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: partner in crime, Weston had Kowitz, for coming to you
Speaker 1: hear from our studios at lambeau Field West. The NFL
Speaker 1: Draft is just two days away, the first round just
Speaker 1: two days away at the time that we are taping this.
Speaker 1: How does that that hype song go? Y'all ready for this?
Speaker 1: Like that? Right? I mean, here we go? Right? The
Speaker 1: Packers enter the this three day drafting extravaganza with eleven picks,
Speaker 1: and the eyes are really on the top of this
Speaker 1: draft for the Packers because Green Bay, as a result
Speaker 1: of the Davante Adams trade to the Raiders. The Packers
Speaker 1: have two first round picks two second round picks. The
Speaker 1: numbers are two and twenty eight in the first round,
Speaker 1: fifty three and fifty nine in the second round. Um,
Speaker 1: this could be a draft unlike one we have seen
Speaker 1: in Green Bay for quite some time. My friend, March eighteen,
Speaker 1: two thousand twenty two, I was walking into Barnes and
Speaker 1: Nobles somewhere in Green Bay. I assume you were getting
Speaker 1: a foot massage. That's when the reports came out that
Speaker 1: Davante Adams was going to be traded. And and here's
Speaker 1: the thing, Michael, since that moment and since the time
Speaker 1: in which it was made official, I might have botched
Speaker 1: it. It It might have been March eighteenth that it was
Speaker 1: actually made official. March seventeenth report came out. Since the
Speaker 1: time that that was made official, the question has been, so,
Speaker 1: what are the Packers going to do in this draft?
Speaker 1: They have four picks in the top fifty nine, the
Speaker 1: first time since the merger that that's ever happened. If
Speaker 1: they end up picking in those spots, they have obvious
Speaker 1: needs at multiple positions, but maybe not so much so
Speaker 1: that it's like, Okay, well they have to take a
Speaker 1: certain player at this spot. But there's so many areas
Speaker 1: that have made this a compelling draft, from the proce
Speaker 1: specs involved, to the fact that it's been twenty years
Speaker 1: since the Packers have drafted receiver since their in the
Speaker 1: first round, the fact they have guys replaced on the
Speaker 1: offensive line the defensive line, and that has created this
Speaker 1: cloud of really questions that we've been seeing an insider
Speaker 1: inbox that we've seen on Twitter, and everybody has had
Speaker 1: an opinion on what the Packers should do. Well, Michael,
Speaker 1: in two days time, at the time in which we're
Speaker 1: taping this, we will finally get some answers. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: it's interesting you go back to that, to the moment
Speaker 1: that Davante Adams was traded and at that time, and
Speaker 1: this is interesting when you talk about exactly what are
Speaker 1: the Packers needs? Right, because at the time that Adams
Speaker 1: was traded, if you had said, okay, what are what
Speaker 1: are the Packers biggest needs in this draft, everybody would
Speaker 1: have said, obviously wide receiver on the offensive side and
Speaker 1: defensive line. Right. But then, in as we talked about
Speaker 1: on our last show, in classic typical Brian Gudacount's fashion,
Speaker 1: what does he do between the start of free agency
Speaker 1: and the draft. He signs Jared need a veteran to
Speaker 1: come in on the defensive line. He signed Sammy Watkins,
Speaker 1: a veteran to come in and help out at wide receiver,
Speaker 1: putting him in a position with all this draft capital
Speaker 1: at the top of the draft, putting him in a
Speaker 1: position where he doesn't have to say, all right, on
Speaker 1: Thursday night, I have to get a receiver. I have
Speaker 1: to get a defensive lineman. Because, as we mentioned on
Speaker 1: our last show, if the Packers had to play a
Speaker 1: game on May one, they have the players to go
Speaker 1: and play the game, right He, Brian Gudukins is always
Speaker 1: going to make the draft about the future investment, not
Speaker 1: necessarily here. He doesn't force himself into pain himself into
Speaker 1: the corner, so to speak, of the draft having to
Speaker 1: be about the here and now and about week one
Speaker 1: of the upcoming season. So that's where we are. When
Speaker 1: I look at when I look at the Packers and
Speaker 1: roster needs in this draft, I break them down into
Speaker 1: into sort of two tiers. To me, the top tier
Speaker 1: is it's still wide receiver and defensive line, I think,
Speaker 1: but also offensive tackle and then edge rusher. Offensive tackle. If,
Speaker 1: as we talked about previously, if the Packers going with
Speaker 1: David Bactieri at left tackle, Yash and I'm in at
Speaker 1: right tackle, You're still gonna need somebody to back up
Speaker 1: those spots. You want to have a young, developing player
Speaker 1: who could fill in if if injuries were to strike again.
Speaker 1: Edge rusher, the Packers have Rashaan Gary and Preston Smith,
Speaker 1: but who do they have after that? There are a
Speaker 1: lot of question marks, a lot of unproven players. Maybe
Speaker 1: you draft, uh, you know, invest a high, high pick
Speaker 1: in this draft to fortify the edge rusher position. So
Speaker 1: those are the four spots for me that are that
Speaker 1: are sort of like the tier one of the roster needs.
