Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, sitting alongside the one and only
Speaker 1: wes Hodkowits were coming to you here from our studios
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field and West. A little bit of Packers
Speaker 1: news to touch on. Since we last spoke, Green Bay's
Speaker 1: top two draft picks, cornerbacks Jaire Alexander from Louisville and
Speaker 1: Josh Jackson from Iowa now under contract. They have signed
Speaker 1: their rookie deals. That leaves at this point only third
Speaker 1: round pick or In Burke's unsigned, and by the time
Speaker 1: some people watch this or listen to this, he might
Speaker 1: be signed as well. Because these things are happening rather quickly,
Speaker 1: and it's because of the current Collective Arty Agreement post
Speaker 1: two thousand eleven. This issue with rookie contracts and training
Speaker 1: camp holdouts and all this kind of stuff really things
Speaker 1: of the past. The thing that's so funny, Mike is
Speaker 1: I started on the Packers beat full time in two
Speaker 1: thousand and twelve, and I think the greatest gift that
Speaker 1: was given to me was that c B A and
Speaker 1: the roughie wage scale. I mean, I have heard so
Speaker 1: many horror stories from Beat writers about what those days
Speaker 1: were like when not only are you chasing the contract,
Speaker 1: but then you'd get to training camp and then eve
Speaker 1: of training camp and you're not sure if guys are
Speaker 1: gonna be holding out or just sitting out. Because throughout
Speaker 1: the offseason program you can sign a waiver to participate
Speaker 1: in things. Once you get to training camp, you have
Speaker 1: to have an actual contract to be out there. Um Now, now,
Speaker 1: in this current environment, it's not as much of a
Speaker 1: big deal because of the rookie wage scale really basically
Speaker 1: slots players where they are in terms of what they're
Speaker 1: gonna make. But back in the day, man, it was
Speaker 1: sort of like the Wild West in terms of what
Speaker 1: these guys were going to get in every all these agents,
Speaker 1: all these players were kind of just sitting around waiting
Speaker 1: to see how things unfolded, so to make sure that
Speaker 1: their guy got as much as they could potentially command. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there were agents and players, uh, you know, waiting to
Speaker 1: see what guys drafted near them would get to. You know,
Speaker 1: they didn't want to short change themselves. They you know,
Speaker 1: so they didn't want to jump into early. Everything ends
Speaker 1: up getting delayed and then you end up with players
Speaker 1: these rookies who you know, end up as contract holdouts
Speaker 1: or training camp holdouts. They get that label when really
Speaker 1: they want to sign their deal and they want to
Speaker 1: play it, and it's it's just, you know, the economics
Speaker 1: of things were always difficult. I remember Nick Barnett, I
Speaker 1: think it was the first round draft pick for the
Speaker 1: Packers in two thousand three, was sitting in his car
Speaker 1: watching the first training camp practice out his car window
Speaker 1: because he couldn't be there, He couldn't actually even be
Speaker 1: on the sideline to watch it without a contract. But
Speaker 1: he was just waiting really to get that phone call
Speaker 1: from his agent. Okay, it's all set. Go sign it,
Speaker 1: you know, and put your uniform out there and go
Speaker 1: play so good that that you know those days are
Speaker 1: are behind us, because it definitely I think anytime rookies
Speaker 1: missed time and training camp, it hurts them. You don't
Speaker 1: want them to miss those first couple three four practice
Speaker 1: even if they're back before the first preseason game, anytime
Speaker 1: they miss in camp is valuable. Well, you and I
Speaker 1: were talking in our pre production meeting about since they
Speaker 1: did the new CB, if they've had any issues whatsoever
Speaker 1: with rookie contracts. I can't think of one. I can't
Speaker 1: think of one either, not not since two thousand eleven,
Speaker 1: the new C B A, and you go back to
Speaker 1: the two thousands, I mean Ted Thompson, Andrew Brandt and
Speaker 1: Russ Ball. I mean some guys are the best in
Speaker 1: the business and what they do. They still had Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers sitting out, and I believe also b J Roji
Speaker 1: guys because their high picks and they want to get
Speaker 1: what they believe they're worth. But there wasn't really any
Speaker 1: guiding force whatsoever. So I think that this is one
Speaker 1: of the most positive things that came out of the
Speaker 1: most recent collective bart In agreement because it protects veterans.
