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 my trusted colleague West Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
Speaker 1: here from our studios at lambeau Field, and as promised
Speaker 1: on our last show, today's show will focus on the
Speaker 1: off season news with regard to the Packers defense and
Speaker 1: West I need to establish a little bit of a
Speaker 1: timeline here as too, as to how things went, because
Speaker 1: as the start of the new league year, the start
Speaker 1: of free agency mid March um last month, the Packers
Speaker 1: had some salary cap issues. They needed to be that
Speaker 1: three o'clock on March sixteen, they think it was. They
Speaker 1: had to be in compliance with the salary caps. So
Speaker 1: there were some moves made that that certainly had an
Speaker 1: impact on the defense. Once Darius Smith was released, Preston
Speaker 1: Smith was signed to a contract extension which created some
Speaker 1: salary cap relief for the current year, and then Dave
Speaker 1: Andre Campbell was signed to a new five year contract,
Speaker 1: and at at the time that the new league year began,
Speaker 1: the Packers had Preston Smith under contract, of Andre Campbell
Speaker 1: under contract, Davante Adams franchise tag number was under the cap,
Speaker 1: and that for the moment was looking like the direction
Speaker 1: the Packers were going to go. But then when it
Speaker 1: became apparent that Davante Adams was not going to sign
Speaker 1: a long term deal with Green Bay, the trade was
Speaker 1: worked out with the Raiders. Then suddenly more cap space
Speaker 1: became available and Russeul Douglas was resigned and Jaren Reid
Speaker 1: was added as a free agent on the defensive line.
Speaker 1: So some dominoes started to fall after the Davante Adams
Speaker 1: trade that had have given the Packers defense in a
Speaker 1: look that maybe we weren't a specting because going into it,
Speaker 1: I didn't think both Devandre Campbell and Russell Douglas would
Speaker 1: be back. But it turns out that's where the Packers are.
Speaker 1: And you really think about it, Mike, I think the
Speaker 1: green Bay Packers Devandre Campbell, that's the best situation for
Speaker 1: both players, the green Bay Packers and Russeul Douglass. I
Speaker 1: don't think that's debatable. I think that's the best situation
Speaker 1: for both players in this I'm really excited for what
Speaker 1: this Packers defense has coming back next season. I understand
Speaker 1: they took a big hit at outside Russia. You're losing,
Speaker 1: you know. Zadarius Smith, a guy that in his two
Speaker 1: healthy seasons was went to the Pro Bowl both years,
Speaker 1: was a second team All Pro. The statistics that he
Speaker 1: put together, the sack numbers he put together in those
Speaker 1: first two seasons, they're legitimate, and he was a big
Speaker 1: part of this resurgence that the Packers defense has had.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately for him, he suffers that that back injury last year,
Speaker 1: and I think there was, you know, some structural stuff
Speaker 1: going on there. There was the cap situation, and we'll
Speaker 1: see exactly what happens now that he's in Minnesota. Thought
Speaker 1: he was going to Baltimore for a minute, but he
Speaker 1: ends up in Minnesota. But what happened at that same
Speaker 1: time was the Packers very quietly resigned or should say,
Speaker 1: extended Preston Smith, created some more cap space there and
Speaker 1: took care of Preston for the long term. They were
Speaker 1: able to keep deve Andre Campbell, which, as I've said
Speaker 1: over and over and over again, Mike deve Andre Campbell's
Speaker 1: presence in this defense has altered my belief in the
Speaker 1: inside linebacker position in today's NFL. And and he's talked,
Speaker 1: you know, at quite quite a great length over the
Speaker 1: past year about what his thought process was when he
Speaker 1: came to Green Bay last June, why he picked this place,
Speaker 1: why he felt like this was the right fit for him,
Speaker 1: why he probably left some money on the table to
Speaker 1: come and play in this defense. But the one thing
Speaker 1: he mentioned when addressing the media for the availability at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the off season program here was he
Speaker 1: told the Packers flat out, I want to be a
Speaker 1: MIC linebacker. I want to be the one where in
Speaker 1: the communication had said I want to be the middle
Speaker 1: linebacker in the in the in the heart of the defense.
Speaker 1: He wanted to be the guy running the dfense. He
Speaker 1: felt he felt he could be a star in that position.
Speaker 1: He could he could do everything that was asked of
Speaker 1: him in that leadership role on the field, and he delivered.
Speaker 1: And if you think about it, you go back to Atlanta.
Speaker 1: I've said it a couple of times. I wrote it.
Speaker 1: I mean the two thousand sixteen draft, they hit it
Speaker 1: out of the park with their linebackers that they drafted, right,
Speaker 1: you know, with you know, Keyan O'Neil and uh you
Speaker 1: know um Dion Jones and and just the bodies and
Speaker 1: athletes they had and here's Devondre Campbell in the fourth round.
