Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford and he is my partner in crime,
Speaker 1: Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here from separate locations
Speaker 1: at Lambeaufield as we reboot Packers Unscripted for twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: Just so you know, the resumption of Zoom is not
Speaker 1: due to COVID or anything else like that. It actually
Speaker 1: has to do with some technical limitations that we're dealing
Speaker 1: with right now. Hopefully they're only temporary, but we don't
Speaker 1: really know for sure how long we will have to
Speaker 1: do the show this way. But with the players returning
Speaker 1: for the offseason program, with the draft less than ten
Speaker 1: days away now, we thought even with the technical limitations,
Speaker 1: we would get the show going again. So welcome back, Weston.
Speaker 1: How are you, my friend?
Speaker 2: I'm doing great spot. You know, it brings back such
Speaker 2: amazing memories of me staring into your living room, you
Speaker 2: staring into my bonus room, and now we get to
Speaker 2: relive it a little bit here on the Zoom technology
Speaker 2: thanks to our producer justin kind of stepping in. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we're gonna do the best we can, but certainly it's
Speaker 2: been an off season of adjustments for the Green Bay Packers. Likewise,
Speaker 2: Packers Unscripted also adjusting.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, And that's what I want to get
Speaker 1: to here with our first show back will be reviewing
Speaker 1: the off season to this point, and then we'll do
Speaker 1: a couple of more shows prior to the first round
Speaker 1: of the draft, and we'll look a little bit more
Speaker 1: at the roster needs and the draft prospects potentially that
Speaker 1: sort of thing. But obviously, the big story of the
Speaker 1: off season so far with the Green Bay Packers is
Speaker 1: that the franchise is moving on to Jordan Love as
Speaker 1: the starting quarterback. Aaron Rodgers is going to be traded,
Speaker 1: as far as we know, to the New York Jets.
Speaker 1: He's expressed his desire to play there. The Packers and
Speaker 1: the Jets have both express their desire to work out
Speaker 1: a deal. That deal has not happened yet yet. We
Speaker 1: don't know if it's going to happen before the draft,
Speaker 1: during the draft, or perhaps after the draft. But you
Speaker 1: said it, Wes, this is going to be a year
Speaker 1: of transition in twenty twenty three for the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 1: There was a pretty big transition offensively last year when
Speaker 1: DeVante Adams was traded in March and there was a
Speaker 1: big shift in how things were going to have to
Speaker 1: work offensively. This is sort of the DeVante Adams transition.
Speaker 1: Transition excuse me times about ten or twenty or maybe
Speaker 1: one hundred when you're talking about changing quarterbacks and moving
Speaker 1: on from the four time MVP. It's going to be
Speaker 1: a very very interesting off season here in Green Bay
Speaker 1: with OTAs about a month and a half away or
Speaker 1: so from getting started.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and let's be honest, Mike, I mean, we knew
Speaker 2: this day was eventually going to come. There was going
Speaker 2: to be a time where you and I were talking
Speaker 2: about a Green Bay Packer squad without Aaron Rodgers as
Speaker 2: their starting quarterback. And as it turned out, this so
Speaker 2: happened to be the off season. And it's something that
Speaker 2: I think from a franchise standpoint, it's been kind of
Speaker 2: leading up to this. Jordan Love was drafted three years ago.
Speaker 2: The Packers traded up to take him out of Utah
Speaker 2: State saw him as a long term prospect, and I
Speaker 2: felt like last season, while the sample size was undoubtedly small,
Speaker 2: we saw the progress in Jordan's game that maybe wasn't
Speaker 2: necessarily there as a rookie, maybe wasn't quite where you
Speaker 2: wanted to be in year two, but year three seemed
Speaker 2: to really be a turning point for him. And from
Speaker 2: the Green Bay Packers perspective, obviously, you know, we don't
Speaker 2: need to go through everything that's been said between Rogers
Speaker 2: and the Packers, but this felt like, from both perspectives,
Speaker 2: the right time to move towards, you know, different directions.
Speaker 2: And obviously you look at what the New York Jets
Speaker 2: have done and where their position to be. I've said
Speaker 2: a time and time again in our Insider Inbox column,
Speaker 2: they are a team that is really just a quarterback
Speaker 2: away from contending. Thought last year that was really the
Speaker 2: only thing that was holding that squad back, So on
Speaker 2: both sides, it does make sense. It just comes down
Speaker 2: to figuring out out the compensatory piece and and figuring
Speaker 2: out exactly, you know, what needs to be given up to,
Speaker 2: you know, transact a deal like this at the scale
Speaker 2: of this, with a four time MVP that is just
Speaker 2: one year removed from going back to back in that category.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you said it. With regard to the Jets, they
Speaker 1: felt like they were on the verge of making the
Speaker 1: playoffs last year sort of collapsed at the end of
Speaker 1: the season. They really felt all the question marks at quarterback.