Speaker 1: But then also safety, cornerback, inside linebacker, tight end. I
Speaker 1: think all of those are also in play for the Packers,
Speaker 1: maybe not necessarily in the first round, but certainly come
Speaker 1: Friday nights starting in the second round, I think those
Speaker 1: those positions coming to play. My point is that the
Speaker 1: way this sets up for Brian gutacoons at this point
Speaker 1: with the four picks in the top sixty, they're aside
Speaker 1: from taking a quarterback or running back or a specialist,
Speaker 1: no position drafted within those top four picks that he
Speaker 1: has would necessarily surprise me based on how the Packers
Speaker 1: are currently constructed, because I think what you outline there
Speaker 1: is the fact that Green Bay has a certain amount
Speaker 1: of needs that I think a lot of that was
Speaker 1: brought on by the changes this offseason. Davante Adams trade,
Speaker 1: so Darius Smith being released, um not having another guy
Speaker 1: and another Shawn Gary kind of hand picked in that
Speaker 1: role behind Billy Turner being released. Right, So I mean
Speaker 1: like there there are areas where they lost, but by
Speaker 1: and large, they have depth at all these positions. The
Speaker 1: way that this roster is fortified, there are bodies at
Speaker 1: all these positions. Cornerback, you have a you have three
Speaker 1: guys you put up probably against anybody's safety. Adrian Amos
Speaker 1: Darnell Savage are going to be together for their fourth
Speaker 1: straighte year. That rarely happens in the NFL. So from
Speaker 1: that perspective, it is about building depth. But what makes
Speaker 1: it so compelling is the fact that there are five
Speaker 1: picks in the first two days that Green Bay is
Speaker 1: slated to make. Right now, there are four picks in
Speaker 1: the top fifty nine that they are slated to make.
Speaker 1: And we saw what happened in two thousand nineteen when
Speaker 1: Green Bay had two picks, and the what you know,
Speaker 1: the ways in which Brian Goodukins can move around. Depending
Speaker 1: on how the board falls, somebody's going to fall, Mike,
Speaker 1: one of these receivers, maybe one of the edge rushers,
Speaker 1: maybe a safety we've even seen, you know, maybe an
Speaker 1: inside linebacker, maybe even a defensive lineman. Just because you
Speaker 1: just don't know that this this draft feels as unpredictable
Speaker 1: as any that we've entered in a long time. And
Speaker 1: it's not because well, that player isn't good enough. It's
Speaker 1: because I think there really is a wide array of
Speaker 1: talent that's all kind of pretty much the same outside
Speaker 1: of that top six or seven players. The real question
Speaker 1: also becomes how many quarterbacks get taken before the Packers
Speaker 1: go on the board at twenty two. There aren't going
Speaker 1: to be as many as these past few years, but
Speaker 1: those quarterback spots ultimately are the ones that end up
Speaker 1: leading to a skill position player falling or a defensive
Speaker 1: lineman falling again, enhancing the options for the Packers once
Speaker 1: they go on the board. Yeah, well in talking about
Speaker 1: some of these some of these positions of need, and
Speaker 1: we will just have to see how the draft falls.
Speaker 1: And also with regard to Gouda, Counston has options with
Speaker 1: the draft capital that he has. I mean, he could
Speaker 1: move up, he could move down, he could do both
Speaker 1: within both Thursday night and Friday night. There's no way
Speaker 1: of knowing exactly how this is going to go. But
Speaker 1: with regard to the wide receiver position, that's the one
Speaker 1: everybody wants to talk about. Is there a guy or
Speaker 1: guys that that might have struck your fancy here as
Speaker 1: as this draft has gotten close. The cool thing is Mike.
Speaker 1: The more you dive into it, the more you like
Speaker 1: basically all these options in the top fifty, um because
Speaker 1: every single one of them offers something different. If you
Speaker 1: want a six foot guy like Chris Lave that isn't
Speaker 1: your typical type of receiver that Green Bay has drafted,
Speaker 1: or you know Christian Watson, you know, you have the
Speaker 1: George Pickens kid that you know everyone knows about guys
Speaker 1: that have a little bit more size. You're the one,
Speaker 1: and I've joked about it, but it's actually true. You're
Speaker 1: the one that drove the Traylon Burkes you know train
Speaker 1: and that whistle caught my attention to because the more
Speaker 1: you see this kid and the more you realize what
Speaker 1: he did at Arkansas and how they turn things around
Speaker 1: this season, he seems more and more to me like
Speaker 1: a Green Bay Packer type player. The question is whether
Speaker 1: or not he's there at twenty two. And the thing
Speaker 1: that that that's gonna have to get decided before the
Speaker 1: Packers probably even remotely on near the clock, is Jamison
Speaker 1: Williams is a team willing to take him with the
Speaker 1: A C. L. Concerns, does he go tend you know,
Speaker 1: as some people have mocked him to the Jets. Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's funny because because when when he toward the A
Speaker 1: c L in the National Championship Game and in the
Speaker 1: early stages after that, it was like, oh, maybe Jamison Williams,
Speaker 1: you know, will be there at the top of the
Speaker 1: second round for somebody you know, And then then it
Speaker 1: was like, oh, well, yeah, these teams at the bottom
Speaker 1: of the first round. You know, the Packers have these
Speaker 1: two picks, they have a need at wide receiver. Maybe
Speaker 1: they would take Jamison Williams, even though he wouldn't obviously
Speaker 1: be ready to go right away as a rookie. The
Speaker 1: more time has gone on, the more Jamison Williams has
Speaker 1: climbed up to the spot, or at least much closer
Speaker 1: to the spot in the draft where he would where
Speaker 1: he would be getting picked if he had never gotten hurt. Um.
