Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, joined once again by my trusted
Speaker 1: colleague Weston Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here from our
Speaker 1: studios at Lambo Field West. It's been a while since
Speaker 1: we sat in these chairs. How are you doing, my friend,
Speaker 1: I'm doing all right. What would you like to talk about? Well,
Speaker 1: where do we start with with this offseason? Right? It's
Speaker 1: been a newsy offseason for the Green Bay Packers. So
Speaker 1: here's what we're going to do. We are nine days
Speaker 1: away from the first round of the NFL Draft at
Speaker 1: the time that we are taping this show, so we
Speaker 1: have two episodes this week. I think what we'll do
Speaker 1: is we'll focus this episode on all of the off
Speaker 1: season news on the offensive side of the ball for
Speaker 1: the Packers, recap all of that. Our next episode will
Speaker 1: recap all the off season news on the defensive side
Speaker 1: and on special teams, and then we get into next
Speaker 1: week we can preview the draft, and then we get
Speaker 1: into the draft, and then in the month of May
Speaker 1: will be reviewing the draft and all the pics the
Speaker 1: Packers making all of that good stuff. So to try
Speaker 1: to keep things on a certain track the offensive offseason.
Speaker 1: Here for the Green Bay Packers, the two biggest items.
Speaker 1: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, two time reigning m v P four
Speaker 1: time m v P overall is back with a new contract,
Speaker 1: signing a contract extension, returning to Green Bay. But All
Speaker 1: Pro wide receiver Davante Adams is not back. He has
Speaker 1: been traded to the Las Vegas Raiders. And of all
Speaker 1: everything that has swirled around this team for the last
Speaker 1: year to year and a half, if you had told
Speaker 1: me going into two that Aaron Rodgers would be a
Speaker 1: green Bay Packer and Davantae Adams would not be a
Speaker 1: green Bay Packer, that would have struck me as the
Speaker 1: least like of the scenarios to play out. But yet
Speaker 1: that is exactly what played out. And here we are. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you never know what what turned you know the NFL
Speaker 1: is going to take And you know, as much as
Speaker 1: I was stunned when it all went down with Davante,
Speaker 1: now we're a month out from this thing. Now of
Speaker 1: this trade with the Raiders, you start it starts to
Speaker 1: make more sense, and when you really remove the emotion
Speaker 1: from it, you start to understand exactly why it played
Speaker 1: out the way it did. Certainly, Davante wanted to be
Speaker 1: the end of game's highest receiver, highest paid receiver. He
Speaker 1: was that for a week before Tyreek Kille came in,
Speaker 1: but you know, he wanted to get that accolade rightfully,
Speaker 1: so with everything he's accomplished. Certainly, there's the connection with
Speaker 1: Derek Carr, a guy that's one of his best friends.
Speaker 1: They had so much success together during their time at
Speaker 1: Fresno State. But also when you start to factor in
Speaker 1: the family side of things, that there was a big
Speaker 1: push there as well for Davante with his family on
Speaker 1: the West Coast. It makes a lot of sense. But
Speaker 1: for the Green Packers, you can't sit there and you know,
Speaker 1: and cry over your tears here. I mean, you have
Speaker 1: to be able to move on to the next step.
Speaker 1: They were able to get a first round pick in
Speaker 1: a second round pick from Las Vegas. They now have
Speaker 1: four picks in the top sixty, the first time that
Speaker 1: has happened for them since nine seven. If they choose
Speaker 1: to pick in those four spots, you look at how
Speaker 1: they've been able to build around this offense and kind
Speaker 1: of start to chart out this next chapter for Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers as talented as Davante is, and he's one of
Speaker 1: the game's very best. The kingpin here is number twelve,
Speaker 1: the two time reigning NFL m v P. To have
Speaker 1: him back in the fold, it's going to be very
Speaker 1: different this year, Don't get me wrong. This offense will
Speaker 1: probably even look a lot different. But it starts with Rogers.
Speaker 1: He's the straw that stirs this drink. So being able
Speaker 1: to retain him build for two, two and beyond a
Speaker 1: lot out there for the Packers. Yeah, well, Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: obviously he's he's not happy with the act that Davante
Speaker 1: Adams is no longer here, but by all accounts he was.
