Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by my
Speaker 1: trusted colleague West hod Kowitz. We're coming to you here
Speaker 1: from our studios at lambeau Field, West, NFL Draft is
Speaker 1: in the rear view mirror. The Packers made eleven selections
Speaker 1: over the course of the three days. We're going to
Speaker 1: spend some time here breaking things down in terms of
Speaker 1: just what the Packers got as far as we can
Speaker 1: tell right now. Obviously we won't really know for maybe
Speaker 1: another year or two or more as to what this
Speaker 1: draft class really adds up to. But you have to
Speaker 1: start on the defensive side of the ball, because Brian
Speaker 1: Goodakun has had two picks in the first round at
Speaker 1: twenty two and at did not make a trade in
Speaker 1: the first round. State at those two spots and picked
Speaker 1: two defenders from George's naw Sational championship unit, And of
Speaker 1: course I'm talking about linebacker Quay Walker defensive lineman DeVante Wyatt.
Speaker 1: Just initially, your thoughts on those two guys being added
Speaker 1: to a Packers defense that, as we all know, was
Speaker 1: playing pretty darn well at the end of it's true, Mike,
Speaker 1: and I'm not the kind of person that's going to
Speaker 1: sit here, you know, poor Dyke coke down your back
Speaker 1: and tell you it's not raining. I didn't. I wasn't
Speaker 1: looking a lot at Walker throughout this process, and that
Speaker 1: has nothing really to do with Walker. It has more
Speaker 1: to do with the fact that as much as we've
Speaker 1: talked about the receiver position, how long it's been since
Speaker 1: they've drafted one in the first round, it had been
Speaker 1: sixteen years since they've taken an inside linebacker. So I've
Speaker 1: seen some good options on the board over the years.
Speaker 1: But once I got into Thursday, and it started with
Speaker 1: my good friend Pete Doherty that was actually his pick
Speaker 1: for the Green Bay Press Gazette. We had talked about
Speaker 1: him a little bit, I started to kind of dive
Speaker 1: into him a little bit more so at the time
Speaker 1: in which the Packers finally did select him, I actually went,
Speaker 1: you know what, that made a lot of sense. This
Speaker 1: guy's a tall, rangy athlete. And when you look at
Speaker 1: what the Packers typically look for in the draft picks one,
Speaker 1: it's athleticism. I mean, you look at all those metrics
Speaker 1: and those new found kind of analytics that that talk
Speaker 1: about the athleticism factor of Green Bay what they look
Speaker 1: for in their picks, but realistically, it's also the application
Speaker 1: of it and what he was able to do in
Speaker 1: George's defense and how he projects at the next level.
Speaker 1: And when I closed my eyes and I start to
Speaker 1: mentally visualize him standing next to deve Andre Campbell, it's
Speaker 1: not even just about the fact that they haven't had
Speaker 1: two linebackers like that, they haven't had two athletes with
Speaker 1: those bills and that kind of sideline to sideline speed
Speaker 1: at least during my time on the beat and extending
Speaker 1: well before that. We can talk about why it too,
Speaker 1: but I mean first and foremost the fact that the
Speaker 1: Packers did finally jump at an inside backer. The more
Speaker 1: you look at the Quay Walker selection, the more it
Speaker 1: made more sense to be Walker is one of these players.
Speaker 1: It's interesting because it happens every year in the draft.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's even with multiple players, where he's a player
Speaker 1: at a certain position where there are other guys in
Speaker 1: the country, and in this case actually another guy on
Speaker 1: his own team at Georgia who got all of the
Speaker 1: all of the accolades, the Butt Kass Award, the you know,
Speaker 1: the postseason honors, all of these kinds of things. There
Speaker 1: were a couple of other guys in this drafted inside
Speaker 1: linebacker who got all of that attention, so they in
Speaker 1: all of the mock drafts and and all of the
Speaker 1: analysts were putting those guys up there as first round
Speaker 1: draft picks. Then as you got to the last few
Speaker 1: days before the draft, suddenly this name kay Walker started
Speaker 1: popping up. And the way it's portrayed in the media is, oh,
Speaker 1: Kwaywalker is rising up draft boards. Well, no, he's been
Speaker 1: on the draft boards of NFL teams this whole time.
Speaker 1: Where he is it's that reporters and analysts are finding
Speaker 1: out more about what these teams actually think of this guy,
Speaker 1: and so there he's rising on their boards because of
Speaker 1: what they're learning through their channels and connections as to
Speaker 1: what's going on in the actual NFL draft rooms, and
Speaker 1: so as the as the when the draft did arrive
Speaker 1: on Thursday night, there were plenty of people who were
Speaker 1: saying that Kaywalker very likely could be a first round pick,
Speaker 1: and then, as it turned out, the Packers made him
Speaker 1: the first inside linebacker to come off the board. When
Speaker 1: I look at these two picks in tandem, so to speak,
Speaker 1: Walker and Wyatt at twenty two And excuse me, I
Speaker 1: look at these as as companion picks in a sense
Speaker 1: because kway Walker sort of becomes the companion to dev
Speaker 1: Andre Campbell at inside linebacker. With Joe Barry and his
Speaker 1: scheme and wanting to wanting to keep two inside linebackers
Speaker 1: on the field from a matchup perspective as much as possible,
Speaker 1: Davante Wyatt kind of becomes the companion to Kenny Clark.