Speaker 1: I think the only the question is he's probably not
Speaker 1: going to be the first receiver off the board, which
Speaker 1: he most likely would be if he hadn't gotten hurt.
Speaker 1: But it sure doesn't sound like he's going to last
Speaker 1: much past the maybe the four or fifte pick or something.
Speaker 1: Like that, whereas a couple of months ago there was
Speaker 1: there there was a whole different narrative with regard to
Speaker 1: where Jamison Williams might available. So the question natually becomes
Speaker 1: where is Williams fall. I think Drake, London and Wilson
Speaker 1: will both be off the board by they get to
Speaker 1: that point. I just feel the reason I bring up
Speaker 1: Williams is I feel like that's gonna be the one
Speaker 1: that really decides how far Burke's falls, because I think
Speaker 1: once that that wage starts with the receivers, I think
Speaker 1: that's going to carry through a little bit um and
Speaker 1: then you look a little bit farther down. I really
Speaker 1: love the sky More kid, in addition to having a
Speaker 1: fantastic name. You know, there's some questions about with him
Speaker 1: and Watson, the competition uh involved in that, but but
Speaker 1: certainly I think he's another guy doesn't have the traditional
Speaker 1: size Green Bay looks for. But I just I love
Speaker 1: the way he performed. They've had success in the past,
Speaker 1: obviously with Western Michigan recruits. And then I just got
Speaker 1: to give the shout out to the kid Alec Pierce
Speaker 1: from Cincinnati. He's probably gonna end up being a date
Speaker 1: two three ish type pick out of Cincinnati, but one
Speaker 1: he has the common bond there with Matt Lafleur. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of connections on that Cincinnati staff to La Floor.
Speaker 1: They've already dipped into that well before with Josidae Iguara.
Speaker 1: But the kid loves the Packers, So I mean, you
Speaker 1: can't ever go wrong with the guy that you know.
Speaker 1: I think he grew up in whatever it was, Illinois,
Speaker 1: but yet we grew up a Packers fan. Just a
Speaker 1: remarkable backstory edition to the fact that he has some
Speaker 1: of those type of attributes that Green Bay likes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's interesting for for those who have been following the
Speaker 1: ore Our Prospect Primer series that we've been doing for
Speaker 1: the for the past month on the website and obviously
Speaker 1: and if you've been following inbox. I've said, and I'm
Speaker 1: not saying this as a as a scout, as a
Speaker 1: talent evaluator. I'm just talking as the as as the
Speaker 1: the interested observer, right who looks into these things a
Speaker 1: little bit. The two receivers in this draft that for
Speaker 1: whatever reason, they they've struck my fancy. As I like
Speaker 1: to say, our Traylon Burks from Arkansas and Christian Watson
Speaker 1: from North Dakota State. I just I I like the
Speaker 1: bigger receivers. Burks is six to two twenty five, Yet
Speaker 1: at two twenty five he ran a four five five
Speaker 1: in the forty. Now, yes, he's not a four three
Speaker 1: burner like a crystal lava or a gar. That's not
Speaker 1: the way they build things here either over there, right,
Speaker 1: But but at tuner in twenty five pounds of four
Speaker 1: or five five is not exactly slow. Christian Watson six pounds, Now,
Speaker 1: he did run in the four threes, So this is
Speaker 1: a This is a taller guy, rangier guy, who also
Speaker 1: does have the speed. What I'm what what I'm curious
Speaker 1: about though, as you mentioned with Burke's will he be
Speaker 1: there at twenty two or is he going to go
Speaker 1: sooner than that? Um? I think that could that could
Speaker 1: certainly go either way. With Watson, I start to wonder
Speaker 1: the more I read about it, is is drafting him
Speaker 1: in the first round a little bit too rich? But
Speaker 1: then with the packers not picking until fifty three fifty
Speaker 1: nine in the second round, is he going to be
Speaker 1: there at the end of the second round? I think
Speaker 1: that becomes a big question mark, UM, Because it's because
Speaker 1: it seems that he's maybe a bottom of the first
Speaker 1: round guy, but more likely a top half of the
Speaker 1: second round guy. And then he's not there, uh in
Speaker 1: the fifties. If the packers are waiting for him to
Speaker 1: drop that, do you know who? He reminds me of?
Speaker 1: Not not from a makeup standpoint, This reminds me of
Speaker 1: Jordy Nelson, because if if they get a two or
Speaker 1: twenty eight, I'm not saying he's gonna I think he's
Speaker 1: gonna be a good pro. But you wonder about the
Speaker 1: value the packers had with those two second round picks.