Speaker 1: You know, we're really what what held them back? And
Speaker 1: so they've they've had their eye on Aaron Rodgers for
Speaker 1: for a while now, really throughout this entire offseason, and
Speaker 1: we don't know everything that has gone on behind the
Speaker 1: scenes with regard to Jordan Love in practice running the
Speaker 1: scout team. You know, we get to see training camp practices,
Speaker 1: we get to see preseason games. We got to see
Speaker 1: that impressive fourth quarter in Philadelphia on in in prime
Speaker 1: time under the lights at Lincoln Financial Field. But but
Speaker 1: it's not just that short you know, as you said,
Speaker 1: small sample size against Philadelphia that gives the Packers the
Speaker 1: confidence that this is the time to move on to
Speaker 1: Jordan Love. It's all the things with regard to practice
Speaker 1: and how he's conducted himself, how he's run things, what
Speaker 1: he's done with those opportunities that give the Packers the
Speaker 1: confidence that now is the time. And you know, we
Speaker 1: could do an entire show on history repeating itself in
Speaker 1: some ways when you talk about the three year timeline
Speaker 1: the New York Jets being the team that the Hall
Speaker 1: of fame quarterback is going to be traded to and
Speaker 1: all that. But we've heard from some of Jordan Love's
Speaker 1: teammates that this sure sounds like very different from two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight, when there was clearly a split amongst
Speaker 1: younger players versus veterans in terms of who's behind Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers or who still wants Brett Favre to stay. And
Speaker 1: I don't want to get into all that. What we've
Speaker 1: heard from the Packers' locker room to this point, and
Speaker 1: this is not kind of knocked against Aaron Rodgers, but
Speaker 1: this is a locker room that's going to be behind
Speaker 1: Jordan Love one hundred percent, and a lot of his
Speaker 1: young teammates certainly believe in him through and through Mike.
Speaker 2: You and I have said this for three years now.
Speaker 2: Jordan Love has done everything right since the moment he
Speaker 2: walked into the building with the Green Bay Packers. The
Speaker 2: fact that the locker room thinks is highly of him
Speaker 2: as they do, the fact that Aaron Rodgers has talked
Speaker 2: about him as glowingly as he has. You know, even
Speaker 2: going back to that interview with Pat McAfee last month,
Speaker 2: you know, he talked about how he thinks he's going
Speaker 2: to be a great quarterback in this league, and he's
Speaker 2: a young guy that you know, Jordan Love could have
Speaker 2: made this so much more difficult than it's been the
Speaker 2: last three years, but he never complained once about the
Speaker 2: situation he was in. He never publicly came out and said, hey,
Speaker 2: I want to be a starting quarterback. I don't I
Speaker 2: want to be this starting quarterback. I'm I'm tired of
Speaker 2: sitting behind Aaron Rodgers. He has literally just been the
Speaker 2: guy he's needed to be when the Packers have needed
Speaker 2: him to be that individual. That's why I kind of
Speaker 2: found it funny when people were making a big deal
Speaker 2: and rightfully so I get it, he's the quarterback. But
Speaker 2: you know, Monday, players reported back for the off season program.
Speaker 2: The video of Jordan Love walking into the building obviously
Speaker 2: drew a lot of eyes, got a lot of engagement
Speaker 2: on Twitter, but the reality is this has been no
Speaker 2: different than the last two years where Jordan Love has
Speaker 2: come in when Aaron Rodgers hasn't been with the team
Speaker 2: and ben the starting quarterback, the quarterback number one in
Speaker 2: these OTA practices, even in a mini camp, mandatory mini
Speaker 2: camp practice, he's been the guy running the show a
Speaker 2: lot of the times. Now he seeded that position to
Speaker 2: Rogers in training camp, but Jordan Love has been preparing
Speaker 2: for this moment, and I think when you hear a
Speaker 2: guy like Aaron Jones talk about this, you know at
Speaker 2: the Packers tailgate tour on the kickoff last week, mentioning
Speaker 2: that the message he wants to convey to Jordan Love
Speaker 2: is we got your back. We are here to play
Speaker 2: for you. If it was Aaron Rodgers, it would be
Speaker 2: the same situation. But letting the young guy know that
Speaker 2: if you are going to be QB one this season,
Speaker 2: we are going to do everything in our power to
Speaker 2: make sure that you're going to be put into a
Speaker 2: position to succeed. And if you're a young guy like
Speaker 2: Jordan Love who's going to have rough patch, who's going
Speaker 2: to make mistakes, that's the best thing you can hear
Speaker 2: that you have a veteran core around you that is
Speaker 2: really ready to rally around your leadership. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. In terms of reviewing the rest of the offseason,
Speaker 1: we'll take a look here at the free agents who
Speaker 1: re signed, the guys who have returned, and then those
Speaker 1: who have departed and give a sense of just where
Speaker 1: where the Packers roster stands in terms of how this
Speaker 1: team is taking shape around Jordan Love. You look at
Speaker 1: the guys that the free agents that have come back West,
Speaker 1: I'll just list them off here, Keyshawn Nixon, Dallan Levitt,
Speaker 1: Eric Wilson, Rudy Ford, Tyler Davis, Corey Ballantine, and Justin Hollins.
