WEBVTT - #404 Packers Unscripted: Rookie recap 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:20.919 Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:23.640 I am Mike Spofford, joined as always by the one 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:26.600 and only Wes Hodkuits. Were coming to you here from 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:29.760 our studios at lambeau Field West. Late last week, we 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:33.640 got our first look, a first hand look at the 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:38.440 Packers rookie class for nineteen. The annual Rookie Minicamp took 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:43.280 place the weekend after the draft. Eight draft picks, eleven 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:47.599 undrafted free agents, close to a couple of dozen tryout players. 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:50.519 We're all there. We only got to watch about a 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:53.920 half hours worth of practice, so there wasn't a whole 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:55.840 lot we could glean from there, but we did get 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:59.000 to interview players in the locker room after practice. Just 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:02.960 curious what you're first impressions were of the Packers twenty 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:06.040 nineteen rookie class. Well, this is I always enjoy Rookie 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:08.960 Camp because the locker room session, especially this year where 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:11.400 there was only one open locker room for the camp. 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.640 It always tests our teamwork, probably more so than any 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:17.959 other event that we covered throughout the course of the year. 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.800 It's spafored, it's hot Kowitz, It's the one to punch 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.600 you're over there, I'm over here. So we basically it's 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.759 divide and conquered the eight different draft picks the Packers had. 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:29.119 So I was over at ra Shawn Gary. You went 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:31.360 over to Darnell Savage, and then we just kind of, 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:34.720 you know, pieced it out that way. Being at Gary 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:37.120 and listening to him talk for the first time addressing 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.600 the media in person, it was really impressed with the 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:41.640 young man. This is a guy that certainly has all 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:44.679 the measurables, has all the skills, has all the times 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:47.119 in what you look for out of the top fifteen pick. 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:50.760 But it was also really interesting and captivating listen to 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:53.680 him talk about his journey and what it meant for 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:56.240 him to make it to this level. I know there 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:58.200 are some questions out there. You and I have received 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:00.400 those an inbox, and we've seen them on social media, 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:03.480 people wondering about his stats and his sacks and his 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:06.880 production at Michigan. But somebody else brought it up in 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:08.799 the column this week, and I thought it was really 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.560 astute observation. I mean, this is a very similar situation 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:15.519 to what Ted Thompson encountered with Clay Matthews in sum reguard. 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:18.920 Now Gary was a higher touted prospect than Matthews was 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:20.920 when he went to USC was just a walk on, 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:23.320 but a lot of it was based on projection of 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:26.600 them going in the first round. For me, Michael, I 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:29.200 would rather I said this a hundred times already. I 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:31.360 would rather play or have nine and a half sacks 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:33.800 and three years in college and have the type of 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.960 measurables and times that Gary had over a guy that 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:40.040 had thirty but didn't test as well. What you did 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.120 in college is great, it's gonna set you up for 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.120 what you do in the NFL. But ultimately it's about 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:47.560 what you can be as a player. How big are 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:50.000 your pause, what can you offer a team in the 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:52.320 long run. And I think Gary is one of those 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:54.880 players that really is enticing when you look at the 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:57.720 total package. Yeah, and Gary is the type of player 0:02:57.760 --> 0:02:59.840 when you talk about the stats from college and all 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:03.320 of at this is where the scouts earn their money. 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.120 This is why they get paid what they get paid, because, yeah, 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:08.920 a lot of people they love the stats. You all 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:11.400 the college clips around YouTube these days, you can go 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:14.560 out there and find the highlights of any draft prospect, 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.639 almost any player in college out there. But the scouts 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:21.040 know the guy across from who he beats to get 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.600 that sack. Now, you know, is that really going to 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:25.680 be worth it in the NFL? Is that guy going 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.120 to the NFL as well? Or is that guy the 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:31.080 backup right tackle because somebody was injured and he just 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:35.160 got smoked by an NFL prospect. Now those are extreme examples, 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:37.840 so to speak, you know, But that's why the scouts 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:41.760 look at everything. They parse. They parse over every ounce 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:43.840 of the film, so to speak, every frame of the 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:46.640 film to get the complete picture of the player and 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.600 make that projection as to what they will be in 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:53.200 the NFL. And and yeah, multiple readers have pointed it out. 