Speaker 1: The Packers haven't really drafted a defensive lineman with the
Speaker 1: the size, athleticism, pass rush ability, that that whole package
Speaker 1: that Kenny Clark brings. They haven't really drafted a guy
Speaker 1: with that type of profile now until they've drafted Wyatt.
Speaker 1: So it's sort of like I see the middle of
Speaker 1: the Packers defense potentially developing into these two pairs of players,
Speaker 1: the two guys up front, the two at inside linebacker.
Speaker 1: I think that's how they'd like to see it developed. Obviously,
Speaker 1: with these guys being rookies, we just have to see
Speaker 1: exactly how it goes. Absolutely, but why it was the
Speaker 1: one I think I was most excited about, And again
Speaker 1: that's nothing against Walker, but why it's the one that
Speaker 1: I think, even going back to February, I had my
Speaker 1: eye on because I did too, And I'll be honest.
Speaker 1: When the packers did not take Wyat at twenty two,
Speaker 1: and Brian Goudicus Steven said so he thought they had
Speaker 1: probably given up their chance to get him, figuring he
Speaker 1: would go somewhere between twenty two and twenty eight. But
Speaker 1: he was still there at twenty eight, so he took him.
Speaker 1: And when you had Trayvon Walker, you had Jordan Davis.
Speaker 1: Those were two of the guys that I think got
Speaker 1: a lot of the accolades, got a lot of the attention,
Speaker 1: but you can't discount what why It did in that
Speaker 1: Georgia defense and what he sort provided to them. And
Speaker 1: I think there's a reason why when scouts and pundits
Speaker 1: and draft nicks they were talking about this draft, they
Speaker 1: said that this white kid might as might have as
Speaker 1: high and upside as anybody. And when you break down
Speaker 1: the film and when you look at the numbers with
Speaker 1: him a four seven seven forty, that's about a quarter
Speaker 1: of a second faster than what Kenny Clark rant coming
Speaker 1: out of u u c l A six years ago.
Speaker 1: Now he isn't as big as Kenny, but he's not
Speaker 1: that far off. And he's the kind of guy that's
Speaker 1: going to be able to play basically any spot on
Speaker 1: the defensive front, in the defensive line, in any package.
Speaker 1: And ultimately, I think that's what Green Bay really needed, Mike.
Speaker 1: They had defensive linemen that could play in the early downs.
Speaker 1: They had defensive lineman who could play on third down,
Speaker 1: but unlike Clark and unlike Lowry, they didn't have somebody
Speaker 1: that could potentially just be on the field at any
Speaker 1: given time. This allows them to get a deeper rotation
Speaker 1: going on the defensive line while also giving them the
Speaker 1: best middle of a defense that I think they've had
Speaker 1: over the last ten years. I mean, I think you
Speaker 1: would have to go back to two thousand and ten,
Speaker 1: when you know you had the Ryan Picketts and the
Speaker 1: b J Rajis and the Johnny Jollies with you know,
Speaker 1: Nick Barnett behind him, a J Hawk behind him, for
Speaker 1: the last time they've had a unit like this. So
Speaker 1: the kid's gonna need time to develop. He You're not
Speaker 1: gonna be able to expect him to come in. Kenny
Speaker 1: Clark needed time back in two thousand and sixteen. But
Speaker 1: he's a great investment piece at a position in which
Speaker 1: the Packers hadn't invest in anything higher in than a
Speaker 1: third round pick since they drafted Clark six years ago.
Speaker 1: Right exactly. Well, the Packers also took three other players
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of the ball before this draft
Speaker 1: was over, the first one coming at the end of
Speaker 1: the fifth round. South Carolina Eds rusher Kingsley apparently goes
Speaker 1: by j j angabari Um. Now this this is an
Speaker 1: interesting This is an interesting guy because he wasn't somebody
Speaker 1: who statistically jumped off the page in terms of one.