Speaker 1: There's a there's a theme to that list of players, right,
Speaker 1: and it's the it's the connection to special teams. What
Speaker 1: the Packers did in turning around their special teams under
Speaker 1: Rich Basaccia his first year as the Packers coordinator last year,
Speaker 1: a guy with multiple decades of experience doing this in
Speaker 1: the league. There was the coaching change last year, there
Speaker 1: was also the philosophical the personnel change in terms of
Speaker 1: the types of players that the Packers want to be
Speaker 1: those core guys on special teams, and they're bringing them
Speaker 1: all back. And obviously at the top of that list
Speaker 1: is Keishawn Nixon. Now, and we'll get into some of
Speaker 1: the guys who left in a little bit. But when
Speaker 1: I took a look as soon as the season ended,
Speaker 1: I took a look at the entire list of the
Speaker 1: Packers pending free agents, Honestly, the guy that was at
Speaker 1: the top of my list that I thought the Packers
Speaker 1: have to bring this guy back, no matter what was
Speaker 1: Keishaw Nixon. I mean what he did for the return game,
Speaker 1: kickoff returns, punt returns, what he what he did on
Speaker 1: defense playing you know, settling in as a very reliable
Speaker 1: nickel corner that that that slot corner position. He became
Speaker 1: a very valuable piece to this team in two phases,
Speaker 1: in a very short amount of time, and that would
Speaker 1: have been a huge loss for the Packers if Keishawn
Speaker 1: Nixon had signed as a free agent elsewhere. I think
Speaker 1: bringing him back was a huge step for twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: even if you know directly he may won't necessarily be
Speaker 1: on the field with Jordan Love, although maybe he will
Speaker 1: be as we hear, you know, the little rumblings about
Speaker 1: him wanting to play offense and Matt Lafleur possibly being
Speaker 1: open to it. But what Keishaw Nixon means to the
Speaker 1: special teams and to this defense moving forward I think
Speaker 1: is huge.
Speaker 2: Well, let's use this as a starting point. Mike. The
Speaker 2: agree with Packers twenty twenty one was not acceptable on
Speaker 2: special teams. They had to change the direction of that unit.
Speaker 2: But they didn't lay it at the feet of one individual. Yes,
Speaker 2: obviously you look at Rich Bisaccia coming in and replacing
Speaker 2: Mo Drayton, but they did it on the personnel side too.
Speaker 2: They've done it with the way in which they've coached
Speaker 2: this thing. You listened to Matt Lafleur last year talking
Speaker 2: about the special Teams design periods that they implemented last
Speaker 2: year for that very reason to get more out of
Speaker 2: that unit. When you look at the strides they've made
Speaker 2: and also the transition the Packers are going to make
Speaker 2: offensively this year, you could not be in a position
Speaker 2: where you have question marks with special teams. You need
Speaker 2: to take the personnel. You had, the guys that contributed
Speaker 2: to that turnaround, and you need to keep them in
Speaker 2: this building because now you're going to have a young
Speaker 2: influx of players coming in who are going to learn
Speaker 2: underneath those trees with Rich Bisacia with his assistance, also
Speaker 2: with these players coming back like your down Levitts, your
Speaker 2: Ruby Ford's and as you were pointing out Keishawn Nixon.
Speaker 2: In my mind, Mike, to see the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 2: go on a twelve month span from a kickoff return
Speaker 2: and a punt return unit in which people legitimately were
Speaker 2: nervous when the ball is being kicked to Green Bay,
Speaker 2: you were kind of worried that there was going to
Speaker 2: be a muff punt, there was going to be some
Speaker 2: kind of negative play that was going to impact the
Speaker 2: rest of that game. Not only did Kishawn Nixon eliminate
Speaker 2: those fears, he completely turned it around on the other
Speaker 2: side of things, where now the Packers' special teams, the Packers'
Speaker 2: return units are the ones making the play, and he
Speaker 2: built up every single week. People forget this is a
Speaker 2: guy that really hadn't done a lot of kickoff returning
Speaker 2: in the NFL. He obviously did it in Juco, he
Speaker 2: hadn't been punt returning really at all until they put
Speaker 2: him in there mid season, and in both phases he
Speaker 2: played fearlessly, he played tenacious, and he was able to
Speaker 2: be a big time playmaker for them, the biggest moment
Speaker 2: of all obviously coming in Miami and then Minnesota back
Speaker 2: to back at the end of the season. Keishawn Nixon
Speaker 2: is a heck of a football player, and you can
Speaker 2: tell how seriously the Green Bay Packers are taking his
Speaker 2: playmaking potential by basically saying yes. In addition to the
Speaker 2: special team stuff, this guy's going to be the nickel
Speaker 2: going into the offseason program. He has to hold on
Speaker 2: to that position. He has to prove that he can
Speaker 2: grow into that spot. But the Packers are going to
Speaker 2: open up every door possible for Keishawn Nixon to be
Speaker 2: a playmaker in multiple phases.
Speaker 1: Yeah, first team All Pro as a kickoff returner and
Speaker 1: really didn't necessarily take over the job full time until
Speaker 1: close to halfway through the season last year. So just
Speaker 1: a tremendous year and it's a it's it's a tremendous
Speaker 1: resigning for the Packers to bring him back. The other
Speaker 1: one I want to mention, in addition to all those
Speaker 1: special teams guys, that was a little bit under the
Speaker 1: radar before we move on to the guys that departed
Speaker 1: and looking at the roster, but the Packers were able
Speaker 1: to bring back Justin Hollins at outside linebacker. And this
Speaker 1: is a young man claimed on waivers from the Rams Tour.