Speaker 1: It makes sure that veterans are still not getting short change.
Speaker 1: You're getting cut to make room for guys that have
Speaker 1: never done anything, never played a snap in the NFL before,
Speaker 1: while also being respectful to what these rookies should be
Speaker 1: making for really the attention that they're getting and even
Speaker 1: when you look a guy like Baker Mayfield, the expectations
Speaker 1: that get put on him right away. Yeah, And it
Speaker 1: made sense for the players Union back in eleven to
Speaker 1: agree to this because they were seeing veteran players as
Speaker 1: you mentioned, getting cut, their careers not extend perhaps as
Speaker 1: long as they should because you had number one overall
Speaker 1: draft picks, for instance, like Sam Bradford and Matthew Stafford
Speaker 1: in in two thousand in that range, who were getting
Speaker 1: fifty million dollars of guaranteed money before they even took
Speaker 1: a snap in the NFL. Things got out of whack
Speaker 1: and then C b A, you know, kind of put
Speaker 1: things back in line a little bit to where the
Speaker 1: veterans are getting what they should and the rookies are
Speaker 1: going to have the opportunity down the road. One of
Speaker 1: the things I think Martin Mayhew and I know he
Speaker 1: did end up getting let go as the GM of
Speaker 1: the Lions, but people got to understand how terrible that
Speaker 1: situation was because they had that O n sixteen seasons,
Speaker 1: so they had all these early draft picks coming up.
Speaker 1: But you know, Matthew Stafford and Dominican sue that put
Speaker 1: them not only in a hole where they were signing
Speaker 1: these guys, but then when you're looking at second contract,
Speaker 1: because nobody's gonna want to play out that first contract
Speaker 1: can take less. They want to get more they want
Speaker 1: and you push that cat number four. It was causing
Speaker 1: a lot of problems. Now you look at the way
Speaker 1: it is now. The fact that these deals get done,
Speaker 1: these rookies get into camps, they could start preparing, they
Speaker 1: can start preparing for their next face of life outside
Speaker 1: of football. Um, I think from all every avenue outside
Speaker 1: of maybe the running back position, where you can make
Speaker 1: a case that this has been something that's really benefited
Speaker 1: the whole Yeah, it doesn't put teams in salary cap
Speaker 1: jail to go a couple of years with a top
Speaker 1: ten draft pick, and that's what used to happen. And
Speaker 1: you go to three years picking in the top ten
Speaker 1: or top twelve, all of a sudden your cap is
Speaker 1: blown on all these rookies. Imagine where would be right now,
Speaker 1: you know if that was how it worked out? Right? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: With that, we'll go to a break back with more
Speaker 1: and Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford in this chair, West Hodko, it's in that one. West.
Speaker 1: We don't have a whole lot of other Packers news
Speaker 1: to disc us, so I want to spend the rest
Speaker 1: of this show broadening our horizons a little bit. Let's
Speaker 1: talk a little bit more league wide in general. Here.