Speaker 1: He was aware of the potential for this trade, that
Speaker 1: Davante Adams had had asked to get out of Green Bay,
Speaker 1: that he wanted to to put himself in a different situation. Um,
Speaker 1: so the Packers, with Rogers deciding deciding to come back,
Speaker 1: fully aware of the possibility, if not likelihood, that Davante
Speaker 1: Adams would not be back with him. So he's he's
Speaker 1: accepted that challenge. On the Adams side of things, the
Speaker 1: Packers didn't, you know, throw up a sign and say
Speaker 1: Davanta Adams is available and make it like this bidding
Speaker 1: war across the league. Adams had expressed what he wanted,
Speaker 1: which was to which was to go to the Raiders
Speaker 1: and be with Derek Carr. The Packers were able to
Speaker 1: facilitate trade with that one suitor. So to speak, Um,
Speaker 1: get the first and second round draft picks, as you said,
Speaker 1: to give Brian goodakunst what what will be for? For sure?
Speaker 1: The most active first two days is of a draft
Speaker 1: in his uh um in his handful of of drafts
Speaker 1: in in the catbird seat here as as the Packers GM.
Speaker 1: But now moving forward the wide receiver room not only
Speaker 1: will will not have Davante Adams, but Mark was Valdes
Speaker 1: Scantling assigned a free agent deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 1: Ecuanamius st Brown has also departed in free agency, and
Speaker 1: then just last week, with a lot of angst amongst
Speaker 1: the fan base as to what is going to happen
Speaker 1: here at wide receiver because all these guys are leaving,
Speaker 1: the Packers sign Sammy Watkins. Um former number four overall
Speaker 1: pick in the draft, played for a few different teams now,
Speaker 1: most recently with the Baltimore Ravens last year and with
Speaker 1: the free agent prices for wide receivers kind of going crazy.
Speaker 1: The Packers get Watkins at a very palatable price and
Speaker 1: a veteran to join Al Lazard and Randall Cobb as
Speaker 1: veteran leaders in a receiver room. Uh. Moving forward here
Speaker 1: in two in a move that Aaron Rodgers even voiced
Speaker 1: his approval of, and Pat McAfee, I should say the
Speaker 1: sources that Pat McAfee talks to saying that they were
Speaker 1: excited about that edition, and you can see why. I mean, certainly,
Speaker 1: Sammy Watkins is a different type of receiver. He's not
Speaker 1: going to be the MBS. He's not going to be
Speaker 1: the Davante Adams. The Packers aren't going to ask him
Speaker 1: to be. But when both of those guys departed, I
Speaker 1: really felt like they needed to be able to add
Speaker 1: a veteran there. You just there's gonna be. You're probably
Speaker 1: gonna add some young guys in this draft, maybe even
Speaker 1: as early as the first two rounds, maybe multiple guys
Speaker 1: in those first two rounds, But to ask them to
Speaker 1: come into training camp and be the guy good to
Speaker 1: go right away, that's a big ask. So to be
Speaker 1: able to bring in the Watkins with his experience a
Speaker 1: guy that really came out of the gates is rookie
Speaker 1: year and kind of let the world on fire. Well,
Speaker 1: now he's going to come into this situation. The past
Speaker 1: history with Matt Lafleur, being able to actually share that
Speaker 1: time with him in two thousand seventeen, he knows what
Speaker 1: this offense looks like. And if you look at some
Speaker 1: of the reports last year and what some people were
Speaker 1: saying about him in Baltimore, the bunch formations, the slot concepts,
Speaker 1: he was really successful in those when he was healthy.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately the thigh injury and the knee injury crypt up.
Speaker 1: But the Packers, it just gives them another option here
Speaker 1: as they try to build this thing out and being
Speaker 1: able to find this next step without Davante Adams in
Speaker 1: that room. Yeah, and and it's as I had mentioned
Speaker 1: an insider inbox last week, it's a it's a very smart,
Speaker 1: sensible move for both sides. I mentioned obviously the palatable
Speaker 1: price for Sammy Watkins when the wide receiver market is
Speaker 1: kind of going crazy, and from Watkins point of view,
Speaker 1: you mentioned his age, he still feels like he has
Speaker 1: plenty left to offer in this league. He signs a
Speaker 1: one year deal, gets a chance to catch passes for
Speaker 1: one season from Aaron Rodgers and hit the free agent
Speaker 1: market again next year. So from from his point of view,
Speaker 1: it makes a lot of sense. And and that's how
Speaker 1: that's how these type of deals come together, because because
Speaker 1: both sides feel good about what they're getting in, both
Speaker 1: sides want to maximize. And I was saying this right
Speaker 1: after the season ended, Mike, whatever happened with Devondre Campbell
Speaker 1: was sold Douglass. These guys, the Packers now have a
Speaker 1: blueprint here where they can point to, Hey, this guy
Speaker 1: came in and played under this deal. Devandra Cambell played
Speaker 1: for two million dollars last year. I mean, that's remarkable. Right.