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.320 Clay Matthews is a great example. Five and a half 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.960 sacks in college. By the end of his rookie year 0:03:57.960 --> 0:03:59.880 in the NFL he had more than that, I think, 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.720 if I'm not mistaken, And obviously went on too multiple 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:05.440 double digit sacks seasons and Pro Bowls and everything else. 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:09.400 So it's why the scouts do what they do. It's 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:12.920 why they're charged with the duties that they're charged with. 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:16.440 It's too uh, it's to make those decisions. Now, of course, 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.480 not all of them work out, but but Rashaan. Gary 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.080 is a guy that the Packers did their homework on them, 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:23.839 and they really believe in them. I'm glad you brought 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.200 up the highlight thing because the truth of the matter 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:28.039 is is I could take you right now down to 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.920 the Rainichky Field and I could bring a Super eight 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.200 camera and I could create a highlight tape of Mike 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:35.680 spot For running around the field and you know, throwing 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:38.280 footballs and catching footballs and everything. It still wouldn't look 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:40.480 very good. If you edited up enough, though, if we 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:42.760 get mad Arvan on that, it might not look too bad. 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.279 But the reality is is what you see beyond the film, 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:49.279 what you see beyond the highlights, and that's where Gary 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:51.680 what's what made him a first round draft pick. So 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:54.560 and then it was at that, Yeah, it was great 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:56.880 to hear him talk about his decision process too. He 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.680 understands what he was doing when he took number fifty two. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.640 He understands the expectations that go along with having that 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:06.159 number a year after Clay Matthews slaves, but he wanted it. 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:08.400 He even throughout the little bit of an anecdote that 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.120 five minus two is three. That was his number at Michigan. 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:14.160 But he's not shying away from that. Overall, we only 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:15.839 had about seven eight minutes with the young man, but 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.080 I was impressed with my first interaction with him. Yeah, 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.680 and I would say in general, the draft picks that 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:23.600 that that I was involved in, you know, the group interviews, 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.960 as we've talked about, just a really well spoken bunch. 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:30.680 You know, whether it was Darnell Savage talking about you 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:33.239 know another guy who wore a single digit number in college, 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:37.160 he did that, taking up the number of Will Likely, 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.400 who was a fellow defensive back at his kind of 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:41.880 took him under his wing when he first got to Maryland, 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.839 and then when Likely tore in a c L his 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:49.160 senior year and then was moving on, um, Savage took 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:52.080 his number four. Now he's back to wearing number twenty six, 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:55.720 which is what he wore his first couple, Gonna wear four. Yeah, Well, 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:57.440 I I kind of dropped the hint to him that, 0:05:57.720 --> 0:05:59.680 you know, he said, well, yeah, defensive backs can't wear 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:01.880 four or in the NFL. I said, well, no one 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:05.120 can wear number four. Years. I'm not quite sure if 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:07.679 he totally heard me when I said that, but anyway, 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:11.599 but even talking to j Sternberger, another really well spoken guy, 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:15.840 very self aware in terms of his journey going from 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:20.320 he made a tremendous transition from junior college to the SEC. 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.280 But he also comes across to me as somebody who's 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:25.760 not taking anything for granted in terms of just because 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:28.000 I did that, that I'm just gonna walk onto an 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:30.600 NFL field and own the place, you know, And the 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.920 self awareness there I think was encouraging. And then talking 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:37.280 to the Packers final draft pick, Ty Summers, the linebacker 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.679 out of TCU. This is a former quarterback in high school. 