Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by the one and only Weston had Kowitz. We're coming
Speaker 1: to you, Hear from our studios at lambeau Field, to
Speaker 1: talk about Wes the twenty twenty four NFL Draft. It
Speaker 1: was a wild and crazy three days. I'll start by
Speaker 1: asking have you recovered? Are you all right?
Speaker 2: I think so. It's always interesting And you were talking
Speaker 2: about this little bit on Monday. You Sunday was not.
Speaker 2: I didn't get much accomplished on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Nope, me neither.
Speaker 2: Well a couple a little later, I ended up taking
Speaker 2: a good, like two hour nap as well, and then
Speaker 2: I am not a good napper to begin with. So
Speaker 2: then you kind of get back into the flow of things.
Speaker 2: And yesterday went fine, and then today has been like
Speaker 2: difficult to get rolling again. But we're here, We're excited,
Speaker 2: and uh yeah, eleven more draft picks coming into the
Speaker 2: Green Bay Packers fold.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, well, as you said, it was eleven picks,
Speaker 1: starting with offensive lineman Jordan Morgan in the first round.
Speaker 1: And I have to say this because I'm normally not
Speaker 1: right about anything. But I did say on our last
Speaker 1: show before the draft, I predicted the Packers would have
Speaker 1: eleven picks because it would be a combination of trade
Speaker 1: trades up and trades down, which ended up being correct.
Speaker 1: And then I said, if Brian Gudakum sat and picked
Speaker 1: in the first round and did not trade, it would
Speaker 1: be he would sit and pick an offensive lineman, and
Speaker 1: I ended up being right on that count as well.
Speaker 1: So I just have to say that because usually I'm
Speaker 1: like totally wrong. But of the eleven picks, three offensive lineman,
Speaker 1: three safeties, two linebackers, plus a running back, a quarterback,
Speaker 1: and a corner back. Your first impression of this draft
Speaker 1: class as a collective and what it means for the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four Green Bay Packer.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna steer it back really quickly if I can
Speaker 2: to your point about Morgan in the first round, because
Speaker 2: once again we saw Brian Goodkuin's take three offensive linemen
Speaker 2: in a draft. That's something that he's been very interesting
Speaker 2: with the way he's approached this where there was back
Speaker 2: to back years consecutive years where he took three. Last
Speaker 2: year he took none.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for good reason.
Speaker 2: It was a well stocked cabinet. This year, you lose
Speaker 2: some guys, so in coomes this new draft class, and
Speaker 2: I give you credit. I give a lot of people credit. Obviously,
Speaker 2: I picked Amarus Mims.
Speaker 1: I was thinking, yeah, you were on offensive lineman as well, but.
Speaker 2: I think pound for pound, when you really break it down,
Speaker 2: mike tackle, whatever Morgan ends up playing in the pros,
Speaker 2: that's what made the most sense for Green Bay here.
Speaker 2: I think that's what gave you the biggest bang for
Speaker 2: your buck. It was interesting how it landed because Mims
Speaker 2: goes off the board at eighteen, Graham Barton is still
Speaker 2: there at twenty five. As it turned out, Geyton was
Speaker 2: also still available. I think he ended up going twenty nine.
Speaker 2: Tyler Goeiton. But the Packers really like Jordan Morgan. Like
Speaker 2: his size, they like the way he bounced back from
Speaker 2: the knee injury. He was a team leader. A common
Speaker 2: thread between this draft was team captains in Senior Bowl participation,
Speaker 2: and Morgan was a part of that. I think there's
Speaker 2: a lot to like about his forty time, the athleticism there,
Speaker 2: and then the one thing I'll kind of laugh at
Speaker 2: a little bit. You and I talked so much about
Speaker 2: Edger and Cooper and where is this guy going to be?
Speaker 2: What's his value going to be? Well, the answer was
Speaker 2: he was the forty fifth overall pick. And I think
Speaker 2: if you listen to what folks like Daniel Jeremiah said
Speaker 2: some of these other pundits, I think the Packers got
Speaker 2: Edger and Cooper, who I believe will be a really
Speaker 2: strong pro. I think he's gonna be a great guy
Speaker 2: to pair up with kway Walker. I think they got
Speaker 2: him for the maximum value there being able to move
Speaker 2: back a couple spots, get a couple more picks to
Speaker 2: have some trade equity with and some flexibility, and now
Speaker 2: you're getting the first off ball linebacker that was drafted
Speaker 2: in this draft class. I could go on forever about
Speaker 2: this thing, Mike, but I think with how they set
Speaker 2: the tone in the first two days, it reminded me
Speaker 2: a lot of last year, where you found depth, you
Speaker 2: found you address some needs, but I think you also
Speaker 2: found some really intriguing football players as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely to me. To me, the crux the heart
Speaker 1: of this draft was Friday, the second and third rounds,
Speaker 1: Because having four picks on Day two of the draft
Speaker 1: is a rarity. It just doesn't happen very often. And
Speaker 1: through a combination of circumstances, the the extra pick still
Speaker 1: left over from the Aaron Rodgers trade, and then the
Speaker 1: move up from the fifth round to the third round
Speaker 1: from the Rasul Douglas trade. That's why the Packers had
Speaker 1: two seconds and two thirds and taking away and taking
Speaker 1: nothing away from Jordan Morgan as the first round pick.