Speaker 1: That he was a solid player, started basically right on
Speaker 1: from his rookie year. But as Preston Smith said, he
Speaker 1: was the kind of guy that you looked at him
Speaker 1: on film was like, that guy's really impressive. He's all over,
Speaker 1: you know, all over the places around the football, but
Speaker 1: he didn't know who he was. The Packers allowed him
Speaker 1: to be the centerpiece of this defense and it let
Speaker 1: not only him really flourished, but it showed a different
Speaker 1: dimension to this Packers defense that I haven't seen really
Speaker 1: in my time on the beat. Not only was the
Speaker 1: inside linebacker position filled, it was one of the best
Speaker 1: positions Green Bay had on the field. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: to go from you know, a guy off the street
Speaker 1: as the saying goes to be, to becoming a first
Speaker 1: team All Pro in his first season in a new
Speaker 1: location and a new defense. All of that, it was
Speaker 1: an incredibly impressive year that Devandre Campbell put together. And
Speaker 1: when he spoke with the media this week on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: as we said, there are a few players are made
Speaker 1: available for the start of the off season program. The
Speaker 1: thing that struck me is is I didn't realize when
Speaker 1: when he signed last year, I was like, okay, yeah
Speaker 1: he was. He was in Atlanta. He was drafted in
Speaker 1: Atlanta in ten. Matt Lafleur was there as the quarterbacks coaches. Like, okay,
Speaker 1: so there's a connection there. Well. He sort of explained
Speaker 1: yesterday to the media that it was more than just
Speaker 1: like they knew each other. They they had developed a
Speaker 1: bit of a relationship. They had a lot of conversations,
Speaker 1: they got to know each other a little bit. And
Speaker 1: Campbell made it sound as though that that relationship with
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur, established way back in had a big impact
Speaker 1: on him choosing to come to Green Bay because he
Speaker 1: wanted to be that guy in the middle. He wanted
Speaker 1: to be the guy running the show. He felt that
Speaker 1: that was what he could do for an NFL team
Speaker 1: and he could become a star in this league. And
Speaker 1: he couldn't get that commitment from anybody else, but Matt
Speaker 1: la Fleur said, we'll give you a chance to do that.
Speaker 1: And his relationship with Matt Lafleur, he took him at
Speaker 1: his word and said and said, all right, I believe you,
Speaker 1: So I am going to come here. I am going
Speaker 1: to trust you. You need to trust me that I
Speaker 1: will deliver what I say I'm going to deliver, and
Speaker 1: it all worked out. I think that that it's interesting
Speaker 1: to me that there was more. What we found out
Speaker 1: yesterday is there was more to that relationship with la
Speaker 1: Fleur in Atlanta six years ago than we ever really knew. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I got a kick out of him mentioning to
Speaker 1: you know, because Joe Berry is always kind of the
Speaker 1: secondary figure in this because they're really on the surface,
Speaker 1: wasn't a connection there between DeAndre Campbell and Joe Berry?
Speaker 1: But then we found out during that media time on Wednesday, No,
Speaker 1: there was Brandon Staley, who was the defensive coordinator when
Speaker 1: Barry was in l A. Yeah, he recruited dave Andre
Speaker 1: Campbell out of high school. I mean, just how small
Speaker 1: that biosphere is for the NFL and in football is
Speaker 1: just incredible. But the thing I enjoyed the most about
Speaker 1: that story in terms of the relation to La Fleur
Speaker 1: is it shows you not only the importance of relationships
Speaker 1: that that goes without saying, but Matt la Fleur understood
Speaker 1: at a very young age, in an incredibly young age,
Speaker 1: when he was moving into that position as quarterbacks coach,
Speaker 1: as the Atlanta of the at NFL gets quarterbacks, Matt Ryan,
Speaker 1: Matt Shop, maybe a practice squad kid here and there.
Speaker 1: That's it, that's your assignment. Here he is going around
Speaker 1: creating a dialogue with devonri Campbell. Campbell said he didn't
Speaker 1: talk to him over here and there always on the
Speaker 1: staff now every single day he was talking to Matt Lafleur,
Speaker 1: and I would imagine that's probably not the only player
Speaker 1: that la Fleur was talking to. Those are the things
Speaker 1: that position coaches. Sure, you want to build chemistry, you
Speaker 1: want to be able to those with things, but you
Speaker 1: can see how that kind lay the groundwork for kind
Speaker 1: of the program that the floor has built here in
Speaker 1: Green Bay. I think back to last year Whitney Merciless,
Speaker 1: the first practice he was in Green Bay. Every all
Speaker 1: the eyes are on him and Matt with Fleur sitting
Speaker 1: there talking to him during stretches, not for a photo up,
Speaker 1: not to to look good. I mean, he's like legitimately
Speaker 1: talking to him and having a conversation, and that that
Speaker 1: that aspect of this I don't think can ever be lost.
