Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted. We are on location
Speaker 1: at the NFL Scouting Combine in downtown Indianapolis from Packers
Speaker 1: dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by Wes Hodkowitz
Speaker 1: and Larry McCarron. Guys. Yesterday was sort of the unofficial
Speaker 1: first day of the combine, even though the prospects aren't
Speaker 1: around yet, but it was the day to hear from
Speaker 1: the head coaches in general managers around the NFL. One
Speaker 1: of the key things that we heard from Packers GM
Speaker 1: Brian Gouda Kunst is really much the same what we
Speaker 1: heard last year here at this time when he was
Speaker 1: a first year GM, in that he dropped some hints
Speaker 1: that the Packers are going to be pretty active in
Speaker 1: free agency. He stuck to his word last year, no
Speaker 1: reason not to believe him this year. Right. Well, here's
Speaker 1: the thing about this that I really like. As far
Speaker 1: as Brian Goodacuns is concerned, they want to be involved
Speaker 1: in every conversation. That was something he said from his
Speaker 1: first news conference as the new GM of the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers last year, and it's something that he lived
Speaker 1: up to now. He said from day one. He's also
Speaker 1: caution that by saying that doesn't mean we're gonna out
Speaker 1: and sign everybody, doesn't mean we're gonna trade for everybody.
Speaker 1: But if Kyle Fuller's out there on a restrictive, you know,
Speaker 1: free agent contract, and they feel like they can get them,
Speaker 1: they're gonna offer them and you know, a deal, they're
Speaker 1: gonna go and try to maybe trade for a Khalil
Speaker 1: mac But here's the biggest thing for them, it's still
Speaker 1: draft in development. That's still the foundation of this thing.
Speaker 1: But if they can augment the roster with a few
Speaker 1: veterans here and there, that makes sense. That's an avenue
Speaker 1: that Goodakods wants to explore. Yeah, now, not every free
Speaker 1: agent signing is going to be a home run. The
Speaker 1: Packers were active last year, but Mohammed Wilkerson unfortunately gets
Speaker 1: a season ending injury in in Week three. Larry we
Speaker 1: saw Byron Bell, he started half the season at right guard.
Speaker 1: He ends up going down with an injury. So nobody
Speaker 1: bats a thousand in this free agency game. But Brian
Speaker 1: Goodacunst is committed to using that as a tool to
Speaker 1: help out this Packers roster where he feels it needs
Speaker 1: to help guys I think what we're seeing is Brian
Speaker 1: Gouda Kunst is just being Brian Gouda Kunst. He's not
Speaker 1: Ted Thompson. He's got his own approach, He's not Ron Wolf.
Speaker 1: He's got his own approach. And I don't think from
Speaker 1: year to year and draft to draft and free agency
Speaker 1: to free agency that's going to change dramatically. He wants
Speaker 1: to be as you mentioned in the conversation on guys now,
Speaker 1: not everybody is gonna make sense, not everybody is going
Speaker 1: to fit financially, but he's going to explore those opportunities.
Speaker 1: And I really think at the end of the football day,
Speaker 1: it's just Brian being Brian. Yeah. And I think one
Speaker 1: of the things about this too, when you talk about
Speaker 1: him being in on every conversation, it's about being prepared.
Speaker 1: It's about doing all of the legwork and all the
Speaker 1: preparation in advance so that when things kind of get
Speaker 1: fast and furious, so to speak, in terms of the
Speaker 1: market and guys potentially signing and getting offers from elsewhere,
Speaker 1: than the Packers are ready to pounce if it's the
Speaker 1: right opportunity for them. Right. And the exciting thing about
Speaker 1: this too is that Brian Goodens has been doing this
Speaker 1: for a really long time. Two decades spent in the
Speaker 1: Packers personnel department. So you have to imagine, I mean
Speaker 1: he had his eye on, you know, Jimmy Graham for years.