Speaker 1: I mean with the math I was doing with all
Speaker 1: these picks they have Brian Goodkin's depending regardless of what
Speaker 1: happens on on Thursday night, he can do anything he
Speaker 1: wants in the second round. They can go up into
Speaker 1: the top three of the second round if they want to.
Speaker 1: With with pairing up some of these picks, That's where
Speaker 1: it gets interesting with me with Watson. If that's a
Speaker 1: guy that you can take at thirty five or thirty six,
Speaker 1: I really like that value. And and it's not to
Speaker 1: take anything away n D s U is one of
Speaker 1: the pre eminent powers in that division of football. They've
Speaker 1: won how many national championships over the last twenty years.
Speaker 1: But that's the only thing holding me back from it.
Speaker 1: It's just this game is different, and in playing at
Speaker 1: that level and creating separation is different. It's when you
Speaker 1: have options like Burke's, when you have options like Pickings.
Speaker 1: These guys have played in the SEC. They've seen the
Speaker 1: very best that college football has to offer. That's why
Speaker 1: to me, a lot of dbs who are going to
Speaker 1: have their names called this weekend. Yeah, no, I hear you.
Speaker 1: I I hear exactly. I love him too. He has everything.
Speaker 1: He's how you draw it up if you're creating a
Speaker 1: player on Madden. He has everything you wanted a receiver.
Speaker 1: It's funny, though, that you had mentioned You mentioned Jordy
Speaker 1: Nelson pick thirty six from two thousand eight, and it's
Speaker 1: funny that you had mentioned that because for all this
Speaker 1: talk about, are are the Packers going to draft a
Speaker 1: wide receiver in the first round for the first time
Speaker 1: since two thousand and two with Javon Walker. Packers have
Speaker 1: had such a great track record of success with second
Speaker 1: round draft picks Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams, Greg Jennings Randall
Speaker 1: cob Right who was the highest. The highest pick of
Speaker 1: those second rounders was Jordy Nelson at thirty six and
Speaker 1: almost the I don't know whether you'd want to call
Speaker 1: it the big coincidence or the big irony or whatever,
Speaker 1: but if Brian Goodakun's trades to the thirty six spot
Speaker 1: to take a wide receiver, that would that would almost
Speaker 1: like put a bow on this entire discussion we've been
Speaker 1: having UM for the entire offseason. UM. Before we get
Speaker 1: to some other positions, I do want to take care
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Speaker 1: We believe in better all right, I want to get
Speaker 1: some of your thoughts west On On guys, just guys
Speaker 1: you've looked at or you're curious about, both on the
Speaker 1: defensive line and at the edge rusher spot. UM, because uh,
Speaker 1: I know in discussions that we've had a guy that
Speaker 1: I really like on the defensive line, though again I
Speaker 1: don't know if he's going to be there. Is Devonte
Speaker 1: Wyatt from Georgia. There are these, you know, three guys
Speaker 1: on that defensive front from Georgia. Trayvon Walker's being talked
Speaker 1: about is possibly the number one overall pick now ahead
Speaker 1: of both Thibodeaux and Hutchinson, the the the edge rushers
Speaker 1: from Oregon and Chigin respectively. So Trayvon Walker mic go
Speaker 1: number one. There's Jordan Davis, the three forty pound you know,
Speaker 1: run stuffing nose tackle who ran a sub four eight
Speaker 1: forty at three forty pounds at the combine, which was
Speaker 1: which was stunning, but with whyatt, Why it's three hundred
Speaker 1: four pounds. He's not a small guy, and yet his
Speaker 1: forty time was very similar to Jordan Davis. Now, running
Speaker 1: a four seven seven forty three four pounds is no
Speaker 1: is no easy trick. So he's a guy that I've
Speaker 1: had that I've had my eye on, But again, will
Speaker 1: he be there at at twenty two for the packers
Speaker 1: to be able to jump on him. I don't know
Speaker 1: another one that I did a prospect primer on Travis
Speaker 1: Jones from Yukon UM six ft four three pounds. You know,
Speaker 1: you kon again. There's that competition level and this is
Speaker 1: a guy that's maybe being talked about more in the
Speaker 1: second round. But will he last all the way towards
Speaker 1: the end of the second round. It's really hard to say.