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.520 When he talks about football, he talks like a quarterback. 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.400 He just you know, he's got that He's got that 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:48.520 broad understanding of everything going on. And it was interesting 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:52.520 getting his perspective about how having played quarterback really helped 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:54.920 him when he made the transition to linebacker and Gary 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:58.680 Patterson's defense at TCU. So we've got a bunch of 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.840 stories going up on the website based on these interviews. 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.400 You posted one on Rashawn Gary on Monday. There's a 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:08.279 Darnell Savage one for me on Tuesday. Sternberger will be Wednesday. 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:10.640 We'll hit some of the other draft picks next week 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:12.960 as well. So for all the fans out there keep 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.680 an eye out. But um, anything else in terms of 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:17.840 just your first impression of this group that stood out 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.239 to you. I also want to just touch on Kadar Holman, 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:22.680 who was the sixth round pick that the Packers took 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:25.960 out of Toledo. Toledo. It was really we had heard 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:29.040 the stories during his conference call about the odd jobs 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.160 he worked when he was trying to get you know, 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.840 basically eligible to be, you know, go to college academically, 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:37.080 his S A T scores aren't what they needed to be. 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:39.680 He goes to a prep school for a year or 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:42.160 you know, a semester. He's hoping that that might be 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:45.280 his avenue, his conduit to being able to go and 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.120 you know, get into college. It actually doesn't work out 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:50.840 that way. Uh scores still weren't what they needed to be. 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.440 So he took that next semester as all of his 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:55.840 friends are going off to college and he had to 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:58.800 work common jobs and you know, he mentioned there was 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:01.920 one that he worked, you know, unloading trucks around the 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:04.920 tri state area. And the way that job worked was 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.760 you couldn't actually just go home at the end of 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:10.440 the night. They put you up in hotels You're doing 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:12.559 these road trips and you just got to keep going 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:14.920 and going and going. So it wasn't like a nine 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:18.520 to five, you know, you go, you punch he was tying. 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.040 He only did that for two weeks. Uh, And you know, 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:23.440 he also worked a couple other odd jobs, worked at 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:27.000 a bread factory at one point. And what he did 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:29.000 during that time was it wasn't that he really ever 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.280 needed to kick in the pants per se. He always 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.040 was striving to get to college. He wanted to play 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:36.680 Division one football, but he just had to overcome some 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:39.680 hurdles academically to do that. But he would look around 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:41.559 these places and he'd see people that were in their 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:44.080 forties and fifties and say to himself, you know, I 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:45.960 don't want to do this for the rest of my life. 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:48.240 I want to be able to go get the education 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:50.600 that my mother was wanting me to, you know, pursue 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:52.600 I want to be able to show that I can 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.160 play at that level. And then he ends up at Toledo. 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:57.559 He starts as a walk on the yearns a scholarship. 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:00.440 You know, you don't hear there's been some options in 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:02.280 recent years, but you don't hear a whole lot of 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.320 you know, major NFL prospects coming out of the MAC 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:07.320 and you know, he made it a big point that 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:09.400 he wanted to do that. He runs a four three six. 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:11.760 He knows his ticket to this team. He's probably going 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:13.760 to be on special teams. He wants to show what 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:16.200 he can do in that capacity. But the road that 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:19.160 he traveled to get to this point is something that 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:22.280 I think ultimately makes him appreciative of this opportunity. But 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:23.959 it's something he said to that also makes him a 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:26.360 better football player too, because he's seen the other side 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:29.440 of this thing. Yeah. The the the competitive drive of 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:31.520 these guys, a lot of these guys just to get 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:33.840 to this point. It's why you know, you and I 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:36.360 have been around this long enough and there you know, 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:38.640 we'll have discussions in O t A s when they 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:41.040 start later this month and we start to see these 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:43.480 guys out on the field and even early in training camp. 