Speaker 1: There was an interesting question I got in our Insider
Speaker 1: Inbox column recently, and it was someone asking within the
Speaker 1: context of the fact that the Los Angeles Rams went
Speaker 1: from kind of an afterthought to a division champion in
Speaker 1: a playoff team, and the Jacksonville Jaguars went from three
Speaker 1: and thirteen to the a f C Championship Game in
Speaker 1: one year. Is there one of these turnaround teams on
Speaker 1: the brink, so to speak, of a big turnaround in
Speaker 1: you got one in mind, it's Houston Texans, without a doubt,
Speaker 1: and again I'll add the caveat that if Deshaun Watson
Speaker 1: is back makes the recovery they need from that a
Speaker 1: c L surgery. Here's what's funny, Mike. That could have
Speaker 1: been a disastrous trade for the Texans last year, trading
Speaker 1: their first rounder for this next year so they could
Speaker 1: get up trade up to get to Shaun Watson. I
Speaker 1: didn't hear one single person anywhere in the country mentioning
Speaker 1: that narrative, though, because how well Watson played before that
Speaker 1: a c L. You're willing to give up that number
Speaker 1: four overall pick to the Cleveland Browns if you saw
Speaker 1: what you saw the last year from Deshaun Watson. If
Speaker 1: you've got your franchise guy, you've got no complaints. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're not complaining about it. And I think they're excited
Speaker 1: about what his future holds, assuming everything turns out okay
Speaker 1: coming back from the knee injury. The fact that j J.
Speaker 1: Watt could potential to be back. I think Jadeveon Clowney
Speaker 1: has made some strides. There's a lot of talent there,
Speaker 1: and I think they're better than what their record indicated
Speaker 1: last year after they lost Watson. So for me, especially
Speaker 1: looking at that division, considering if you go back, it's
Speaker 1: sort of been anybody's division, and then get any given
Speaker 1: year in the fact that two teams actually made it
Speaker 1: in the playoffs last year because of you know, some
Speaker 1: of the death concerns from the NFC I have. I
Speaker 1: see no reason why the Texans couldn't be back in
Speaker 1: this thing, all right. I I definitely agree with that pick.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw another one at you though, that maybe
Speaker 1: a lot of people aren't thinking about, and that's the
Speaker 1: New York Giants. I say that for a few reasons. One,
Speaker 1: this is a team that was just in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Two years ago. You've got at a quarterback. I know
Speaker 1: he's on the downside of his career, but you've got
Speaker 1: a quarterback who's been there, done that one a couple
Speaker 1: of Super bowls. You've added Sae Kwon Barkley to that offense.
Speaker 1: And if there is one issue, I guess I would
Speaker 1: say two issues with the Giants offensively over the last
Speaker 1: couple of years. One has been receivers staying healthy. So
Speaker 1: if those if those receivers stay healthy, Eli Manning is
Speaker 1: a different quarterback and number two and put him in
Speaker 1: whatever order you want, maybe this should be number one
Speaker 1: is pass protection? Well, there might be no better help
Speaker 1: for pass protection than a running back like Sae Kwon
Speaker 1: Barkley who's going to make defenses have to stop the run.
Speaker 1: That may be the best protection that Eli Manning is
Speaker 1: going to get. I know they have a new head
Speaker 1: coach and Pat Shermer. You know the Giants are not
Speaker 1: defensively certainly what they were in uh in those Super
Speaker 1: Bowl years. But I'm telling you I'm not blown away
Speaker 1: by anybody else in the NFC East, aside from obviously
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, which is going to
Speaker 1: make it difficult for uh, the Giants to jump back
Speaker 1: wherever they were last year into the playoffs or something
Speaker 1: like that. But I don't sleep on the Giants. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's a good pick too, Mike, because the Cowboys
Speaker 1: came back down to Earth last year. They're going through
Speaker 1: kind of uh, I don't want to call it rebuilding,
Speaker 1: but definitely trying to retool what they have their Washington
Speaker 1: now going to see what they can do with Alex Smith.
