: They don't see how I use my athleticism, my skills.
Speaker 2: And obviously he has those big hands that Larry mccaerron
Speaker 2: talked about. That was what stood out to me the
Speaker 2: most when I watched him. There is an explosivity out
Speaker 2: of him when he gets out of his stance. It
Speaker 2: wasn't flawless in terms of the mini camp. He did
Speaker 2: get pulled out of one drill for a false start.
Speaker 2: Everyone's a little bit anxious there that opening.
Speaker 1: Weekend seeing that happened to any number of rookie offensive linemen,
Speaker 1: and it'll happen in OTAs and training camp as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt, And you're gonna have those moments, especially
Speaker 2: when you're going up. Yeah, they were going up against
Speaker 2: some veteran guys on the other side of it too,
Speaker 2: that were coming back after being on the practice squad
Speaker 2: last year. So be that as it may, I just
Speaker 2: feel like, you know, hearing him talk in the locker
Speaker 2: room on Friday, I was really impressed by him. I mean,
Speaker 2: he's not a guy that I think is gonna probably
Speaker 2: draw the most headlines. I think he's a very workmanlike,
Speaker 2: straightforward individual, extremely pleasant. It was great hearing him kind
Speaker 2: of give a little bit more detail into everything that
Speaker 2: went into his career at Arizona and tearing the ACL
Speaker 2: and then also mentioning the first time he met Jordan
Speaker 2: Love being frozen for a little bit, which I think
Speaker 2: probably makes you and I feel like the oldest people
Speaker 2: on earth that Jordan Love is now at a point
Speaker 2: that people are like, oh my god, it's Jordan Love.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: But all that together, he's a first round pick. The
Speaker 2: Packers need options on that offensive line, and the competition
Speaker 2: is going to be great. Training camp is going to
Speaker 2: be so much fun on the offensive line. With the
Speaker 2: three rookies they brought in. Kadeem Telford was playing right
Speaker 2: tackle in the rookie camp. I think a lot of people,
Speaker 2: Mike I keep saying this over and over again. Caleb
Speaker 2: Jones gets so much attention because he's six foot nine
Speaker 2: and Luke Tanuda was a former draft pick. If those
Speaker 2: guys aren't around. Kadeem Telford at six foot seven or
Speaker 2: whatever he goes at would probably get a lot more
Speaker 2: headlines too out of UAB on the practice squad all
Speaker 2: last year. Just a monstrous human being. And they're all
Speaker 2: in this thing. Everybody's going to be competing for spots
Speaker 2: because you know, Jason Wildon's been asking about you know,
Speaker 2: you could pretty much set a starting lineup with what
Speaker 2: you have returning, and that's true. But where Green Bay's
Speaker 2: kind of lost something on the old line is with
Speaker 2: the depth and being able to weather the injuries. And
Speaker 2: right now Green Bay is looking to figure out who
Speaker 2: those individuals are and who could potentially fit in. In
Speaker 2: addition to Jordan Morgan saying, hey, I've been a lifelong
Speaker 2: left tackle, I want to play that spot in the
Speaker 2: NFL and I want to do it for Jordan.
Speaker 1: Love, Yeah, that's one of the things that's really interesting
Speaker 1: to me when you look at this Packers offensive line,
Speaker 1: because yes, we had talked about it going into the draft.
Speaker 1: You know, David Baktiari, John Runyan, Yosh Nimen three guys
Speaker 1: have played a lot of football and a lot of
Speaker 1: good football for the Green Bay Packers were gone. You
Speaker 1: have you have to rebuild that depth. You've got to
Speaker 1: You've got to get the depth back in that room.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, if Caleb Jones makes the
Speaker 1: strides that they're hoping for heading into this year, if
Speaker 1: kadeem Elford makes those strides, if Luke Tanuda comes back
Speaker 1: from the injury that basically had him on the shelf
Speaker 1: all of last season, there's potentially a lot more to
Speaker 1: the Packers' depth on the offensive line than just the
Speaker 1: three draft picks that were selected a couple of weekends ago.
Speaker 1: So that's just something to you know, file away in
Speaker 1: the back of your mind, because because the you, as
Speaker 1: I always say, if if it comes down to it
Speaker 1: at the end of August and the Packers have twelve
Speaker 1: or thirteen really really good offensive linemen that they feel
Speaker 1: good about and they can only keep ten of them,
Speaker 1: that's a heck of a good problem to have, right
Speaker 1: because you would you'd love to have all these guys
Speaker 1: prove that they are capable of being NFL players. You
Speaker 1: want to be comfortable with any of them being on
Speaker 1: the roster because you never know at any moment if
Speaker 1: somebody could go down with a sprained ankle or something
Speaker 1: worse than that. And that's how the Packers are going
Speaker 1: about it here on the offensive line in what is
Speaker 1: in some ways a rebuilding year in terms of the
Speaker 1: depth because of those veteran guys who like one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: And keep in mind too, I mean this is in
Speaker 2: twenty twelve anymore. I think we've seen the last time
Speaker 2: the Packers go into a regular season with seven offensive lines.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not going to happen.