Speaker 1: In addition to the fact that that's what allows a
Speaker 1: guy like Deveandre Campbell to come in in June and
Speaker 1: immerse himself in the program. It allows Russell Douglas in
Speaker 1: October to come in and feel comfortable in a program.
Speaker 1: You have to feel comfortable before you can be confident.
Speaker 1: And that's one thing with this defense especially has been
Speaker 1: really solid at doing here with these new incoming players. Well,
Speaker 1: we mentioned Russell Douglas. Obviously he's he's back in the secondary.
Speaker 1: You look at you look at this defensive backfield that
Speaker 1: the Packers are putting together here. For two, you're hoping
Speaker 1: and planning on having Jr. Alexander back for the entire
Speaker 1: season after he injured that show lder in Week four
Speaker 1: and then was not able to make it back until
Speaker 1: the playoff games, so he essentially missed three quarters of
Speaker 1: the season. Last year. You have Eric Stokes, a potential
Speaker 1: rising star at cornerback, first round draft pick, twenty ninth
Speaker 1: overall pick last year, got thrown into the fire to
Speaker 1: a much greater degree as a rookie than than expected
Speaker 1: because of Alexander's injury. But um, but this young man
Speaker 1: answered the bell every time, his arrow clearly pointing up.
Speaker 1: You have Douglas back now with the new contract, a
Speaker 1: guy that the Packers plucked off of Arizona's practice squad
Speaker 1: and and essentially in three quarters less than three quarters
Speaker 1: of a season, becomes a Pro Bowl alternate with the
Speaker 1: with the type of year he put together, you know,
Speaker 1: pick sixes in back to back games. We all know
Speaker 1: about the interception to h to beat his former team
Speaker 1: in in Arizona one of those first games he was
Speaker 1: playing for the Packers. Channon Sullivan has left as a
Speaker 1: free agent. Obviously, the Packers prioritized resigning Douglas over Sullivan
Speaker 1: as far as the cornerback position in the dollars to
Speaker 1: allocate their Sullivan has gone to Minnesota UM, just like
Speaker 1: Darius Smith. And at safety obviously you have ad your
Speaker 1: name is Darnell Savage. Now together as you're starting safety
Speaker 1: pair for a fourth consecutive season, it will be the
Speaker 1: second year in Joe Barry system. There is a lot
Speaker 1: to like about what the Packers are putting together and
Speaker 1: building here for for this secondary. The the experience level,
Speaker 1: the accomplishments, the leadership of those guys. This group is
Speaker 1: really going to be one to watch in pound. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to think of a better, uh starting five in
Speaker 1: terms of my time on the beat here in green
Speaker 1: Bay with that secondary, I mean Adrian Amos. I think
Speaker 1: time and time again we've talked about it, Mike, he's
Speaker 1: one of the most underrated safeties in this league. And
Speaker 1: you look at the Pro Football Focus numbers a lot
Speaker 1: of these you know, aggregators that they talk about these
Speaker 1: things that the things that he does that sometimes can
Speaker 1: go under the radar. And he's a fluid tackler, He's
Speaker 1: good in coverage. He has good ball tracking skills for
Speaker 1: a guy playing the safety position and having to be
Speaker 1: center field, and he can also go up into the box.
Speaker 1: Amos is the guy that I think a lot of
Speaker 1: times goes with with people not mentioning how talented this
Speaker 1: young man is. Darnell Savage, you heard Ryan Downard say
Speaker 1: it feels like he still has the potential that there
Speaker 1: to be an elite player, certainly has the speed and
Speaker 1: the makeup the first defensive back that was taken in
Speaker 1: the NFL draft. But the three corners that Green Bay
Speaker 1: has assembled here, that's going to be the biggest part
Speaker 1: that I think if green Bay can make that next
Speaker 1: jump here in your two hunder Joe Barry's defense, it's
Speaker 1: going to start there, because one in a nickel and
Speaker 1: dime package. You have a multitude of options for how
Speaker 1: you want to approach that. We've talked about some of
Speaker 1: them already, you know, going back to the NFL owners meetings,
Speaker 1: Brian Goodkins kind of saying, yeah, we could potentially match
Speaker 1: up JR. Alexander Moore. We could have him trail against
Speaker 1: some of the top receivers if that's the way that
Speaker 1: we want to do things. You know that Douglas can
Speaker 1: play outside, but he's also really physical to it the
Speaker 1: point of attack. I was saying it he played maybe
Speaker 1: fifty special team snaps. I would argue he was their
Speaker 1: best special teams player last year. Really good at its solid,
Speaker 1: open field tackling, and Eric Stokes completely jumped off the
Speaker 1: page to me, kind of like JR. Alexander and his
Speaker 1: rookie year. There are a couple opportunities that he wasn't
Speaker 1: able to completely cash in on when it came to interceptions,
Speaker 1: but his coverage ability and more importantly, Mike, the number
Speaker 1: one thing I always look for for these young guys
Speaker 1: coming in is the situation too big for them? Because
Speaker 1: we know what his speed is, we know what he
Speaker 1: did in college, especially his last year at Georgia. But
Speaker 1: when you start having to match up with some of
Speaker 1: these top receivers and they're not always going to be
Speaker 1: able to flank out a safety over the top of you,
Speaker 1: can you stand up to that challenge Stokes did? I
Speaker 1: thought it was robbery that he wasn't on the All
Speaker 1: p f w A All Rookie team. But I don't
Speaker 1: think he really cares. But I mean, I just feel
Speaker 1: like this thing is set up for him to have
Speaker 1: a really solid career here. Yeah, I agree with you.