Speaker 1: My biggest issue with the Giants um se Kwon Barkley
Speaker 1: might be a once in generation player. They drafted Will
Speaker 1: Hernandez to block for him out of Utah, the former
Speaker 1: guard for for Aaron Jones that we talked so much
Speaker 1: about in the pre draft process. I really really really
Speaker 1: wanted to see them take Sam Donald and instead he
Speaker 1: goes to the across the you know city team with
Speaker 1: the New York Jets. Only time will tell us which
Speaker 1: one of those moves was correct. Maybe Barkeley becomes the
Speaker 1: next Adrian Peterson or Barry Sanders and you know, it
Speaker 1: was a moot point, but I really did think they
Speaker 1: needed to improve their holdings at quarterback. Now. They also
Speaker 1: got the kid from Richmond. I forget his name, but
Speaker 1: they're really high on him. The fourth round pick. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm d a blank for Kyle Lenetta Leonetta. Remember seeing
Speaker 1: him at the combine. He had a table full of
Speaker 1: press there because people thought he was gonna be the
Speaker 1: next Patriots quarterback. So it's not like didn't find another one.
Speaker 1: But they've gone the fourth round pick route before and
Speaker 1: it hasn't pushed Eli Manning at that spot. So yes,
Speaker 1: you're right, they have a veteran quarterback that's one two
Speaker 1: super Bowls. I just would have liked to have seen
Speaker 1: them gotten Donald and start building for the next chapter.
Speaker 1: We'll see which one ends up being right. Yeah, all right, Well,
Speaker 1: we've got some more bigger issues league wide. I want
Speaker 1: to throw your way, but we'll do that after the
Speaker 1: breakback with Moron Packers Unscripted. Right after this, Welcome back
Speaker 1: to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford Here, West Hodko, it's over there, okay, West.
Speaker 1: We spent some time earlier this offseason talking about the
Speaker 1: coaching changes in the NFC North. The Bears and the
Speaker 1: Lions both getting new head coaches, but they're a handful
Speaker 1: of other new head coaches around the league. I mentioned
Speaker 1: the Giants, in the last segment, Cardinals, the Colts, the Titans,
Speaker 1: and the Raiders also have new head coaches. Is there
Speaker 1: one of those new coaching hires that intrigues you the most?
Speaker 1: Screwed in of course? And and the Raiders. I always
Speaker 1: tell this story. Um, it's now three and a half
Speaker 1: years ago. My old colleague at the green Bay Prescausette
Speaker 1: and Night, Scott Vincy Uh, we shadowed John Gruden around
Speaker 1: Green Bay before Monday night football game. He was given
Speaker 1: away a donation through his charity, the in the Fired
Speaker 1: Football Coaches Association to green Bay East and green Bay West.
Speaker 1: We followed him to this presentation and the entire time
Speaker 1: we were grilling him about whether or not he was
Speaker 1: going to come back, and in so many words, he said, no,
Speaker 1: I like what I'm doing too much. But you always
Speaker 1: knew it didn't matter what he said or how many
Speaker 1: times he declined it. You always knew that there was
Speaker 1: that outside chance. And seeing how much money, my goodness,
Speaker 1: you know, has was thrown at him by Mark Davis there,
Speaker 1: you had to do it. But the reason it's not
Speaker 1: even just Gruden coming back that intrigues me, it's the
Speaker 1: moves that they've made since then in some of the
Speaker 1: changes that they made in in in how they're constructing
Speaker 1: their roster and the players that they have. I want
Speaker 1: to see how all that eventually settles out right, And
Speaker 1: in some ways I would I would issue a word
Speaker 1: of caution in a sense to the folks in Oakland
Speaker 1: because Reggie mackenzie, and I'm I'll admit I'm biased. I
Speaker 1: really liked Reggie and he was here. I was sad
Speaker 1: to see him go, but happy for him in a
Speaker 1: personal sense that he got a chance to become a GM.
