Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted Social
Speaker 1: Distancing Style from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford,
Speaker 1: joined as always by my trusted colleague West hot Cooits.
Speaker 1: We're coming to you here from our humble abodes, as
Speaker 1: we've been doing for the last several weeks and West
Speaker 1: Today's show, I want to follow the same format, similar
Speaker 1: format to what we did on our last show and
Speaker 1: talking about the draft class, but I want to expand
Speaker 1: the topics to really where the Packers roster is in
Speaker 1: general right now. And since we don't have O, T,
Speaker 1: A S and a minicamp and all of that to
Speaker 1: to preview and to cover due to the pandemic, this
Speaker 1: is almost going to serve as like a training camp preview.
Speaker 1: And maybe we'll do this show again, you know, sometime
Speaker 1: in July or August or what. I have a feeling
Speaker 1: we're gonna be doing a lot of things over and
Speaker 1: over again. Yeah, perhaps perhaps, But my point is I've
Speaker 1: got some questions for you, some overarching questions maybe where
Speaker 1: things stand with the Packers roster. So I want to
Speaker 1: start with this one because this one comes up a
Speaker 1: lot in our insider inbox Portal Packers signed three free
Speaker 1: agents in the off season, Devin Functions, Christian Kirksey, Rick Wagner.
Speaker 1: Which of those three do you see having the biggest
Speaker 1: impact on the Green Bay Packers. Yeah, without a question,
Speaker 1: in my mind, it's Christian Kirksey because one, it's a
Speaker 1: very young position now, with Blake Martinez and b J.
Speaker 1: Goodson both moving on to two different pastors this offseason.
Speaker 1: Kirksy is the only real established veteran. There are a
Speaker 1: lot of young players behind him. He did he does
Speaker 1: have the injuries the last two years, only played in
Speaker 1: nine games the past two seasons, but before that he
Speaker 1: was an every down player for the Cleveland Browns and
Speaker 1: by all accounts, he could very well be that again
Speaker 1: now for the Green Bay Packers. You know that kind
Speaker 1: of eight dred nine hundred thousand snap lineback or in
Speaker 1: this defense. And I also just like his overall makeup.
Speaker 1: I've said this since the very beginning when they when
Speaker 1: they signed Christian Kirksey, he was on the precipice of
Speaker 1: looking like a really elite all around linebacker prior to
Speaker 1: this whole situation, and unfortunately the injuries kind of set
Speaker 1: him back. But he's still only twenty seven. He still
Speaker 1: has the prime of his you know, he's in the
Speaker 1: prime of his career, and he has a great opportunity
Speaker 1: at this point to real establish himself in Mike Patton's defense,
Speaker 1: a coordinator that he's worked with before. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: you could make an argument in some respects for any
Speaker 1: one of these three guys as far as this question goes.
Speaker 1: You know, a lot of folks are looking for Devin
Speaker 1: Funch's to make a really big impact because the Packers
Speaker 1: did not add any draft picks at wide receiver. I
Speaker 1: think there's also a strong argument to be made for
Speaker 1: Rick Rick Wagner because, as we talked about on our
Speaker 1: last show, the Packers didn't draft that offensive tackle of
Speaker 1: the future. They didn't they didn't draft spend that high
Speaker 1: draft pick on a guy who could be pretend actually
Speaker 1: that swing back up on the right side and the
Speaker 1: left side behind the two veterans Box tr and Wagner.
Speaker 1: You just wonder what would happen, you know, say, if
Speaker 1: Wagner were to get hurt or if something were to
Speaker 1: go wrong there, do you end up sliding Billy Turner
Speaker 1: out to right tackle and then you know you're you're
Speaker 1: shifting things around a lot with your offensive line or
Speaker 1: one of the other young guys Alex light yosh Naiman,
Speaker 1: if they come on strong in training camp in the preseason,
Speaker 1: would they be ready to step in So Wagner, you know,
Speaker 1: not just because tackles are out there on an island,
Speaker 1: but in some senses, he's kind of out there on
Speaker 1: an island as this free agent pick up for the
Speaker 1: Packers because they didn't build a whole lot of other
Speaker 1: reinforcements behind him. Just something that I think we're gonna
Speaker 1: have to watch as the season unfolds. Um. I also
Speaker 1: really enjoyed to kind of break the fourth wall here
Speaker 1: you and I both getting our COVID nineteen update phone
Speaker 1: calls at the same exact time from the Packers organization.