Speaker 1: They're gonna be able to say, not only we're going
Speaker 1: to give you the opportunity to showcase your talent, we
Speaker 1: believe our scheme is going to fit what you do well.
Speaker 1: And when you build up that kind of track record,
Speaker 1: I have to imagine that's something in these agents minds
Speaker 1: and these players mind that's going to hold value in
Speaker 1: addition to the fact that you have the ace up
Speaker 1: to sleeve in Aaron Rodgers, yeah, absolutely. And also from
Speaker 1: a pass catching perspective. The Packers have resigned tight end
Speaker 1: Robert Tonyan. Now the timeline for him for two is
Speaker 1: very much up in the air because of the Week
Speaker 1: eight at Arizona last season, the torn a c L
Speaker 1: that ended Tony in one season. Early. By all accounts,
Speaker 1: everything is going fine with his rehab and his recovery.
Speaker 1: We will see, we will see what the timeline is.
Speaker 1: But that's another guy, another guy that the Packers have
Speaker 1: brought back into the fold to go along with. Obviously
Speaker 1: you have the veteran in Marcedes Lewis, but then these
Speaker 1: young developing guys Josiah Deguara, Tyler Davis, Dominique Daffney, and
Speaker 1: we'll see what the Packers do in the draft with
Speaker 1: regard to the tight end position um, but still there
Speaker 1: behind Marcedes Lewis. It's just it feels like the Packers
Speaker 1: have a lot of developmental pieces that you don't know
Speaker 1: exactly where this is going to go with some of
Speaker 1: these guys, but they've all shown they've all shown those flashes,
Speaker 1: and certainly Tony season was off the charts remarkable. They've
Speaker 1: shown flashes of being potentially solid contributors, consistent contributors week
Speaker 1: to week, and that's what the Packers will be looking
Speaker 1: for at tight end as this as the passing game
Speaker 1: adjust to this new you know, without Davante Adams reality. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and they need Robert Tony. When the season ended
Speaker 1: and we saw how things played out, and especially after
Speaker 1: you saw VS leave in in in Adam's leave, you
Speaker 1: needed to be able to find a way to keep
Speaker 1: Tonyan because what they need from Robert Tonyan in two
Speaker 1: thousand twenty two is what they didn't have last season,
Speaker 1: him during the second half of the season. And the
Speaker 1: earlier he gets back, the better for this offense, no
Speaker 1: doubt about it. But I really look at this as
Speaker 1: the type of signing that if it even if it
Speaker 1: takes to October or November to get him back, that
Speaker 1: type of playmaker, with the comfortability he has with Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: that's something that could put you over the top as
Speaker 1: some of those young receivers get comfortable and so you
Speaker 1: start to find yourself and your identity a little bit
Speaker 1: more offensively. And on top of that, they do have
Speaker 1: a returning nucleus here at tight end to stem the
Speaker 1: tight until he is back. Mercedes Lewis is still your
Speaker 1: traditional in line tight end. He's going into year seventeen.
Speaker 1: He's going to be thirty eight here in a couple
Speaker 1: of days. He's he's on the older side of this thing,
Speaker 1: but he knows the offense and they're gonna be able
Speaker 1: to run some of the schematic things they want to
Speaker 1: do with those running backs because of his presence. I
Speaker 1: thought Josiah Deguire showed things last year. Yes, he is
Speaker 1: more of that f tight end. Same thing with Dominique Daphne.
Speaker 1: They're not the traditional type of, you know, inline guys
Speaker 1: that you would look for at that position, but there's
Speaker 1: that ability there. And then certainly I thought Tyler Davis
Speaker 1: had some moments as well for coming in late. He
Speaker 1: is a little bit more of that projected traditional tight ends.