Speaker 1: But he pulled that franchise out of a salary cap
Speaker 1: mess of gargantuan proportions. And then you know, with the
Speaker 1: drafting of the quarterback Derek Carr and some other really
Speaker 1: good moves, he's gotten them back to contending status in
Speaker 1: fairly short order. When you look at it in the
Speaker 1: bigger picture, things that we're hearing out of Oakland, and
Speaker 1: you and I aren't there every day, but it sounds
Speaker 1: like John Grew is starting to have a little bit
Speaker 1: more say over personnel and things and treading into that
Speaker 1: GM territory a little bit nicely. Just watch it, watch
Speaker 1: it a little bit, because Reggie Mackenzie knows what he's doing.
Speaker 1: He does. And it's funny too because I think if
Speaker 1: John Gruden had that power when he was in Tampa Bay,
Speaker 1: the situation is completely different. Aaron Rodgers is probably down
Speaker 1: Brett Farve is probably down there playing football, former Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers or somebody. But by the times he's talked about that.
Speaker 1: But that being said, personnel guys are personal guys for
Speaker 1: a reason. And I think, you know, one of the
Speaker 1: reasons the Raiders were so patient with Reggie when he
Speaker 1: went down there is just because how muddled that situation
Speaker 1: was terrible, with how short the lifespan is um you know,
Speaker 1: for for you know, contracts only five years in terms
Speaker 1: of the pro ration of bonuses. Guys aren't signing twelve
Speaker 1: year contracts like Major League Baseball. But even then, it
Speaker 1: still took so long for the Raiders to pull themselves
Speaker 1: out of that because the year after year they were
Speaker 1: making bad deal after bad deal. Mackenzie cleared the slate,
Speaker 1: they got a twelve and fourth season out of it,
Speaker 1: looked to be going in the right direction. Took a
Speaker 1: step back now are trying to reset. I think it's
Speaker 1: still very important to stay with those principles. Uh that
Speaker 1: that got them there in the first place, and also
Speaker 1: got them Derek Carr, you know in Khalil Mack, the
Speaker 1: prospects that Mackenzie found. Yeah, Mari Cooper, I mean the
Speaker 1: fact that he projected Khalil Mack to go from doing
Speaker 1: what he did at Buffalo and the third or overall
Speaker 1: pick or whatever it was and making him a star
Speaker 1: in this league. It says a lot about his scouting acumen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. Another of the coaching changes that
Speaker 1: intrigues me, it's another one in the a f C.
Speaker 1: And that's what the Tennessee Titans. And I say that
Speaker 1: for again a couple of reasons. One, this is a
Speaker 1: team that not only made the playoffs last year, but
Speaker 1: one a road playoff game in Kansas City, not an
Speaker 1: easy place to go and win in the postseason on
Speaker 1: the road. But yet they decided to part ways with
Speaker 1: Mike Mularkey and they've hired Mike rabel Um. I'm always
Speaker 1: curious to see how the guys, I guess you would
Speaker 1: call them from the Bill Belichick the Patriots tree, how
Speaker 1: they're going to fair because you know, Josh McDaniels had
Speaker 1: you know, didn't work out when he got his first
Speaker 1: head coaching job in Denver, and then now he passed
Speaker 1: on another head coaching opportunity obviously this past off season,
Speaker 1: but then also with the Titans, you mentioned the a
Speaker 1: f C South, how that division can kind of be
Speaker 1: up for grabs the way things go. And then their
Speaker 1: quarterback Marcus Mariota, very high draft pick, a guy who
Speaker 1: has definitely improved. You know, is his arrows still pointing up?
Speaker 1: Have we still not seen the best of Marcus Mariota
Speaker 1: in the NFL? Or have we? And then maybe getting
Speaker 1: to the playoffs and winning one game is is they're seiling?
Speaker 1: How they're currently constructed, I don't know. I just think
Speaker 1: they're an intriguing team to keep it up. If if
Speaker 1: you're the Titans, you better hope that you haven't seen
Speaker 1: the best out of Marcus Marriott's because last year, honestly,
Speaker 1: to be quite honest, wasn't very good until the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Until the playoffs, you played well, But you look at
Speaker 1: that regular season, uh it is It is impressive that
Speaker 1: they made the playoffs, but they had a lot of
Speaker 1: things working against them. The reason I bring that up
Speaker 1: is because I think they put a lot of this
Speaker 1: at Malarkey's feet. They put a lot of it at
Speaker 1: Dick Lebo's feet. Um. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: it's a quarterback driven league and they have put talent
Speaker 1: around him. Now, how does that talent further develop and grow?