Speaker 1: Actually I think it was even beyond the midway point
Speaker 1: of last season, but in a short time in Green
Speaker 1: Bay made a pretty strong impression as to what he
Speaker 1: could bring to this defense and what he could do
Speaker 1: for Joe Barry, and with you know, the uncertainty surrounding
Speaker 1: exactly when Rashaun Gary will be back from the ACL injury,
Speaker 1: the fact that you have Preston Smith and then a
Speaker 1: fifth round pick from last year kings Leyanni bari As
Speaker 1: as two of your top outside rushers right now, bringing
Speaker 1: back a guy like Hollinds just for that depth piece,
Speaker 1: you know, to be able to play, you know, even
Speaker 1: if it ends up only being twenty or twenty five
Speaker 1: snaps a game or something, and maybe it'll be more
Speaker 1: than that, depending on Gary's situation. We'll have to see.
Speaker 1: But I thought that was I thought that was a
Speaker 1: really like sneaky good move by Green Bay to get
Speaker 1: him back, considering the impression he made in that small
Speaker 1: sample size late last season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was sort of an emblematic of a
Speaker 2: lot of the moves the Packers made this offseason, in
Speaker 2: which yes, it made total sense for the Packers, but
Speaker 2: it also made sense for the player too. I mean,
Speaker 2: justin Hollins even said it, you know, the Rams letting
Speaker 2: him go last season. I think even in the quote
Speaker 2: that Sean McVay said, they want to give him a
Speaker 2: chance to sort of catch on somewhere else or prove
Speaker 2: himself elsewhere, and he did that in Green Bay. And
Speaker 2: I feel like with Rashaan Geary, you know what ecl
Speaker 2: injuries are like, you know for sure you're probably not
Speaker 2: gonna have him at the beginning of training camp. You
Speaker 2: have to be able to give yourself some breathing room there.
Speaker 2: So Yeah, Kingsleyanninkbari JJ the guy I thought played exceptionally
Speaker 2: well as a rookie. He contributed in ways I did
Speaker 2: not anticipate him to contribute right off the bat because
Speaker 2: of Gary's injury. But it was Justin Hollins that came
Speaker 2: in and filled out that edge rusting rotation down the stretch.
Speaker 2: Preston Smith can play seventy eighty percent of the defensive snaps.
Speaker 2: He's shown even at thirty years old, he has no
Speaker 2: problem doing that. But you needed to be able to
Speaker 2: have another veteran presence in there. The year earlier, it
Speaker 2: was Whitney Merciless. Last year it was Justin Hollins. I
Speaker 2: would imagine, Mike, when you and I are doing our
Speaker 2: preview for the draft next week and in these next
Speaker 2: episodes to come, We're going to be talking a lot
Speaker 2: about edge rushers, but we know how this game is played.
Speaker 2: You need guys that know the defense. You need guys
Speaker 2: that have some veteran knack to them, and Justin Hollins
Speaker 2: checks both of those boxes with his past experience with
Speaker 2: Joe Barry, and I think it made a lot of
Speaker 2: sense on numerous amount of levels as he's also not
Speaker 2: only the Green Bay Packers, but Justin Hollins is looking
Speaker 2: to put himself in a better position next year as
Speaker 2: a free agent.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no question about it. Well, before I forget here
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Speaker 2: Billy steak sub Mike. That's my advice for you. Go home,
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Speaker 1: So you're saying I don't have to go to Philly
Speaker 1: like we did last novembery No.
Speaker 2: And this one's actually better, not even lying, not even lying.
Speaker 1: All right, Good to hear, good to hear.
Speaker 2: Well, you use real cheese, not something out of a can.
Speaker 1: Well in Wisconsin. You have to do that, right, Come on. Well,
Speaker 1: looking at the rest of the free agent picture, four
Speaker 1: veterans who remain unsigned at this point, Mercedes Lewis, Randall Cobb,
Speaker 1: Mason Crosby, and Adrian Amos have not signed with anybody,
Speaker 1: the Packers or any other team at that point. So
Speaker 1: very much in wait and see mode as far as
Speaker 1: as far as those guys are concerned. Free agents who
Speaker 1: departed again, I will just list them off Dean Lowry,
Speaker 1: Jaron Reid, Al Mazzard, Robert Tunyan, and Chris Barnes. Starting
Speaker 1: with those first two on the defensive line, Dean Lowry,
Speaker 1: Jaron Reid. Lowry goes to NFC North rival Minnesota. Jared
Speaker 1: Reid goes back to where it all began. I guess
Speaker 1: you might say with the Seattle Seahawks, and it puts
Speaker 1: it puts an interesting spotlight on the Packers defensive line,
Speaker 1: no question about it, because a guy like Lowry, you know,
Speaker 1: six years if I have the math right, No, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: seven years, seven years, yeah.
Speaker 2: Six seven years on the calendar.
Speaker 1: Yeah, seven years, seven seasons in the in the on
Speaker 1: the Packers defensive line. Jaron Reid a free agent acquisition
Speaker 1: from a year ago who came in and made an
Speaker 1: impact as well. Two big holes there, But I think
Speaker 1: the Packers letting them go is a sign, more than
Speaker 1: anything else, that they are going to be counting on TJ. Slayton,
Speaker 1: fifth round draft pick from a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: and Davante Wyatt, a first round pick out of Georgia
Speaker 1: a year ago, to step up and play significantly larger
Speaker 1: roles on this defensive front in twenty twenty three, along
Speaker 1: with whoever else might be brought in via the draft.