Speaker 2: Especially now you have the eighth offensive lineman rule that
Speaker 2: if you have eight active on game day, you get
Speaker 2: the extra spot on the game day roster. And more
Speaker 2: than anything, Mike, it's a seventeen game regular season right now,
Speaker 2: and if I had to bet a dollar to Donuts,
Speaker 2: there's probably gonna be an eighteenth game on the horizon.
Speaker 2: You're going to need offensive linemen. The Packers have been
Speaker 2: ahead of that curve, and I feel like for as
Speaker 2: many questions as people might have as far as what
Speaker 2: that group is going to look like week one when
Speaker 2: they go to Brazil, I think there's a lot of
Speaker 2: excitement too that in a lot of different ways, you
Speaker 2: can't really go wrong in terms of the different machinations
Speaker 2: that are available with that defensive con excuse me, that
Speaker 2: offensive line construct.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when you talk about the Day three draft picks
Speaker 1: on the offensive line, Jacob Monk and Travis Glover not
Speaker 1: small individuals, those guys. Those guys are big well.
Speaker 2: And they lost their backup center, right, I mean right,
Speaker 2: John Runyon's gone. So if something happens depending and we'll
Speaker 2: see how training camp looks. But like last year, if
Speaker 2: when Josh Myers went out, that meant the starting right
Speaker 2: tackle had to go to center. That meant that Elton Jenkins,
Speaker 2: Elton Jenkins could have to move from left guard to center,
Speaker 2: And we get back to that old conversation about if
Speaker 2: you're taking guys out of their primary positions moving them elsewhere,
Speaker 2: you have a guy like Jacob Monk that proves he's
Speaker 2: ready for it, can plug him in right there in
Speaker 2: an instant. That's how guys find opportunities in.
Speaker 1: This Yeah, yeah, no doubt about it. One guy that
Speaker 1: that we're getting asked about a lot in Insider Inbox.
Speaker 1: We haven't really mentioned him too much today. So before
Speaker 1: we go, wanted to get your thoughts, and I'm talking
Speaker 1: about the seventh round cornerback Caitlin King I'm just I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna say this. I'm gonna have a I have
Speaker 1: a piece from the the King's interview in the locker
Speaker 1: room on Friday before the first mini camp practice, working
Speaker 1: on a piece that's going to get posted. Whether it's
Speaker 1: later this week, next week, not sure exactly yet, but
Speaker 1: I just hope, And I'm not one who likes to
Speaker 1: tell anybody how to do their jobs, but I just
Speaker 1: hope that the media core here lets the whole seventh
Speaker 1: round thing go, like, let the kid move on. You know, Yes,
Speaker 1: it was an emotional conference call. It was really really
Speaker 1: rough three days for him, but I got the sense
Speaker 1: that he's ready to move on from it, that yes,
Speaker 1: it's going to be part of his story, but he
Speaker 1: doesn't want that to be like the story that defines
Speaker 1: him as an NFL player. So let's see where this goes.
Speaker 1: Let's not continue to dwell on it, and see what
Speaker 1: this young man does with the cleanest slate of clean slates.
Speaker 1: Right when you're talking about a guy who almost doesn't
Speaker 1: get picked, is drafted with the third to last selection
Speaker 1: in the entire draft, and now he's got an opportunity.
Speaker 1: And I'll have more in the story that'll be coming
Speaker 1: up on website sometime in the next several days. But
Speaker 1: I just as I see Calen King, I think trying
Speaker 1: to put draft weekend behind him. I hope everybody else
Speaker 1: can too.
Speaker 2: I think it's a really good point, Mike, And for me,
Speaker 2: it's there's no character issues here, there's no injury issues.