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:47.480 Nobody's story is written by one great practice or one 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:50.079 bad practice or anything like that. I mean, the the 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:53.720 competitive drive of these guys once they really kind of 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:56.600 get settled in to the NFL and kind of figure 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:59.400 out what it takes, that's when you really decide, Okay, 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:01.240 is this guy to make it in the NFL or not, 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:04.160 and that that moment doesn't happen at the same time 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:08.120 for all for all these guys, it happens at different times. Absolutely. 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:09.520 And the other thing I want to touch on quickly 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:11.559 before I know, You've gotta take care of some sponsorship 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:15.400 business here on Packers Unscripted, Jay Sternberger, you mentioned the 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:18.120 self awareness that he showed. The thing that impresses me too, 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.360 is he understands the plight of a lot of tight 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:23.920 ends coming in the league. He knows it's difficult for 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.760 a rookie to come in and just set everything ablaze. 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:28.959 But he has two good veterans to learn from, and 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:32.080 Jimmy Graham and Mercedes Lewis, he's gonna take advantage of that. 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:34.760 I just I really like his temperament. He understands he's 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:37.640 not a he's not a finished product. It's really only 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.520 been playing major college football for one season in terms of, 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:44.680 you know, being out there extensively. And I said it 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:47.160 before the draft, Michael, you want to get a tight 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:49.360 end prospect in the pipeline because the thing is, if 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:51.600 you keep kicking the can down the road, you're still 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:53.640 gonna need to develop that guy. He's still gonna need 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:56.120 a season or two to go. If j Sternberger can 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:58.800 come in and make a day one impact, fantastic. Nobody's 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:01.560 going to complain about that. But if it does take 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:03.120 some time, you want to be able to have patients 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.120 with them, and the Packers have two veterans on this 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:07.360 roster along with Robert Tonyan that can allow him to 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:09.800 do that. Yeah, no question about it. All right, Well, 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.520 that sponsored business you mentioned West, the Green Bay Packers 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:15.760 get ready for game day with the powerful noise canceling 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:19.440 technology of Bo's Quiet Comfort thirty five headphones. To learn 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:23.640 more at www dot bos dot com. Slash Packers Bows 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.680 the official headphones of the Green Bay Packers, and at 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:28.480 home or here in the stands. We all know that 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:30.360 Green Bay fans give it their all and that takes 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:32.680 a lot of energy. So grab a warm bowl of 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:35.559 Campbell's Chunky Soup. It's meaty goodness fuels the greatness of 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:39.320 Packers fans everywhere. Try the delicious classic chicken noodle soup. 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:42.720 Just visit your local supermarket and ask for Campbell's Chunky Soup, 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:46.840 Official sup partner of the Green Bay Packers. Okay, aside 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:50.920 from the draft picks. The Packers did announce eleven undrafted 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:53.360 free agent signings last week, and then now that has 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:57.400 increased too, is it it would technically be twelve twelve 0:11:57.559 --> 0:11:59.640 What they did is I mean, it depends on how 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:02.319 you look. And they added a receiver I'm trying to 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:04.120 remember his name off the top of my head, Darius 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.880 Shepherd Shepherd, North Dakota State. I guess technically, um, maybe 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:09.960 Curtis Bolton falls into that too, although Bolton I think 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:12.960 was in the camp. They added another guy from Philadelphia 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:14.720 that was in the league last year, but yeah, not 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.120 a rookie. Yeah, as it stands, the guy's coming into 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.120 this thing. I believe the number is twelve. Okay, undrafted 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:22.680 undrafted rookies who have now joined the Fray. One of 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:26.120 those Shepherd you mentioned was here on a tryout basis, 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:28.600 was the was one of the tryout players who did 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:30.880 end up getting a contract. At the end of things, 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:33.800 you and I got an opportunity on the day that 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:38.000 the rookies arrived, before they had their first meetings and 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.280 first practices and all that, to talk to a couple 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.480 of these undrafted rookies. You took the time to chat 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:48.680 with Manny Wilkins, the quarterback from Arizona State. Interesting story 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.439 with this kid, because boy, you look at the stats, 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:55.439 a three year starter in the Pack twelve, and uh 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:59.080 suffered a knee injury. Unfortunately was was it his last game, 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:03.800 the Bolts last throw in the bowl game, and that 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:06.920 may have been the reason that he wasn't drafted. This 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:09.320 is a quarterback who probably is going to get drafted 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:12.640 if he finishes his college career completely healthy. Yeah, he 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:14.920 he has self awareness as well. We were talking about that. 