Speaker 1: I thought Eric Stokes should have been on the p
Speaker 1: f w A All Rookie team with the with the
Speaker 1: type of season he had, and you talked about from
Speaker 1: you know, from that makeup standpoint, the other thing you
Speaker 1: always watched for where the young cornerback is when he
Speaker 1: gives up a third down conver Ursian completion or gives
Speaker 1: up a touchdown pass. How does he react, how does
Speaker 1: he how does he come back? Nothing phase this kid,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, it was really it was really
Speaker 1: impressive what he did. And getting back to your comment
Speaker 1: about this starting five in the secondary, you look at
Speaker 1: the nickel defensive backfield, I think you have to go back.
Speaker 1: You have to go back more than a decade, quite frankly,
Speaker 1: to find one that was this talented and this potentially impactful.
Speaker 1: And I'm talking about the time when the Packers their
Speaker 1: top three cornerbacks were Charles Woodson, Al Harrison, Tremont Williams.
Speaker 1: The number one safety was Nick Collins, and then that
Speaker 1: second safety kind of shifted around there. It was maybe
Speaker 1: a Tari Bigbie or Charlie Pepper was supposed to be
Speaker 1: Morgan Burnett his rookie year in two thousand and ten,
Speaker 1: but then he ended up blowing out his knee and
Speaker 1: and uh, and Burnett didn't really establish himself until a
Speaker 1: little bit later. But you have to really go in
Speaker 1: my in my estimation, you have to go back that
Speaker 1: far to find a nickel secondary the top five guys
Speaker 1: that are potentially as as talented as as this group
Speaker 1: as I think it bodes I think it really bodes well.
Speaker 1: I want to touch on the defensive line here as well,
Speaker 1: because we'll talk next week in our draft preview show. Certainly,
Speaker 1: defensive line is an area that I think the Packers
Speaker 1: are going to start to look to build for the
Speaker 1: future here. There there may be some opportunities in this
Speaker 1: draft to do that. But signing a free agent in
Speaker 1: Jaren Reid, a guy who's, you know, much like Sammy
Speaker 1: Watkins in a sense. And what I mean by that
Speaker 1: is a veteran guy who's been there and done that. Right.
Speaker 1: He's he's he's been through the wars, he's been through
Speaker 1: the battles. He knows what it takes to to to
Speaker 1: be a pro, to show up every day and and
Speaker 1: all of that kind of stuff. And and this is
Speaker 1: a guy that you know. When you have Kenny Clark,
Speaker 1: Dean Lowry, a you know, a rising, improving young player,
Speaker 1: and t J. Slaton who was drafted in the fifth
Speaker 1: round last year. Read reads of a veteran guy who
Speaker 1: can come in and play a rotational role and and
Speaker 1: help to fortify that unit when whatever you do bring
Speaker 1: in from the draft, these other young guys like a
Speaker 1: Slate and from La you were going to need to
Speaker 1: be brought along. You don't need necessarily to grab that
Speaker 1: defensive lineman say okay, we need you to play fifty
Speaker 1: snaps a game. The Packers, because of a signing of
Speaker 1: a guy like Read, they don't have to worry about that.
Speaker 1: It's the number one hallmark that I think has been
Speaker 1: carried on from the Ted Thompson era into the Brian
Speaker 1: Gooda consera. Don't go into a draft with glaring needs.
Speaker 1: You might have needs, but don't go into it where
Speaker 1: it's like, Okay, you have to take a player here.
Speaker 1: You're gonna be in trouble right where if you had
Speaker 1: to play a game tomorrow, like you don't have you
Speaker 1: don't really have the horses to do, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: because what's gonna inevitably happen is some guys are gonna
Speaker 1: surprise you and they'll all play that veteran right away.
