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Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted Social

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Speaker 1: Distancing Style from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford,

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Speaker 1: joined as always by my partner crime Wes Hodku. It's Weston.

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Speaker 1: Week one of the NFL season is here. That is

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Speaker 1: a very exciting and comforting thing to be able to say,

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Speaker 1: you know it is. It's almost somewhat surreal to Mike.

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Speaker 1: I was getting ready for work even this morning and

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Speaker 1: just kind of getting it in the back of my

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Speaker 1: mind that, Okay, fifty three man roster is set, the

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Speaker 1: practice squad is mostly set. Now it shifts to game

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Speaker 1: week Wednesdays, we're gonna have the same in season type practices.

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Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers is going to address the media, albeit it'll

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Speaker 1: be on zoom uh, and we're gonna just start having

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Speaker 1: those domino effects. You and I are gonna start gett

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Speaker 1: into our routine with our videos and stories. So in

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Speaker 1: that way, it does feel like a lot of normalcy

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Speaker 1: in a return to it, and very welcomed at that

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Speaker 1: um In the disappointing side of it, though, it also

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Speaker 1: kind of feels like to me, like where did the

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Speaker 1: last six months ago? You know it just it's just

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Speaker 1: been one of these wild rides that yeah, we're here,

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Speaker 1: we're healthy, and I'm happy about it. But I I

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Speaker 1: don't think as NFL season has ever really snuck up

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Speaker 1: on me as much as it has this year. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: this has been one that it's been hard to prepare

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Speaker 1: for whatever is around the next corner. But just to

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Speaker 1: alert the fans and lay out the schedule for the

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Speaker 1: time being, West and I are going to continue to

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Speaker 1: do Packers Unscripted two days a week Tuesdays and Thursdays

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Speaker 1: for the most part. If the schedule is normal, will

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Speaker 1: be the days that new shows are posted and available

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Speaker 1: on Packers dot com and also as podcasts in all

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Speaker 1: those places where you find your podcast. So, West, We've

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Speaker 1: got a lot to talk about with regard to the

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Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings, the Packers Week one opponent. But first quickly

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Speaker 1: a look back to the weekend. The roster decisions were made,

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Speaker 1: the fifty three man roster, the initial fifty three man roster,

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Speaker 1: because we know it's not staying the same. That has

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Speaker 1: been said, the practice squad for the most part has

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Speaker 1: been filled up. Just any quick takeaways initial thoughts on

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Speaker 1: how that all shook out over the weekend, Well, they

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Speaker 1: always say it's the initial fifty three because it already

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Speaker 1: has changed Comal Martin, Comal Martin and Kaban into put

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Speaker 1: On I R that allows them to return at some

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Speaker 1: point this season. They also signed Perry Nickerson, a former

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Speaker 1: really solid cornerback from two lane that had a little

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Speaker 1: bit of time with the Jacksonville Jaguars in New York Jets.

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Speaker 1: But here's the thing, Mike, what I love about the

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Speaker 1: way that these cutdowns work is you always get these

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Speaker 1: sort of cinderella stories, guys that when you would have

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Speaker 1: started training camp, you probably would have given a zero

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Speaker 1: percent chance of making this roster. And then they impressed

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Speaker 1: the coaches, they impressed the scouts in low and behold

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Speaker 1: here they are. And in this year that guy was

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Speaker 1: Malik Taylor. I think you got to tip your cap

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Speaker 1: to this young man. It's the guy that was a second,

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Speaker 1: you know, Division two athlete at Farris State, had a

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Speaker 1: nice productive career there that but then got hurt his

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Speaker 1: senior year. He didn't really know what was gonna happen

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Speaker 1: if any NFL teams were going to give him a look.

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Speaker 1: He did get signed as a uf A UH and

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Speaker 1: getting that opportunity with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for three days,

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Speaker 1: and then he gets cut. He's out of work again

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Speaker 1: for two months, and then the Packers pick him up

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Speaker 1: right before training camp last year, ends up on the

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Speaker 1: practice squad, comes back this year. Despite all the other

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Speaker 1: names we were talking about, I don't know how often

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Speaker 1: you and I talked about Bleak Taylor during these shows.