Speaker 1: We had talked about offensive line and all that, so
Speaker 1: that that did not surprise me. But to but what
Speaker 1: the Packers did on Friday night, I think, you know,
Speaker 1: get you get the number one, the first off ball
Speaker 1: linebacker taken in the draft. You also take the second
Speaker 1: safety off the board, who I believe, and I'll get
Speaker 1: into this a little bit more in a minute. I
Speaker 1: believe he had to be the number one safety on
Speaker 1: the Packers board. I firmly believe that. Then you add,
Speaker 1: excuse me, then you add a running back to the
Speaker 1: equation in the third round. Really really interesting prospect. I
Speaker 1: want to talk more about about Marshawn Lloyd as well.
Speaker 1: And then you double up at the off ball linebacker
Speaker 1: with uh, with Tyron Hopper from Missouri. That's uh, that's
Speaker 1: sort of the you know, the blood and guts of
Speaker 1: this draft to me is what the Packers did in
Speaker 1: rounds two and round three. When I look at try
Speaker 1: to look at things in the big picture, I think
Speaker 1: the Packers got a combination of potential, if not likely,
Speaker 1: immediate starters at some spots, but also then a lot
Speaker 1: of depth and competition and everything at at various other positions.
Speaker 1: To me, I think I think Edger and Cooper and
Speaker 1: Javon Bullard are odds on favorites to earn starting jobs.
Speaker 1: In Jeff Hafley's defense, that being said, I'm not ruling
Speaker 1: out Tyron Hopper in the Edger and Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie,
Speaker 1: Quay Walker that hole and how that's going to sort
Speaker 1: itself out. And I'm not ruling out either of the
Speaker 1: other two safeties with regard to Bullard and how and
Speaker 1: how maybe that shakes out for who will be the
Speaker 1: starting safety alongside Xavier McKinney the free agent acquisition, and
Speaker 1: maybe you have another starter in Jordan Morgan. He's going
Speaker 1: to start out, according to Matt Lafleur, at left tackle,
Speaker 1: which means we'll be competing with Rashid Walker, who had
Speaker 1: a heck of a year in twenty twenty three, but
Speaker 1: he's only started one year in the NFL. That's not
Speaker 1: to say that a guy like Jordan Morgan couldn't come
Speaker 1: in and beat him out. I think I don't think
Speaker 1: Rashid Walker is going to give up that spot very easily.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna And that's exactly what the coaches
Speaker 1: and the scouts and everybody wants, is the competition to
Speaker 1: try to, you know, raise everybody's level of play. It's
Speaker 1: what worked for the Packers last year with the whole
Speaker 1: youth movement at wide receiver and at tight end. We
Speaker 1: saw how by the second half of the season all
Speaker 1: the competition for playing time and for targets and for
Speaker 1: everything else got the Packers offense to another level. And
Speaker 1: I think they're looking for the same thing at various
Speaker 1: positions with how they went about this draft.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, and looking specifically at safety. Know no disrespect
Speaker 2: to what the Packers had at that position last year,
Speaker 2: but I think when you're looking at the draft picks
Speaker 2: that they ended up with here, you're just getting a
Speaker 2: different caliber of athlete in a lot of ways. And
Speaker 2: certainly Billard, it starts with him. I mean, it's a
Speaker 2: guy that was a starting nickel cornerback for Georgia when
Speaker 2: they won the National championship two interceptions of the National
Speaker 2: Championship Game defensive MVP. Then the next he plays on
Speaker 2: the back end. He talked about it as his conference
Speaker 2: call with reporters. He sees himself as a three position safety,
Speaker 2: a guy that can play in the slot. He can
Speaker 2: play both positions in the back end. A lot to
Speaker 2: like in terms of his speed, his athleticism. He's a
Speaker 2: Georgia bulldog, and I think everybody understands. I believe it
Speaker 2: was Pat Moore, who's Packer's scout, that even said that
Speaker 2: when you play for Kirby Smart, you're gonna tackle, You're
Speaker 2: going to have a tenacity. You don't get on the
Speaker 2: field in the SEC and those environments if you're not
Speaker 2: a competitor, if you're not giving it everything. And I
Speaker 2: think that's something to look forward to with him. But
Speaker 2: you know, Evan Williams is a guy and I joked
Speaker 2: about this and Insider Inbox. I don't know how he
Speaker 2: plays from a play style perspective, but when I close
Speaker 2: my eyes and listen to that conference call, I could
Speaker 2: have swore I was listening to Micah Hyde from ten
Speaker 2: years ago.
Speaker 1: It's a really good comparable because because yeah, just his
Speaker 1: just his voice, his demeanor as it came through over
Speaker 1: the phone with the reporters. I agree with you, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of Micah Hyde there.
Speaker 2: And you listen to safeties and they talk about communicators
Speaker 2: and guys that can relate, you know, to their Teammatesilliams,
Speaker 2: everything I've read in the subsequent days after, whether it
Speaker 2: was at Fresno State or whether it was at Oregon,
Speaker 2: it sounds like that's something that he did well. Now,
Speaker 2: the thing that's going to be interesting is both him
Speaker 2: and Bullard they look like more of the box safety types.