Speaker 1: I mean he had his eye on bringing back potentially
Speaker 1: Trumont Williams and and seeing what he could do. And
Speaker 1: a guy like Mohammed Wilkerson who made sense based on
Speaker 1: his experience with Mike Petton. Now a lot of things
Speaker 1: are lining up. We're gonna see in about two and
Speaker 1: a half weeks here how this new free agent class
Speaker 1: is gonna look the Packers this year. The one drawback
Speaker 1: to making those moves they don't have a compensatory pick,
Speaker 1: but they also got three other picks that they're gonna
Speaker 1: be able to work with to get him up to ten.
Speaker 1: So finding that perfect balance and also finding guys that
Speaker 1: could potentially come in here and find a role immediately
Speaker 1: is going to be the big chess match. Because as
Speaker 1: much as was made of Ted Thompson maybe not being
Speaker 1: a guy that explored free agency, he had a pretty
Speaker 1: high batting average when he did it. Go that route.
Speaker 1: When you look at Julius Peppers, Ryan Pickett, Charles Woodson,
Speaker 1: even a guy like you know, Eric Walden that came
Speaker 1: in and made an impact. Those are the kind of
Speaker 1: things that I'm looking forward to seeing with Brian Goodkins,
Speaker 1: not only just being there every single year, but maybe
Speaker 1: finding that one guy that could potentially put them over
Speaker 1: the top. Mike, I want to make a point about
Speaker 1: you mentioned preparations. This is the NFL, and we haven't
Speaker 1: cornered the market. The Green Bay Packers haven't cornered the
Speaker 1: market on brains, taltled or hard work. Okay, so everybody's prepared.
Speaker 1: The thing, the thing that separates you have to be
Speaker 1: prepared to pull the trigger, like you're gonna have all
Speaker 1: the studies done, but in your gut, you gotta have
Speaker 1: the courage and the wherewithal to pull the trigger. I
Speaker 1: think that's that's more of a mindset than anything else.
Speaker 1: And I think last year, certainly Shoulder Brian good has
Speaker 1: that ability, that mindset and a willingness to pull the trigger.
Speaker 1: And one other thing I want to point out too,
Speaker 1: It isn't just about those five unrestricted free agency signed
Speaker 1: last year. It's also guy like Shot Brilon that gets
Speaker 1: brought in during the season. Right question of camp, it
Speaker 1: ends up being a guy that played a majority of
Speaker 1: their snaps down the stretch once the you know, those
Speaker 1: soft tissue injuries cleared up. So things like that as
Speaker 1: well go a long way, because it isn't always just
Speaker 1: about promoting the next guy from the practice squad. Sometimes
Speaker 1: you've got to go out and find that veteran too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And it is about having the courage of your convictions
Speaker 1: when when that opportunity is in front of you. Also,
Speaker 1: Gudakun said in a luncheon that we had with with
Speaker 1: several print reporters um over at Harry and Is. He's
Speaker 1: down down the street here from the Convention Center. He
Speaker 1: said he doesn't feel like he has to make any
Speaker 1: salary cap saving type of moves in order to do
Speaker 1: potentially what he wants to in free agency. He essentially
Speaker 1: committed to Jimmy Graham for another year at tight End.
Speaker 1: I know there has been some speculation out there that
Speaker 1: that there would be a salary cap move involving Graham.
Speaker 1: Doesn't sound like that's going to happen. Still in wait
Speaker 1: and see mode. As far as Randall Cobb and Clay Matthews,
Speaker 1: those guys with the expiring contracts, they're gonna let that
Speaker 1: play out and just see what see whether they fit
Speaker 1: financially and all that. Those things that Larry mentioned, whether
Speaker 1: or not the Packers bring the veterans back, Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's all the conversations you have to have between now
Speaker 1: and then. I remember going back to two thousand fourteen
Speaker 1: or two thousand fifteen, actually after the two thousand fourteen season,
Speaker 1: right to the eleventh hour with Randall Cobb and in
Speaker 1: Brian Bulaga not sure whether or not those guys are
Speaker 1: gonna be back. They end up signing them right on
Speaker 1: the eve of the open free agency. That those guys
Speaker 1: going to markets. Right between now and then, so many
Speaker 1: things are going to happen. I think the biggest thing
Speaker 1: for the Packers right now is trying to, as Brian
Speaker 1: Good said, getting as much information as they can about
Speaker 1: where this team is at, where the roster is at,
Speaker 1: and finding the right players that fit that vision and beyond.