Speaker 1: Some guys are gonna need more time, some guys are
Speaker 1: gonna get hurt. You need to create options for yourself
Speaker 1: and for the Packers on the defensive line. I can't.
Speaker 1: I can't think of another two guys in the NFL
Speaker 1: right now, and especially at the same position that came
Speaker 1: in together in sixteen like Kenny Clark and Dean Lowry
Speaker 1: have and have played down going into their seventh season together.
Speaker 1: That's almost unheard of. You be able to hit on
Speaker 1: two guys in the same draft class and have them,
Speaker 1: you know, get second contracts and and be real pivotal
Speaker 1: players for your defense. The problem for Green Bay is
Speaker 1: basically since Mike Daniels left, they've had a hard time
Speaker 1: filling that third spot of who that other guy is
Speaker 1: going to be. Moe Wilkerson was in here, Montrevius Adams
Speaker 1: was drafted. Um, you know, you go back. You know
Speaker 1: Kingsley Kiki kind of flirted with that spot for a while,
Speaker 1: but ultimately wasn't the answer. You tip your cap to
Speaker 1: Tyler Lancaster because he is a lunch pale kid that
Speaker 1: brought it every single time, was durable, was able to
Speaker 1: work through things. But ultimately, when you look at the
Speaker 1: difference between Jarren Reid and his makeup and where he
Speaker 1: comes from, his stat line in the NFL compared to
Speaker 1: a Lancaster, it's just a different caliber of athlete that
Speaker 1: you're dealing with. This is one of the guys that
Speaker 1: was highly touted coming out of Alabama. He was a
Speaker 1: guy Mike I remember when we were doing our draft process,
Speaker 1: I honestly knew more about Jarren Reid than I knew
Speaker 1: about Kenny Clark at that stage, just just based on
Speaker 1: the Alabama connection and what they were building there, and
Speaker 1: I remember that name and thinking could he be an
Speaker 1: option there At the end of the first round, he
Speaker 1: ends up going into the second two thousand and eighteen,
Speaker 1: ends up having a and and a half sack year
Speaker 1: for the Seahawks. But even like last year where it's
Speaker 1: only two and a half, he's still a guy that
Speaker 1: can play on first and second down as well at
Speaker 1: six ft three and he played every game, every game
Speaker 1: in ten pounds and to be able to do that
Speaker 1: at that size is remarkable. Eighty nine careers games, eight
Speaker 1: one starts, He's only missed eight over the last six seasons.
Speaker 1: And when we talk about staples of the Packers, when
Speaker 1: they look to bring in veterans, Mike, what are they
Speaker 1: looking for? Guys that have been available, Guys who have
Speaker 1: been durable and read checks that box. So yeah, if
Speaker 1: they want to draft a defensive lineman this week, awesome
Speaker 1: or next week awesome, go for it. But with those
Speaker 1: three guys, and with the t J. Slaton there, that
Speaker 1: gives you a rotation to work with while also developing
Speaker 1: that next group. Yeah. Absolutely, a little bit of sponsored
Speaker 1: business here. West Sirius x M NFL Radio delivers hard
Speaker 1: hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news that
Speaker 1: true football fanatics need seven three, six and at cousins.
Speaker 1: We have something for everyone, like our Wisconsin cheese curds,
Speaker 1: mac and Cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired
Speaker 1: with your favorite sub or sub in a bowl. Cousin Subs.
Speaker 1: We believe in better. A few other things to touch
Speaker 1: on here. On today's show, we talked about the the
Speaker 1: situation that some of the changes adjustments with the coaching
Speaker 1: staff on the offensive side. On the defensive side, you
Speaker 1: mentioned Ryan Downard, he has been UM Jerry Gray's assistant
Speaker 1: defensive backs coach. He got an internal promotion. He is
Speaker 1: now specifically the safety's coach in that UH defensive backfield.