Speaker 1: So a lot of options there for Green Bay in
Speaker 1: addition to the fact, as you said, undrafted, free agency,
Speaker 1: the draft, there's a lot of different ways that they
Speaker 1: could augment that roster. Still well, there are also some
Speaker 1: moving parts on the offensive line for the Packers here
Speaker 1: in two and I will get to those in a minute.
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Speaker 1: in her all right. On the offensive line, Billy Turner
Speaker 1: was released in what essentially was a salary cap move
Speaker 1: by the Packers. Lucas Patrick signed as a free agent
Speaker 1: with the Chicago Bears to become their starting center. After
Speaker 1: his release, Turner Um signed with the Denver Broncos, a
Speaker 1: team he's played with previously. So the Packers lose two
Speaker 1: guys that started a bunch of games on the offensive
Speaker 1: line over the past couple of years. But as you
Speaker 1: look now at the offensive line, the Packers are planning
Speaker 1: to have David Bactieri back at left tackle after all
Speaker 1: the the the false starts pardon the pun with regard
Speaker 1: to his return um to the field last year that
Speaker 1: didn't work out. You have two young guards in John
Speaker 1: Runyon and Royce Newman, both of whom who started the
Speaker 1: bulk of the season last year. Josh Myers to be
Speaker 1: back as the starting center after a rookie season that
Speaker 1: started with a lot promise, then got derailed by injuries,
Speaker 1: and then he was back at the end of the year.
Speaker 1: The big question mark though with Elton Jenkins on the
Speaker 1: men from his a c L which happened in November
Speaker 1: at Minnesota last year, and we don't know the timeline
Speaker 1: much the same way with Tony and we don't know
Speaker 1: the timeline exactly for when Elton Jenkins will be back
Speaker 1: in the lineup. But the biggest question mark as of
Speaker 1: right now for the Packers is who's going to play
Speaker 1: right tackle, which is the position that Billy Turner held
Speaker 1: down for the most part. Other than being shifted around
Speaker 1: a few times himself, Turner held that down for the
Speaker 1: last couple of years. It would seem the top candidate
Speaker 1: would be Yash Naiman, that the Packers would flip him
Speaker 1: from left tackle, where he filled in for about half
Speaker 1: the season. All told for Box tr that they would
Speaker 1: flip Niman to right tackle and give him a chance
Speaker 1: to compete and win that starting job. And then of
Speaker 1: course we'll see what happens with the draft again with
Speaker 1: the Packer is having having those four picks in the
Speaker 1: first two rounds. You could certainly see them selecting an
Speaker 1: offensive tackle early in the draft who would potentially also
Speaker 1: compete for a starting job from day one, just as
Speaker 1: Josh Meyers walked in and started from day one at
Speaker 1: center last year. That's how the Packers have built this program.
Speaker 1: They've had it so many times, Mike, you can talk
Speaker 1: about it's so many different positions where they had a
Speaker 1: returning vet competing for a job, but then they brought
Speaker 1: in sometimes even a high draft pick to compete with them.
Speaker 1: I think of Micah Hyde and Ha Ha Clinton Dicks
Speaker 1: in two thousand four at the safety position, and I
Speaker 1: think that's a perfect candidate for it here too. And
Speaker 1: depending on the guy type of guy you get, maybe
Speaker 1: that's somebody that's also competing for right guard or who knows,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean last year Royce Newman was a
Speaker 1: guy that was projected to be able to play both
Speaker 1: of those positions, and four a time did uh during
Speaker 1: the off season program. What I'm curious to see here
Speaker 1: is not necessarily you know, how this offensive line looks
Speaker 1: or how the dominoes fall, but really how they rebuild
Speaker 1: their depth there, because that's been one of the hallmarks
Speaker 1: of this thing under Adam Stanovich, that room now being
Speaker 1: passed on to Luke Bucks as as Stenovitch graduates into
Speaker 1: the offensive coordinator job. But seeing how they are able
Speaker 1: to make up for you know, not having a John
Speaker 1: Runyon just sitting on the bench now, a guy that
Speaker 1: you know basically played in three or four big situations
Speaker 1: as a rookie but never started a game. Well, then
Speaker 1: last year he starts sixteen games and by in my opinion,
Speaker 1: you're you're the one that pointed out the stat on
Speaker 1: him that he wasn't penalized last year or I didn't
Speaker 1: have an accepted penalty against him. This guy, in so
Speaker 1: many ways reminds me of Lane Taylor and just a steady,
Speaker 1: consistent presence there and into my eye, a guy that
Speaker 1: could potentially hold down that job for seven eight years
Speaker 1: just because of what he brings in the transition he's
Speaker 1: been able to achieve there from an all big tent
Speaker 1: tackle to play in that left guard spot. Royce Newman.