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:16.839 He understood it was gonna be an uphill battle for 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:19.240 him to get drafted in the first place. But once 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.800 he tore his m c L on literally the last 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:24.760 throw of that game and of his college career one 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:27.880 thousand of them, that was it. So then he ends 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:30.360 up tearing his m c L. He actually requires surgery. 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:32.800 Sometimes you can get away with not having it. He 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:35.079 needed it, and then he ended up getting cleared. I 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:36.840 think it was two days before the a s U 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.480 Pro day. And that's a much longer recovery if you 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:41.599 have surgery on the n c L as opposed to 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:43.920 if it doesn't require if you're going invasive, and and 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:45.760 he ends up still running. I think it was somewhere 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.360 in the four sevens. He runs a forty. A very 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:50.400 interesting prospect and one of the reasons why I picked 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:53.200 him as sort of the uf A to zone zone 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:55.000 in on was you know, I know a lot of 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:57.400 people out in Arizona that have covered him, have been 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:01.240 associated with that football program, and just they just say 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:04.480 wonderful things about this guy at natural born leader, a 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:06.640 guy that really was sort of the glue that held 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.040 that team together during that transition to her Edwards and 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:12.000 just the guy that steps out front of everything. Has 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:15.040 an interesting backstory. You know, he lost his father when 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:18.120 he was ten years old, um and and he ended up, 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:20.200 you know, kind of getting raised by a combination of 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:22.480 his mother and his aunt and uncle. He ends up 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:25.880 becoming a four star recruit out of California and then 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.920 you know, blossoms into this really solid starter for them 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:32.520 for three seasons. He has a real tall build, you know, 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:35.240 he's six three, but somewhat slender for the position. He 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:38.080 only goes about two hundred, but a lot of athleticism 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:40.920 and a live arm. So the Packers have had success 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:44.000 the last few years with undrafted quarterbacks and and Wilkins 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:45.880 was fully aware of that when he decided to sign 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.280 on here and try to, you know, take his shot 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:50.440 now and make in the NFL. Yeah, and we'll see 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:53.000 what happens as things proceed through O, T, A S 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:55.680 and toward training camp, because as we all know, when 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:58.440 you have four quarterbacks in Matt Fleur even mentioned this, 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.120 when you have four quarterbacks X, it is difficult to 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:04.720 get those third and fourth guys the reps that you need. 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:08.120 And and let's face that the Packers are moving forward 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:09.880 here with what I think is going to be a 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:13.120 legitimate battle for the number two job between Deshaun Kaiser 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:15.680 and Tim Boyle with everything that they learned last year 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:19.080 and and moving forward there that the number two job 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:21.600 is is not settled. So you definitely want to get 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:23.880 both of those guys the reps that they need to 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.520 see who should be the top back up to h 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:29.280 too Rogers. But but yeah, the athletic ability and the 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:31.600 arm strength looking at him for just the half hour 0:15:31.720 --> 0:15:33.720 we were out there on the field, that's what really 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:35.680 stood out to me about Wilkins. Yeah, and it was 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:37.920 interesting too. I mean you obviously talked to Eaton from 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:40.920 Iowa State, like seeing these guys in that rookie camp. 