Speaker 2: Guys that have played a lot in the slot have
Speaker 2: that type of flexibility. Katano Ladeppo on the back end
Speaker 2: of it, the last safety they drafted, appears to be
Speaker 2: more of the back end type safety, and I think
Speaker 2: there's value in that as well. I mean, not that
Speaker 2: he can't play in the slot as well, but you know,
Speaker 2: six foot two, two hundred and fifteen pounds, I mean,
Speaker 2: this kid brings it. Had to work and cut his
Speaker 2: teeth for everything that he got at Oregon State. He
Speaker 2: was a walk on, very lightly recruited, waited three years.
Speaker 2: It looked like he was gonna get his opportunity. Then
Speaker 2: he gets hurt. Then he's a three year starter for them.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if you've got a chance to
Speaker 2: watch the play, but if you want to see what
Speaker 2: that kid's all about. His chase down tackle against Washington
Speaker 2: last year, where there is one guy that has any
Speaker 2: chance of being able to bring down the ball carry
Speaker 2: before the end zone, it's Katan and not only does
Speaker 2: he take him down, he strips him of the ball
Speaker 2: and they get the turnover.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: Those are the extra effort plays when guys are going
Speaker 2: to that second level that you need. The Green Bay
Speaker 2: Packers they got Xavier McKinney. That's a huge get for them,
Speaker 2: top free agent safety on the market. But other than that,
Speaker 2: you only had Anthony Johnson Junior coming back a second
Speaker 2: year player with three hundred defensive snaps, and Zane Anderson
Speaker 2: who didn't see the field last year at safety. Benny
Speaker 2: Sap played a little bit on special teams, but overall
Speaker 2: you needed to find some answers for that. And when
Speaker 2: we talk about the strength of this draft, an off
Speaker 2: ball linebacker's piece of it. Offensive line is a piece
Speaker 2: of it, but no position needed more of an infusion
Speaker 2: of talent than safety, and Brian Goudikins came through.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. It's interesting because you know, the fans ask
Speaker 1: us a lout. Okay, so what's your biggest takeaway from
Speaker 1: this draft? And I can't believe that I've been here
Speaker 1: as long as I have and haven't really processed and
Speaker 1: articulated this as I'm about to, but couple things I
Speaker 1: discovered in this draft. It just it was sort of
Speaker 1: like this mini epiphany that I had. It's not just
Speaker 1: that the Packers like versatility in their players, whether you're
Speaker 1: talking the offensive lineman or the safety who can maybe
Speaker 1: play the slot corner. Excuse me. It's not just that
Speaker 1: they like guys who you know, who have been a captain,
Speaker 1: you know, a defensive captain and offensive captain, a team captain,
Speaker 1: whatever that means in college. But it's that they place
Speaker 1: they place a value on those types of things that
Speaker 1: is built into the draft board, you know. And that's
Speaker 1: why I said earlier, I think Javon Bullard was the
Speaker 1: number one safety on the Packers board. He was considered
Speaker 1: the number two or number three safety on most of
Speaker 1: the lists that you look at, well, how does he
Speaker 1: become the number one safety on the Packers board compared
Speaker 1: to those other guys, well, all the other you know,
Speaker 1: the draft analysts out there, and I'm not disparaging their
Speaker 1: work at all, but they're looking at Tyler Duman from
Speaker 1: Minnesota and Javon Bullard from Georgia, and they're looking at
Speaker 1: the tape of how they play safety and the things
Speaker 1: that they do, and a lot of people rated Tyler
Speaker 1: Nuban as the better safety. But the Packers end up
Speaker 1: putting a guy like Javon Bullard higher on their board
Speaker 1: because he can also play the nickel, he can play
Speaker 1: the slot corner. The versatility they probably view him, if
Speaker 1: not if not just a better player maybe period than
Speaker 1: the other safeties, but if all the other traits are
Speaker 1: close enough to being equal, the versatility is what puts
Speaker 1: a guy like Javon Bullard over the top, and you know,
Speaker 1: bumps him up the draft board.
Speaker 2: YEP.
Speaker 1: Five of these guys five of the Packers eleven draft picks,
Speaker 1: including Evan Williams, who was a captain at Fresno State
Speaker 1: before the transfer to Oregon. Five of these players were
Speaker 1: captains on their team in college that is part of
Speaker 1: the Packers draft grade and how how they build their board.
Speaker 1: And so it's not just some kind of a coincidence
Speaker 1: that the Packers are always drafting these versatile players and
Speaker 1: drafting guys who were captains on their college teams. It's
Speaker 1: part a it's a part of their evaluation process that
Speaker 1: is factored into the grade and factored into how they
Speaker 1: build the board. And it took me a lot of
Speaker 1: years before before it kind of hit me. It's not
Speaker 1: just some kind of coincidence. Right. The other thing I'll
Speaker 1: say too, because you mentioned the Senior Bowl this year
Speaker 1: in particular, eight of these eleven guys were at the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl. Actually nine of them were, but one of
Speaker 1: them couldn't participate because he was he was dealing with
Speaker 1: an injury at the time. I believe that was Hopper
Speaker 1: from Missouri, if I'm not mistaken. But I started to
Speaker 1: think a little bit more and I asked a follow
Speaker 1: up question to a question to Brian Gudukunst on Saturday
Speaker 1: night with regard to the Senior Bowl. And I asked
Speaker 1: a follow up question again something that kind of hit
Speaker 1: me how important the Senior Bowl is as an evaluation
Speaker 1: tool because yes, these guys, they grind the tape, they
Speaker 1: watch everything on video, but all all you know, you're
Speaker 1: watching all the game video and that's that's when you
Speaker 1: know the coaches have game planned, when you've studied your opponent,
Speaker 1: et cetera, et cetera, And what you get at the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl is Okay, here Jordan Morgan, here's one of
Speaker 1: the best edge rushers in the league in this draft class.