Speaker 1: Certainly there were the ups and downs there in the
Speaker 1: rookie year, but a fourth round pedigree, you saw some
Speaker 1: of the athleticism there. I'll be interested to see where
Speaker 1: they want to slot him go on into this camp,
Speaker 1: David Botr As long as the kn's good, you're good there.
Speaker 1: And I think Josh Meyers is going to continue on
Speaker 1: that trajectory that they've had with the center position of
Speaker 1: just having one solid guy after another. Right tackles the
Speaker 1: question mark because when you have somebody like Turner who
Speaker 1: was brought in, he played right guard that first year,
Speaker 1: but I think everybody kind of saw the way the
Speaker 1: contracts looked. You're paying him money to start it right guard,
Speaker 1: but it also could be placed over at right tackle,
Speaker 1: and that's how it worked out. Guy played a lot
Speaker 1: of football, started a lot of games. Can Nineman make
Speaker 1: the switch? I think he can. Six ft seven three
Speaker 1: and fourteen pounds. He opened my eyes and I think
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways we saw throughout the course
Speaker 1: of those eight spots starts what Adam Stanovich saw in
Speaker 1: this young man and what they wanted to do there.
Speaker 1: You bring him in, you let him compete for that job,
Speaker 1: maybe you draft somebody. If you don't, you still got
Speaker 1: Dennis Kelly out there that could potentially come back in
Speaker 1: this thing as well. A lot of options for what
Speaker 1: Green Bay wants to do. But to me, it's not
Speaker 1: about the starting five. It's about those top seven eight guys,
Speaker 1: and who you have is potentially those next men up.
Speaker 1: Because we out Turner. Without Patrick, you're losing a lot
Speaker 1: of versatility with that group. Yeah, the Packers that the
Speaker 1: Packers have lost versatility and they've lost some depth with
Speaker 1: how this offseason has unfolded to this point, and that's
Speaker 1: where again, Brian Gudukuns has never shied away from drafting
Speaker 1: offensive lineman. We've seen him draft several of them over
Speaker 1: his his few years as the GM, and some of
Speaker 1: them are still here, some of them have not worked out.
Speaker 1: But the the refortifying of the depth in that unit
Speaker 1: I think is going to is going to come from
Speaker 1: this draft, whether it's with with the high picks, you know,
Speaker 1: those picks in the first or second round, or whether
Speaker 1: it's whether it's with with picks in the in the
Speaker 1: middle rounds, where then you have you have guys who
Speaker 1: maybe a guy comes in like Roy Snwman a fourth
Speaker 1: rounder last year, or you have these other guys who
Speaker 1: are gonna going to compete with Cole van Landon and
Speaker 1: other young draft picks who are who yeah, Jake Hansen,
Speaker 1: those young draft picks from recent years who are making
Speaker 1: their way and are filling in some of those depth
Speaker 1: spots as well. The really interesting thing I think, and
Speaker 1: again this is this is projecting. This is projecting way
Speaker 1: down the road. But you can humor me for a
Speaker 1: minute here. If we say, if we say, right now,
Speaker 1: the Packers offensive line left to right is going to
Speaker 1: be bak tr Runyon, Myers, Newman and Nyman, Newman and Nyman.
Speaker 1: That we'll have to get used to that. But if
Speaker 1: that say, say that is the Packers starting five on
Speaker 1: the offensive line for for week one of at some point,
Speaker 1: maybe it's going to be six weeks into the year,
Speaker 1: eight weeks, nine weeks into the season, whatever, at some
Speaker 1: point the Packers are hoping and planning to get Elton
Speaker 1: Jenkins back. And this is a guy who can play
Speaker 1: anywhere across the offensive line and basically has I think
Speaker 1: the one spot maybe that he hasn't played in the
Speaker 1: NFL is right guards. He played all of them. He
Speaker 1: never started it right, he hasn't started it right. But yeah,
Speaker 1: so the question is then when Jenkins comes back, like
Speaker 1: what do you do? What do you do? Where do
Speaker 1: you put him? And and to me, when you're talking
Speaker 1: about a player like that, of of of his caliber.