Speaker 1: And we'll get to that on some upcoming shows. But
Speaker 1: this is going to be about Slayton and Wyatt on
Speaker 1: the defensive line and those guys stepping forward into a
Speaker 1: level of responsibility they haven't quite seen yet in the NFL.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then the other guy too that The other
Speaker 2: one I want to mention is Chris Slayton. He was
Speaker 2: on the practice squad all of last season, but the
Speaker 2: Packers have had him around for a while and he's
Speaker 2: actually sort of a veteran interested to see what kind
Speaker 2: of opportunities might they be there for him as well.
Speaker 2: But to your point, Mike, I'm actually very intrigued and
Speaker 2: excited about this defensive line for as much uncertainty as
Speaker 2: there is outside of Kenny Clark. And the big reason
Speaker 2: for that is I think the Packers needed to mix
Speaker 2: it up a little bit. Dean was a great player
Speaker 2: for this team for a number of years. I thought
Speaker 2: Jaron Reid had some moments last year, especially down the stretch.
Speaker 2: But you know, we know what the run defense has
Speaker 2: been like the past few seasons. We know some of
Speaker 2: the issues that Green Bay has had and sort of
Speaker 2: the inconsistency of it, and I'm excited to see what
Speaker 2: a DeVante Wyatt can bring, what maybe TJ. Slayton can
Speaker 2: offer in an expanded role. Can he improve enough, Can
Speaker 2: he show enough as a one technique to maybe be
Speaker 2: a little bit more fluid with how they use Kenny Clark.
Speaker 2: Because as much as We've talked about Kenny and reducing
Speaker 2: some of the snaps and changing his role up a
Speaker 2: little bit. It's basically every season come back to him
Speaker 2: having to play the nose tackle position because he's the
Speaker 2: most surest guy in there. Even though he's probably not
Speaker 2: as big as most no those tackles, especially in a
Speaker 2: three to four front, Kenny has had to kind of
Speaker 2: weather those storms. Can t J. Slayton show that he
Speaker 2: can be that guy, because structurally physically he definitely fits
Speaker 2: the bill with his size. DeVante Wyatt, I look at
Speaker 2: him in the same breath that I look at Rashaun
Speaker 2: Gary from a couple of years ago. This is a
Speaker 2: guy that virtually redshirted that first year, didn't get a
Speaker 2: whole lot of opportunities behind that experience, behind the fact
Speaker 2: that TJ. Slat was basically the next guy up in
Speaker 2: the rotation. But Whyatt has a first round pedigree and
Speaker 2: if you look at his story going back to Georgia,
Speaker 2: there are a lot of parallels there with how he's
Speaker 2: going to be used this year in Green Bay. He's
Speaker 2: going to see a significant bump in his spike of
Speaker 2: his playing time. Can his play go along with that?
Speaker 2: Matt Lafleur said it when we were down at the
Speaker 2: NFL Owners meetings. It is going to be a challenge
Speaker 2: for him to make sure he knows his cues, knows
Speaker 2: that he's not giving away any any tendencies to the
Speaker 2: opposing offensive line. Athletically, there is nothing to question there
Speaker 2: with Devonte White. The kid can be a playmaker. You
Speaker 2: saw that in the season finale against Detroit. It's going
Speaker 2: to be all the little things at this level. If
Speaker 2: he can look to master and if he does, Packers
Speaker 2: have a lot of potential. I like where that group
Speaker 2: is going, if why it can live up to that
Speaker 2: first round potential.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I like what you said too about TJ.
Speaker 1: Slayton potentially taking on more of that that anchor in
Speaker 1: the middle, Because if TJ. Slayton can can take over
Speaker 1: a little bit more of that anchor role in the middle,
Speaker 1: that's going to allow you to move Kenny Clark around
Speaker 1: and try to get a certain matchups right against certain
Speaker 1: guards or you know, lining up in certain positions. If
Speaker 1: Kenny Clark always has to be that guy in the middle,
Speaker 1: you're not playing a matchup game. You're just playing this
Speaker 1: is where you know he has to he has to
Speaker 1: fit right now. So I'm sure that's something that that
Speaker 1: clerk will potentially look forward to forward.
Speaker 2: I don't have this well, I don't have the Saber
Speaker 2: metrics in front of me, Mike, but I did see
Speaker 2: a lot of the analytics at the end of last season.
Speaker 2: The amount of double teams that Kenny has seen last year,
Speaker 2: the year before that.
Speaker 1: Is it went when when has he not except for
Speaker 1: maybe his rookie season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that has been the big challenge for him,
Speaker 2: is just trying to find that that piece next to
Speaker 2: him that can alleviate some of that. They had it
Speaker 2: with Rashaun Gary, they had it, you know, with with
Speaker 2: President Smith. But it's been that fourth guy, uh in
Speaker 2: that spot, and uh, I'm very intrigued to see what
Speaker 2: potentially he could do with uh, you know, maybe a
Speaker 2: little bit more of a presence there inside. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, on the pass catching side of things, Alan Lazard
Speaker 1: goes to the New York Jets, Robert Tunyan goes to
Speaker 1: the NFC North rival Chicago Bears, and h both of
Speaker 1: those moves signal you know, yet another uh sea change
Speaker 1: so to speak, here in Green Bay at those position groups.