Speaker 1: It's kind of funny when it comes to decisions in football.
Speaker 1: They get made when they have to be made, We
Speaker 1: get taken up to that point, We'll do it. That's
Speaker 1: that's often how it works in this business, for sure. Well,
Speaker 1: another topic that we heard from both the general manager
Speaker 1: and head coach. Matt Lafleur on Wednesday was with regards
Speaker 1: to the running backs and wide receivers here with the Packers,
Speaker 1: and at running back you have Aaron Jones and Jamal
Speaker 1: will Yams a one to punch there and Wes. Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur talked a little bit about how he likes to
Speaker 1: have not just the workhorse back, but that combination of
Speaker 1: guys in the backfield because last year, his first year
Speaker 1: as a play caller with the Tennessee Titans, that was
Speaker 1: really really valuable to him to have two guys to
Speaker 1: turn to. Yeah. Absolutely, And and the thing that's interesting
Speaker 1: to me is all these guys that they come out
Speaker 1: of that Mike Shanahan coaching tree. His son Kyle was
Speaker 1: talking about that yesterday at the podium. But Mike always
Speaker 1: preferred going with a single back for most part. Now,
Speaker 1: they went through a lot of them over the years
Speaker 1: in Denver and even Alfred Morris and Washington, but he
Speaker 1: always liked feeding that one guy, the younger guys from
Speaker 1: this with when you look at what Kyle's done now
Speaker 1: and San Francisco, when he was a play caller in Atlanta,
Speaker 1: multiple guys. You look at Matt Lafleur, multiple guys, and
Speaker 1: I thought he illustrated very well why he has that philosophy.
Speaker 1: Last year in Tennessee, Dion Lewis got the ball a
Speaker 1: lot the first half of the season, kind of starts
Speaker 1: to wear down, then they feed Derrick Henry. It was
Speaker 1: grand kind of parallel to what happened here in Green
Speaker 1: Bay where Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams both had their moments,
Speaker 1: but neither guy was really featured for the entire sixteen
Speaker 1: game schedule. I think you have to have that mentality.
Speaker 1: I think it's important to have that mentality. The Packers
Speaker 1: have isolated on those two guys as being the future
Speaker 1: that position and Matt Flor's plans for both of them. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know what's kind of interesting is when Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: talks about the Packers personnel, you get a fresh perspective
Speaker 1: and you get more of an appreciation for what is here.
Speaker 1: And I know this is kind of broadening our topic
Speaker 1: just a bit, but Matt Lafleur, Okay, he comes in
Speaker 1: first time head coach and and sees sees what's in
Speaker 1: the in the stable here? What do we got to
Speaker 1: work with and and he mentioned this as the lunch
Speaker 1: was going on. We've got perhaps the best quarterback ever
Speaker 1: to play the game. That's nice place to start if
Speaker 1: you're coming in first, nice place to start. Hey, what
Speaker 1: are the other things you really need? Offensively? What are
Speaker 1: the key pieces of that puzzle? Well, left backle we've
Speaker 1: got maybe the best in the business, and David Baktiar,
Speaker 1: if not the best, one of the best, certainly, I
Speaker 1: mean no question about it. And then another thing people
Speaker 1: covet around the National Football League, a true bona fide
Speaker 1: number one wide receiver. So those are three critical pieces
Speaker 1: to the offensive puzzle that are sitting in Green Bay
Speaker 1: when Matt Lafore walks in the door. Now, those are
Speaker 1: really attractive commodities to build your offense around. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: when you look at those wide receivers that are behind
Speaker 1: Davante Adams, a lot of excitement, a lot of anticipation
Speaker 1: for what may happen in year two with the three
Speaker 1: wide receivers that the Packers added in the draft. And
Speaker 1: we're studying here last year in Indie Marquis Velde, Scantling,
Speaker 1: eq St Brown, Jamond Moore. Now we saw Velde Scantling
Speaker 1: and st Brown take a little bit of a step
Speaker 1: forward in their rookie seasons. They both made their share
Speaker 1: a big play is Valdes Scantling had the most catches
Speaker 1: and yards of the bunch. But uh yeah, this transition
Speaker 1: to Matt Lafleur's offense, now we'll see what happens in
Speaker 1: that regard. But these guys are pros now, they've been
Speaker 1: through it. There are some expectations here that their game
Speaker 1: is gonna rise to another level. Yeah, and there's a
Speaker 1: chance too, I mean that they're gonna have to get
Speaker 1: pushed here because you have Geronio also potentially coming back,
Speaker 1: though he is a restricted free agent. The Packers have
Speaker 1: drafted twelve different receivers in the last six years, so
Speaker 1: I mean there's a chance that you know they're going
Speaker 1: to go out and find another one in the draft too.