Speaker 1: If you're if you're a real strong viewer of unscripted,
Speaker 1: you can kind of tell our radio sacre sees. Literally,
Speaker 1: Spot and I both looked down at the same exact
Speaker 1: time to see why our phones were ringing. At first
Speaker 1: I thought it was Spot. It turned out to be me.
Speaker 1: This this is the world we're dealing with now. Back
Speaker 1: in the day when we're in the studio, my phone's
Speaker 1: turned off, everything's fine. Lights are on Marvs in my
Speaker 1: ear but you know what, we're on zoom now. So
Speaker 1: these are the things that we have to adjust to.
Speaker 1: That's right, and we'll just keep moving forward as best
Speaker 1: we can. All right. So, um, here's another one for
Speaker 1: you West heading into Say, if we were just a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks away from training camp, what do you
Speaker 1: think is the most interesting, intriguing position competition the Packers
Speaker 1: are going to have in whatever form training camp takes
Speaker 1: later this summer. Without a shadow of a doubt, it's
Speaker 1: gonna end up being the secondary. And I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: broad and say the secondary because of the story I
Speaker 1: wrote earlier this week on Packers dot com about the
Speaker 1: nickel cornerback position. You can we can talk until you
Speaker 1: know to tomorrow about right tackle, the changes that inside linebacker.
Speaker 1: They didn't draft a receiver. They took a quarterback. There's
Speaker 1: another running back. But let's be honest, like, the one
Speaker 1: thing the Packers got out in terms of where they
Speaker 1: exited that draft was pretty much where they started it
Speaker 1: in terms of their defensive backs and how they're going
Speaker 1: to handle that nickel cornerback position. Now, Brian Goodkin said
Speaker 1: right from the get go the week before the draft
Speaker 1: that Trumon Williams is still very much in play for them.
Speaker 1: He could be back. Thirty seven years young. Certainly played
Speaker 1: uh I thought exceptional last year considering his age and
Speaker 1: how much they needed him to be out there. That
Speaker 1: being said, good Kunts and Matt la Floor both very
Speaker 1: complimentary of a number of young corners and safeties on
Speaker 1: this roster already, among them Chandon Sullivan, the undrafted free
Speaker 1: agent that was picked up last May days after the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles cut him following the draft, got cut off
Speaker 1: their ninety man roster. He ends up in Green Bay,
Speaker 1: Wisconsin and becomes a dime cornerback. And I thought played
Speaker 1: pretty well, you know it. I'm not trying to pat
Speaker 1: myself on the back here, but I thought this young
Speaker 1: man came in and pressed throughout training camp. If you
Speaker 1: go back and look at his numbers at the NFL
Speaker 1: scouting combine, he does have some impressive measurables and in
Speaker 1: some impressive drail work, and I thought that athleticism showed
Speaker 1: up last year. Josh Jackson, you know you also have
Speaker 1: Kedar Home in the sixth round pick out of Toledo
Speaker 1: last year. Let's also touch on this to Mike. Very interesting.
Speaker 1: The Packers also talked about Darniell Savage being a guy
Speaker 1: that could potentially play the nickel corner spot, or maybe
Speaker 1: even JayR Alexander, although he's been on the perimeter here
Speaker 1: the last few seasons. So they're going to be multiple
Speaker 1: and they're going to be deep in terms of how
Speaker 1: they approached that position, and they're when they have five
Speaker 1: cornerbacks on the field. That was my number one takeaway
Speaker 1: from this draft, because it wasn't like they took somebody
Speaker 1: that's like, Okay, this is gonna be the guy that's
Speaker 1: going to compete for that spot. They're going to look
Speaker 1: to find, either with Tremont Williams or someone else on
Speaker 1: this roster, someone that's gonna take the reins of that job. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I my answer to this question, I think it'd
Speaker 1: be really easy obviously to say wide receiver, right is
Speaker 1: you're gonna have Devin Funchius, Alan Lazard, m vs eq
Speaker 1: st Brown, Jake Kumer, all these guys competing for how
Speaker 1: they're gonna line up in the pecking order behind Yes,
Speaker 1: Reggie from from the CFL. That's right, He's in the mix.