Speaker 1: Because with Lazard gone Randall Cobb unsigned. The torch is
Speaker 1: officially I guess you could say being passed now to
Speaker 1: the the two top rookies from that group last year,
Speaker 1: Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs are are now going to
Speaker 1: be uh going to be the leaders in that receiver room.
Speaker 1: And and then with Marcedes Lewis unsigned and and Tnyan
Speaker 1: moving on, it's it's Josiah Deguara and Tyler Davis right
Speaker 1: now who are the leaders in the tight end room now.
Speaker 1: I would think the Packers are going to be looking at,
Speaker 1: obviously bolstering both of those positions in the draft. But
Speaker 1: we could probably do an entire show on the potential
Speaker 1: that Christian Watson showed just in you know, a month,
Speaker 1: month and a half span of time last season. The
Speaker 1: fact that he is now going to be the number
Speaker 1: one receiver on this offense heading into his second year.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's a surprise at all based on
Speaker 1: what we saw the second half of last season.
Speaker 2: Now and you're seeing more and more of these young
Speaker 2: guys coming down and knocking the doors off the hinges,
Speaker 2: you know when you look at you know, Justin Jefferson,
Speaker 2: and even last year with Garrett Wilson, Jamar Chase guys
Speaker 2: Jamar Chase Christian plays the entire year. If he had
Speaker 2: a first half like he had his second half, he
Speaker 2: would have been in line for a thousand yard season
Speaker 2: and you know, ten touchdowns. So that is exciting to me.
Speaker 2: The fact that he had fourteen career games played is
Speaker 2: now the most experienced receiver on this roster, I think
Speaker 2: is incredible. Jeff Cotton, who they signed in January off
Speaker 2: the street, He's the oldest receiver in that room right now.
Speaker 2: But you know, as much as the Packers have talked
Speaker 2: about adding a veteran there, Mike, I'll be honest with you,
Speaker 2: I look at the landscape. I don't really know what's
Speaker 2: out there. Every time I look at a sheet that
Speaker 2: is like, hey, what are the top veteran receivers available,
Speaker 2: It kind of looks like Randall Cobb. It kind of
Speaker 2: looks like, you know, some of these guys that you
Speaker 2: know they did the Sammy Watkins deal last year. So
Speaker 2: I don't really know where they go in that regard,
Speaker 2: but certainly I think the potential of that group is
Speaker 2: really high. It's just a matter of filling out the
Speaker 2: rest of that depth chart. If you lose a Watson,
Speaker 2: if you lose a Dobbs, making sure you have some
Speaker 2: other young guys that can step up into those roles.
Speaker 2: Certainly they added bow Melton at the end of last season.
Speaker 2: Samori Ture came in had some moments as a seventh
Speaker 2: round pick. But it's going to be interesting how that goes.
Speaker 2: Credit to both Watson and Dobbs. Both of those guys
Speaker 2: did spend some time out in California with Jordan Love.
Speaker 2: Dobbs actually we trained with them what sounds like quite
Speaker 2: a bit in California and some of their downtime here
Speaker 2: Aaron Jones went out there. The Packers young guys and
Speaker 2: even a veteran like Jones, they're making sure that they
Speaker 2: get those extra reps in with Jordan Love. I thought
Speaker 2: that says a lot about them. Tight End Tyler Davis
Speaker 2: is in the same position right now in twenty twenty
Speaker 2: three that Robert Tunyan was in twenty twenty. It's one
Speaker 2: of the stories I wrote earlier this offseason. If you
Speaker 2: look at their trajectories, their ages, everything, even going back
Speaker 2: to them being former college quarterbacks, they've gone along the
Speaker 2: same lines. The only difference with Davis is I think
Speaker 2: he fits the bill a little bit more as an
Speaker 2: inline tight end threat. He had some down moments in
Speaker 2: the preseason last year. Certainly it ended up being on
Speaker 2: the back of his special teams work that he made
Speaker 2: the roster and stayed there the entire season. But if
Speaker 2: Tyler Davis wants to be an NFL inline tight end,
Speaker 2: the guy that gets legitimate work, that opportunity is there
Speaker 2: for him this season. Yes, Josiah Deguar's role is going
Speaker 2: to expand, but to Guara is still more of that
Speaker 2: Swiss army knife. The Packers are going to need, especially
Speaker 2: if Marcedes Lewis is not back, They're going to need
Speaker 2: that inline tight end that can anchor next to the tackles.
Speaker 2: And for Tyler Davis, this is a golden opportunity to
Speaker 2: prove that he can do it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I want to say this about Tyler Davis too,
Speaker 1: because we don't know if it's going to work out,
Speaker 1: but he's getting an opportunity here that not too many
Speaker 1: guys get. And what I mean by that and this
Speaker 1: is this is both you know, sort of circumstance the
Speaker 1: way it works out, but also a credit to him.
Speaker 1: And what I mean by that is last year heading
Speaker 1: into the draft, or maybe it might have actually been
Speaker 1: on Draft night or at one of the one of
Speaker 1: the news conferences during the draft, GM Brian Gudakunz made
Speaker 1: a comment about Tyler Davis saying, yeah, I think maybe
Speaker 1: we have something there.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, a lot of people obviously latched onto that comment.