Speaker 2: There's really nothing else to hang on to other than
Speaker 2: the fact that, yeah, he got drafted two hundred and
Speaker 2: fifty fifth overall. Yeah, the true junior year didn't play
Speaker 2: out probably how he exactly wanted it to. But the
Speaker 2: rookie orientation camp, him working in the slot in the nickel,
Speaker 2: I think is going to be really intriguing to follow
Speaker 2: if we're just looking at him as a football player,
Speaker 2: because this is a guy that played against some really
Speaker 2: high level talent in the Big Ten. And as much
Speaker 2: as people want to make a lot out of that
Speaker 2: Marvin Harrison junior game in Ohio State, they're kind of
Speaker 2: losing sight of everything he did his sophomore year and
Speaker 2: some of the upside he had. This is guy that
Speaker 2: still was I believe thirteen third team All Big Ten
Speaker 2: last year. Yeah, he didn't run the forty that everybody
Speaker 2: probably wanted him to. But if his forty is actually
Speaker 2: more in that four or five to five range like
Speaker 2: it was at his prote I mean, that's a fine
Speaker 2: time to be able to be able to manage the nickel,
Speaker 2: the dime to work inside, and he has the body
Speaker 2: for it too. This is not a small individual. He's
Speaker 2: got some thickness to him as Well's gonna be very
Speaker 2: intriguing to watch his story. I loved hearing about his
Speaker 2: competitive nature. How much is gonna push him. I don't
Speaker 2: think those are just hollow words. I feel like it
Speaker 2: is something that is going to be generally true. And
Speaker 2: again the Packers, if you wanted to use one more
Speaker 2: analogy for that seventh round, guys get in here, man.
Speaker 2: They don't care anymore. In terms of the coaching staff.
Speaker 2: If Rashid Walker looks like he's gonna play, he's gonna play.
Speaker 2: Carrington Valentine was one of the most impressive rookies throughout
Speaker 2: the entire offseason program last year. Him ending up on
Speaker 2: the field. Yeah, there was some bad luck with injuries
Speaker 2: and other things for Green Bay in the cornerback room,
Speaker 2: but he earned that opportunity. So I think that part
Speaker 2: of is very interesting I don't know if you're planning
Speaker 2: to transition anything else after this, because I missed this
Speaker 2: in the pre production notes, but I would like to
Speaker 2: say a couple of words about Marshawn Lynch or Marshaw Lynch. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we can talk about Marshall Lynch too.
Speaker 1: Speaking of names that I finally did it, speaking of
Speaker 1: names that were gonna botch somewhere along the line. No,
Speaker 1: I was just going to throw it back to you
Speaker 1: and ask if there was anything else from the rookie
Speaker 1: mini camp that we hadn't talked about yet that you
Speaker 1: would like to bring up.
Speaker 2: Marshall Lloyd was one of the stars of Saturday's practice.
Speaker 2: I feel like if we would have had like availability,
Speaker 2: this had been like a training camp, everybody would have
Speaker 2: been gravitating to him afterwards. You know, you look at Friday.
Speaker 2: I think it was a little bit of a slow start.
Speaker 2: I think you might have had to drop in there,
Speaker 2: maybe a loose ball that got away from him. But
Speaker 2: they did some inside zone stuff, and again it's non contact.
Speaker 2: You're not tackling the running back. But Michael, I'm telling you, dude,
Speaker 2: when you talk about his short area of quickness and
Speaker 2: his ability to kind of see through the mess. He
Speaker 2: does that and in his first step, once he puts
Speaker 2: his foot in the ground, he was able to move
Speaker 2: his way upfield and it's difficult to corral him. I
Speaker 2: felt like, you know, at five foot nine, two hundred
Speaker 2: and twenty pounds, he did some things out there that
Speaker 2: you don't see backs of that size do. And again
Speaker 2: it's one practice. You got to put these things together.
Speaker 2: But my goodness, do some of the possibilities there of
Speaker 2: what he can do in the open field. As Adam
Speaker 2: Stenovich said, there's things you just want to see him.
Speaker 2: Just get the ball and see what he does. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And I felt like Saturday he definitely put his best
Speaker 2: foot forward and was one of the stars on the
Speaker 2: practice field.
Speaker 1: I always think that that's one of the things that's
Speaker 1: and it's more noticeable, I think on the offensive side
Speaker 1: with the guys that get the ball in their hands
Speaker 1: as opposed to the defensive side. When you talk about
Speaker 1: guys being able to look like they're playing fast and
Speaker 1: not doing too much thinkings, you notice that, you know,
Speaker 1: our layman's eyes, we notice that the guys with the
Speaker 1: ball in their hands. And when you see those guys
Speaker 1: be able to be able to make the shifts and
Speaker 1: the moves and all that quickness, those natural running instincts
Speaker 1: start to come through as opposed to thinking about the
Speaker 1: play and the playbook and what's my assignment and where
Speaker 1: am I supposed to fake this way to go that
Speaker 1: way before I get the handoff and all of that.