Speaker 1: As well, but I'm not I don't want to go
Speaker 1: there with the wide receiver thing. I think that's that's
Speaker 1: almost too obvious. My answer to this one is actually
Speaker 1: going to be backup quarterback. And the reason I say that,
Speaker 1: I think this is going to be a real legitimate
Speaker 1: competition here in because in a normal circumstance, you spend
Speaker 1: a first round draft pick on a quarterback you're expecting
Speaker 1: behind Aaron Rodgers. You're expecting to be the number two
Speaker 1: right away, just as Aaron Rodgers was in two thousand
Speaker 1: five behind Brett Farve. But here's the thing West. The
Speaker 1: first time that Jordan's Love is going to take an
Speaker 1: actual snap in an eleven on eleven NFL practice, it's
Speaker 1: not in rookie mini camp. It's not going to be
Speaker 1: in O T A. S. It's not going to be
Speaker 1: in a full squad mini camp. It's gonna be in
Speaker 1: training camp his and and there's talk of course that
Speaker 1: maybe training camp is even gonna be shortened and truncated.
Speaker 1: We may not have the four preseason games. That what
Speaker 1: we'll find all that out as we get down the road. So,
Speaker 1: in that respect, and with what Tim Boyle did last year,
Speaker 1: establishing himself as the number two behind Aaron Rodgers. I
Speaker 1: think there's a legitimate competition here between Jordan Love and
Speaker 1: Tim Boyle for this year as to who's going to
Speaker 1: be the number two, because there's just no guarantee in
Speaker 1: my opinion that Jordan's Love in this type of environment
Speaker 1: and with the time frame that that we're potentially dealing with,
Speaker 1: that he's really going to be ready to be the
Speaker 1: number two ahead of Boil with all the preseason games
Speaker 1: that he has under his belt. Yeah, exactly, Mike. I
Speaker 1: think you know, not only just the preseason games, but
Speaker 1: now he had an entire season where he was in
Speaker 1: that number two role. Um the guy that that did
Speaker 1: have the clipboard, that did add the headset, that was
Speaker 1: wearing the shoulder pads, and was going to go into
Speaker 1: the football game if something God forbid happened to Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: He's played that role now for an entire season. He
Speaker 1: knows those pressure years and he's been able to prepare
Speaker 1: his mindset now. Certainly, Jordan's Love has played a lot
Speaker 1: of football, so I expect him to push for that job.
Speaker 1: I expect him to be right in the middle of
Speaker 1: that competition. Also to throw out there to The Packers
Speaker 1: did release Manny Wilkins uh their their practice squad quarterback
Speaker 1: from a year ago from a s U. They signed
Speaker 1: Jalen Merton uh And if you know anything about his story,
Speaker 1: he actually did get a combine invite six ft four
Speaker 1: really two or thirty pounds, I mean a really good arm.
Speaker 1: I mean he has the prototypical build for that position.
Speaker 1: So you know, don't completely you know, just look at
Speaker 1: those three at the top and just figure the competitions
Speaker 1: over there there over there, I think Morton could be
Speaker 1: a guy that pushes too. But all that being said,
Speaker 1: Jordan's love is the Frouki first round pick. It's going
Speaker 1: to be a challenging offseason. He's gonna have to overcome that.
Speaker 1: You'll have a chance to do that during the virtual
Speaker 1: offseason program. But I really I'm with you on that.