Speaker 1: But yet he's not going to have an entire training camp.
Speaker 1: He doesn't get an offseason program, a training camp and
Speaker 1: all this to get ready. When he's ready to go,
Speaker 1: he's going to have a couple three weeks of practice
Speaker 1: and then and when he's ready, then they they'll want
Speaker 1: to put him into a game. I think very I
Speaker 1: think what might play out here in a sense is
Speaker 1: that if everything's good with box Trri at left tackle
Speaker 1: and there are no more issues with his knee, those
Speaker 1: other four guys across the front they might be just
Speaker 1: playing to keep their job until Elton Jenkins come comes back.
Speaker 1: And what I mean by that is whichever guy is
Speaker 1: maybe not playing not quite as well as the other
Speaker 1: guys of those four spots from left guard all the
Speaker 1: way over to right tackle, that might be the guy
Speaker 1: who gets replaced. That maybe where you put in Elton Jenkins,
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl guard, but a guy who plays at
Speaker 1: or near a Pro Bowl level pretty much anywhere across
Speaker 1: that Yeah, And I mean I go back to two
Speaker 1: years ago and who could have ever foreseen him having
Speaker 1: to make those three starts for Corey Lensley. When Corey
Speaker 1: had knee injury, the m cl thing, right, and that
Speaker 1: was that was his position in college for the for
Speaker 1: the most part, was a center, and he and he
Speaker 1: stepped right in, but but he hadn't even really practiced
Speaker 1: there in the NFL, and and he filled in for
Speaker 1: Lindsley for three weeks. And then last year, I mean,
Speaker 1: would you have and when you and I were talking
Speaker 1: in week one, would you've ever forguessed that it would
Speaker 1: been Lucas Patrick starting the most games at center, for
Speaker 1: eleven games at center last season. Right, There's so many
Speaker 1: different dominoes that happened, and unfortunately all of them happened
Speaker 1: last year for Green Bay. I mean, there really wasn't
Speaker 1: any situation. There wasn't any position that wasn't affected by it.
Speaker 1: So that's where I think you look at the versatility
Speaker 1: of this group. You look at the depth of the group, because, hey,
Speaker 1: as much as that would be the best case scenario
Speaker 1: for Green Bay is that Elton Jenkins comes back and
Speaker 1: they got to make a tough decision somewhere on the
Speaker 1: offensive line, but unfortunately, you go back to last year,
Speaker 1: a lot of it ended up being, hey, we got
Speaker 1: this player back. This is great because these read guys
Speaker 1: are unavailable right now, right that that's going to be
Speaker 1: sort of the the thing I think you have to
Speaker 1: watch this year, and certainly you would hope for the
Speaker 1: Packer's sake, you give Jenkins back. Um, because the thing
Speaker 1: is Mike I've never seen anything like him in terms
Speaker 1: of a guy that the Packers have had, guys who
Speaker 1: can play multiple positions. I'm now at this point, I'm
Speaker 1: fully convinced if you start him at any of the
Speaker 1: five positions for all sixteen seventeen regular season games. Guy's
Speaker 1: a pro bowler. Yeah, I mean, it's just his footwork,
Speaker 1: his power, his athleticism, and he does it in such
Speaker 1: a mild manner too. I mean he's Yeah, he's like
Speaker 1: the most unassuming guy. Pound for palm. People talk about
Speaker 1: Gire Alexander, they talk about Rashawn Gary rightfully so, but
Speaker 1: I mean pound for pound, to find that guy in
Speaker 1: the second round three years ago, I mean, that's to me,
Speaker 1: that's still Brian Goodkin's best pick, just because you typically
Speaker 1: can't find those offensive linemen at that spot. Versatile. Yeah.