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Speaker 1: But this young man six ft two, two twenty pounds,

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Speaker 1: he carries himself as a nice build, can help on

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Speaker 1: special teams, and he made his dream come true. And

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Speaker 1: those are the types of stories that you know, the

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Speaker 1: NFL is all about the Aaron Rodgers, and it's all

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Speaker 1: about the Davantae Adams and the superstars and the guys

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Speaker 1: that really, you know, you can put on the banners

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Speaker 1: and the marquees, but it's those Malik Taylors of the

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Speaker 1: world that really, you know, drive this league and and

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Speaker 1: give us stories that can kind of capture the imagination

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Speaker 1: a little bit. Yeah, we wondered all offseason, all training

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Speaker 1: camp how that wide receiver position was going to settle itself.

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Speaker 1: And Malik Taylor is the fifth of the five active

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Speaker 1: wide receivers. Davante Adams, al Lazard Marquis about this Scantling

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Speaker 1: and Equinimius st Brown being the others. Jake Kumarro has

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Speaker 1: released Darius Shepard is on the practice squad for the Packers,

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Speaker 1: and a couple of other former undrafted guys worth mentioning

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Speaker 1: here that did make their first fifty three coming out

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Speaker 1: of training camp. I'm talking about outside linebacker Randy Ramsey

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Speaker 1: and offensive tackle yash Naiman, So a couple of other

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Speaker 1: young guys that that the Packers are are looking to

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Speaker 1: their upside and to see what they can they can

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Speaker 1: bring to UH to this screen Bay team down the road.

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Speaker 1: As we head into week one, here a couple of

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Speaker 1: injury questions for the Packers that need to be sorted out.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned Kamal Martin at inside linebacker, the rookie fifth

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Speaker 1: round pick from Minnesota. He goes on injury reserve with

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Speaker 1: the knee injury. The Packers are hoping to get him

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Speaker 1: back sometime later this year, but that leaves open in

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Speaker 1: sort of the base defense. Who will line up next

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Speaker 1: to Christian Kirksey. Will it be Oren Burke's, will it

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Speaker 1: be Ty Summers? Just where what direction are the Packers

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Speaker 1: going to go there? And then still some certainty on

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Speaker 1: the offensive line. It certainly looks like Lane Taylor has

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Speaker 1: nailed down a starting job for the Packers at right guard,

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Speaker 1: but Billy Turner was looking to potentially be the starting

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Speaker 1: right tackle in Week one. He is injured and as

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Speaker 1: of Monday, was not practicing. We will see what his

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Speaker 1: availability is or if the Packers make a move, have

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Speaker 1: to make a move with that starting lineup at right tackle,

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Speaker 1: whether it's Rick Wagner, whether it's shuffling some guys around,

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Speaker 1: um Matt Lafleur, not revealing at all what the Packers

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Speaker 1: plans are going to be there on at the right

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Speaker 1: tackle spot for Week one. Yeah, and this is where

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Speaker 1: it actually gets kind of fun too, because so many times,

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Speaker 1: you know, you talk about Lane Taylor there. Lane had

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Speaker 1: a phenomenal camp, maybe the best he's ever had, to

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Speaker 1: be quite honest with you, he was great and the

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Speaker 1: one on one drills he showed no real hesitation or

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Speaker 1: reluctance coming back from that biceps injury. Was really strong.

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Speaker 1: But we didn't see any of these guys play games

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Speaker 1: that That's the bizarre thing about this. I mean, when

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Speaker 1: you go into this game against the Vikings on on Sunday, Uh,

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Speaker 1: special teams. Those will be the first real lives special

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Speaker 1: team's reps. We've seen ones on one's full collision, that

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Speaker 1: that type of stuff. Uh, seeing who steps up that

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Speaker 1: you know, can Rashawn Gary carry over? How well he performed?