Speaker 1: Coming out. You're going one on one against him in practice.
Speaker 1: You haven't had a chance to study him, you haven't
Speaker 1: watched any film on him. You just got to go
Speaker 1: out there and play. That's what the Senior Bowl is.
Speaker 1: That's what the that week of practices is from an
Speaker 1: evaluation standpoint, and the Packers put a lot of stock
Speaker 1: in that in how those guys perform in that environment.
Speaker 1: I thought Brian Gudokun's comments on Saturday night really helped
Speaker 1: to explain, you know, what it is about the Senior
Speaker 1: Bowl that makes it different from an evaluation standpoint. So
Speaker 1: those are a lot of the things that were going
Speaker 1: through my head with her to this draft class and
Speaker 1: how it kind of comes together for me. Any other
Speaker 1: takeaways for you in sort of the collective set well,
Speaker 1: and the.
Speaker 2: Senior Bowl is an important tool too, And I've been
Speaker 2: learning this more and more over my time, actually, probably
Speaker 2: more with Packers dot Com than even when I was
Speaker 2: at the Prescazette. Because it's one thing for Jordan Morgan
Speaker 2: to be lining up against Leatu Latu, right and to
Speaker 2: see some of the top guys in the country. Then
Speaker 2: you go into the sixth round you have a guy
Speaker 2: like Travis Glover, who, my goodness, Michael. When you look
Speaker 2: in just terms of the makeup of a player, when
Speaker 2: a guy is six foot six, three hundred and twenty pounds,
Speaker 2: eighty four and a half inch wingspan, almost thirty five
Speaker 2: inch arms, he looks the part as a tackle. But
Speaker 2: he played at Georgia State, right, which is a program
Speaker 2: that's still relatively in its infancy in the Sun Belt.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's only been around for about a dozen years
Speaker 1: or so.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So being able for him to go to the
Speaker 2: Senior Bowl. I believe it was Jason Wildey who asked
Speaker 2: Brian about this. That's a huge marker for him being
Speaker 2: able to then match up against some of those top guys,
Speaker 2: and it's somebody that definitely improved his draft stock through
Speaker 2: that process as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well Over went to the Hula Bowl as well.
Speaker 1: He was actually he was actually at two of the
Speaker 1: college All Star games, and that was big for him,
Speaker 1: as you said, as a smaller school guy. That's where
Speaker 1: you get. You line up against the Power five conference
Speaker 1: players and the evaluators get get an extra and even
Speaker 1: more important look at you.
Speaker 2: And then the three guys I just want to touch
Speaker 2: on quickly because we haven't mentioned their names yet. Jacob
Speaker 2: Mounk from Duke. I don't know if I've ever heard
Speaker 2: Brian as openly talk about a prospect that they legitimately
Speaker 2: had their eye on in that day three. You know,
Speaker 2: he mentioned there was numerous scouts in that room that
Speaker 2: really liked him. If you look at it, the kid
Speaker 2: has some really intriguing intangibles. He's six foot three, three
Speaker 2: hund ten pounds, runs a five nine forty, very strong.
Speaker 2: I believe he was the one that put up thirty
Speaker 2: one on the bench press, a five year starter. Very rare.
Speaker 2: And if I keep telling people, remember the ACC played
Speaker 2: basically throughout the COVID year. They didn't do a half
Speaker 2: season or we're going to cancel the season, and then
Speaker 2: they start playing no he played eleven year, eleven games
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty. Yeah, he started at He started at
Speaker 2: right guard predominantly. He started a season at right tackle
Speaker 2: when they needed him there. And in the Packers just
Speaker 2: overall loved the makeup of this kid in the.
Speaker 1: Fact, and they traded up for him.
Speaker 2: They traded up for him. Yeah, going up eights or
Speaker 2: forced five spots to get them. Yeah, seventh round. Very quickly,
Speaker 2: just to touch on this, Michael Pratt, I mean, there's
Speaker 2: nothing I can even say about this kid. Watch Tom
Speaker 2: Pelisero's profile on him. It's an eleven minute video that
Speaker 2: the NFL and NFL Network put together. People were asking
Speaker 2: Insider Inbox on Monday when I was writing it, like, hey,
Speaker 2: when is the feature coming on this guy? I would
Speaker 2: love to write something on Michael Pratt. But I've also
Speaker 2: I'm of that ILK that it's like if somebody else
Speaker 2: does it and does it better and just does it
Speaker 2: full bore, you just tip your cap to that person
Speaker 2: and let them have their story because the job that
Speaker 2: Tom did on that, I mean, just to give you
Speaker 2: quickly and a synopsis of this, one of his best
Speaker 2: friends growing up in high school played with them. The
Speaker 2: receiver to his quarterback. Guys that came from two different
Speaker 2: walks of life. Young man commits to Georgia Tech at
Speaker 2: the same time that pract commits the Tulane. Unfortunately, you know,
Speaker 2: the young man ended up, you know, committing suicide. And
Speaker 2: it's something that Michael has worn with him. He has
Speaker 2: the Belief seven tattoo on his inner bicep.