Speaker 1: I think probably going all the way back to maybe
Speaker 1: what might two thousand and eight, I mean, when was
Speaker 1: the last time they probably had a competition like this
Speaker 1: In terms of a number two that looks like he's
Speaker 1: going to be, you know, an NFL football player. I
Speaker 1: think Tim Boyle does have a future in this league
Speaker 1: in a rookie first round pick that you know a
Speaker 1: lot of people are very high on. Yeah. Alright, Well,
Speaker 1: next question here for you, Wes the twenty nineteen draft class.
Speaker 1: Which of those draft picks do you see taking the
Speaker 1: biggest step forward in your number two? You know, it
Speaker 1: would be easy to say Rashan Gary. And that's exactly
Speaker 1: why I'm gonna say Rashan Gary. Uh. The way that
Speaker 1: this lays out for this young man, I know all
Speaker 1: eyes were on him last year. Uh, and expectations were
Speaker 1: incredibly high for him, and they still are. But you
Speaker 1: gotta remember they had Kyler Facer in a very interesting
Speaker 1: role last season. He was not only the number of
Speaker 1: the number three guy at outside linebacker that was going
Speaker 1: to be the first off the bench in many cases,
Speaker 1: he also played that coverage linebacker role when they wanted
Speaker 1: to take somebody off the ball a little bit. Well,
Speaker 1: that guy's gone. Now, Kyler Facer has set sail. He's
Speaker 1: in New York, so there is And by all accounts,
Speaker 1: the Packers haven't really had a big signing that's gonna
Speaker 1: come in and take those snaps. It would make the
Speaker 1: most sense, as I wrote an Insider inbox this week,
Speaker 1: to put those snaps on Rashaan Gary, so that was
Speaker 1: foreigner and fifty snaps last year for Kyler Facral. I
Speaker 1: think Gary played in the two range. People very critical,
Speaker 1: you know, the only two sacks and this, that and
Speaker 1: the other. Give this guy some time. He was twenty
Speaker 1: one years old. The fortunate thing was that that shoulder
Speaker 1: thing that he was dealing with last year, he said,
Speaker 1: I believe he told robbed him Omsky after this season,
Speaker 1: he's not going to read that didn't require surgery, so
Speaker 1: he was able to get into a full offseason. I
Speaker 1: just think when you have Zadarius Smith and Preston Smith
Speaker 1: doing what they're doing right now in leading the way
Speaker 1: that they're leading, and the experiences that they had getting
Speaker 1: used to an edge rushing role in the NFL as well,
Speaker 1: that's such a valuable resource for them and for him,
Speaker 1: and and also with Mike Smith in that room, I
Speaker 1: expect for Shawn Gary to take a big step in. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think there are a lot of other candidates
Speaker 1: potentially to to answer this question. When you're talking about
Speaker 1: King's Ley Kiki on the defensive line in a position
Speaker 1: where the Packers didn't add a draft pick. We've talked
Speaker 1: a lot about ja Sternber obviously at tight end, and
Speaker 1: how much his playing time increased in the back half
Speaker 1: of his rookie season into the playoffs and now with
Speaker 1: Jimmy Graham no longer there for the Packers, that Sternberger's
Speaker 1: a guy who's gonna step up. But if my answer
Speaker 1: to this question, I'm sticking in the first round of
Speaker 1: the draft, actually, and I'm gonna say Darnell Savage, and
Speaker 1: I'm saying that obviously Savage stepped in, he was a
Speaker 1: starter from day one. But a couple of things here.
Speaker 1: One you mentioned he might be in the mix potentially
Speaker 1: to play some nickel corner, some slot corner and expand
Speaker 1: his skill set a little bit. So that's really intriguing.
Speaker 1: But the other thing I'll say too is that Savage
Speaker 1: is a guy his his speed, his skills. The next
Speaker 1: step for him is to start to become a playmaker,
Speaker 1: not just in every down starter, not just you know,
Speaker 1: the the guy who stepped in from day one, but
Speaker 1: to start making those those big time game changing, you know,
Speaker 1: type of plays. And when I look at a I
Speaker 1: another guy in the secondary, different position corner as opposed
Speaker 1: to safety with Savage, but Kevin King his third year
Speaker 1: in the league last year, and you could argue it
Speaker 1: wasn't even really his third year because his first two
Speaker 1: years he you know, he missed time with injuries and stuff.