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Speaker 1: Where is Mark Quisvelde scantling in this offense? Can he

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Speaker 1: take a step? Al Nazar? Does he pick up where

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Speaker 1: he left off last season? All these running backs, the

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Speaker 1: right tackle position. There's so many different things right now

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Speaker 1: that I'm not saying we would have had the answers

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Speaker 1: a year ago, but because of this cloak of darkness

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Speaker 1: that the league was thrown into this last month during

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Speaker 1: training camp, both sides and this matchup and all around

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Speaker 1: the league with the you know, the sixteen games are

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Speaker 1: gonna be played, everybody has question marks and seeing how

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Speaker 1: teams adjust here, I think we're gonna learn so much

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Speaker 1: about them. We're gonna learn so much about their preparation

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Speaker 1: these next three weeks and seeing exactly who rises to

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Speaker 1: the challenge of a very unique offense or off season

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Speaker 1: and training camp structure. Yeah. Well, you mentioned every team

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Speaker 1: in the league has question marks, and when you look

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Speaker 1: at the Minnesota Vikings, what everyone is wondering about with

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Speaker 1: Mike Zimmer and his defense. The word out of Minnesota's

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Speaker 1: Mike Zimmer never coaches a bad defense. He certainly has

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Speaker 1: the track record over the course of his career. But

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Speaker 1: the Vikings are going to be relying on a lot

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Speaker 1: of youth at cornerback with both Xavier Rhodes and Trey

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Speaker 1: Wayne's moving on in the off season. Their cornerback depth

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Speaker 1: chart right now, when you look at the four guys,

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Speaker 1: they have two cornerbacks that joined them in eighteen, Mike Hughes,

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Speaker 1: a first round pick and Holton Hill, who was an

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Speaker 1: undrafted free agent, And then two rookie draft picks that

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Speaker 1: joined them this year. Jeff Gladney from TCU was a

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Speaker 1: first round pick and Cameron Danceler a third round pick

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Speaker 1: from Mississippi State. Those are the Vikings four cornerbacks. So

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Speaker 1: two of those four have never played in an NFL

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Speaker 1: game and one of them was an undrafted guy just

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Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. So that's the big question

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Speaker 1: mark for the Minnesota Vikings defense. How do they adjust?

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Speaker 1: What will they look like in the secondary. They have

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Speaker 1: Harrison Smith, Anthony Harris, Pro Bowl to Pro Bowl safeties

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Speaker 1: and very very experienced guys in the back end, but

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Speaker 1: that cornerback spot is the one everybody's wondering about in Minnesota. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and it's funny too because Jerry Gray, who's now the

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Speaker 1: Packers defensive backs coach, he knows this group as well

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Speaker 1: as anybody, and it's you know, credit to him that

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Speaker 1: they were able to develop, you know, Anthony Harris and

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Speaker 1: obviously Hill coming in as a college free agent as well. Uh.

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Speaker 1: The real interesting paradox right now with the Vikings is

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Speaker 1: that the what happened last year with their cornerbacks, I

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Speaker 1: didn't see that happening. Uh, Xavier Rhodes and we'll see

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Speaker 1: if he can get his career back on track now elsewhere.

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Speaker 1: But you know, he had kind of a regression there

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Speaker 1: that I wasn't expecting, especially I think, you know, he's

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Speaker 1: still only what twenty nine maybe, I mean he was

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Speaker 1: a young seemed like a youngerish guy yet, but took

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Speaker 1: a step back. They wanted to reset there. Wayne's always

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Speaker 1: was back and forth a little bit, so they want

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Speaker 1: to change up how they're doing at cornerback. What you

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Speaker 1: don't typically see in this league, though, is a team

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Speaker 1: that will overhaul its cornerbacks but yet they have such

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Speaker 1: a solid base at safety. Typically it ends up being

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Speaker 1: one or the other. Um you're you're gonna refresh everything

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Speaker 1: or you're just gonna stick with what you have. In

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Speaker 1: this case, you know, Harrison Smith has played a lot

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Speaker 1: of incredible football for the Minnesota Vikings, but his leadership

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Speaker 1: skills this year is going to be put to the

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Speaker 1: ultimate test. Can Anthony Harris proved that, Yeah, he's had

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Speaker 1: some incredible performances, has become a real ball hawk on

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Speaker 1: this league, came out of relative obscurity to become one

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Speaker 1: of its top safeties. Can those two continue to be

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Speaker 1: that rock for this secondary because so much of what