Speaker 1: Jerry Montgomery, who has been the defensive line coach for
Speaker 1: quite some time now here in Green Bay, he has
Speaker 1: added has a run game coordinator added to his title
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of the ball. And then Jason
Speaker 1: Rebervich ReBs as he asked us to call him, is
Speaker 1: the new off Sorry excuse me, outside linebackers because a
Speaker 1: lot of words. You just had a scored replacing replacing
Speaker 1: Mike Smith who who departed and has actually joined Zadarius
Speaker 1: Smith over in uh UM Minnesota. So those are the
Speaker 1: uh those are the changes. Those are the changes on
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball. And Rebervich. Rebrovich is
Speaker 1: an interesting guy because you look he you you look
Speaker 1: at his his track record. He's actually mostly not to
Speaker 1: say that he hasn't worked with outside linebackers, because he has,
Speaker 1: but throughout his coaching career he's mostly worked with defensive
Speaker 1: lineman and he was the position coach for a Jacksonville
Speaker 1: Jaguars defensive line about four or five years ago. I
Speaker 1: want to say it was maybe that that that Jacksonville
Speaker 1: defensive line had like three guys that went to the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl and had fifty five some sacks, which was
Speaker 1: one of the highest totals um in the league. So
Speaker 1: this is a guy you I didn't know his name
Speaker 1: until Matt Lafleur hired him, and you may not know
Speaker 1: his name, but he's worked with some pretty darn good
Speaker 1: defensive front players in the NFL well. And the thing
Speaker 1: that's funny, Jacksonville threw all this money out at all
Speaker 1: these different players they did again this offseason. The one
Speaker 1: thing they've probably done well over the last ten years
Speaker 1: is what they did up front. You know, when you
Speaker 1: think back to when they got Calias Campbell and Malik
Speaker 1: Jackson and all those guys. Uh, they flourished down there,
Speaker 1: and it had a lot to do with the success
Speaker 1: they had while it wasn't sustainable for them during that
Speaker 1: run there in sixteen seventeen and beyond. Okay, this is
Speaker 1: what I love one In addition to him saying revs.
Speaker 1: The guy that often goes by hot fully respects that move.
Speaker 1: And also going from Mike Smith to Jason rebro Vitch
Speaker 1: is going to be a big ask from a guy
Speaker 1: that with a with a big last name himself. But
Speaker 1: what I like about what the Packers did with these moves,
Speaker 1: kind of echoing what I said the previous day, is
Speaker 1: that there's a pattern to it, right and being able
Speaker 1: to have basically a philosophical foundation for what Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: is trying to do. This was a big off season
Speaker 1: off pensively and defensively for different reasons. But defensively it
Speaker 1: is about trying to keep this train on the tracks
Speaker 1: and just picking up even more steam. And I feel
Speaker 1: like the moves that they made this has enabled them
Speaker 1: to kind of do that and bringing in some new
Speaker 1: ideas too, I mean, as talented in as much of
Speaker 1: a whisperer as Mike Smith was for Rashaan Gary Gary.
Speaker 1: Now going into year four, he's starting to become a
Speaker 1: made man a little bit. What can a new guy
Speaker 1: with some new thoughts and philosophies and also a guy
Speaker 1: with Gary's talent that is sort of you know, he
Speaker 1: could play defensive end too if he needed to. What
Speaker 1: what can he draw from that? What can Preston Smith
Speaker 1: draw from that? So I really like that idea. And
Speaker 1: also Kudosa Downard, you talked about him being an assistant
Speaker 1: for Jerry Gray. He actually came in with Mike Pett
Speaker 1: and staff. He was a guy that sort of followed
Speaker 1: Patton around, was with him in Cleveland. The Packers think
Speaker 1: a lot of the young man, and I really feel
Speaker 1: like giving him that specific group. He said he's been
Speaker 1: given assignments before, but being able to give this get
Speaker 1: him the safeties right now. I think that's a great
Speaker 1: foundation for him now moving forward. Yeah, we also need
Speaker 1: to talk about what has gone on with regard to
Speaker 1: special teams here. We will work that into this show
Speaker 1: as well, because the last couple of years on special
Speaker 1: teams it has not been up to uh, up to
Speaker 1: an acceptable standard here in Green Bay, Matt Lafleur still
Speaker 1: trying to find the right formula. He has hired Rich
Speaker 1: Besaccia as the new special teams coordinator. And this is
Speaker 1: a guy, my goodness. Not only has he been coordinating
Speaker 1: special teams on the NFL level for about twenty years,
Speaker 1: but he was even a special teams coordinator coach at
Speaker 1: the college level before he got into the NFL twenty
Speaker 1: years ago. And the track record this, this is this
Speaker 1: is a guy. He he had a he had an
Speaker 1: absolutely unbelievable season, you know, running the Raiders special teams
Speaker 1: and then taking over as the interim head coach after
Speaker 1: John Gruden's departure with all the controversy that surrounded that,
Speaker 1: and then he, you know, gets things together enough with
Speaker 1: that Raiders team that they make a run in December,
Speaker 1: in you know, early January, the final month of the
Speaker 1: regular season, to land a playoff spot. And then they
Speaker 1: actually come, you know, within a fourth and goal play
Speaker 1: in the wild card game against Cincinnati from being able
Speaker 1: to to get to overtime against the team that ended
Speaker 1: up representing the a f C in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: UM a tremendous coaching job by Bisacci. He uh did
Speaker 1: not get the um the full time job as the
Speaker 1: as the head coach for the Raiders. So he started
Speaker 1: looking at other opportunities. And Matt Lafleur wanted wanted to
Speaker 1: find somebody who was going to come in here with
Speaker 1: with his own philosophy, with an established way of doing
Speaker 1: things on special teams, and uh, and this is the
Speaker 1: guy the Packers are counting on to turn this around.