Speaker 1: When you can see that, when you can see that
Speaker 1: natural speed early, I think that's always a good sign.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, Packers did sign three guys after this off
Speaker 2: the tryout. That was Julian Hicks Lcidas Smith, who by
Speaker 2: the way, now he's a former draft pick two years
Speaker 2: ago by Arizona. When we're talking about players are vocal,
Speaker 2: Smith was vocal. Smith was very vocal. You can tell
Speaker 2: that he's a center. I don't know if I've ever
Speaker 2: heard that much talking in terms of verbalization in terms
Speaker 2: of the offensive front at a rookie mini camp before,
Speaker 2: which is what you would kind of expect from a
Speaker 2: second year veteran. But then Dimitri Stanley, and I'm sure
Speaker 2: when we get Totia's this kid is going to be
Speaker 2: a story. His father is Walter Stanley. Obviously you know
Speaker 2: his track record. Packer fans are well accustomed to it.
Speaker 2: Older Packer fans Thanksgiving nineteen eighty six. Man, the folks
Speaker 2: who saw it like me will never forget it. Two
Speaker 2: hundred and thirty four all purpose yards, game winning punt
Speaker 2: return for a touchdown to.
Speaker 1: Two receiving touchdowns, and then a game winning eighty three
Speaker 1: yard punt return for a touchdown any final minute to
Speaker 1: win a Thanksgiving shootout at the Pontiacx over Doome forty
Speaker 1: four to forty. I just looked it up before the show.
Speaker 1: I don't know all this on off the top of
Speaker 1: my head.
Speaker 2: Folks. It wouldn't have surprised me if you did, though.
Speaker 1: Well, forty four to forty. I remembered eighty three yards.
Speaker 1: I had to look at it. Yeah, but yeah. Walter Stanley,
Speaker 1: Man of the game for the Ages on Thanksgiving nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty six.
Speaker 2: So Dmitri Stanley. He ended up following his father's footsteps
Speaker 2: of Colorado. He had some injuries, he had some setbacks,
Speaker 2: and it is something that sort of followed him to
Speaker 2: Iowa State. I think he ended up. What do you
Speaker 2: have at Ohio Iowa State? Don't look this up now.
Speaker 2: Seventy catches for eight hundred and twenty yards, four touchdowns
Speaker 2: with Colorado and then he ended up having an additional
Speaker 2: forty eight catches for five hundred and fifty nine yards
Speaker 2: and a touchdown in his two years in Ames. But
Speaker 2: what impressed me the most mic he earned his roster spot.
Speaker 2: He did it with some of the one handed snag
Speaker 2: that he had on Friday that caught Matt Lafleur's attention.
Speaker 1: And we all saw that one, the one handed, one
Speaker 1: handed grab by the said it was all the way
Speaker 1: on the other side of the field from where we
Speaker 1: were watching, but you couldn't miss it.
Speaker 2: He was this close to having another one of those
Speaker 2: along the sideline on Saturday, right in front of all
Speaker 2: the reporters. I was standing there with Matt Schneideman, Bill
Speaker 2: Huber and Rob Damovski. I mean, I'm I'm talking me
Speaker 2: to the CAMERAWO my one shot there and he he
Speaker 2: just wasn't able to bring it down when he was
Speaker 2: going to the ground, but he it was a competitive play.
Speaker 2: It was the in terms of a tryout player. It
Speaker 2: was the most impressed I was by a triout player
Speaker 2: since Tyron Walker, which is over a decade ago, who
Speaker 2: ended up being one of the darlings of training camp.
Speaker 2: I think in twenty twelve or thirteen, he just he
Speaker 2: made himself undeniable and excited to learn more about him
Speaker 2: a cluttered position, especially with Alex macgoo in that room
Speaker 2: now too. But no kidding, you gotta get your foot
Speaker 2: in the door if you're gonna dance, and Dimitri Stanley
Speaker 2: did that this past weekend.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there was an undrafted receiver from Iowa State who
Speaker 1: turned into a pretty good receiver for the Packers not
Speaker 1: that long ago as well, So you just never know.
Speaker 2: Gott to give him a chance.
Speaker 1: Absolutely well, with that, we'll call it a rap on
Speaker 1: this edition of Packers Unscripted' be sure to follow all
Speaker 1: of our coverage of the team, everything from rookie mini
Speaker 1: camp moving into OTA's in a cup weeks. We'll have
Speaker 1: draft pick follow up stories all that for you on
Speaker 1: Packers dot com. For Wes, I'm Mike. Thank you for
Speaker 1: tuning in everybody. We will see you next time.