Speaker 1: You have to be able to keep up with the
Speaker 1: pace of play in the NFL. The exciting thing about
Speaker 1: it the Packers drafted for size and speed last year
Speaker 1: with those three guys. Valdes Scantling showed it immediately. He's
Speaker 1: a big play target. He's a guy that could potentially
Speaker 1: really challenge and stress a secondary with what he can
Speaker 1: do over the top. And then even Econemius st. Brown.
Speaker 1: One thing that impressed me about him showed a lot
Speaker 1: of versatility in terms of being able to play the
Speaker 1: boundary and also the slot during some of the times
Speaker 1: when the Packers were struggling with injuries in there. So
Speaker 1: those two guys, I think particular, you have to be
Speaker 1: excited about what their upside could be in this offense.
Speaker 1: I think it's kind of interesting. Towards the end of
Speaker 1: the last season, Marquis Velda scantling MVS alphabet soup, you know,
Speaker 1: but m V e q NVS. But anyway, uh NVS says,
Speaker 1: you know, he's looking forward and there's going to be
Speaker 1: a new head coach and all that's becoming clear, and
Speaker 1: he goes, you know what's gonna be cool next year
Speaker 1: is everybody's a rookie. Everybody's learning a new system instead
Speaker 1: of us. You know, you kind of stick out like
Speaker 1: a sore thumb when you got a bunch of veterans
Speaker 1: in the room, you know, with Randall Cobb and DeVante
Speaker 1: Adams and so forth, and you're the rookies and you've
Speaker 1: got to learn and everything and everybody else knows it.
Speaker 1: But now everybody you know, looking at page one again,
Speaker 1: we're starting over to some extent. Again, you can't replace experience,
Speaker 1: and those experienced guys do always have a leg up
Speaker 1: until you get three or four years in the league.
Speaker 1: But I think it's a little different approach for the
Speaker 1: young fellas we're talking about. Yeah, I would agree with you.
Speaker 1: And when you look at the running backs and wide
Speaker 1: receivers on the Packers roster, as excited as they are
Speaker 1: about them, certainly no guarantee or no message that the
Speaker 1: Packers are just standing pad at those positions. We could
Speaker 1: see the Packers aventually add at both of those spots
Speaker 1: here in the draft. Brian Goodakoot's going into this draft
Speaker 1: with ten picks. Yeah, absolutely, And I mean you look
Speaker 1: at the running back position, I think you're pretty well
Speaker 1: set there with what you do have with Aaron Jones
Speaker 1: and Nelson Jamal Williams. But last year proved with Capri
Speaker 1: Bibs coming in, you sometimes need that third option as
Speaker 1: well down the down the line, So that could be
Speaker 1: an area that depending on if they find a guy
Speaker 1: that could fit well into the system. And La Fleur
Speaker 1: talked about that the hits those running backs taken and
Speaker 1: how they can wear down. It's it's one of those
Speaker 1: things that sometimes even just two might not be enough.
Speaker 1: And as far as receiver, the big question slot, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think you do need a prototypical slot, particularly in
Speaker 1: this offense. Randall Cobb is an unrestricted free agent. We'll
Speaker 1: see how that plays out. They have guys that can
Speaker 1: do it. Davante Adams did it, but I mean, I
Speaker 1: still think you need to have a guy that's more
Speaker 1: fit for that spot on a down end and down
Speaker 1: out basis. To some extent, right now, the Packer wide
Speaker 1: receiver corps is real heavy in the big guy type receiver,
Speaker 1: the type of receiver you can't bang around, you can't muscle,
Speaker 1: generally speaking, bigger than the corners they play again, so
Speaker 1: like they've got a lot of that body type right now.