Speaker 1: But you look at what this young man did in
Speaker 1: the COVID shortened season in I believe it was eight
Speaker 1: games for South care Line. He had six sacks and
Speaker 1: three forced fumbles in eight games, and he was first
Speaker 1: team All SEC that season. Now, he didn't stay there
Speaker 1: as first team SEC in one, of course, that's one
Speaker 1: heck of a league in college football, but he still
Speaker 1: was pretty solid in one. And the Packers and Vision
Speaker 1: envisioned this young man not only potentially to help on
Speaker 1: special teams with with with his body type and his speed,
Speaker 1: but at the edge rusher position. We had talked about
Speaker 1: it leading into the draft. You have Preston Smith, you
Speaker 1: have Rashawn Gary. Those are your two starters. The Packers
Speaker 1: are looking for Randy Ramsey to come back from the
Speaker 1: injury that cost him all of last year. They have
Speaker 1: Jonathan Garvin, Ladarius Hamilton's and tipanale I, guys who have
Speaker 1: all shown something. They've all flashed something, and they've they've
Speaker 1: contributed here and there over the course of the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, but none of those guys has really
Speaker 1: established himself as as you know, a Mr. Reliable like Okay,
Speaker 1: this guy's a bona fide proven NFL producer. Right, So
Speaker 1: Anabari gets he gets thrown into that competition right now
Speaker 1: for the number three and four outside linebacker spots in
Speaker 1: in new position coach Jason Rebrovitch's rotation, He's got a
Speaker 1: chance to to make some noise earlier. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: But but those three and four spots at edge rusher
Speaker 1: for the Packers are wide open as far as I
Speaker 1: see it. Yeah, and it's gonna be a long season
Speaker 1: for me going Ignabari and then Rebrovitch back to back
Speaker 1: in terms of trying to make sure I make all
Speaker 1: those pronunciations happen. I'm sure. I'm sure that I've already
Speaker 1: botched him a couple of times. But here's the thing, like,
Speaker 1: and I don't want to oversimplify this thing, but I
Speaker 1: really don't think in Kingsley's case that if this young
Speaker 1: man runs a forty that's maybe point one five seconds faster,
Speaker 1: I think you're looking at definitely a day two pick
Speaker 1: and maybe even bordering on, you know, round one, because
Speaker 1: he has everything else you want. Um As you mentioned,
Speaker 1: the production dipped a bit, but he is what you
Speaker 1: look for when you draw up a three four outside backer.
Speaker 1: He has the size, he has the determination, and I
Speaker 1: think he's going to be able to hold up the
Speaker 1: edge with his strength. It did seem to be the
Speaker 1: slow forty time from from what was out there, that
Speaker 1: that maybe dropped him. That he was he was available
Speaker 1: all the way at the end of the fifth round. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and I'm not discounting that forties don't mean something. Certainly,
Speaker 1: you look at Rashawn Gary three years ago, uh that forty,
Speaker 1: Not that it's everything in his game, but you can
Speaker 1: see that explosivity and it does show up on the field.
Speaker 1: But it also they're not asking this guy to run routes,
Speaker 1: they're asking him to play football, and when you're looking
Speaker 1: about deepening out a rotation, I talked about George Carloftis
Speaker 1: being a guy really had my eye on. I just
Speaker 1: felt like there needed to be somebody that they got
Speaker 1: in this draft that could give them a new option.
Speaker 1: A draft pick, a guy that has some potential, guy
Speaker 1: that has some accolades at the college level, and in
Speaker 1: the bar ig Nick Kingsley really gives you that persp
Speaker 1: active here. I'm really excited about the pick. I'm really
Speaker 1: looking forward to get a chance to meet him. He
Speaker 1: sounds like a really um, you know, affable kid, you know,
Speaker 1: really interesting individual. So his personality obviously is indicative of
Speaker 1: that j J nickname. And I think you know when
Speaker 1: you when you're looking at for packers people and and
Speaker 1: guys that can come in and really gel with the
Speaker 1: locker room. I again, I don't know him, but just
Speaker 1: listen to him talk and learning a little bit about
Speaker 1: his story at South Carolina. He does seem like somebody
Speaker 1: will fit in really well with Preston Smith and Rashaun Garry. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: then in the seventh round to other defenders who were
Speaker 1: added both of them where the term size uh jumps
Speaker 1: out at you. Trek Carpenter six ft three, two thirty
Speaker 1: pounds safety, maybe a hybrid safety linebacker type. And then
Speaker 1: also on Um Carpenter from Georgia Tech. And then on
Speaker 1: the defensive line Jonathan Ford thirty pound I believe six
Speaker 1: five if I remember correctly, six five, three thirty defensive
Speaker 1: lineman from Miami. Carpenter certainly a guy that I think
Speaker 1: the Packers are looking at to see what he might
Speaker 1: be able to bring to special teams for the return
Speaker 1: and the coverage units with that, with that body type,
Speaker 1: Ford is uh just another classic run plugger, right. I
Speaker 1: mean whether you whether you grab a guy like Tyler
Speaker 1: Lancaster is an undrafted free agent or a three thirty
Speaker 1: pound defensive lineman uh in you know, late in the
Speaker 1: seventh round of the draft, kind of the same, the
Speaker 1: same type of thing in terms of what you're looking
Speaker 1: for that guy to do. Can you move him? Is
Speaker 1: the question? And not? And obviously it's more it's bigger
Speaker 1: than that, and Jerry mccomill be the first one to
Speaker 1: tell you that. But what I look at when I
Speaker 1: see Jonathan Ford is this is a man that if
Speaker 1: he gets his pad level where it needs to be,
Speaker 1: he is going to be, uh, just a roadblock for
Speaker 1: offensive lineman to be able to get off his spot
Speaker 1: because he has everything. He has the size. You know,
Speaker 1: I think you look at his time, you know at
Speaker 1: Miami that the tackle numbers probably weren't as high as
Speaker 1: you think they would be for a guy that that's
Speaker 1: played in fifty games, started thirty games, but you know,
Speaker 1: as as good a consent after the draft, you know,
Speaker 1: he thinks this guy, even though he's a little bit older,
Speaker 1: still has his best football ahead of him, still has
Speaker 1: some room to grow. And getting him in that line
Speaker 1: with those offensive linemen, uh, defensive lineman, excuse me, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of you know, determination and being able to
Speaker 1: really kind of figure out the next step there. I
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna learn a lot from that group.