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Speaker 1: they do is based on having that synergy between the

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Speaker 1: back end in their pass rush. Pass rush is looking

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Speaker 1: a little bit different this year too. As you said,

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Speaker 1: Mike Zimmer doesn't coach bad defenses, but there really are

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Speaker 1: the most question marks he's had in his time in

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Speaker 1: Minnesota going into this two thousand twenty season. Yeah. Well,

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Speaker 1: the the linebacking corps is the one area that hasn't

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Speaker 1: really changed that much for Minnesota. You've got Eric Kendricks,

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Speaker 1: You've got Anthony Barr. Those guys are are the main

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Speaker 1: stays they are still there. You mentioned the changes with

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Speaker 1: the pass rush Danil Hunter on one end, he is

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Speaker 1: certainly the guy, but Everson Griffin no longer in Minnesota.

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Speaker 1: They the Viking has made a trade during training camp,

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Speaker 1: a very uh you know, big headline type of trade

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Speaker 1: getting Jacksonville's unique and gok way if I am saying

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Speaker 1: that you got it directly your job. He was franchise

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Speaker 1: tagged by the Jaguars and really just wanted out of Jacksonville.

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Speaker 1: When it was all said and done, the Vikings end

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Speaker 1: up making the trade. So he's now the other book

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Speaker 1: end on the on the side opposite Daniel Hunter. With

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Speaker 1: that Vikings pastor us. So that's another new wrinkle thrown

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Speaker 1: into this mix here. For Mike Zimmer's defense, well, it

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Speaker 1: really is to Mike. And the thing was, I thought

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Speaker 1: they made the best signing of the off season. I

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Speaker 1: think even when you and I were doing these during

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Speaker 1: you know, from our houses, I think I even said,

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Speaker 1: I was really high on. I thought that was a

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Speaker 1: very savvy signing. They need to make a change. They

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Speaker 1: went away from Everson Griffin. This would be a guy

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Speaker 1: that helped them. Well, then he hops out because of

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Speaker 1: the whole covid epidemic or a pandemic that's going on.

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Speaker 1: So what was the next move? I mean, going in

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Speaker 1: getting unique. I mean that is just a it's a

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Speaker 1: it's a superstar move by that. I don't think a

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Speaker 1: lot of people saw it. And his willingness to to

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Speaker 1: you know, restructure some of the salary stuff just basically

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Speaker 1: to relocate himself get himself onto a contender with the

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Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings. It's gonna be a big game changer. But

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Speaker 1: the one thing I've cautioned, and you've read my insider

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Speaker 1: in boxes over the last month, when people bring this

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Speaker 1: stuff up, yea, the Packers have dealt with Khalil Mack

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Speaker 1: getting randomly added to this division before. When you have

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Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers as your quarterback, when you've been as successful

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Speaker 1: as the Packers have been, you have to anticipate that

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Speaker 1: the defenses around you are going to want to get

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Speaker 1: better and they're gonna want to put some pass rushers

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Speaker 1: around them that are going to be able to get

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Speaker 1: after the quarterback. So this, yes, it's a it's a

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Speaker 1: huge move by them. It's certainly a really potent one

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Speaker 1: to punch that they have. But the idea that the

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Speaker 1: Packers haven't seen this before, they very much have, and

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Speaker 1: it's been happening for basically the ten twelve years now

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Speaker 1: that Aaron Rodgers has been an established starter well, and

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Speaker 1: a couple of other things that add to the intrigue here.

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Speaker 1: Daniel Hunter was injured during training camp, that injury not

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Speaker 1: really being revealed by the Vikings and Mike Simmer, Mike

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Speaker 1: Zimmer being very coy about just what where Hunter is

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Speaker 1: in his in his health status and whether he'll be

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Speaker 1: available for week one. And then obviously, as I mentioned before,

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Speaker 1: the Packers have the uncertainty at right tackle and exactly

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Speaker 1: who's going to be blocking one of those edge rushers

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Speaker 1: for the Vikings. So that's something to to follow the

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Speaker 1: news here as we go through the week and see

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Speaker 1: what unfolds and both teams, you know West, they're gonna