Speaker 1: Very uniform number seven as well, in honor of his
Speaker 1: high school teammate and friend.
Speaker 2: And then also lost his brother later on as well
Speaker 2: to an illness shortly after he had just become an uncle.
Speaker 2: His brother had just had a child. So a very
Speaker 2: interesting story and interesting look into him, and I'll tell
Speaker 2: you what for an eleven minute piece, it completely just
Speaker 2: zips right by. Then finally Kaylan King last pick for
Speaker 2: the Packers. This is a guy Michael that coming off
Speaker 2: of his true sophomore year at Penn State eighteen breakups
Speaker 2: twenty two breakups depending on who you talk to, three
Speaker 2: interceptions looked, you know, played incredible for the Nitney Lions.
Speaker 2: He comes back his junior year, it doesn't go as well.
Speaker 2: Only two passes defense this past season. He has this
Speaker 2: precipitous all down the draft boards ends up going two
Speaker 2: fifty five overall.
Speaker 1: And he chose to come out early. He could have stayed,
Speaker 1: but he chose to come out early and then ends
Speaker 1: up falling all the way to the seventh round when
Speaker 1: the Packers choose him with their eleventh and final pick
Speaker 1: at two fifty five.
Speaker 2: And this is why I've been getting into a fight
Speaker 2: with people on Twitter, because they're all, like, I made
Speaker 2: the comparison to Carrington Valentine and all these so called
Speaker 2: experts and scouts that evidently know everything about every seventh
Speaker 2: round pick that's ever been in the NFL, telling me, no,
Speaker 2: they're entirely different players. No, dude, what I'm saying is
Speaker 2: that when you have a guy like Valentine, who also
Speaker 2: came out a year early when he could have went back,
Speaker 2: and he also is going to probably be the youngest
Speaker 2: player on this team this year, King if he makes it,
Speaker 2: would be the youngest player on this team. I think
Speaker 2: he's going to play his entire season at twenty one
Speaker 2: years old. All of that being said, his conference call
Speaker 2: that he had with media and reporters afterwards incredibly emotional.
Speaker 2: You can tell this kid is motivated to show that
Speaker 2: he's still very much the player that he was a
Speaker 2: sophomore year. There was a forty time that I think
Speaker 2: also kind of factored into this thing, right in that
Speaker 2: four to six range. I think he reranted at his
Speaker 2: pro dain and it was four or five five, but
Speaker 2: still teams were a little bit cheapish there. But I'll
Speaker 2: tell you what he said, the Prema Packers are getting
Speaker 2: the most competitive guy in the country, and just listening
Speaker 2: to him talk about it, I believe him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's uh. I think that's going to be one
Speaker 1: to watch for sure, and I want to get back
Speaker 1: to that, but I will take care of some sponsor
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Speaker 1: Cousin Subs fifty plus years of better. A couple other
Speaker 1: things I wanted to get to. One. I want to
Speaker 1: ask you who, in your mind, for whatever reason, you
Speaker 1: can take in any direction you want. But who is
Speaker 1: the uh sorry, I'm having a little trouble with my
Speaker 1: screen here. Who is the most intriguing pick in this
Speaker 1: draft for you? I'll start because because to me, the
Speaker 1: guy that I'm just I'm most intrigued by is Marshaun Lloyd,
Speaker 1: the running back from USC. And I mean I didn't
Speaker 1: I most of the college football that I watch, admittedly
Speaker 1: is Big ten football because I'm a Scotts some Badgers fan,
Speaker 1: so I don't see the West coast. You know, guys
Speaker 1: a lot.
Speaker 2: You also go to bed relatively early.
Speaker 1: That that too, I'm getting old. But man, five t nine,
Speaker 1: two and twenty pounds, that's you know, that's the two
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty pounds is Josh Jacobs size. But he's
Speaker 1: a couple of inches shorter than Josh Jacobs. The you
Speaker 1: you just you look at the numbers. Now, granted, he's
Speaker 1: on a team with Caleb Williams, you know, the Heisman
Speaker 1: Trophy winner, number one pick in the draft, so there's
Speaker 1: a lot of focus on the passing game when you're
Speaker 1: defending USC. But seven point one one yards per carry
Speaker 1: as a number one running back, that definitely opens your eyes.
Speaker 1: And I actually asked him on the conference call. You know,
Speaker 1: so is that was the seven point one yards per carry?
Speaker 1: Is that more because of you know, the speed and
Speaker 1: elusiveness or is that more because of yards after contact?
Speaker 1: And I think he kind of wanted to get a
Speaker 1: message across by with the answer to the question because
Speaker 1: he immediately said, oh, it's yards after contact. You don't
Speaker 1: want I don't I don't want the first guy or
Speaker 1: even the second guy to be bringing me down. So
Speaker 1: I thought that was really interesting the way he answered
Speaker 1: that question. But also as a receiver out of the backfield,
Speaker 1: he averaged like seventeen yards per catch out of the backfield.