Speaker 1: But yet at the Senior Bowl, the offensive lineman at
Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl voted him the toughest guy that they
Speaker 1: faced in the drills all week long. So that says
Speaker 1: something about, you know, the the pedigree that he has,
Speaker 1: even with all the questions about I'm coming from Yukon
Speaker 1: as opposed to a Power five conference. So those two guys,
Speaker 1: Davante Wyatt Travis Jones, those are those are two that
Speaker 1: I have my eye on on the defensive. It's actually
Speaker 1: Travis Jones is the one that started to make me
Speaker 1: look more into the defensive line and kind of shifted
Speaker 1: my thought to that seems like that's a position they
Speaker 1: could potentially take on Day two. That's a position that
Speaker 1: maybe in the second round. And trust me, man, the
Speaker 1: every position is a gamble. It's a big gamble. Once
Speaker 1: you start to move back on defensive lineman because you're
Speaker 1: you're starting to lose some of the attributes that you're
Speaker 1: you're looking for in three down players, you're Kenny Clarks
Speaker 1: of the world. That's why, in my mind, I mean,
Speaker 1: Jordan Davis won't be there, so it really has centered
Speaker 1: on Wyatt and if why it is there at two
Speaker 1: or twenty eight, if they want to take him there,
Speaker 1: I see a out of those carryover type attributes with
Speaker 1: Wyatt that we saw in Kenny Clark in six team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's kind of That's kind of where I am
Speaker 1: in the transition that they've made during that time with
Speaker 1: their defensive lineman. He seems to fit the bill a
Speaker 1: little bit more for what Green Bay is looking for.
Speaker 1: If why it's there, I like that pick, I like
Speaker 1: his pedigree, I like what they've accomplished at Georgia last year.
Speaker 1: And then if he's not, then I mean there's right
Speaker 1: now what Mike CBS Sports has eight nine different guys
Speaker 1: that can be on day two at that position. Looking
Speaker 1: at edge is where I fell in love with George
Speaker 1: Carl loft Is And you've been talking about the Purdue,
Speaker 1: the Purdue edge rusher for a while now. I've missed
Speaker 1: on some of these guys, these guys that have unique
Speaker 1: back stories on the defensive line. I mean it's not
Speaker 1: it's not always cut and dry here. You're taking a
Speaker 1: little bit of a risk um with Karl Loftus and
Speaker 1: what he's going to be able to provide at the
Speaker 1: next level. Certainly, you were the first one to point
Speaker 1: out to me last year at Purdue. Once the adjustments
Speaker 1: were made, then his production kind of depth a little bit,
Speaker 1: once teams started ice sewing on him a little bit.
Speaker 1: But what do we always talk about. We talked about
Speaker 1: when you're at the end of the first round, you
Speaker 1: are looking for eight to ten year NFL football players
Speaker 1: with a Pro Bowl type ceiling, but maybe not guaranteed.
Speaker 1: Karl Offtis checks that box for me, because as much
Speaker 1: as you want Preston Smith to play of the snaps
Speaker 1: and as much as I thought Russian Gary last year
Speaker 1: showed that he can handle a full starting complement of reps,
Speaker 1: they need someone to bround out that rotation. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: Karl loftis the first report I read on him. I
Speaker 1: wish I could remember who did it, because it was
Speaker 1: a great scouting report. They drew the comparison to Ryan
Speaker 1: care again, and I see that in him. You wish
Speaker 1: he was just maybe an inch or two taller. You
Speaker 1: wish he had maybe a year or two more experience
Speaker 1: on a playing defense. You know, he's a guy that
Speaker 1: came over with his mom, his dad passes away, um
Speaker 1: and and starts playing football at a late age. But
Speaker 1: my goodness, when you turn on the film of him
Speaker 1: at Purdue, and you and I even talked about it,
Speaker 1: how often has there been an elite Perdue edge rusher
Speaker 1: that we can recall there? There haven't been a lot
Speaker 1: of them. There's just some much to like about the kid,
Speaker 1: and the Packers do have indeed there at edge rushing
Speaker 1: to me now that Jared Reid is in a Packers uniform,
Speaker 1: maybe even more so than on the defensive. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: when you look at when when you look at the
Speaker 1: film on Karl loftus as much as you know, um,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned in our previous discussion about how yes,
Speaker 1: his production dropped off his his last year at Perdue,
Speaker 1: but the guy was I mean, the guy was double
Speaker 1: teamed and triple team because because he was the one
Speaker 1: guy on the Purdue defense that everybody game plan for.
Speaker 1: And let's be honest, it was the Purdue defense. There
Speaker 1: wasn't There wasn't a whole lot for uh for other
Speaker 1: Big ten offenses to have to worry about. And yet
Speaker 1: in the midst of all that, George Karloftus was still
Speaker 1: a high impact player because of the way teams had
Speaker 1: to try to deal with him. And and that's what's
Speaker 1: on the film, and that's why even though he didn't
Speaker 1: have that final year in college with fifteen seventeen sacks
Speaker 1: or whatever, that he's still being talked about very much
Speaker 1: as a first round pick and a guy that again
Speaker 1: I've seen projections where maybe he goes in the top fifteen,
Speaker 1: other projections where he's there not only at twenty two,
Speaker 1: but maybe even at twenty eight towards the end of
Speaker 1: the first round, if the if the Packers are so
Speaker 1: inclined in that respect. Another guy similarly that I've seen
Speaker 1: projected kind of all over the board, a little bit
Speaker 1: higher maybe than karl Loftus. But when I started doing
Speaker 1: the prospect primers and looking at guys who back in March,
Speaker 1: we're being projected as as back half of the first round.