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Speaker 1: play it really close to the vest and not reveal

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Speaker 1: any of their plans and and just let everybody find

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Speaker 1: out when the ball is kicked off on Sunday. With

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Speaker 1: regard to the Vikings offense, Dalvin Cook, Kirk Cousins, those

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Speaker 1: guys are there, Adam Thealen, Kyle Rudolph. Those mainstays are

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Speaker 1: certainly there. The big change is that Stefon Diggs, who

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Speaker 1: has certainly had his share of big games against the

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Speaker 1: Greenway Packers, he is no longer in Minnesota. The Vikings

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Speaker 1: traded him away and what they got in return from

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Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills they used that first round draft pick

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Speaker 1: on Justin Jefferson from LS. You again, like we were

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Speaker 1: talking about with the cornerbacks, here's a rookie who drafted high.

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Speaker 1: He's gonna be expected to step in and play right away.

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Speaker 1: One of those question marks that you just don't really

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Speaker 1: know what level of play, what level of impact a

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Speaker 1: young guy like that is going to make. But the

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Speaker 1: Vikings are certainly going to be counting on Jefferson to

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Speaker 1: fill Stefon digs shoes. Yeah, and Packer fans won't like

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Speaker 1: me saying this, but I love that pick for the

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Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings. He was a guy that I thought, if

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Speaker 1: for whatever reason he would fall into those later twenties,

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Speaker 1: could have made a lot of sense for the Packers

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Speaker 1: just because he's a home run threat. Uh, he's versatile,

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Speaker 1: He's played in the biggest stage of college football, and

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Speaker 1: and obviously extremely explosive. That's gonna be a trade Mike

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Speaker 1: for a lot of years that I'm gonna be following

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Speaker 1: because I'm always gonna wonder, like, Okay, you know, Stefon

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Speaker 1: Diggs is the real deal. He's he's a good ball player,

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Speaker 1: but man, and just there's a part of me that

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Speaker 1: wonders like the Buffalo Bills, like if Justin Jefferson becomes

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Speaker 1: a player, Like and you kind of think about the

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Speaker 1: fact that you made that move and then that's what

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Speaker 1: it turned into. But be that as it may. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: the offensively, this thing is still gonna run through Delvin Cook. Certainly.

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Speaker 1: I think when you look at Kirk Cousins, they are

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Speaker 1: at their best when he can be I don't want

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Speaker 1: to call him a game manager, that that's such a

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Speaker 1: negative connotation, but when he can comfortably manage the game,

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Speaker 1: does that make more sense? Would that be something that

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Speaker 1: doesn't sound as negative? Uh? He can just be able

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Speaker 1: to to work towards the sticks to to be efficient,

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Speaker 1: uh in his passes. That's when this offense is at

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Speaker 1: its best, and certainly Cook is a big part of that.

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Speaker 1: But getting Adam feeling going again is going to be

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Speaker 1: huge for them that you know, there was such a

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Speaker 1: start and Sputter with him last season, wasn't really able

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Speaker 1: to ever find his groove. Uh, seeing where these other

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Speaker 1: potential players could could kind of shape up, and then

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Speaker 1: ultimately Mike the number one question I think you and

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Speaker 1: I always have every single year we talked about the

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Speaker 1: vikings and when we do these, you know, these unscripted episodes,

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Speaker 1: where is their offensive line? And can their offensive line

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Speaker 1: be stable and sturdy enough throughout the course of the

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Speaker 1: season to give Cousins and cook in that offense what

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Speaker 1: it needs to be able to push the all downfield.

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Speaker 1: That's where I'm at right now. That's kind of where

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Speaker 1: my indicators flashing going into this two thousand twenty season. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I agree with you. We're always wondering about Minnesota's offensive line.