Speaker 1: So you're talking about you're talking about a potential home
Speaker 1: run hitter. You know, call him a call him a
Speaker 1: changeup or you know, the in between Josh Jacobs and
Speaker 1: AJ Dillon or whatever if you want to. But I'm
Speaker 1: really really intrigued by what a guy like Marshawn Lloyd
Speaker 1: might be able to do in Matt Lafleur's offense and
Speaker 1: what just you know, what they might dial up in
Speaker 1: terms of a package of plays that they go, Hey,
Speaker 1: this is where this guy can be really good. So
Speaker 1: let's use him this way and see what happens.
Speaker 2: And just to build on that, and I'll give you
Speaker 2: a different player in a second, But five two and
Speaker 2: twenty pounds and he runs a four four six, Yeah,
Speaker 2: and he put up twenty six bench reps. I believe
Speaker 2: it was.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it was. Yeah, it was either twenty
Speaker 1: five or twenty six. But yeah, two hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: five pounds.
Speaker 2: That's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: That's that's close. That's close to what a lot of
Speaker 1: offensive linemen, defensive linemen do. They're in the mid to
Speaker 1: high twenties on the bench.
Speaker 2: With all due respect to Aaron Jones, who I don't
Speaker 2: think felt like he ran his best at his combine.
Speaker 2: But you know, Aaron, even though he put on a
Speaker 2: little bit more weight going into the draft than what
Speaker 2: he ended up playing at in Green Bay, he was
Speaker 2: probably closer to one to ninety than two twenty yeah
Speaker 2: by the time he got done here. But for sure,
Speaker 2: you know, Aaron I think was in that four or
Speaker 2: five six range. I mean, it just shows you how
Speaker 2: shifty and dynamic. Now you gotta do it on the field,
Speaker 2: you gotta do it on the grass. But the prospects
Speaker 2: that there's a reason why Daniel Jeremiah right after the
Speaker 2: Packers said he was his top, the top running back
Speaker 2: in this year's draft.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was a fourth running back taken. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: Jeremiah did not hesitate for a second and said, this
Speaker 1: is the guy I believe is the top running back
Speaker 1: in the.
Speaker 2: Draft, and I think he's the perfect fit for Green
Speaker 2: Bay because you do have Josh Jacobs, you have aj Dylan.
Speaker 2: He's not going to be asked to come in and
Speaker 2: be the number one back right away. That's one of
Speaker 2: the things that people always talk so much about Aaron
Speaker 2: Jones and well, why didn't Mike play him more early on?
Speaker 2: Aaron Jones was still learning how to be a three
Speaker 2: down running back during those early times, Packers just weren't
Speaker 2: as deep at the position as they've been now the
Speaker 2: last three, four or five years. So incredibly excited to
Speaker 2: see where that takes us. You asked me, though, the
Speaker 2: guy that I'm most intrigued by, and I have to
Speaker 2: say it because it's the guy that I talk the
Speaker 2: most about of all the guys that Packers drafted in
Speaker 2: the pre draft process, and that's Eddrian Cooper. Yeah, because
Speaker 2: to me, kuay Walker went on Twitter right after they
Speaker 2: took him He's like, I'm looking forward to by new
Speaker 2: unning made out there. He's a little bit shorter than Quay.
Speaker 2: He actually ran one hundredth of a second faster than
Speaker 2: Clay in the forty Quay excuse me in the forty,
Speaker 2: and he is a downhill ceball hit ball linebacker. I
Speaker 2: am so excited to see that infusion into this defense
Speaker 2: because the line that I forget which analysts it was
Speaker 2: that mentioned it on the third day, but the Packers
Speaker 2: have basically remade the spine of their defense the second
Speaker 2: level and the third level, between the hashes, between the numbers.
Speaker 2: It's going to look different than it did last year.
Speaker 2: And I feel like somebody like Cooper can come in
Speaker 2: and compliment what Walker does well. He can compliment with
Speaker 2: Isaiah McDuffie does well. And then he had Tyrone Hopper
Speaker 2: and Eric Wilson some of these other guys into the mix,
Speaker 2: and suddenly you have a really intriguing position battle from
Speaker 2: a position where going into the weekend we were kind
Speaker 2: of looking at, Okay, well, exactly what do the Packers
Speaker 2: need to accomplish here to make sure that they have
Speaker 2: three inside linebackers with this switch to the.