Speaker 1: It was it was a nice boost for the young
Speaker 1: man heading into the twenty twenty two season. But then
Speaker 1: training camp in the preseason didn't didn't go that well,
Speaker 1: had some lapses, some penalties, some drop passes. Things didn't
Speaker 1: really come together the way that any one headed vision
Speaker 1: and certainly the way that he had hoped. But what
Speaker 1: did he do? Wes? Even though he fell on the
Speaker 1: depth chart and wasn't where he wanted to be on offense,
Speaker 1: he balled out on special teams all year long. He
Speaker 1: took everything that rich Basacia and all those other veterans
Speaker 1: on special teams were telling him in terms of how
Speaker 1: to do the job and how to excel and how
Speaker 1: to succeed, and he did that and because of that
Speaker 1: he was brought back now as a free agent to
Speaker 1: come back with another crack at this tight end position
Speaker 1: and trying to regain the spot on the depth chart
Speaker 1: that he lost last year that didn't work out for him.
Speaker 1: It's an opportunity that not many guys get in the
Speaker 1: NFL when when there's a failure, so to speak, at
Speaker 1: a certain level. And Tyler Davis is going to get
Speaker 1: another shot. And I'm really really curious to see what
Speaker 1: he does with that opportunity, because you have to believe,
Speaker 1: as frustrating as things were, he wasn't happy about the
Speaker 1: way things went offensively, and you'd think it was you'd
Speaker 1: think there would probably be some some confidence issues there.
Speaker 1: I'm really curious to see what he does with this
Speaker 1: chance now and how he bounces back, because you know,
Speaker 1: he has to have learned some things about what happened
Speaker 1: a year ago totally.
Speaker 2: And when you look at him six four, two hundred
Speaker 2: and fifty some pounds, the guy is a prototypical special
Speaker 2: teams ace. I mean he fits that inside linebacker tight ends.
Speaker 2: But you know that's the type of body type they
Speaker 2: like on teams. Get him to play eighty one percent
Speaker 2: of the special team snaps last year, Michael That basically
Speaker 2: says he didn't play on field goal block. That's about it.
Speaker 2: I mean, the guy.
Speaker 1: Otherwise on everything else.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so again he's proven himself on special teams. But
Speaker 2: as we've seen time and time again, we saw it
Speaker 2: last year with Keishawn Nixon, a little bit with Rudy Ford.
Speaker 2: It's about growing your role past that and you could
Speaker 2: not ask for a better situation to be in right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, one last thing before we wrap it up
Speaker 1: on this show, And as I said, we'll do another
Speaker 1: show this week taking a little closer look at the
Speaker 1: very vious positions on the Packers roster, what sort of
Speaker 1: stands out as as some of those need areas with
Speaker 1: regard to the draft, and in that show and then
Speaker 1: another show early next week, we'll also maybe throw some
Speaker 1: names around as far as some prospects who might fit
Speaker 1: those positions and where the Packers are picking in the
Speaker 1: first and second round, although that is, you know, somewhat
Speaker 1: to be determined. I guess you could say with regard
Speaker 1: to when and when this Aaron Rodgers trade goes down.
Speaker 1: But I want to just get your thoughts quickly before
Speaker 1: we go. You went down to Phoenix, Arizona a few
Speaker 1: weeks ago to cover the leagues what they call the
Speaker 1: annual meetings, also called the Owners meetings. You were down
Speaker 1: there while I was burning my last few vacation hours
Speaker 1: before I lost them. But just your impressions, any any
Speaker 1: thoughts that you brought back with you from those league
Speaker 1: meetings that you think are particularly pertinent to the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2: Well, the biggest thing for me, Michael is we talked
Speaker 2: to and Gouda Kunst on Monday, which was like a
Speaker 2: day and to the trip, and it was an evening
Speaker 2: session with him. We talked him for about fifteen minutes,
Speaker 2: and I didn't really know how that was going to
Speaker 2: go because we knew what the questions were going to be,
Speaker 2: we just didn't really know what the answers were going
Speaker 2: to be. And you know, Brian did not equivocate. He
Speaker 2: was steadfast in terms of the belief in Jordan Love
Speaker 2: and also the Packers' position on where things stand with
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers, and I thought it was I talked with
Speaker 2: Rob Demofski, a ESPN reporter afterwards, and form my opinion
Speaker 2: call it what you will. I felt like that was
Speaker 2: Brian's golden hour right now as GM. I thought he
Speaker 2: handled the situation perfectly. I felt like he came in
Speaker 2: and he delivered a strong message to the people inside
Speaker 2: this building about the belief inside this building of where
Speaker 2: this team can still go. Because let's be honest, Mike,
Speaker 2: when you have a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers, that will
Speaker 2: be a first ballot Hall of Famer. When Pete Doherty
Speaker 2: makes his case, much like with Brett Farv, it's going
Speaker 2: to take less than ten seconds to explain why Aaron
Speaker 2: Rodgers does be in the Hall of Fame. That is
Speaker 2: a scary proposition for a lot of people. Because for
Speaker 2: someone like myself thirty five years old, as far as
Speaker 2: worry back, I can remember, it's Ben Brett favor It's
Speaker 2: Ben Aaron Rodgers. But time does press on in the Packers.