Speaker 1: One other topic on the offensive side of the ball
Speaker 1: to get to before we go, and that is you
Speaker 1: touched on it a little bit the changes with the
Speaker 1: coaching staff because offensive coordinator former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett
Speaker 1: is now the head coach for the Denver Broncos. He
Speaker 1: took tight ends coach Justin out and with him to
Speaker 1: be his offensive coordinator out in Denver, and then the
Speaker 1: Packers quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Luke Getsy has
Speaker 1: now taken the offensive coordinator job for the NFC North
Speaker 1: rivals Chicago Bears. We're working for a defensive head coach
Speaker 1: in Matt Eberflus gets gets He excuse me, will be
Speaker 1: uh calling the plays. He will be the offensive play
Speaker 1: caller for Justin fields and uh and that Chicago Bears offense.
Speaker 1: So what that means is Adam Stanovich, offensive line coach,
Speaker 1: has now moved up to offensive coordinator. Luke Butkus. Stenovich
Speaker 1: is assistant on the offensive line, is now the lead
Speaker 1: coach at that position. Jason Vrabel, the wide receiver's coach,
Speaker 1: has has gotten the passing game coordinator title um added
Speaker 1: to his duties. John Dunne, who as a senior analyst
Speaker 1: on the offensive staff, has now been internally promoted to
Speaker 1: be the tight ends coach to replace justin outon and
Speaker 1: then Tom Clements, a familiar face and old friend, UM
Speaker 1: worked on Mike McCarthy staff as quarterbacks coach, as offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: as associate head coach from the span of I believe
Speaker 1: it was two thousand and six through two thousand and sixteen,
Speaker 1: so he was on McCarthy staff for eleven years. Tom
Speaker 1: Clements is back as the quarterbacks coach and UH and
Speaker 1: obviously Aaron Rodgers UM who has spoken um glowingly over
Speaker 1: the years and very gratefully about the impact that Tom
Speaker 1: Clements had on his development and on this road now
Speaker 1: that has that has included four m v P awards
Speaker 1: for Aaron Rodgers. Rogers had a lot to do with
Speaker 1: Tom Clements essentially coming out of a one year retirement
Speaker 1: to return to the to the coaching ranks and to
Speaker 1: his old job as quarterbacks coaching Green Bay. And it
Speaker 1: was refreshing to hear his perspective on things too write
Speaker 1: because he was talking about retirement life in California and
Speaker 1: his glamorous it sounded especially for guys like you and me,
Speaker 1: who I think our gray hairs are popping up by
Speaker 1: the day, just based on the way that the business works.
Speaker 1: Um he's taking it easy and and rightfully. So. The
Speaker 1: guys played a lot of football, He's coached a lot
Speaker 1: of football. He mentioned how difficult those two years were
Speaker 1: on his family. They were back in California. He's down
Speaker 1: in Arizona mentoring Kyler Murray right after they drafted him.
Speaker 1: Um on Cliff Kingsbury staff and ultimately just society know what,
Speaker 1: I'm good And it sounds like he was good last year.
Speaker 1: But Rogers is the one that reached out. He kind
Speaker 1: of wanted to see after gets he had moved down
Speaker 1: to Chicago. Hey, what are you thinking? Would this be something?
Speaker 1: He is interesting? You interesting to you? And I loved
Speaker 1: Clements's line with what was basically, well what are you thinking?
Speaker 1: You know? Together? Okay, am I gonna come back? And
Speaker 1: are you gonna be here? I mean, as much as
Speaker 1: I'm sure he's he enjoys mentoring young quarterbacks that the
Speaker 1: draws there with Rodgers and in reuniting with the guy
Speaker 1: that he was with in his first four years in
Speaker 1: that specific role as a starting quarterback. So uh, Rogers
Speaker 1: has talked so many times past present about what the
Speaker 1: impact was of Tom Clements. I think Clements has had
Speaker 1: a mightas touch for his approach to Rogers and his
Speaker 1: understanding of the game and what his rules are for
Speaker 1: that position. And certainly I think it makes a lot
Speaker 1: of sense for him to come back, if I may,
Speaker 1: Before I hand the baton back over to you, I
Speaker 1: do think Matt Lafleur deserves a mighty tip of the
Speaker 1: cat this offseason because one of the things that coaches,
Speaker 1: especially when they have success early on, our want to
Speaker 1: do is to start, you know, not allowing those young
Speaker 1: guys to maybe necessarily come off of their staff. They
Speaker 1: have some system in place, they're scared to change. Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur is not afraid of change, and I think that
Speaker 1: speaks volumes of him as terms of his confidence as
Speaker 1: a coach and also his ability to identify talent and
Speaker 1: to bring up talent. You mentioned all those coaches there
Speaker 1: early on, right. You had Buck Kiss who was an
Speaker 1: assistant offensive line coach. Adam Stanovich was an assistant offensive
Speaker 1: line coach with the forty niners. Jason Rabel got here
Speaker 1: as an offensive assistant. These guys were basically in just
Speaker 1: elevated roles from quality control ultimately, and now they are
Speaker 1: his next the next guy's up, and I'm telling you, Mike,
Speaker 1: in the coaching world, that goes a long way, because
Speaker 1: coaches are gonna look around and they're gonna see the
Speaker 1: ladder that has kind of developed in Green Bay, the
Speaker 1: coaching tree that has sprouted. That's going to attract more
Speaker 1: young talent when it comes to quality control, when it
Speaker 1: comes to senior analysts, when it comes to guys that
Speaker 1: are like, you know what that system in Green Bay works.