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Speaker 1: Now I don't have their depth chart in front of me,

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Speaker 1: but if I'm not mistaken, they're starting five on the

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Speaker 1: offensive line is essentially coming back intact with what they

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Speaker 1: had in the playoffs last season, and this might be

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Speaker 1: the first time in several years that we're not talking

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Speaker 1: about any new starters on the offensive line heading into

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Speaker 1: a year for Minnesota, So that could be a factor

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Speaker 1: and when you talk about Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Gary

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Speaker 1: Kubiak is the new offensive coordinator in Minnesota. Obviously, he

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Speaker 1: was the guy who hired Matt Lafleur for his first

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Speaker 1: NFL job with the Houston Texans. These guys like to

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Speaker 1: establish the run and get the passing game going off

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Speaker 1: of play action. We've been talking about it all off

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Speaker 1: season with the Packers. That's what Matt Lafleur wants to do.

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Speaker 1: He really wants the passing game to be married to

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Speaker 1: the run game. And that's exactly when Kirk Cousins is

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Speaker 1: at his best for Minnesota as well. If they get

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Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook going and then the passing game the play

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Speaker 1: action comes off of that. Obviously, the the Week six

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Speaker 1: team game last year on the Monday night in Minnesota,

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Speaker 1: the Vikings were without Dalvin Cook, they were without Alexander Madison,

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Speaker 1: their number two running back. They really never got any

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Speaker 1: kind of a ground game established, and frankly za Darius

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Speaker 1: Smith just wrecked their offense. And you know this is

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Speaker 1: going to be a completely different story if Dalvin Cook

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Speaker 1: is healthy. They have Madison behind him. As I said,

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Speaker 1: you know, the questions are the offensive line they're coming

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Speaker 1: back Intech, they have a new rookie receiver. But with

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Speaker 1: with Kubiak's influence, I think the Vikings are going to

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Speaker 1: continue to build as most as best they can build

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Speaker 1: that offense around Dalvin Cook. Yeah, and I love that

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Speaker 1: higher for the Vikings when they brought in Kubiak. I mean,

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Speaker 1: this is a guy that, you know, despite some health

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Speaker 1: issues he's had, I mean, he very well could still

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Speaker 1: be a head coach in this league and you know,

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Speaker 1: kind of trying to work his way back into this

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Speaker 1: thing and and find a comfortable pace for himself. This

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Speaker 1: is a great setup. And the thing that's impressed me

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Speaker 1: the most about him is he's you know, he comes

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Speaker 1: from at Mike Shanahan Tree, uh, you know, obviously an

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Speaker 1: offensive genius and he's made I'm not saying the Vikings

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Speaker 1: this is probably one of the better offenses he's had

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Speaker 1: in terms of the pieces he's had. But when you

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Speaker 1: look at Denver when they won the Super Bowl, when

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Speaker 1: you looked back to some of those Houston Texans teams,

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Speaker 1: they weren't the most offensively explosive passing teams, but they

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Speaker 1: were able to complement their run with what they needed

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Speaker 1: to do. Defensively to win football games. That is the

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Speaker 1: same exact blueprint for what Mike Zimmer wants to do

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Speaker 1: in Minnesota and when they've been successful, has achieved. UH. Now,

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Speaker 1: there's been a lot of consternation over the years about

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Speaker 1: that offensive coordinator position and you know where that all

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Speaker 1: fits with Zimmer. There's been a lot of guys that

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Speaker 1: have been in that seat. But that being said, Kubiak

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Speaker 1: is a pros pro and this is a guy that

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Speaker 1: has done it at a high level in multiple different

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Speaker 1: eras of offensive football, and it's it's it's it's someone

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Speaker 1: that I think when you when you look at this

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Speaker 1: season and why the Vikings are favored by a lot

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Speaker 1: of folks, He's one of the reasons that plays into that. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: no question about it. Well, as we get further into

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Speaker 1: the week, when we come back in a couple of days,

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Speaker 1: as we will talk about keys to Victory and what

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Speaker 1: it's going to take for the Packers to go into

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Speaker 1: US Bank Stadium for a second straight season to UH

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Speaker 1: to knock off Minnesota after not experiencing a whole lot

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Speaker 1: of success the first couple of years that that building

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Speaker 1: was open. But for now, we'll call it a wrap

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Speaker 1: on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow

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Speaker 1: all of our coverage of Week one leading up to

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Speaker 1: the season opener in Minnesota on Packers dot com for

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Speaker 1: wes I Am Mike. Thank you for tuning in, everybody.

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Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.