Speaker 2: All you can do is hope that Jordan Love doesn't
Speaker 2: have to be Brett Favre. He doesn't have to be
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers. He needs to be Jordan Love, and he
Speaker 2: needs to be the quarterback that was worthy of being
Speaker 2: considered as one of the top first round picks, not
Speaker 2: only at his position but in the entire draft. Back then,
Speaker 2: so very excited about that. I felt like Gudakun's really
Speaker 2: set the table well for where the Packers are looking
Speaker 2: into the future. The last thing, because it got brought
Speaker 2: up time and time again, was a question to Matt
Speaker 2: Lafleur many of times over is about well, are you
Speaker 2: excited about how your offense is going to look the
Speaker 2: scheme of your offense? You know, maybe with having a
Speaker 2: younger quarterback that's going to stick to the script a
Speaker 2: little bit more than maybe what Rogers did. And one
Speaker 2: thing I think people get so wrong about Matt Lafleur
Speaker 2: is the guy doesn't have an ego. He takes the
Speaker 2: game for what it is. He wants to put the
Speaker 2: best product down the field. He wants them to run
Speaker 2: the best play. He wants there to be the best opportunity.
Speaker 2: When you have a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers, you seed
Speaker 2: a lot of that to him in the moment because
Speaker 2: he's the guy that's ultimately out there with the pass
Speaker 2: rush trying to get to him in less than two
Speaker 2: point five seconds. Rogers is going to see the field
Speaker 2: a little bit differently than a lot of quarterbacks, most quarterbacks,
Speaker 2: maybe every quarterback, you want to be able to use that.
Speaker 2: But with a guy like Jordan Love coming in, as
Speaker 2: much as people want to say, well are they going
Speaker 2: to run the scheme whatever, Love, It's not about Jordan Love.
Speaker 2: It's about what does Aaron Jones get out of this.
Speaker 2: It's about what does someone like David Baktiari and Elton
Speaker 2: Jenkins on the left side of the offensive line, knowing
Speaker 2: that they have a young quarterback behind him that they
Speaker 2: have to protect. It's never been about one player. It's
Speaker 2: been about the sum of the hole. And I feel
Speaker 2: like that's one thing that Lafloor is very entrenched in.
Speaker 2: Maybe you can say that's from working with young quarterbacks
Speaker 2: in washing or doing the job that he did in
Speaker 2: Tennessee or even LA, but the fact of the matter is,
Speaker 2: as much as this is a quarterback driven league, you
Speaker 2: need all eleven players offensively to get where you need
Speaker 2: to go. I feel like that's the most intriguing thing.
Speaker 2: And I think when you listen to Lafleur, as grateful
Speaker 2: as he is for the four years he spent with
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers, the exciting thing for him now is the
Speaker 2: new challenge in front of this team in rallying around
Speaker 2: a young twenty four year old quarterback. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And the fact that Matt Lafleur has the experience
Speaker 1: of adjusting his scheme and his system to a quarterback
Speaker 1: when he first got here as head coach, and he
Speaker 1: went through that entire process and got to do it
Speaker 1: with a Hall of Fame quarterback. I think that's only
Speaker 1: going to benefit the entire offense, the entire team as
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur repeats that experience but with a completely different
Speaker 1: young quarterback without the experience level. But he's made the
Speaker 1: adjustments to the system, to the player, to the quarterback
Speaker 1: before and now he has to do it again, albeit
Speaker 1: just in different circumstances. But you know that that's a
Speaker 1: challenge he's looking forward.
Speaker 2: To absolutely, and for Packer fans all through, my main
Speaker 2: message if you read our inside or inbox all off
Speaker 2: season has been it doesn't have to be either or
Speaker 2: with Aaron Rodgers or Jordan Love. You can be appreciative
Speaker 2: of the fifteen years of Aaron Rodgers as the starting
Speaker 2: quarterback here and everything he accomplished, the Super Bowl trophy
Speaker 2: that he added downstairs, the four MVPs, the fact that
Speaker 2: he did have one of the most remarkable careers in
Speaker 2: NFL history in Green Bay, and also still be excited
Speaker 2: about what the prospects are of watching a young quarterback
Speaker 2: grow Mike, I haven't seen it yet. You have. You
Speaker 2: got to see Aaron Rodgers as a backup transitioning into
Speaker 2: a starter. I've only covered an MVP, a Super Bowl champion,
Speaker 2: so I personally am very intrigued for the better or worse,
Speaker 2: for the good moments in the bad of watching a
Speaker 2: young guy move into that position. A Gratitude is a
Speaker 2: huge thing in the sport. There's an incredible amount of
Speaker 2: gratitude for what Aaron Rodgers has accomplished and also excitement
Speaker 2: for what the next chapter holds.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no question about it. Well with that, we will
Speaker 1: call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: As I said, we'll have another episode this week and
Speaker 1: another one in the early portion of next week, looking
Speaker 1: ahead to the draft, trying to take a look at
Speaker 1: the Packers roster, where certain holes are, where certain players
Speaker 1: might be able to fit. All of that, We've got
Speaker 1: it coming for you now that we are back online
Speaker 1: with Packers Unscripted. So thank you for tuning in everybody.
Speaker 1: We will see you next time.