Speaker 1: Carpet is a guy I'm really excited about because I
Speaker 1: think it goes beyond just the defense. Yes, six ft
Speaker 1: three two and thirty pounds, that's an interesting body type
Speaker 1: a lot, and I actually think his pro day kind
Speaker 1: of wild some people. I mean, the kid didn't get
Speaker 1: a combined invite, but at his pro day, I mean
Speaker 1: I think he was running in the four fives. I
Speaker 1: mean he put up he put up some some intriguing
Speaker 1: numbers for a guy that could potentially be a linebacker. Um,
Speaker 1: the Packers are going to start him here at safety,
Speaker 1: but let's be honest. I mean, for a seventh round
Speaker 1: pick coming in here, his his first goal is going
Speaker 1: to be special teams. And when you think about special teamers,
Speaker 1: Mike I wrote about this an Insider Inbox this week.
Speaker 1: On paper, this guy reminds me a lot of Sean
Speaker 1: Richardson and Shawn's a kid that he would have played
Speaker 1: in this league a lot longer than he did and
Speaker 1: had it not been for the neck injuries. But when
Speaker 1: the Packers signed him out of h Vanderbilt, he was
Speaker 1: the safety. When Casey Hayward was there, he was kind
Speaker 1: of an afterthought. But at six ft two two twenty pounds,
Speaker 1: he brought them something on special teams because you can
Speaker 1: use that type of body type, that type of speed,
Speaker 1: and so many different capacities. Uh that That's what I'm
Speaker 1: looking for from Carpenter. Can he be that type of player,
Speaker 1: because if he can, there's a lot of money to
Speaker 1: be made in this league as far as that being
Speaker 1: your launching off point. Yeah, I thought the comp you
Speaker 1: made with Richardson was was a good one. And you know,
Speaker 1: Richardson was an undrafted player and uh Carpenter, you know,
Speaker 1: a late seventh round guy. So I want to shift
Speaker 1: to the offensive side of the ball. But we'll take
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Speaker 1: And if I may eat nig Bari Barnel, It's gonna
Speaker 1: be a hard one. I'm gonna go home at night,
Speaker 1: kind of like when you used to be doing, like
Speaker 1: keep preparing for your spelling b or whatever at school.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna sit there and just keep writing that
Speaker 1: out and spelling it. Yeah, Nigar nig Bari. On the
Speaker 1: offensive side, as we mentioned, the Packers obviously used their
Speaker 1: two first round picks on the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: They went into the second round of the draft on
Speaker 1: Friday night with picks at number fifty three and number
Speaker 1: fifty nine, and surprise, two picks into the action on
Speaker 1: Friday night, the Packers were on the board because Brian
Speaker 1: Goodacuts decided a package both of those second round picks
Speaker 1: in the fifties to move all the way up to
Speaker 1: number thirty four to select Christian Watson, the wide receiver
Speaker 1: out of North Dakota State. Your initial impressions of the
Speaker 1: move and the price the Packers paid to get this year?
Speaker 1: You remember what I said in box last week? You
Speaker 1: had to edit it. You remember my line, I don't
Speaker 1: remember exactly. I liked him as a first round pick.
Speaker 1: I loved him as a second round back because I
Speaker 1: thought that's where the value was. And it's funny because
Speaker 1: we talked on this show about, you know, would the
Speaker 1: Packers trade to the thirty six spot, you know, high
Speaker 1: in the second round, which was the spot where they
Speaker 1: got Jordy Nelson. What would that be fourteen years ago now?
Speaker 1: Jordy Nelson being drafted thirty six overall in two thousand
Speaker 1: and eight, but close enough, right, number thirty, number thirty
Speaker 1: four and the Packers once again draft a second round receive.
Speaker 1: And I've said this before, but I truly mean it.
Speaker 1: I feel like this guy, Christian Watson, was a lot
Speaker 1: more like those first six receivers that got taken in
Speaker 1: the top eighteen than the six that got taken immediately
Speaker 1: after him in the second round. He has everything you want.
Speaker 1: Six ft four pounds, runs a four three six forty
Speaker 1: I think somewhere around thirty eight and a half inch
Speaker 1: vertical if I got that number right. The kid is
Speaker 1: an athlete. He scores above the off the arts. I
Speaker 1: think in terms of the receiver position, one of the
Speaker 1: most athletic receivers and players at the Packers have taken
Speaker 1: in the modern era. When you look at all of
Speaker 1: his scores. And here's the other thing. He is a
Speaker 1: fast climber and a kid that had a late growth spurt.
Speaker 1: And I feel like this is going to be the
Speaker 1: type of player that's going to come into Green Bay
Speaker 1: is really going to benefit from the veteran leadership around him.
Speaker 1: North Dakota State. The guy was a big playmaker downfield
Speaker 1: target and there is a huge catch radius to work
Speaker 1: off of. Rome will not be built in a day.