Speaker 1: Fourth Yeah, and a couple of a couple of things. Also,
Speaker 1: as far as overall traits of this draft class, Brian
Speaker 1: Gudokunz talked, particularly on the defensive side, wanted to upgrade
Speaker 1: speed at various positions. And Cooper is a guy you
Speaker 1: know who's I think. Gutakun said, he has rare speed
Speaker 1: for the position, and John Eric Sullivan said, when you
Speaker 1: see his speed on the field, there's a whoa factor
Speaker 1: to it. So speed was definitely not just with Cooper
Speaker 1: but with other draft picks as well. That was definitely
Speaker 1: a high consideration. And as you mentioned, with a guy
Speaker 1: like Jacob Monk and some of these other guys, the
Speaker 1: experience level, I mean the number of guys in this
Speaker 1: draft class that have thirty plus forty plus college starts
Speaker 1: on their resume. Now, a guy like cal and King
Speaker 1: did come out early, came out of year early, didn't
Speaker 1: really play much as a true freshman, only played, you know,
Speaker 1: two seasons. He's he's one on the other end of
Speaker 1: the spectrum, not quite as much experience. But a lot
Speaker 1: of guys in this draft class have a high level
Speaker 1: of experience. Just a lot of pelts on the wall
Speaker 1: in terms of the number of games that they played at,
Speaker 1: you know, in the major college ranks. One thing that
Speaker 1: was a surprise to me when it was all said
Speaker 1: and done in this draft. But then we sort of
Speaker 1: found out why, maybe a little bit, why is that
Speaker 1: the Packers did not draft an edge rusher or somebody
Speaker 1: who would be a defensive end in Jeff Hafley's four
Speaker 1: to three scheme that the Packers are building here. But
Speaker 1: then we learned from Matt Lafleur and Brian Gudakuns on
Speaker 1: Saturday night, after all the picks were made, that kings Leyannigbari,
Speaker 1: whom we all thought had torn his ACL in the
Speaker 1: wild card playoff victory over Dallas back in January and
Speaker 1: would need reconstructive surgery. YadA, YadA, YadA. We've all seen
Speaker 1: it so often with acls. Kings Leyanningbari has not had
Speaker 1: reconstructive surgery. There is there there. He is on a rehab,
Speaker 1: a rehab and recovery path during which the Packers are
Speaker 1: still hoping that he can avoid surgery because his ACL
Speaker 1: issue was turned has been termed by Brian Gudukunston injury
Speaker 1: not necessarily a tear, so that in part at least
Speaker 1: helps explain maybe why Edge Rusher wasn't as urgent a
Speaker 1: need heading into twenty twenty four, because if Enigbari with
Speaker 1: an ACL in January, you're thinking he might be out
Speaker 1: all of twenty twenty four, if not most of the
Speaker 1: season before he can come back. Now there's a possibility,
Speaker 1: and again it's still only a possibility at this point,
Speaker 1: but if he avoids surgery, you're talking about a guy
Speaker 1: who can make a much bigger contribution in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four than anybody thought a few months ago.
Speaker 2: I'm really happy this came up because honestly, and I mean,
Speaker 2: eventually we're going to talk about it, but I was
Speaker 2: having a hard time trying to explain any of this
Speaker 2: to people because one Enigbari looks fantastic in the final
Speaker 2: locker room. I mean, I'm not judging people and if
Speaker 2: they're able to play based on how they're he was
Speaker 2: walking around better than some of the people that weren't injured.
Speaker 2: Like after that game against San Francisco, because I was
Speaker 2: in the locker room, Mike, I you know, it's a
Speaker 2: jubilant time. The Packers had just beaten the Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 2: basically starched them. Yeah, and it was really hard seeing
Speaker 2: Kings Leanngbari, who went down late in that game with
Speaker 2: what everybody thought was an ACL injury. He had the
Speaker 2: towel over his head. He was inconsolable, just because you know,
Speaker 2: you know, you get injured at that part of the season,
Speaker 2: you might be looking at being on the sideline for
Speaker 2: the next year.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: Not only all that, but then we see these photos
Speaker 2: from the first day of the offseason workouts where the
Speaker 2: guys are just doing strength and conditioning stuff on the field.
Speaker 2: This guy sprinting around hoops. I mean, he's he's doing
Speaker 2: all the leg work you would not expect to see
Speaker 2: from a guy that has an ACL injury.
Speaker 1: And yeah, when you're only three months three and a
Speaker 1: half months removed from an ACL injury.
Speaker 2: And lo and behold, the Packers again are holding out hope. Now,
Speaker 2: I don't know much about these things. I was always
Speaker 2: under the under the understanding that if you have an
Speaker 2: ACL injury, tear, whatever you wanna call it, you're gonna
Speaker 2: have to have surgery because the ligament doesn't just heal itself.
Speaker 2: MCL and LCL at PCL. So we'll wait and see
Speaker 2: how everything. I'm hoping good thoughts for him, but even
Speaker 2: more importantly Michael just looking at that position group as
Speaker 2: a whole. I'm not saying it's as deep body for
Speaker 2: body as like receiver is, but I felt like there
Speaker 2: was enough competition there already that that wasn't going to
Speaker 2: be a huge need for them, especially if I think
Speaker 2: Bari is available because a couple things along with that,
Speaker 2: I think they're very high on Brenton Cox Junior. He's
Speaker 2: going to get more opportunities this year to try to
Speaker 2: take that second year jump, former five star recruit at
Speaker 2: Georgia and Florida. You have Preston Smith back once again
Speaker 2: after he did some stuff with his contract, where Shaun
Speaker 2: Gary is healthy once again. I thought Lucas Vanes looked
Speaker 2: really good down the stretch last season, no doubt, and
Speaker 2: they're at the four to three now. I don't know
Speaker 2: what kind of stuff they're going to come up with
Speaker 2: here with some of these all these defensive linemen they
Speaker 2: have in how they could potentially factor into being an
Speaker 2: edge rusher in some things we'll see.