Speaker 1: I think that's the ultimate testament to Matt lafloor And
Speaker 1: also the communication that he had with Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett
Speaker 1: said they were talking about it a year earlier when
Speaker 1: he was interviewing for the Atlanta Falcons job. He didn't
Speaker 1: want to be a guy that just rated Matt Lafleur's staff,
Speaker 1: but they wanted to be in communication with each other.
Speaker 1: If there were opportunities for some of the guys like
Speaker 1: a justin outon to develop, I think that's the best
Speaker 1: part of this game him. When you can make things
Speaker 1: like that happen. Yeah, when you've when you've had the success,
Speaker 1: especially early in your head coaching career that Matt la
Speaker 1: Fleur has had, it's going to create opportunities for guys
Speaker 1: on your staff who are deserving of those opportunities, but
Speaker 1: you may not have those openings available on your own staff.
Speaker 1: You can, you can only have so many coordinators, right.
Speaker 1: So Matt, Matt Lafleur has I'm sure, I'm sure mentally,
Speaker 1: if not on paper in a file somewhere, had been
Speaker 1: preparing for an off season like this where guys were
Speaker 1: gonna move on, guys were going to leave. Things we're
Speaker 1: gonna need to be shifted around, and he had some
Speaker 1: very very solid ideas as to as to how he
Speaker 1: wanted to navigate through this situation. And now here we
Speaker 1: are in two it's a it's it's very much a
Speaker 1: new look. It's it's a new look coaching staff. But
Speaker 1: yet it's not a complete overhaul either. There's a there's
Speaker 1: a there's a blend there in terms of how Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur was able to navigate to navigate the situation. And
Speaker 1: now pretty soon, well in about a month or so,
Speaker 1: I guess O t a s when they actually start
Speaker 1: practicing um full time on the field, than than these guys,
Speaker 1: these these coaches will get back to doing what they
Speaker 1: do best, which and what they what they like to do. Best,
Speaker 1: which is to run practice and to see where this
Speaker 1: season is headed. And I'm telling you, Mike, you don't
Speaker 1: need to be a head coach in the National Football
Speaker 1: that you can be a manager at a grocery store,
Speaker 1: you can be a principal at a school, you can
Speaker 1: work at a tire shop. If you inhibit opportunities of
Speaker 1: your employees, that is going to build up contempt. And
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur gets it. He gets it in a way
Speaker 1: that not just NFL coaches typically don't get it. Human
Speaker 1: beings don't get You have to allow people to spread
Speaker 1: their wings sometimes and trust that you're going to find
Speaker 1: more talented people to replace them. And I just I
Speaker 1: I thought this offseason and how the floor handle it
Speaker 1: was a masterclass and how you go about doing it
Speaker 1: because you can't be afraid of change, adapt or die. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: well with that, we'll call it a wrap on this
Speaker 1: edition and of Packers Unscripted, you should have follow all
Speaker 1: of our coverage of the team, lots of draft preview,
Speaker 1: roster roster position by position examination of the Packers, everything
Speaker 1: heading into the into this upcoming draft. We've got it
Speaker 1: all for you on Packers dot Com for West I'm Mike.
Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in. Everybody, We'll see you next time.