Speaker 1: Jermaine Johnson, the edge rusher from Florida State, it was
Speaker 1: there were there were all sorts of places where he
Speaker 1: was being slotted anywhere from you know, sixteen down to
Speaker 1: twenty five or twenty seven something like that. But now,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, as we've gotten closer to the draft,
Speaker 1: it seems like Jermaine Johnson is being talked about more
Speaker 1: as as a top fifteen, if not even a top
Speaker 1: twelve pick in this draft. And as much as I
Speaker 1: think Brian Goodkin certainly has the ability to move around
Speaker 1: and to move up if he wants to, I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if I see Gouda Kun's if he does make
Speaker 1: a move up in the first round, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: if I see him making a move up, say into
Speaker 1: the top twelve. Like to me, the the first dozen picks,
Speaker 1: I think you're going to go by, and I don't
Speaker 1: really see the packers getting all that involved. But once
Speaker 1: you get to pick like thirteen or fourteen or fifteen,
Speaker 1: if Goodakoons has his eye on somebody who's still there,
Speaker 1: who's not picked in the in the top twelve, that's
Speaker 1: where I could see the phones really start to buzz
Speaker 1: and and say, hey, okay, what's what's it going to cost?
Speaker 1: What's it worth? Too? To go up and get this guy.
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying that they would make that move
Speaker 1: for Jermaine Johnson. It could be for a wide receiver,
Speaker 1: it could be for a defensive lineman whatever. But um,
Speaker 1: but again, it's it's a position that the Packers have
Speaker 1: to start not only having that rotation as you mentioned,
Speaker 1: for now, but also looking toward uh, looking toward the future.
Speaker 1: You'd love to get the next Rashaan Gary in this
Speaker 1: draft if you can, right yea. And I think the
Speaker 1: point you're aching there that I think is really astute
Speaker 1: is that that's where it's gonna get really interesting. Of
Speaker 1: what's on the board at fifteen sixteen. The spots where
Speaker 1: it's not going to take a lot to potentially move
Speaker 1: up were compared to, you know, trying to get into
Speaker 1: the top twelve. Right where where where if good Kuntz
Speaker 1: wants to move up, he doesn't have to give up
Speaker 1: the second first round pick. It's more of like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna trade one of the second rounders to move
Speaker 1: up a half dozen spots or something like that. And
Speaker 1: Johnson's a guy, Mike, I completely wrote him off in
Speaker 1: terms of what we were looking at as far as
Speaker 1: the Packers potentially you know, uh, drafting just because I
Speaker 1: didn't think he'd be there, and he may not. He
Speaker 1: may not even be anywhere close to twenty two, but
Speaker 1: a CC defensive Player of the Year, you know, twelve
Speaker 1: sacks last season. Kid was born. You know, he's born
Speaker 1: from Minnesota. I mean eat in prayer, I mean he's
Speaker 1: he has the local ties there too. Uh. And that's
Speaker 1: where this is going to get interesting, because now the
Speaker 1: Packers have to start weighing guys that could be a
Speaker 1: Rashawn Gary where it's like he may not start right away,
Speaker 1: he may not play five snaps right away, but look
Speaker 1: at what that investment in Gary three years ago has
Speaker 1: done for them now with having to move on from
Speaker 1: Zadarius Smith because of the back and the money, and
Speaker 1: now you have a guy that I think you feel
Speaker 1: really good about going into the season with compared to Okay,
Speaker 1: we need to have a receiver in this room. That's
Speaker 1: where the questions start to come up a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the other one I think at edge rusher. That's going
Speaker 1: to be interesting to see what happens. Um is Uh
Speaker 1: is David O. Jbo If I'm saying the last name correctly.
Speaker 1: The guy from Michigan who unfortunately blew out his achilles
Speaker 1: on Michigan's pro day, and that's obviously, you know, going
Speaker 1: to damage his draft stock. But then the question is
Speaker 1: how far how far does he fall? Um? You know,
Speaker 1: maybe somebody still takes him late in the first round,
Speaker 1: maybe he's still there all the way late in the
Speaker 1: second round, where the Packers would go, Okay, yeah, we're
Speaker 1: not going to be able to expect much because of
Speaker 1: that injury, you know here as a rookie. But um,
Speaker 1: you know, but is this guy worth Um? You know
Speaker 1: that it's it's it's not quite the same injury situation
Speaker 1: as Jamison Williams, that wide receiver that we talked about,
Speaker 1: but yet there's some similarity in that there's just there's
Speaker 1: so much uncertainty as too, as to how teams are
Speaker 1: going to value a player like that that if if
Speaker 1: there were a completely clean bill of health, you know,
Speaker 1: the players being valued here, But because of the health questions,
Speaker 1: there are all sorts of different opinions as to as
Speaker 1: to exactly what it's worth in this draft to to
Speaker 1: to get that. And so many times, Mike, it really
Speaker 1: does seem like when you have an elite prospect that
Speaker 1: is coming off a devastating injury, more often than not,
Speaker 1: they're able to make it back. I think back to
Speaker 1: Miles Jack you know, with Jacksonville number of years ago,
Speaker 1: where people are like, you know, they weren't sure if
Speaker 1: this kid's gonna be able to play in the NFL
Speaker 1: based on that injury he had, and then there he was.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously Jalen Smith went through that, Willis mcgahey
Speaker 1: at the running back position. Those things do happen. The
Speaker 1: thing that's different about this young man that I feel
Speaker 1: for him is the pro day aspect of it. You're
Speaker 1: seeing these videos already at Williams. I mean, he's already
Speaker 1: running and cutting and all these things because he's so
Speaker 1: far out now, three or four months out. And then
Speaker 1: it's different when it happens in a protey because now
Speaker 1: it really does legitimately throw the rookie year in the question. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was, it was. It's right, it's right up against
Speaker 1: the it's right up against the draft as opposed to
Speaker 1: an injury from January. And this is completely unfair to him.