Speaker 1: We haven't seen something that Carl Brooks certainly did at
Speaker 1: Bowling Green. He lined up on the edge plenty. Obviously,
Speaker 1: different level of competition there, but.
Speaker 2: Hobie woulden't is listed one pound heavier than Lucas Van
Speaker 2: s Now. He did tell or Wayne Larvy during the
Speaker 2: pre draft, you know, Pepper rally that I think he
Speaker 2: put on twenty pounds and he certainly looks like it.
Speaker 2: But I just think there's a lot more flexibility that
Speaker 2: the Julius Peppers thing in twenty fourteen opened my eyes
Speaker 2: to all the possibilities. Other than maybe TJ. Slayton playing
Speaker 2: a nine tech, I nothing really would surprise me anymore
Speaker 2: with the defensive front. But all that being said, the
Speaker 2: other thing, Green Bay historically has liked to play around
Speaker 2: with the undrafted free agents there. Cox was the guy
Speaker 2: last year. You know, maybe there's another prospect there as well.
Speaker 1: And that's the other part, is not talking about those yet.
Speaker 1: We haven't haven't seen the official list from the communications
Speaker 1: department as far as the undrafted rookie class, But yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, and I'm sure we'll talk about it again
Speaker 1: this summer as well. No matter how difficult it looks
Speaker 1: to make the Packers fifty three man roster, for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: there always seems to be somebody in that undrafted rookie
Speaker 1: class who emerges and proves to be a guy that
Speaker 1: you that they can't cut him because they know he's
Speaker 1: gonna get claimed and he's gonna go play somewhere else,
Speaker 1: so they keep him. They keep him, even though you
Speaker 1: would think that it would that that would just be
Speaker 1: such a hard road to go, but somebody always seems
Speaker 1: to succeed. That.
Speaker 2: Malik Keith made the roster at the most the hardest
Speaker 2: position to crack last year.
Speaker 1: Yeah right, Yeah, there were so many guys.
Speaker 2: I mean, he beat out Bo Melton for a roster
Speaker 2: spot and then Bo was one of their starters down
Speaker 2: the stretch last season. It just shows you how far
Speaker 2: that competition goes. You were asking about it, A lot
Speaker 2: of people were asking Brian Gouducuntz about it. You always
Speaker 2: want to build the most competitive ninety man roster possible,
Speaker 2: But I do think there is a lot to be
Speaker 2: said for what happened at tight end and receiver specifically
Speaker 2: last year where the Packers just chalk those two rooms
Speaker 2: full of talent, full of young bodies, and whether it
Speaker 2: was injuries or some mid season adversity, whatever the reason was.
Speaker 1: Yeah, opportunities arose for so many guys for various reasons.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were, you know, everybody was to get a
Speaker 2: crack at everything. So we'll see where this takes them.
Speaker 2: Now in the off season program, as everybody always talks about,
Speaker 2: they're in shorts in shirts right now. You don't have
Speaker 2: the contact football. We still have a long way to go.
Speaker 2: You have to be able to weather the injuries. But Michael,
Speaker 2: back to back really strong draft classes for the Green
Speaker 2: Bay Packers. They added eleven more picks to that and
Speaker 2: again hopes that you are filling out what hopes to
Speaker 2: be a championship caliber roster.
Speaker 1: Thirty five draft picks in three years. There are some
Speaker 1: there are some teams that don't draft thirty five guys
Speaker 1: in six years.
Speaker 2: I wonder how many of the Rams have drafted.
Speaker 1: In the last six years. I know exactly. We have
Speaker 1: to go look that up.
Speaker 2: I'll check that out for Thursday.
Speaker 1: Thirty five draft picks in three years. But it's how
Speaker 1: the Packers have gotten from where they were to where
Speaker 1: they are and trying to continue to move forward here
Speaker 1: with Jordan Love taking the reins.
Speaker 2: Last thing I'll mention, and maybe I want to talk
Speaker 2: about this on Thursday, but if we don't, to make
Speaker 2: sure I get this out there with the Packers making
Speaker 2: those trades and Minnesota moving up and the Bear is
Speaker 2: basically picking where they were. The Packers win in to
Speaker 2: Friday with more second and third round picks than the
Speaker 2: rest of the division combined, and went into the final
Speaker 2: two days of the draft with twelve picks or ten
Speaker 2: picks compared to twelve total for the for.
Speaker 1: The rest of the division. Yeah, the other three just.
Speaker 2: The way that. Again, everybody has their strategy. There's certain
Speaker 2: needs that these teams have, but the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 2: were not messing around and here we are. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well we've gone a little bit overtime again today, but
Speaker 1: that's okay because it was a busy three days at
Speaker 1: twelve sixty five. And we'll have more to talk about
Speaker 1: with this draft class on our next show, but for now,
Speaker 1: we'll call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team.
Speaker 1: We have all kinds of draft content out there. Go
Speaker 1: to our Draft Central page on Packers dot com. There's
Speaker 1: the stories, the videos, the highlights, the conference calls. Like
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Speaker 1: Be sure to check it out for wes I and
Speaker 1: Mike thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will
Speaker 1: see you next time.