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:42.800 Again you mentioned we only had half an hour, but 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:45.400 it's always interesting when you kind of see these quarterbacks 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:47.080 arms for the first time, when you see how these 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:51.040 receivers run roads and starting to build that chemistry. So yeah, 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:55.440 as far as this process, it's so interesting because you 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:57.240 have two days to catch up to everything and then 0:15:57.480 --> 0:15:59.240 you're gone for a week, and then you're back and 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:01.440 now you're in there with Aaron Rodgers and you know 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:04.080 Davante Adams. It's it's quite a whirlwind. Yeah. And my 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:07.480 my undrafted player interview, as you said, was with Matthew Eaton, 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:11.320 a wide receiver from Iowa State, and I chose him 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:13.320 for a couple of different reasons. One, it was a 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:15.600 position the Packers did not add a draft pick at 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.480 wide receiver, obviously the three draft picks from a year 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.480 ago all heading into their second year here, but a 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:24.960 position that a new draft pick was not added. But 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:29.160 also a guy who now is coming to Green Bay 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:31.800 where he's going to be competing with a former teammate 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:35.280 of his and Alan Lazard, who was a late season 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:38.440 pick up by the Packers last year. He had started 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:42.840 his rookie year on Jacksonville's practice squad had gone undrafted 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:44.840 out of Iowa State now is in the Green Bay 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.400 locker room. Turns out he was the guy who kind 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.840 of took eating under his wing in Ames, Iowa when 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:53.760 Eaton showed up from junior college. He had gone from 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:56.720 originally playing at Temple to then junior college and then 0:16:56.720 --> 0:17:00.840 getting an opportunity at Iowa State. He said that the 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:04.760 the coaching staff at Toledo is the staff that kind 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:07.040 of moved to Iowa State, and they had had their 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:09.400 eyes on him when he was at Temple and left 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.280 to go to junior college. And so then after he 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:16.119 got his time in at junior college, that coaching staff 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:19.199 then from Toledo was in Ames, Iowa with the Cyclones 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:21.760 and they brought him up there and got him into 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:23.680 the program. Now this is a guy he's kind of been, 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:26.800 you know, a number two, number three receiver on a 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.560 pretty explosive offense because you had Lazard a couple of 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:32.600 years ago, you had Hakim Butler as a wide receiver 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:37.879 who was drafted this past month, and then David Montgomery 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:41.280 has been the stud running back in that offense. And 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:43.520 he was drafted high in the third round by the 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:47.040 Chicago Bears who traded up to get him. So he 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:49.719 just wonder if he's one of these under the radar 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:52.760 guys who and he takes nothing away from the teammates 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:54.359 that he played with, and he certainly has a great 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.679 relationship with lazard Um. He said, Hey, you know, the 0:17:57.720 --> 0:17:59.760 ball should have gone to those guys, like, I'm not 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:02.280 going to take anything away from them. But when a 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.800 guy puts up some pretty decent numbers in an offense 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:08.359 where the ball more often is going to other people, 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:12.080 you just wonder if maybe the potential has not been 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:14.200 maximized yet. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. Yeah, 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:16.240 and that's ultimately that That was my number one takeaway 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:17.960 when I was reading your story about him, is that 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:21.280 if you're looking undrafted free agents, these are the type 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:23.080 of guys you look for, the guys that you know, 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:25.440 maybe they just didn't quite show everything that they had 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:27.960 or they didn't have an opportunity to That's right. I've 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:29.960 drawn the comparison a couple of times, and it's it's 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:32.280 a high comparison considering the success he's had in the 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:34.360 league so far. But I thought I see a lot 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:37.080 of Geronimo Allison and Eaton when you look at it, absolutely, 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:39.040 to me, he looks he I mean, he's six four 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:42.800 two ten. He looks exactly like Allison looked when he 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.640 showed up as an undrafted rookie from Illinois a few 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:49.280 years ago. The similarities in terms of just the physical 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.440 body type and the way they move and everything. Definitely 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:55.879 very similar in terms of that the first arrival, first impression, 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:58.000