Speaker 1: But it's weird that we've actually gotten to the point
Speaker 1: now where receiver tears as a c L and it's
Speaker 1: not really a huge deal breaker for me anymore. You
Speaker 1: feel like they can make it back from that. There's
Speaker 1: something about that darn Achilles though, that always kind of
Speaker 1: makes my stomach rumble, just because you're never too quite sure,
Speaker 1: because it's not just about them coming back, it's what
Speaker 1: is it taking out of the explosivity of the athlete.
Speaker 1: And and that's that's one thing too. You've got a
Speaker 1: kind of monitor that's a pretty devastating injury in addition
Speaker 1: from the pain aspect, but also the rehab. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: before we go, I want to get your thoughts on
Speaker 1: any any names regarding offensive lineman, specifically offensive tackles. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I think that's a that's certainly a position the
Speaker 1: Packers are going to be looking very very strongly at. Um.
Speaker 1: We're talking before we turn the cameras on about the
Speaker 1: Central Michigan Bernard Bernhard Raymond. Hopefully I'm saying that correctly. Um,
Speaker 1: originally from Austria, comes over to the United States, UM
Speaker 1: as a foreign exchange student. Originally, if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 1: Um ends up ends up taking up football. UM goes
Speaker 1: back to his home country, but then comes back to
Speaker 1: America to play college football, starts out as a tight end,
Speaker 1: gets converted from tight end to offensive tackle, and the question,
Speaker 1: the question with with this young man is because of
Speaker 1: you know, because of his his background and just how
Speaker 1: things developed and converting from tight end, there's a um,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of excitement as to just how good
Speaker 1: he might be because he's barely getting started, right, But
Speaker 1: now we're also hearing some things just as the draft
Speaker 1: is approaching that there might be some there might be
Speaker 1: something popped up on a medical scan or something like that.
Speaker 1: So just where this offensive tackle from Central Michigan is
Speaker 1: going to go and how teams are valuing him, I
Speaker 1: think is going to be interesting to why. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: love that aspect of the tight end position because I
Speaker 1: think there's a lot to be said for that. You're
Speaker 1: seeing that more and more to uh, specifically in these
Speaker 1: kind of situations, not not with the foreign exchange, but
Speaker 1: in terms of a MAX school that they get a guy,
Speaker 1: they feel really good about him as an athlete, they
Speaker 1: get him in there and it's like, Okay, well maybe
Speaker 1: this guy could be the way he's developing, maybe you
Speaker 1: could be an offensive lineman. And I like what that
Speaker 1: tight end position sometimes teaches those kids because there is
Speaker 1: it happens a lot more than you think in terms
Speaker 1: of guys that end up making that switch. Certainly, again,
Speaker 1: we have to see it just came out and I
Speaker 1: don't know how credible the reporting is on it. But
Speaker 1: it's another thing. It's it's these these things that will
Speaker 1: kind of pop up. We think these things that pop
Speaker 1: up in the last forty eight seventy two hours before
Speaker 1: the draft that that it's like you wonder, okay, is
Speaker 1: there some truth to it? Is? Is it? Is it
Speaker 1: just something completely off the mark? Is it maybe not
Speaker 1: as bad as it's being reported, Like we really we
Speaker 1: really don't know. But with regard to the Packers, we
Speaker 1: know we know the first you know, three or four
Speaker 1: offensive tackles in this draft are gonna get taken very
Speaker 1: very high. They aren't. They aren't really in range for
Speaker 1: the Packers unless Brian Gudukums decides to make a major
Speaker 1: major move. Um, So those guys, those guys are are
Speaker 1: you know, projected to go in the top you know, eight, nine,
Speaker 1: ten picks of this draft. But there's a there is
Speaker 1: a group of offensive tackles that expected to be available
Speaker 1: in the back half of the first round. I think
Speaker 1: Raymond is one of them. Tyler Smith from Tulsa is
Speaker 1: another one. I was talking to Larry about him because
Speaker 1: Larry did the Prospect Primer video on him. And you know,
Speaker 1: Tyler Smith six pounds, he just turned twenty one years old.