Speaker 1: We know how things go with receivers in Green Bay,
Speaker 1: but in terms of finally getting that prospect, I know,
Speaker 1: I know it wasn't a first rounder or whatever, but
Speaker 1: this kid has what you look for when you talk
Speaker 1: about the lineage of Randall cop Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson,
Speaker 1: DeVante Adams in the second round, he has all the
Speaker 1: measurables to be the next great one. Yeah. To me,
Speaker 1: it's interesting how this played out, and the fans have
Speaker 1: been asking an inbox you know, well, it sounds like
Speaker 1: the packers sure gave up a lot to get that
Speaker 1: thirty four pick and all of that, and that is
Speaker 1: certainly true. I mean, the trade charts say that the
Speaker 1: Vikings won the trade. And but here's the thing, Brian
Speaker 1: Goodacunts knows that he knows what the numbers are going
Speaker 1: to say, right, So so how so how do you
Speaker 1: have I think what you have to do is you
Speaker 1: have you have to evaluate it from our outside perspective.
Speaker 1: To say that just tells you how much Brian Goodakuns
Speaker 1: liked this young man and wanted this young man to
Speaker 1: be his receiver selection in this draft. I totally agree
Speaker 1: with you with what you said about the guys who
Speaker 1: were drafted in the first round, because there were six
Speaker 1: receivers taken in a span of eleven picks from number
Speaker 1: eight to number eighteen in the first round, those eleven picks,
Speaker 1: six receivers were taken. The Packers were there at twenty two.
Speaker 1: None of those top six guys fell to Green Bay
Speaker 1: at twenty two, and Goodacunts did not make a move
Speaker 1: up in order to get one. The Packers sat with
Speaker 1: the two picks. In the fifties, we saw a handful
Speaker 1: of receivers get picked in the fifties, like right in
Speaker 1: that range. Goudacounts knew he could have gotten one of
Speaker 1: those guys and maybe even gotten two of them. Were
Speaker 1: gotten one of those guys and an extra player if
Speaker 1: he stays with his two picks in the fifties. He
Speaker 1: didn't want to do that. Why because he liked this
Speaker 1: guy as much as as much as he does. And
Speaker 1: I think that's I think that's how you have to
Speaker 1: look at it now. As you said, Rome won't be
Speaker 1: built in a day. In terms of Christian Watson's NFL
Speaker 1: career in this Matt Lafleur offense with Aaron Rodgers and
Speaker 1: everything else, but This was This was the guy that
Speaker 1: the Packers had when those first six were gone by
Speaker 1: the eight pick. This was the guy the Packers had
Speaker 1: who was far and away the best receiver prospect in
Speaker 1: their minds and Brian Goodacoon's. He didn't care that the
Speaker 1: charts were gonna say he lost the trade to the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings. He wanted his guy. He was going to
Speaker 1: make sure that he got him and uh and and
Speaker 1: to get him in here with Al Lazard, Randall Cobs,
Speaker 1: Sammy Watkins and uh and see what he can do
Speaker 1: in this offense, not only in the beginning but over
Speaker 1: the course of time, because we all we've all seen
Speaker 1: what did Jordy Nelson do over time? What did Randall Cobb,
Speaker 1: What did Davante Adams do? None of those guys set
Speaker 1: the world on fire as rookies. Necessarily, this guy, Christian Watson,
Speaker 1: is going to have the opportunity as a rookie that
Speaker 1: those other guys didn't have because of the way the
Speaker 1: receiver room was constructed when they arrived. The Packers are
Speaker 1: in a different place at wide receiver. He's going to
Speaker 1: have the opportunity to do both, to show what he
Speaker 1: can do as a young man and what he can
Speaker 1: do down the road. We know how we do three
Speaker 1: things with Larry right, I'm gonna give you three things
Speaker 1: right now. Number one, if you mocked Christian Watson to
Speaker 1: the Packers in the first round at twenty two or
Speaker 1: you do not have a say. And if the Packers
Speaker 1: gave up too much to take him in the second round,
Speaker 1: I'm telling you that right now, there's been way too
Speaker 1: much of this. Did they give up too much for him?
Speaker 1: You guys wanted to take him at twenty two? How
Speaker 1: is that giving up too much for him? They got
Speaker 1: to other prospects? Still? Okay? Moving on from that, this guy, Mike,
Speaker 1: in terms of the receiver position, when you ask about opportunities,
Speaker 1: you want opportunities coming in the National Football League for
Speaker 1: Christian Watson, the six returning veterans and the other two
Speaker 1: rookies that they took. They took that we'll talk about
Speaker 1: here momentarily. There's nine guys that are either been drafted
Speaker 1: in the NFL or played in NFL games right now
Speaker 1: on the roster. That is a golden opportunity. It's a
Speaker 1: golden opportunity to make this fifty three. It's a golden
Speaker 1: opportunity to start week one. You play this game for
Speaker 1: chances to to solidify yourself, to prove yourself, to to
Speaker 1: show everybody you are what you personally believed you are.