Speaker 1: They made some acquisitions this offseason. Me personally, and this
Speaker 1: is just me, I would have dedicated myself to Derrick Henry,
Speaker 1: but you know, they made some other changes there. They
Speaker 1: don't want him to be the soul back, but there
Speaker 1: is a lot of talent there. Um. They're looking for
Speaker 1: consistency now and that starts at Mariotta. Yeah. All right,
Speaker 1: with that, we're gonna go to another break back with
Speaker 1: more on Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted Mike Spofford alongside Wes Hodku. It's okay, West.
Speaker 1: One more topic I want to throw at you here
Speaker 1: as we wrap up the show for today. I found
Speaker 1: something interesting the other day. Was just doing a little
Speaker 1: quick research something I was working on for Insider Inbox,
Speaker 1: and I noticed, you look at the last four years
Speaker 1: in the NFL fell the m v pen Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, turns out those are
Speaker 1: the only four active quarterbacks in the NFL who have
Speaker 1: won an m VP award. Obviously, Brady has won multiple,
Speaker 1: Rogers has one multiple. So it leads me to this question,
Speaker 1: who do you think is the next quarterback currently active
Speaker 1: who is going to win an m v P. You
Speaker 1: can go a couple of different directions with this, because
Speaker 1: you have the old guard, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, those
Speaker 1: guys who have not won an m v P yet,
Speaker 1: and you have a slew of young up and coming
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that nobody knows just yet how good they're going
Speaker 1: to be. Who do you think. I'm want to just say,
Speaker 1: it's incredible to me when you pointed this out that
Speaker 1: Drew Brees hasn't won an m v P. When you
Speaker 1: think about it, it makes sense. Yeah, But considering the
Speaker 1: way that that offense is structured, him throwing for five
Speaker 1: thousand yards as many times as he has, it actually
Speaker 1: is surprising. But I get it. There were seven and
Speaker 1: for like three or four straight seasons there was some
Speaker 1: rebuilding that had to be done there. Fine for me, though,
Speaker 1: I still think Ben Roethlisberger has one in him, even
Speaker 1: though there's been sort of this hovering, floating theory that
Speaker 1: you know he might be getting near the end, we
Speaker 1: might want to retire soon. Roethlisberger has the capability. I
Speaker 1: still think. I know that Aaron Rodgers is more athletically
Speaker 1: gifted than Roethlisberger, but Roethlisberger is the closest thing I've
Speaker 1: seen in this league to encompassing what Aaron Rodgers does UM,
Speaker 1: and probably is even more untacklable if you want to
Speaker 1: use that. He might be one of the hardest quarterbacks
Speaker 1: to sack, and just in terms of physically getting him
Speaker 1: on the ground, But it just seems like he has
Speaker 1: that ability to to extend plays one way or another.