Speaker 1: Um he Larry Larry described him as a maller. He's
Speaker 1: an absolute maler of an offensive lineman. But incredibly raw
Speaker 1: um green as grass as they say, as far as
Speaker 1: you know the technique, the refinement, the past blocking part
Speaker 1: of things. So a really intriguing prospect there who's probably
Speaker 1: going to be available um in uh in the latter
Speaker 1: half of the first round. But again, a twenty one
Speaker 1: year old. That just how high is the ceiling? And
Speaker 1: that's what that's what the scouts get paid for, right
Speaker 1: to try to figure out how much these guys are
Speaker 1: potentially worse. And it's weird because you look at those
Speaker 1: guys up front, a lot of a lot of sec kids,
Speaker 1: some some big ten kids. It's these guys in the
Speaker 1: back that it's just their their backgrounds are all over
Speaker 1: the place. I mean, you talk about Smith being from Tulsa,
Speaker 1: Trevor Penning, you know, the big kid from northern Iowa
Speaker 1: if you would put him on Iowa not or than IWA,
Speaker 1: no disrespect Northern Iowa Greade School, but like I'd be like,
Speaker 1: this is the Packers type of pick. And you look
Speaker 1: at his pedigree, his background, what he played in college,
Speaker 1: the level at which he played it in that size
Speaker 1: mike six ft seven three or twenty pounds, everything you
Speaker 1: look for. I don't know how this kid ended up
Speaker 1: over there at an FCS school. I love everything about
Speaker 1: him and then my favorite it and I think you
Speaker 1: even know who I'm gonna say here, Daniel Fallele from
Speaker 1: Minnesota six eight pounds. I mean, they just don't build
Speaker 1: humans like this. But it's one thing to be that big,
Speaker 1: it's another thing to be able to play to that way. Now,
Speaker 1: Minnesota kept him on the right side. I think that's
Speaker 1: where he's gonna end up here in the pros. And
Speaker 1: and maybe you know there's some stuff, you know, conditioning wise,
Speaker 1: depending on which direction they want to go. But he's
Speaker 1: a guy that you think, you see a guy that
Speaker 1: big and you're thinking, Okay, you're just gonna be able
Speaker 1: to speed past this kid. He knows how to move
Speaker 1: in within his body and and being able to play
Speaker 1: at Minnesota and seeing big ten competition. I'm really excited
Speaker 1: about this kid. And to me, when you asked me
Speaker 1: to start looking through the offensive lineman and start getting
Speaker 1: my names together for guys that could potentially be there
Speaker 1: at the end of the first round, he's one of
Speaker 1: the ones I'm most excited about, just because I think
Speaker 1: that ceiling with him and potentially what he could become
Speaker 1: is really special. Yeah, seems like seems like there's heading
Speaker 1: into this draft, the wide receiver position seems fairly deep,
Speaker 1: which has been which is how it's been for a
Speaker 1: few years now. Seems like there's maybe a little more
Speaker 1: depth at the defensive line position than we've seen in
Speaker 1: recent drafts. And UM and you don't often see UH
Speaker 1: offensive tackles UH quality first round offensive tackles last until
Speaker 1: the latter stages of the first round. But I think
Speaker 1: some of them, some of them in this draft are
Speaker 1: going to be there. There's a really intriguing draft for
Speaker 1: the big guys and UH and I think the Packers
Speaker 1: have a need to to stock up a little bit
Speaker 1: on both sides with regard to the big guys. And
Speaker 1: that's and that's gonna be the interesting thing to see
Speaker 1: how these dominoes fall. The Packers are picking eleven times
Speaker 1: in this draft, I think, the most picks that they
Speaker 1: have set up for going back to maybe two thousand thirteen.
Speaker 1: There are a number of different areas they can address,
Speaker 1: but there's also a lot of flexibility to when you
Speaker 1: have to first, two seconds, the third, the fourth. The
Speaker 1: only pick that the only time they're not picking right
Speaker 1: now is a six round oh one. On the other
Speaker 1: side of it, they have three in the seven. So
Speaker 1: the the amount of flexibility that Brian is going to
Speaker 1: have in this draft is unequal to anything he's seen,
Speaker 1: including when he had the two first and two thousand nineteen.
Speaker 1: So that that's why I think that the three days,
Speaker 1: especially depending on what happens on Night one, it's going
Speaker 1: to be as edge of the seat as it gets
Speaker 1: for NFL Packers drafts, because really anything outside of the
Speaker 1: top ten is in play, depending on how they want
Speaker 1: to partner those picks, if they want to move around
Speaker 1: a little bit. Oh and then, by the way, now
Speaker 1: veteran A, B, and C is being potentially attached to
Speaker 1: Green Bay two, could there be a trade on that
Speaker 1: aspect of it? Get your popcorn ready, folks, It is
Speaker 1: going to be a wild three days, absolutely, and with
Speaker 1: that we will call it a rap. On this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted, be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team, all of our coverage of the draft.
Speaker 1: We've got everything for you Thursday, Friday, Saturday, stories, videos, commentary,
Speaker 1: all of it, instant reactions. If you want to be
Speaker 1: following the draft live, stay on our website. West and
Speaker 1: Larry and I are going to be talking about these
Speaker 1: picks as soon as they're made. We're going to have
Speaker 1: it all for you on packers dot com. For West,
Speaker 1: I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody. We'll see
Speaker 1: you next time.