Speaker 1: There were a lot of years in Green Bay where
Speaker 1: you knew going into the season it's gonna be Jordy Nelson,
Speaker 1: Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, James Jones, flip those two depending
Speaker 1: on what you're you're looking at, and then that's where
Speaker 1: a bulk of the eleven personnel, it's where a bulk
Speaker 1: of the snaps are going to go. If any young
Speaker 1: guy or you know, even a veteran plays well in
Speaker 1: training camp, looks good during the off season, program shows
Speaker 1: out during preseason, you're going to play this year and
Speaker 1: that has to be motivating. If that doesn't motivate you,
Speaker 1: nothing well. Because as much as everybody wants to talk
Speaker 1: about the Packers don't have receivers whatever, this is a
Speaker 1: chance once that game one starts to game seventeen to
Speaker 1: show everyone that the Packers receiving corps is who they
Speaker 1: thought they were. Well, and the Packers didn't stop there,
Speaker 1: of course, a wide receiver Brian goodakunst adding two more
Speaker 1: before the end of the draft, he gets Romeo Dobbs
Speaker 1: from Nevada in the fourth round, some more Toure from
Speaker 1: Nebraska by way of Montana in the seventh round. And
Speaker 1: both of these guys was really interesting prospects in my
Speaker 1: mind because certainly Dobbs and there was there's been all
Speaker 1: this confusion as to whether it's pronounced Dobbs or dubs
Speaker 1: and apparently both. Yeah, he's actually fine with both because
Speaker 1: apparently Dubbs was kind of a name. Dobbs is what
Speaker 1: he says is the way it's supposed to be pronounced,
Speaker 1: but he really doesn't care either way, but not exactly,
Speaker 1: but anyway, so we'll go with Dobbs. But another guy
Speaker 1: with the size that the packers look for at the
Speaker 1: position right six ft two, about two hundred pounds. But
Speaker 1: also the production was there. This is you know, yes
Speaker 1: it's the Mountain West Conference, not a Power five league,
Speaker 1: but back to back thousand yards seasons for this young
Speaker 1: man out of Nevada. And then you look at tour A.
Speaker 1: He came originally from the FCS from Montana, where he
Speaker 1: had like off the chart numbers like four some yards,
Speaker 1: I mean, just had a decorated career for three years
Speaker 1: at Montana, then lost the season to COVID because the
Speaker 1: FCS schools did not play in So then he decides
Speaker 1: for one final year of eligibility to go to Nebraska
Speaker 1: to challenge himself in the Big Ten. And he produces.
Speaker 1: He did produces on a Nebraska team to to UH
Speaker 1: to then you know, to raise his stock, raise his
Speaker 1: profile to where then he does get drafted in the
Speaker 1: seventh round as opposed to having to wait for um
Speaker 1: for a free agent contract. But um, but these two uh,
Speaker 1: these two receivers very interesting prospects. And I'm I'm really curious.
Speaker 1: I'm really curious about Dobbs because this is a guy
Speaker 1: that I'll be honest, I didn't really know much about.
Speaker 1: I hadn't paid that much attention to as many of
Speaker 1: the receiver prospects in the middle rounds. But you look
Speaker 1: at what he did, you look at what he did
Speaker 1: in the college game, and you look at the size,
Speaker 1: speed combination, it seems like it's it's it's the kind
Speaker 1: of guy that that the Packers field can fit in
Speaker 1: pretty well. Yeah, and in the Mouth West Conference. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a good brand of football. But for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's because of the time change
Speaker 1: or what. We don't really get a chance to watch
Speaker 1: a lot of it, you know. I mean I remember
Speaker 1: even when I was at Boise State was in its
Speaker 1: big runs, Like just trying to find a way to
Speaker 1: watch them was kind of difficult. So yeah, I can't
Speaker 1: lie to you either and sit here and tell you
Speaker 1: that I've watched a lot of at A wolf Pack football.
Speaker 1: But when you do take a look again, like I said,
Speaker 1: I think I mentioned as an inbox around the show,
Speaker 1: when when these things get done, that's when I really
Speaker 1: do like to sit down and kind of not try
Speaker 1: to guess what GUDA constant scouts are gonna do, but
Speaker 1: try to start to understand why they did it. And
Speaker 1: and that's why with Dobbs it makes so much sense
Speaker 1: in terms of the guy. The guy hit the markers.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously he's a fourth round pick, but his production,
Speaker 1: that's no accident. I mean, this is a guy that
Speaker 1: really trusted his process in Nevada and then when it
Speaker 1: was time for him to be the lead dog, he
Speaker 1: did it, and he did it at extremely high level.
Speaker 1: Two Ray for a seventh round pick, is actually probably
Speaker 1: one of the more interesting players that I can remember
Speaker 1: the Packers taking because this is a guy that you
Speaker 1: don't really know what to think, you know, when guys
Speaker 1: come out of the FCS. We just talked about it,
Speaker 1: you know, with with Watson too, you know there's a
Speaker 1: there's a difference in competition, but he did challenge himself.
Speaker 1: He went to Nebraska, he led the big ten nineteen
Speaker 1: point five yards per catch last seas and he was
Speaker 1: a big play target and they moved him all around.