Speaker 1: He didn't really have two full seasons under his belt,
Speaker 1: I guess is what I'm saying. All of a sudden,
Speaker 1: Kevin King becomes the team leader in interceptions last year
Speaker 1: with five. That's something that Darnell Savage could potentially do.
Speaker 1: He got a couple of picks as a rookie, but
Speaker 1: if suddenly that number goes up to four or five
Speaker 1: or six, then he's he's a big time playmaker in
Speaker 1: the secondary that quarterbacks are gonna start to worry about more.
Speaker 1: I think Darnell Savage is a guy who could really
Speaker 1: take a big step forward in and and the other
Speaker 1: thing about last year's draft class Darnell Savage and Elton Jenkins.
Speaker 1: First time since two thousand fourteen the Packers put two
Speaker 1: guys from the same draft class on a pf W
Speaker 1: A all rookie teams. So, I mean, the ceiling is
Speaker 1: just you know, huge for these guys and where they're
Speaker 1: going to be able to potentially take this thing. Elton Jenkins,
Speaker 1: I think, for my money, Mike. I can't think of
Speaker 1: a rookie that came in and knocked the doors down
Speaker 1: the way he did since probably David baktri in terms
Speaker 1: of just being able to I'm not gonna I'm gonna
Speaker 1: stop short of saying master the position, but not looking
Speaker 1: like a rookie second round pick that you know, not
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are gonna be patient
Speaker 1: with And you look at the way that you know, also,
Speaker 1: Corey Linsley gets thrown into that too, the way the
Speaker 1: Packers have been able to throw some of these rookies
Speaker 1: and young offensive lineman in there and play as well
Speaker 1: as they have. Uh, you tip your cab to Jenkins, because,
Speaker 1: as I've said over and over again, it's really special
Speaker 1: when you can draft a player and within that first
Speaker 1: year knock on wood. You know, barring injury, this looks
Speaker 1: like a guy that you can plug into your offensive
Speaker 1: line for the next decade and not think twice about it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: no question about it, all right. Well, next question, speaking
Speaker 1: of players taking steps forward, put aside the draft class,
Speaker 1: Put aside the twenty nineteen draft class. A third or
Speaker 1: fourth year guy that you're going to have your eye
Speaker 1: on the Packers that you're looking to take that next
Speaker 1: step with his career. It's burs it has to be.
Speaker 1: And this is a guy that was a third round
Speaker 1: pick two years ago. I love Oran has a tremendous
Speaker 1: head on his shoulders, incredibly intelligent. You can already tell
Speaker 1: that this guy is gonna do so many great things
Speaker 1: once his football career is over. But he wants it
Speaker 1: to be a long and prosperous football career. And you
Speaker 1: look at the past two offseasons, Mike. Both times it
Speaker 1: was Taylor made for him to step into the starting lineup.
Speaker 1: Last year, it really looked like he was going to
Speaker 1: be able to do that and maybe even push Blake
Speaker 1: Martinez for that dime linebacker role. Well, again an injury
Speaker 1: pops up and again the Packers had to go out
Speaker 1: and acquire a veteran inside linebacker to fill in as
Speaker 1: Burke's with sidelines. So him having to get these late
Speaker 1: starts into regular seasons that set him back the past
Speaker 1: two years. But this guy has so much ability and
Speaker 1: his body and he has a great makeup for the
Speaker 1: game of football and defensive football. In two thousand twenty,
Speaker 1: He's a guy that played safety, played defensive back. He
Speaker 1: grew into his body and he became an inside linebacker.