Speaker 1: But Sacci wanted to turn the page to two thousand
Speaker 1: twenty two as well. I hear momentarily talking about the
Speaker 1: Packers special teams and what he brings to that, but
Speaker 1: he didn't want to say that he wanted to go there.
Speaker 1: I will, I'll put my name behind it. I don't
Speaker 1: know how he wasn't the Raiders pick as the next had.
Speaker 1: I agree with you that it blew me away. That's
Speaker 1: his challenging of a situation that I think anyone is
Speaker 1: really inherited here. He he came through that with flying colors,
Speaker 1: and yet and yet somehow the Raiders still wanted to
Speaker 1: go in another direction. The playoffs is one thing. The
Speaker 1: close loss in the playoffs is another thing. The fact
Speaker 1: that he was able to help them keep that team together.
Speaker 1: I think speaks everything you need to be said as
Speaker 1: far as what he's like as a coach in what
Speaker 1: he brings to the table. And it wasn't just the
Speaker 1: Gruden thing. Of course, there were issues with off the field,
Speaker 1: issues with players and coming and going on the roster,
Speaker 1: all sorts of all sorts of craziness that season for
Speaker 1: the Raiders had every reason to go off the rails
Speaker 1: and never come back, and he got them into the postseason.
Speaker 1: It was impressive. Yeah, And I'm sure that's something that
Speaker 1: looking back on his coaching career, he can definitely be
Speaker 1: proud of. Here's what I liked about what Matt Laflora
Speaker 1: said when we were when we were down at the
Speaker 1: I believe it was the owner's meetings. He mentioned, you
Speaker 1: know you're in for a treat when you meet Pistac
Speaker 1: because at that point we hadn't talked to me, and
Speaker 1: he's like, he's a fiery guy and his accurate. He
Speaker 1: was accurate in that description. But what stands out to me,
Speaker 1: it wasn't all hell fire and brimstone, right. It's almost
Speaker 1: like when you when you when you get your fire
Speaker 1: started at home, or if you have the gas one too,
Speaker 1: and it just has that blue sort of line. Everybody
Speaker 1: knows that's where the hottest part of the fires. Right,
Speaker 1: it's not the red, it's the blue. Right, that's Rich
Speaker 1: Pisaccia because it's not just this in your face, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go and just start screaming at everybody. It's this
Speaker 1: quiet intensity. When we were talking to him, that really
Speaker 1: stood out to me. And the way he speaks about
Speaker 1: special teams. It was like listen to a physicist talk
Speaker 1: about you know, their field, you know, or somebody that's
Speaker 1: just like minutely instrumentally invested into the details. And I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that that's what's been missing, but it just
Speaker 1: shows you the level to which this guy thinks of
Speaker 1: that phase of the game. He talked, it's not offense,
Speaker 1: it's not defense. It's defense. He said, it's the one
Speaker 1: as man where you bring in a running back and
Speaker 1: a linebacker and you got them lined up next to
Speaker 1: each other for the betterment of the team, and they
Speaker 1: have to execute. They have to execute. And his vision, Mike,
Speaker 1: this wasn't a guy that just came in and said, Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: where's the contract, I'll sign it. I'm gonna go up
Speaker 1: into my office, grab some coffee. I'll see you at four.
Speaker 1: This guy actually was like Pat o'donald. I like this guy.
Speaker 1: Packers need a punter. We tried to sign him four
Speaker 1: years ago and didn't get him. Let's go take a
Speaker 1: look at him. Keyshan Nixon, a kid that came in
Speaker 1: as an undrafted free agent three years ago with the Raiders.
Speaker 1: He gets non tendered the Raiders. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you know this or not. Mike Las Vegas had like
Speaker 1: twenty six restricted free agents. I don't even know how
Speaker 1: that happens, but they non tendered a bunch of these guys.
Speaker 1: Nixon was one of them. Besaccia the Packers, they call
Speaker 1: him into Green Bay. We need core guys. We need
Speaker 1: six core guys, as he said, on our punt coverage team,
Speaker 1: and then we'll build out the rest from there. The
Speaker 1: vision is in place, and I really like that because
Speaker 1: when you have a vision and you have discipline to
Speaker 1: match that, that's how you get stable units. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: and you mentioned we've already we've already seen Bisacci's influence
Speaker 1: on the personnel on special teams. With the acquisition of
Speaker 1: O'Donnell as the new punter, a guy that, as you said,
Speaker 1: he tried to get him a handful of years ago
Speaker 1: when when he originally got the Raiders special team's job,
Speaker 1: and that didn't work out on O'Donnell stayed in Chicago.