Speaker 1: He's gonna probably be more of a slot guy here,
Speaker 1: but as we learned Mike, that's actually a huge opportunity
Speaker 1: for green Ban I mean, between the pre snap motions,
Speaker 1: between the way that those guys can be utilized. Uh,
Speaker 1: and he's excited to get drafted. The third thing I
Speaker 1: was gonna say before and then I was gonna get
Speaker 1: ahead of myself because we hadn't talked about these two
Speaker 1: receivers yet is the Packers have only a handful of
Speaker 1: occasions over the last twenty years, have dived into a
Speaker 1: skill position group three times, and each time it's produced
Speaker 1: some pretty good results. I mean, it was three day
Speaker 1: three picks in two thousand eighteen, but they did get
Speaker 1: Marcos Velda scantling out of the fifth round, which was
Speaker 1: a tremendous find. They did it three times on Day
Speaker 1: three and two thousand seventeen, and you ended up with
Speaker 1: Aaron Jones and obviously Jamal Williams. The greatest story of
Speaker 1: all is two thousand fourteen because they let it off
Speaker 1: with Davante Adams, and Adams ended up becoming one of
Speaker 1: the greatest receivers of team history. It's not a given
Speaker 1: you're gonna hit on all three. It's not going to
Speaker 1: be a given you hit on any of them, but
Speaker 1: given yourself that many swings at the plate when you
Speaker 1: need a receiver, I they feel like that was a
Speaker 1: strong play here by the Packers, and the Packers also
Speaker 1: we had talked about it going into the draft, looking
Speaker 1: for some depths, some competition along the offensive line. And
Speaker 1: for the third consecutive draft, Brian Goudacun selects three offensive
Speaker 1: lineman he gets h and all of these all of
Speaker 1: these individuals played left tackle primarily to finish their college careers.
Speaker 1: And I'm talking about Sean Ryan from u C. L A,
Speaker 1: who was chosen in the third round on Friday Night,
Speaker 1: and then two picks on Saturday, Zack Tom from Wake
Speaker 1: Forest and Rashid Walker from Penn State. Now, the interesting
Speaker 1: thing is with the first two of these guys, for sure,
Speaker 1: with Ryan and with Tom, there's there's positional versatility, a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of analysts saying that Sean Ryan
Speaker 1: might be a better fit at guard in the NFL
Speaker 1: than at tackle where he played in college. And Tom
Speaker 1: a guy who actually played a lot of different spots,
Speaker 1: including including center or in his in his college career.
Speaker 1: It sounds like Walker is is more of a tackle
Speaker 1: and that's his spots, sort of like Josh Niman when
Speaker 1: they brought him in as an undrafted player a few
Speaker 1: years ago, nobody was really talking about him playing guard,
Speaker 1: like this guy is, this guy's a tackle. But what
Speaker 1: the Packers are setting up here is it's it's going
Speaker 1: to be I think some interesting competition along the offensive line.
Speaker 1: We had talked about sort of how things looked heading
Speaker 1: into the draft. But to me, you know, yes, Yosh
Speaker 1: Naiman I think would be the front runner to start
Speaker 1: at right tackle, but one of these guys might be
Speaker 1: able to push him compete with them. We'll see, you know,
Speaker 1: we'll see how that shakes out. And with the versatility
Speaker 1: of guys like Ryan and Tom. Maybe one of them
Speaker 1: challenges at a guard spot for either Royce Newman or
Speaker 1: John Runyon. I think John Runyon is maybe a little
Speaker 1: more solidified at left guard than Newman is at right guard,
Speaker 1: based on the way last season ended where Runyan was
Speaker 1: playing in the playoffs and when Josh Meyers came back
Speaker 1: at center and they moved Lucas Patrick over to right guard,
Speaker 1: and then Newman became the sixth man for the postseason.
Speaker 1: But I think there's going to be some interesting competition here. Now.
Speaker 1: I would still say the guys who have played in
Speaker 1: the NFL are your front runners. They're the guys that
Speaker 1: you would think would hold onto those spots. But when
Speaker 1: we were doing this show last year, after the Packers
Speaker 1: drafted Royce Newman out of Mississippi in the fourth round,
Speaker 1: I don't think either one of us was sitting here saying, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: that fourth round pick out of Mississippi, he's gonna be
Speaker 1: starting at right guard in Week one, right. Well that's
Speaker 1: how it played out. So we just don't know how
Speaker 1: this is going to go. But the Packers got got
Speaker 1: some big guys up front. The um for the depth
Speaker 1: that they needed based on, you know, having lost Billy Turner,
Speaker 1: Lucas Patrick, not resigning Dennis kelly Um. You know, the
Speaker 1: Packers lost a lot of experience on the offensive line
Speaker 1: in this offseason, and they're they're refortifying that depth chart one,
Speaker 1: two three Brian Goodkin set afterwards. It's about trying to
Speaker 1: find your starting five, and with these moves that Green
Speaker 1: Bay made, they give themselves a bevy of options to
Speaker 1: do that. You talked about last year, not thinking that
Speaker 1: Roy Snum would be playing as much. We didn't know
Speaker 1: that Elton Jenkins was gonna end up being at left tackle.