Speaker 1: This isn't some bloated hybrid that's just trying to, you know,
Speaker 1: make away in the league. Or In Burkes is an
Speaker 1: inside linebacker that can run with guys. So if he
Speaker 1: can stay healthy, Mike, if he can really grab onto
Speaker 1: that number two role. As much as I talked about
Speaker 1: Christian Kirksey, and he's a great pickup for the Packers,
Speaker 1: I think if he stays on the field, it's really
Speaker 1: gonna benefit this defense. But or In Burks. They used
Speaker 1: the third round pick out of him on him out
Speaker 1: of Vanderbilt two years ago for a very specific reason,
Speaker 1: and it's time for him to be able to grab
Speaker 1: that job. Yeah. And actually Brian Goodkins traded up for
Speaker 1: that third round pick to use or In Burkes as well. Um,
Speaker 1: this is where I am going to dip into the
Speaker 1: receiver conversation because the guy that I'm really intrigued to
Speaker 1: watch here is e q st Brown. And the reason
Speaker 1: I say that obviously, his second season in the NFL
Speaker 1: was lost to injury, but if you go back to
Speaker 1: his rookie year when the Packers had spent three Day
Speaker 1: three draft picks at wide receiver Jamon Moore, Marquis Valdis Scandling,
Speaker 1: and Equanimius st. Brown. By the end of that rookie season,
Speaker 1: St Brown was the guy who was the furthest ahead
Speaker 1: on the depth chart as far as those three guys
Speaker 1: were concerned. And then the twenty nineteen season, he just
Speaker 1: never was really able to get it started due to
Speaker 1: the injury and it cost him the entire year. Now,
Speaker 1: this is a guy you talk about, and we could list,
Speaker 1: you know, any number of guys that have a huge
Speaker 1: opportunity knocking in. But if you're e Q st Brown
Speaker 1: and you just missed your entire second season due to injury,
Speaker 1: and then you watched as the Packers signed one wide
Speaker 1: receiver and free agency and then didn't draft any wide receivers,
Speaker 1: the opportunity you have in front of you to put
Speaker 1: that you know, lost season to injury behind you and
Speaker 1: to get back to really pick up where you left
Speaker 1: off at the end of your rookie year. That's the
Speaker 1: opportunity that st Brown has. I want to bring it
Speaker 1: down memory lane a little bit here, and and I
Speaker 1: love to talk about equ some more. You made some
Speaker 1: great points on him. If this guy would have been
Speaker 1: a red shirt going into Notre Dame. He'd be coming
Speaker 1: out now first if you would write in his entire
Speaker 1: time there. So he's a young man, a lot of
Speaker 1: ability there. But let's let's take a little bit of
Speaker 1: a trip down memory lane, Mike. There is one year,
Speaker 1: one year out of the now eleven NFL drafts I've
Speaker 1: covered where I thought the Packers made a legitimate mistake
Speaker 1: not drafting a player at a position that was two
Speaker 1: thousand thirteen. They decided against taking a safety. They decided, Okay,
Speaker 1: m D. Jennings drawn mcmill and that's where how we're
Speaker 1: going to proceed. That was ill advised and and you know,
Speaker 1: my compliments to both guys, they're both fantastic guys. I
Speaker 1: really loved empty Jennings, good dude to deal with. But
Speaker 1: they left a hole there. The next year they responded,
Speaker 1: They took Haha, Clinton Dicks, They moved Mike a hide
Speaker 1: from cornerback to safety or began that transition, and they
Speaker 1: overhauled the position. That spoke volumes about what the Packers
Speaker 1: felt they needed to do to improve what had probably
Speaker 1: been in two thousand thirteen and Achilles heel for them.