Speaker 1: It'll be interesting to see if they expand what's in
Speaker 1: the toolbox that receiver as a draft and free agency
Speaker 1: going Yeah, and when you look at the top of
Speaker 1: this draft, the Packers going into it with a tremendous
Speaker 1: opportunity here, however you want to look at it. The
Speaker 1: first three picks for Brian Goudacunster in the top forty
Speaker 1: four of this draft because of that trade with the
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints in the draft last year to get
Speaker 1: the extra first rounder, and then six of the first
Speaker 1: ten picks are in the first four rounds. And you
Speaker 1: could see yesterday West when we were talking to Brian
Speaker 1: Goudacunst at lunch, how excited he is about the opportunity
Speaker 1: and how important this draft really could be for the
Speaker 1: future of the Packers. Yeah, it's a kid walk into
Speaker 1: a candy store and his mom telling him he can
Speaker 1: have whatever he wants. I mean, it's the situation every
Speaker 1: general manager in the league really, you know, Craves And
Speaker 1: the thing that's interesting about the two picks. I ran
Speaker 1: the old Jimmy Johnson draft value chart on it. I
Speaker 1: mean those two picks, you you bundle them up together
Speaker 1: that even get you to number four based on the
Speaker 1: value of it. So, I mean there's some maneuverability. They're
Speaker 1: involved as well in terms of what they want to
Speaker 1: do if there's a guy that they like, if they
Speaker 1: don't feel like it's last year's draft where you can
Speaker 1: move back from fourteen and still have two or three
Speaker 1: guys that you really, you know, covet five or six
Speaker 1: picks down the line, you know, maybe go up and
Speaker 1: find someone. So this is the earliest they've picked since
Speaker 1: two thousand nine. I can't even recall the last time
Speaker 1: they had two first round picks going into a draft,
Speaker 1: let alone being able to, you know, kind of put
Speaker 1: the board up and start to play around with it.
Speaker 1: Ron Wolfe had that in his first draft and got rich.
Speaker 1: But well, yeah, he got a quarterback named Brett Farve
Speaker 1: with one of those first round picks. I was talking
Speaker 1: to Brian yesterday during an interview we're doing for another program,
Speaker 1: and I don't know how you guys feel about it,
Speaker 1: but last year at the draft when he picked up
Speaker 1: that extra number one and still drafted Gyro Alexander, I
Speaker 1: mean last year when he when he did it, when
Speaker 1: he made the move, it was cool. But it's kind
Speaker 1: of done the round now that it's us here and
Speaker 1: he's got two number one, whether he uses them, deals him,
Speaker 1: what have you? Going into the draft with that kind
Speaker 1: of ammunition and ammunition now it is really it is
Speaker 1: smoking cool. Yeah. Yeah. Well, the Packers sitting at number
Speaker 1: twelve with their first pick, as West mentioned, the highest
Speaker 1: slot they've had since two thousand nine, which was when
Speaker 1: they took b J Rogie at number nine overall. Gudakos
Speaker 1: was asked about, well, will you potentially trade back again
Speaker 1: like last year, the opportunity at number twelve could be
Speaker 1: a really, really big time player. He suggested it would
Speaker 1: take maybe something really significant in order to move back,
Speaker 1: which maybe means he'd trade and pick up another first
Speaker 1: rounder next year. I mean, who knows, right right, I mean,
Speaker 1: you always have that possibility out there. I think the
Speaker 1: biggest thing for the Packers right now, whether it's one,
Speaker 1: whether it's to whatever ends up shaking out, they have
Speaker 1: to find playmakers. They have to find difference makers, and
Speaker 1: this looks to be a draft based on what we've
Speaker 1: seen so far through the end of February that could
Speaker 1: do it. Yeah, alright, Well, with that, we will call
Speaker 1: it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. We
Speaker 1: will be back with a couple more shows here from
Speaker 1: the scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Thanks for tuning in everybody.
Speaker 1: We will see you next time. M