Speaker 1: But now the Packers have him as the new punter
Speaker 1: and Nixon a reserve cornerback and a regular on special
Speaker 1: teams for him there with the Raiders. So and I
Speaker 1: think that influence in personnel on special teams is going
Speaker 1: to continue with uh with Pisaccia as far as his
Speaker 1: track record goes. The for the for the fans, for
Speaker 1: the fans who aren't aware, there's a long time NFL analyst.
Speaker 1: He's worked worked for the Dallas Morning News. He is
Speaker 1: a highly respected member of the Pro Football Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame selection Committee. I'm talking about Rick Goslin and for
Speaker 1: years and years and years, and Rick is a great guy.
Speaker 1: Rick has put together he has a statistic focal formula
Speaker 1: whereby he sort of throws all the numbers together, shakes
Speaker 1: them all up, and and ranks everybody's special team. So
Speaker 1: it's it's combining all of your units, your punt, your kickoff,
Speaker 1: your return units in both ways, your field goal unit,
Speaker 1: all of all of anything that goes into special teams
Speaker 1: goes into his formula and then and then he ranks them.
Speaker 1: Bacci has been a special teams coordinator in this league
Speaker 1: for twenty years. Eight times out of twenty, Bisacci's units
Speaker 1: have ranked in the top ten in Goslin's rankings, and
Speaker 1: he just missed another top ten ranking last year because
Speaker 1: the Raiders finished eleventh in his rankings. Now, you might say, well,
Speaker 1: you know, eight out of twenty, Well, when you look
Speaker 1: at the fact that you have punt return, kickoff return,
Speaker 1: punt coverage, kickoff coverage, field goal, any one of those
Speaker 1: five units goes south, and it's really hard to finish
Speaker 1: ranked in the top ten when everything is packaged together. Right.
Speaker 1: So the fact that eight out of twenty and almost
Speaker 1: nine out of twenty um he's had his units for
Speaker 1: various teams across the NFL rank in the top ten
Speaker 1: in Goslin's rankings, I think that's that's a that's a
Speaker 1: track record that stands on its own. And let's be honest, Mike,
Speaker 1: it's been what fifteen years since the Packers have been
Speaker 1: in the top ten. I think they've been a one year.
Speaker 1: I think they were able to creep up the eleventh
Speaker 1: or twelve, But otherwise it's been kind of a grind
Speaker 1: here for the Packers to the two thousand seven special teams.
Speaker 1: I've been here since two thousand six. The two thousand
Speaker 1: seven special teams were the highest that I can recall
Speaker 1: where the Packers ranked. They were. They were up there
Speaker 1: in the top in the top eight or top nine
Speaker 1: or something like that of the league. But since then, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's been it's it's been a tough slog to try
Speaker 1: to get amongst those league leaders. So trying to to
Speaker 1: get some you know, some momentum built here. I think,
Speaker 1: as I was saying at the end of the last season,
Speaker 1: and it went from a time of, oh, could they
Speaker 1: mix in a fake field goal or hey, you know
Speaker 1: they haven't had a punt return for a touchdown in
Speaker 1: a while, it's kind of shifted to can you just
Speaker 1: get you know, the eleven out there playing together, playing
Speaker 1: as one and minimizing the mistakes. And it's not easy,
Speaker 1: you know, as Randall Cobb was saying when he was
Speaker 1: talking about some of the offensive things and the young
Speaker 1: guys coming up on that side of the ball, this
Speaker 1: thing ain't easy. It's not easy to recover an on
Speaker 1: side kick it's not easy to prass protector, you know,
Speaker 1: punt protect all these things. Definitely not easy to catch
Speaker 1: a punt return, but it's a part of the game
Speaker 1: and you need to be able to have that consistency.
Speaker 1: So I think that's the exciting thing that Packers needed,
Speaker 1: something that was going to change the wins here. And
Speaker 1: it's gonna take work, and it's gonna take some months
Speaker 1: here to be able to build this next phase up.
Speaker 1: But you're seeing the commitment now, and I think you
Speaker 1: pay enough into that you're gonna see it by the
Speaker 1: time we get to the regular season. Yeah, well, West,
Speaker 1: the draft is a week away. We will preview the draft,
Speaker 1: take a look at the picks the Packers have, what positions,
Speaker 1: maybe you know, drop some names of players that might
Speaker 1: be available in those early rounds. We will do all
Speaker 1: of that on our next show, but for now we're
Speaker 1: calling it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team,
Speaker 1: lots of draft preview information, prospect primer's position by position,
Speaker 1: roster series, all of that stuff is out there for
Speaker 1: you on Packers dot com. For West, I'm Mike. Thank
Speaker 1: you for tuning in everybody, We'll see you next time.