Speaker 1: I mentioned that story because I think this was a
Speaker 1: big thing for Brian Goodkins to put the faith that
Speaker 1: he has in that receiver's room on those guys and
Speaker 1: not use a first round pick on it, not trade up,
Speaker 1: not trade back, just decide that, you know what, we
Speaker 1: signed Devin Funchous. We have several young guys at that
Speaker 1: position that we think we can help us. We're gonna
Speaker 1: trust that talent and trust and ability. There's a risk there,
Speaker 1: there's a gamble, and we'll see when two rolls around
Speaker 1: exactly where they ended up falling on that. But if
Speaker 1: I'm e Q, if I'm mvs. Jake Kumero, Reggie Begelton,
Speaker 1: I mean even Allen Lazard, who I think right now
Speaker 1: everyone would agree is probably Pencilan is the number two
Speaker 1: at this point. All those guys, this is a tremendous
Speaker 1: opportunity for them to show that, you know what, the
Speaker 1: faith that Brian Goodkin is placed in us, in this
Speaker 1: position room, in this group, there's good reason for it.
Speaker 1: We're going to capitalize on that opportunity. Yeah, I totally
Speaker 1: agree with you. Absolutely. One more I'm gonna throw at
Speaker 1: you here West before we sign off. Okay, and this
Speaker 1: is your this is the opportunity to say something off
Speaker 1: the wall, just in just in case it sticks later. Okay,
Speaker 1: but here's the question, what is a potential story in
Speaker 1: for the Green Bay Packers that no one is talking
Speaker 1: about right now? Josh Jackson, you can go as off
Speaker 1: the wall as you want to on this go ahead.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's off the wall. He's a
Speaker 1: second round pick, but I'm gonna say, Josh Jackson. I
Speaker 1: think by the end of two thousand and twenty, Josh
Speaker 1: Jackson will be a starting cornerback in the NFL. I
Speaker 1: think that this guy got off to a really rough start.
Speaker 1: He really had to get thrown into the fire in
Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen. He dealt with that foot injury early
Speaker 1: in camp in two thousand nineteen, and then just wasn't
Speaker 1: able to really regain that momentum on the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball. I still think he's a really good
Speaker 1: special teamer. I think the way I look at it,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure exactly how the defensive thing is going
Speaker 1: to turn out if his ceiling has been reached. I
Speaker 1: still think Josh Jackson could be a tenure player in
Speaker 1: this league. Is a special team contributor. I think he's
Speaker 1: that good in that area. I really truly do. But
Speaker 1: there's a reason why the Packers drafted him where they did.
Speaker 1: There was a reason why there was conversation about him
Speaker 1: being a first round pick at times in two thousand
Speaker 1: and eighteen. I went back and read his bio, his
Speaker 1: draft uh NFL dot com draft page, and his strengths
Speaker 1: and weaknesses, and this is a guy that people were
Speaker 1: saying was going to be a starter within one year.
Speaker 1: He had that ability. I just think Josh Jackson is
Speaker 1: going to get a great opportunity this offseason, this upcoming
Speaker 1: season to prove that he still can be that guy.
Speaker 1: If he stays healthy, he can be that guy. Because
Speaker 1: the thing about it is, you know there there have
Speaker 1: been some guys that you know, you see him come
Speaker 1: through and every team, every city, they're a high round
Speaker 1: draft pick, things don't work out and they end up
Speaker 1: being a problem child. Josh Jackson was not that guy.
Speaker 1: He did not cry, he did not whine, he did
Speaker 1: not complain. He did his job. And if the Packers
Speaker 1: stand panic cornerback, whether it ends up being nickel cornerback,
Speaker 1: dime quarterback, I think he's gonna have an opportunity to
Speaker 1: find his way to the defense in that second chance
Speaker 1: to show that, Okay, this was the ball hawk that
Speaker 1: we wanted out of Iowa and he can be that
Speaker 1: player in the NFL. Yeah, I'm really intrigued to see
Speaker 1: what Jackson does in as well, assuming that he can
Speaker 1: hit the ground running so speak as the healthy player
Speaker 1: that he was when he first showed up as a rookie.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go a little bit off the wall here, West.
Speaker 1: I warned you the Packers have a veteran tight end
Speaker 1: on this roster who's only been I believe, to one
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl in his career. His name is Marcedes Lewis.
Speaker 1: And I just wonder, I just wonder Jimmy Graham is gone.