Speaker 1: Not maybe with his feet as much as Rogers, but
Speaker 1: he just he has that X factor that he always
Speaker 1: keeps you in ahead on things. I've I've been a
Speaker 1: huge fan of his ability on the football field since
Speaker 1: he came out and replaced Tommy Maddox. I believe in
Speaker 1: two thousand five whenever that was UM. But I think
Speaker 1: I think Roethlisberger, one way or another, UM, I think
Speaker 1: he still has a Yeah. I've had a hard time
Speaker 1: with this question because I still can't decide which direction
Speaker 1: I want to go there's a part of me that
Speaker 1: says Drew Brees has got an m v P and
Speaker 1: him the way they have retooled some things on that
Speaker 1: Saints defense, we saw how close they were. They were
Speaker 1: a fluke play essentially away from playing for the NFC
Speaker 1: Championship in Philadelphia last year. When with what happened in
Speaker 1: Minneapolis on the last play of the game, I think
Speaker 1: Breeze potentially has an m v P in him. But
Speaker 1: then the other guy that I think is definitely headed
Speaker 1: for an m v P sooner rather than later might
Speaker 1: be Carson Wentz in Philadelphia because before he got hurt
Speaker 1: last year, when I did get a chance to watch
Speaker 1: the Eagles, I was really impressed with how difficult he
Speaker 1: was to sack his escapability and not only just to
Speaker 1: keep plays alive, but then also to run and rush
Speaker 1: for yardage. His a c L was not because of
Speaker 1: getting sacked in the pocket. He was diving for the
Speaker 1: goal line for a touchdown on on a scramble. And
Speaker 1: he's still awfully young. I don't know if the a
Speaker 1: c L surgery is going to change the way he plays.
Speaker 1: My guess is that it won't, and I think that's
Speaker 1: the guy who's got an m v P in his future.
Speaker 1: I've always looked at this as stages like the Quarterback Club,
Speaker 1: right with Farv and Young and Aikman and and then
Speaker 1: you always have these generations where these guys are the
Speaker 1: top quarterbacks in the league. I thought, for a while, Okay,
Speaker 1: after Roethlisberger and Rodgers, who's the next guy? Um? And
Speaker 1: there's guys that are very good Pro Bowl All Pro
Speaker 1: type players, but who's going to be the guy that
Speaker 1: really drives the league? I think Wentz has that ability.
Speaker 1: I think he's the best quarterback prospect that's been taken
Speaker 1: arguably since Cam Newton in two thousand eleven. Different types
Speaker 1: of players, but in terms of what they offered and
Speaker 1: bring to the table. Uh, he was exceptional. He was
Speaker 1: exceptional as rookie season to step in there, going from
Speaker 1: FCS football, improving everybody wrong that he his skills could
Speaker 1: translate a guy like Josh Allen getting picked out of
Speaker 1: a smaller school like Wyoming. I think that's a product
Speaker 1: of what Carson Wentz did a few years ago. UM.
Speaker 1: I also think, to be honest with you, Mike, I
Speaker 1: think Nick Foles is going to be a starting quarterback
Speaker 1: in this league too. I think he's finally at that point.
Speaker 1: I think he's matured enough that after this season, if
Speaker 1: Wentz can come back from the knee, that Fools is
Speaker 1: going to find a home. But that one to punch together.
Speaker 1: What Whence did to set them up last year and
Speaker 1: how Fulls finished it. That's that's a big driving force
Speaker 1: for why the Eagles were able to win that Super
Speaker 1: Bowl last season. Yeah, just to go one other quick thing.
Speaker 1: Out of those five quarterbacks taken in the first round
Speaker 1: this year, including Lamar Jackson taken at the end of
Speaker 1: the first round, who do you think big picture is
Speaker 1: going to have the best career out of those five.
Speaker 1: I still love Lamar Jackson. I've loved him since the beginning.
Speaker 1: I think the guy can play quarterback. I think he's
Speaker 1: going to be dynamic. I think the safe money in
Speaker 1: my opinions on Sam Donald just because of his makeup
Speaker 1: and and exactly what he offers as in terms of
Speaker 1: the physical prototypical quarterback that you look for in terms
Speaker 1: of size. I'll throw my lot in with John Dorsey,
Speaker 1: Elliott Wolf, and Alonso high Smith and go with Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 1: But who knows. I guess that's something to watch for
Speaker 1: years to come. With that, we will sign off on
Speaker 1: this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all
Speaker 1: of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com
Speaker 1: on Twitter. You can still find him at west hot
Speaker 1: I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account.
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning, and everybody, We'll see you next time. Hmm.