Speaker 1: We didn't know that when Jenkins went down, it was
Speaker 1: gonna be Yosh Niman eight starts at left tackle. There
Speaker 1: were so many things that I don't think you could
Speaker 1: have prepared for last season that it reiterated why you
Speaker 1: need to have contingency plans. They lost Josh Myers for
Speaker 1: eleven games. Luckily for them, they had put all that time,
Speaker 1: that sweat equity into developing Lucas Patrick as a center. Well,
Speaker 1: when Patrick leaves, now you've got to find guys who
Speaker 1: could potentially play center, especially with Jenkins still on the mend.
Speaker 1: That's where you look at a guy like Zack Tom
Speaker 1: coming in, a guy that has that in his back pocket. Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe doesn't have the traditional, you know, type of size
Speaker 1: you look for in there, but his athleticism. Again, this
Speaker 1: is becoming a common thread here is off the charts.
Speaker 1: Him and Ryan their verticals were the two highest of
Speaker 1: anyone at the NFL scouting combine. Yeah, three pound guys
Speaker 1: putting up like thirtys vertical jumps. That's better than some
Speaker 1: receivers in this draft. Yeah, that's hard. It's hard for
Speaker 1: me to even to even picture that quite Frank. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's pretty remarkable what those guys were able to achieve. So,
Speaker 1: I mean that's explosiveness, that's power. It's being able to
Speaker 1: get underneath the shoulder pads of your opponent. I'm excited
Speaker 1: for them, and honestly, I'm excited for this entire group
Speaker 1: because Packers hope they're going to get in knock On Wood,
Speaker 1: will get Elton Jenkins back at some point this season.
Speaker 1: They want that to be a really difficult decision where
Speaker 1: Elton plays once he's back. You hope everything turns out
Speaker 1: well with David box tr As you know, Brian goodenkods
Speaker 1: has said he thinks that everything is going to be
Speaker 1: fine in that regard. He'll be good to go for
Speaker 1: training camp and we can get this train back on
Speaker 1: the tracks. But they have so many guys, Mike, that
Speaker 1: have played so many different positions, and I can't remember
Speaker 1: the last time they've had what eight nine guys on
Speaker 1: a roster who have all been draft picks, because you
Speaker 1: talked about them taking three straight draft was drafts with
Speaker 1: three straight offensive linemen and they're all basically here. Still,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be really interesting to watch Matt Lafleur and
Speaker 1: his coaching staff Adam Stanovich as offensive coordinator. Luke Buckers
Speaker 1: says the offensive line coach. They would love nothing better
Speaker 1: then for the day that Elton Jenkins is back from
Speaker 1: his knee injury and is ready to play, that it's
Speaker 1: not obvious where he should play right because they have
Speaker 1: they've they've established the depth they have their guys. Elton
Speaker 1: Jenkins is going to play when he's ready to play
Speaker 1: because he's a pro bowler and he can be a
Speaker 1: pro bowler at a number of different positions. But if
Speaker 1: it's not an easy call, that's gonna be a good thing.
Speaker 1: I get a kick out of this too, because you're
Speaker 1: absolutely right about, Hey, where does this guy measure up?
Speaker 1: Should he move inside? Like it's funny you go back
Speaker 1: eight years ago, nine years ago, they were thinking David
Speaker 1: Box was gonna be a center. Not the Packers, but
Speaker 1: some scouts haven't pegged as a center. You never know
Speaker 1: until you know. But the thing that Green Bay has
Speaker 1: done such an exceptional job at is they let him
Speaker 1: go out there and figure it out. Royce Newman ended
Speaker 1: up he wasn't lining up at right guard earlier in
Speaker 1: training camp. Use that right tackle behind Billy Turner. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're I was. I was writing about Newman in the
Speaker 1: spring because when he was drafted it was okay, he's
Speaker 1: a guard tackle prospect. And when I was writing about
Speaker 1: him in the spring and like, oh, it looks like
Speaker 1: Newman is gonna get his first shot at tackle. Well
Speaker 1: by the time by the time training camp rolled around
Speaker 1: and things really got going into the preseason, it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: this guy's got a chance to start at guard as
Speaker 1: as a rookie and week one on a Super Bowl contender.
Speaker 1: So you just don't You just never know. It's called football.
Speaker 1: You have to figure it out, all right. Well, We've
Speaker 1: run pretty long for today. Our producer Marv is gonna
Speaker 1: be mad at me, but anyway, we'll sign off from here.
Speaker 1: We'll talk a little bit more about the draft on
Speaker 1: our next show, but for now, that's a wrap on
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted for West I Am Mike. All kinds of
Speaker 1: coverage of the draft if you didn't see what we
Speaker 1: did over the weekend, and credit to all of our
Speaker 1: team at packers dot com. The video guys are are interns,
Speaker 1: all our technical people. There is so much out there
Speaker 1: on these draft picks on packers dot com. Be sure
Speaker 1: to check it all out. And with that, thank you
Speaker 1: for tuning in everybody. We'll see you next time.