Speaker 1: The Packers other tight ends are really young. We saw
Speaker 1: Marcedes Lewis catch a touchdown past late last season. Just
Speaker 1: how much is he gonna be potentially a red zone
Speaker 1: target here for Aaron Rodgers? And I can see I
Speaker 1: can see Aaron Rodgers having a lot of fun with
Speaker 1: this because this stat has taken off about the fact
Speaker 1: that Aaron Rodgers has thrown only one touchdown pass and
Speaker 1: his entire career to a first round draft pick, Well,
Speaker 1: guess it was Marcedes Lewis last year. So I can
Speaker 1: just see every time Rogers can hit Lewis for a
Speaker 1: touchdown pass, then he can say something after the game.
Speaker 1: But well, I have to, you know, add to that
Speaker 1: statistical in my career of throwing touchdowns to first round
Speaker 1: draft picks. As I said, I'm kind of having fun
Speaker 1: here and and you know, going a little bit off script,
Speaker 1: but uh, I just I think mar I think Marcedes
Speaker 1: Lewis could end up being more than just the blocking
Speaker 1: tight end as much as he's going to play that
Speaker 1: role in this offense. With the way Matt Lafleur wants
Speaker 1: to run the ball, the Packers are going to have
Speaker 1: kind of this three headed monster in the backfield and
Speaker 1: all that now with a j. Dillon added to Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones and Jamal Williams. But I think we're gonna see
Speaker 1: Marcedes Lewis, particularly in the red zone, goal line situations,
Speaker 1: those short passes to get it to the finish line.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna play a little bit bigger role
Speaker 1: and just maybe, just maybe Rogers throws him enough touchdown
Speaker 1: passes to get him into consideration for maybe his second
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl. Of his long and distinguish that is a
Speaker 1: heck of a going outside the box. We're gonna see it. Hey, dude,
Speaker 1: I had to I had to try, right, I have
Speaker 1: to try. So that would have to be a record,
Speaker 1: right if I mean that would have to be a record.
Speaker 1: If Mercedes Lewis would actually be able to put together
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl season, that would be at least ten
Speaker 1: years between the states because he went and to thousand ten.
Speaker 1: I don't know if anyone else has done that. I
Speaker 1: think it'd be a great story. I hope, I hope.
Speaker 1: I hope in six months you and I are talking
Speaker 1: about that. Yeah, I hope we get to see some
Speaker 1: football too. But but the thing is, I want to
Speaker 1: just point this out. I do like that story because
Speaker 1: it kind of reminds me, did you ever play city
Speaker 1: league basketball at all? No? At No, I haven't played
Speaker 1: basketball since college intramurals when I got it when I
Speaker 1: got a ten cent signing bonus from a fraternity team
Speaker 1: that I was not part of the fraternity. They're gonna
Speaker 1: keep that down. The n c A is gonna come
Speaker 1: and find you. Spot. You're gonna take away your old
Speaker 1: scholarship to Lawrence. They sent me a dime in inner
Speaker 1: office mail to a sign on the dotted line and
Speaker 1: join their intermural team. Anyway, story for another day. Point
Speaker 1: being old man strength. Every city league, basketball league I
Speaker 1: ever played, and there's always that old guy that's probably
Speaker 1: thirty years older than the other guys. But he's big,
Speaker 1: he's strong, and he posts up in the paint and
Speaker 1: nobody can stop him. Mercedes Lewis two thousand, twenty man
Speaker 1: put it on the board, all right. Well, with that,
Speaker 1: we will call it a wrap on this edition of
Speaker 1: Packers Unscripted. And just a reminder, the NFL schedule is
Speaker 1: coming out on Thursday evening, so be sure to keep
Speaker 1: your eye on Packers dot com as soon as it
Speaker 1: is available. We will have all the details and on
Speaker 1: our next show, our next Unscripted West, we will be
Speaker 1: breaking down the schedule, going over all of those details
Speaker 1: with what lies ahead in as uncertain as everything perhaps is.
Speaker 1: But for now, for Wes, I am Mike. Thank you
Speaker 1: for tuning, and everybody stay safe and we will see
Speaker 1: you next time.