WEBVTT - #280 Packers Unscripted: Making changes 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:21.400 Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:24.680 I am Mike Spofford and he is Wes Hodkowits were 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:27.880 coming to you here from our studios at lambeau Field 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:30.960 and West. Kind of a continuing conversation here all week 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:34.560 on our show with lots of different topics, ideas, things 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:37.720 that we brought back from our week in Indianapolis at 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:39.640 the combine. You know, we talked to the head coach, 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:42.400 the general manager, talked to lots of prospects, all of that. 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.360 One thing that is definitely worth discussing here is the 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:50.440 a story that that um You've been working on for 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:53.880 our website. You talked to both John Dorsey, the new 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:56.720 GM of the Cleveland Browns, and John Schneider, the general 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:00.200 manager of the Seattle Seahawks, about their history with Ryan 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:02.720 Gouda Kunston, what they thought of what's going on in 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:05.960 Green Bay now with him stepping in for Ted Thompson. 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:09.640 What was your biggest takeaway from the comments that they 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.800 gave you about their former colleague. Yeah, the biggest takeaway 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.640 I think was John Snyder and in you know, asking 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:20.280 him exactly what his first impression was working with Brian Goodacunsten, 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:22.919 how he really just blew him away with his knowledge 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:25.760 of football. Obviously came from a football background with his 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:29.039 father and his connections at the University of Minnesota. He 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:32.800 played Brian did at the University of Lacrosse, was basically 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.559 serving as an assistant coach by the time he ended 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:38.480 his career there due to injury, and just said, he's 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:41.759 an all around football guy. But the interesting thing with 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:45.240 both Dorsey and Snyder when you have this, these these 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:49.200 big branches that round Wolf has in the scouting uh 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:52.720 tree of the NFL. UH, just the parallels between all 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:55.880 these guys and how sometimes they also intersect. And really 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:59.120 Dorsey and Snyder were the one A one b of 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.680 Brian Goodacun getting his foot in the door in the NFL. 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.680 Dorsey was obviously we talked about at the time in 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.240 which good Acounts was hired. He was the guy who 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:10.120 called up on the Friday night when John when Brian 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:14.000 Goodacuns was working at the local supper club and in Lacrosse, 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:18.480 telling him to be in Green Bay. I think it 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:20.680 was seven eight in the morning, whatever it was, for 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:23.560 his internship as a packer. Scout hung up the phone 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.200 right away, and then Snyder is actually the one that 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:29.840 took Goodacuns after that internship with him down to Kansas 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:33.280 City for his first real immersion into the full time 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:35.679 life of an NFL scout. And and both of the 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:37.640 guys who said glowing things to say about him and 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:39.840 what his work and his his work ethic and his 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:42.679 approach was on a day in, day out basis. And now, 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.840 obviously he's a competitor. I mean, there's only thirty two 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:47.560 of these jobs, and you know there's a lot of 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:49.959 competition for them. But at the same time, you could 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:51.680 tell there was a great deal of pride as well 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.760 and being able to really develop Goodacuns into the personnel 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:56.640 man that he is today. Yeah, And as I said 0:02:56.720 --> 0:03:01.400 last week on the show, the biggest impression at Goudacunts 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:04.120 made on me in terms of his first big press 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:06.920 conference there at the combine with national media there and 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:10.120 then meeting with you know, groups of local reporters off 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:12.760 to the side things like that, is he just he 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:15.760 just looks like he belongs. It's like it looks like everything. 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:17.760 You know, not to say he was born to do 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.800 this necessarily, but you can definitely see that he's prepared 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:23.040 to do this. He does not look out of his 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:26.840 element whatsoever in the leadership position. And I think scouting, 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:30.000 I'm sure it's just like any other any other line 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:32.640 of work. You know, everybody knows who's good at what 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:34.960 they do. But even if you're good at what you do, 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.080 it doesn't necessarily mean you can climb the ladder and 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:40.520 be in those leadership positions. There are guys who are 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:43.040 probably great scouts, who are not necessarily going to be 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:46.040 able to lead an entire personnel department and lead a 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.480 football operation. Goodakoots is one of these guys that just 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:53.280 strikes me as as um, you know, totally prepared and 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:56.000 ready for this opportunity. Yeah, I almost look at it. 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:57.680 I don't know if you remember these games, Mike, you 0:03:57.720 --> 0:03:59.680 into the mall at least I went to the mall back, 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:02.240 and then you'd take the penny or the nickel or 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:05.040 the dime you'd put in that little funnel where the 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:07.200 quarter just said, it goes round and round and round. 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:10.080 For Goodacus, there was twenty years of that, and every 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.000 step kind of took him a little bit closer. In 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:14.920 these past few years he had pretty darn close. I mean, 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.040 he interviewed with the San Francisco forty niners with their 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:19.920 GM position. I know there was people that I had 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.000 talked to last year that thought he was gonna get 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:25.159 that position, and lo and behold, he ends up sticking 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:27.960 around and it has one more year to kind of 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:31.200 you know, being you know, deputized and have that internship 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:35.839 underneath Ted Thompson. But now he's in that chair, and 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:38.159 I think seeing him at the podium, I mean that 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:40.000 was the first question I asked when he went up. 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:42.039 There is just how this is different than before, and 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:44.279 for him it really isn't other than the fact that 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:47.840 he is the forward facing you know, GM. Now he's 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:50.760 the personnel executive that has to answer these questions as 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:53.119 opposed to in the past when he basically just talked 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:56.200 to the media after the Packers selected a player in 0:04:56.240 --> 0:05:00.400 the draft room every April and May. So for him now, 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.520 I think it just seems like he's ready for this moment. 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:05.840 He's ready to be there, He's ready to be accountable 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.039 for what the decisions that they're gonna make, and he 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.520 also has a pretty good, you know group around him 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.080 to kind of go off of as well. This is 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:16.120 gonna be a process. Everything we saw it with Ted Thompson. 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:18.400 We saw it with Ron Wolf even if there wasn't 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:20.960 as many you know, cameras and social media back in 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:24.080 the early nineties. These guys have to learn and kind 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:26.640 of feel out their way. But considering he still has 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.200 Ted Thompson there with him, the personnel people he has 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:32.080 around him, Rust Ball still in the organization as well, 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:34.839 there's a lot of resources for Brian Goodicoins to do 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:37.440 what he does best and really start to you know, 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:40.279 make that position his own. After Ted Thompson in a 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.159 thirteen year run, that is going to be up there 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:45.040 and in one of the greatest you know moments in 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:47.960 Packer's history. Yeah. Well, when you talked about in the 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:51.520 past we'd seen good Count's take the podium on draft 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:53.719 weekend at some point to talk about a prospect. It 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:57.520 always struck me how just how thoroughly knowledgeable he was 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:00.279 about anybody that the Packers selected in the draft. Could 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:01.880 have put him up at the podium to talk about 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:04.000 any of them. They just took you know, certain ones 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.280 at times. And I think one thing that will be 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:11.039 that will be an interesting change. Um, you know, Ted 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:13.880 Thompson would always is always kind of the main press 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.160 conference on that Thursday night when you make the first 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.200 round pick. But he's he's always he's not necessarily going 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.839 to you know, you know, recite chapter and verse of 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:26.760 the guy's scouting report. Right. Well, Goodakoons, might you know, 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:28.640 give a little bit more of that. I mean, he's 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:30.880 got it all, you know, you know, it's all up 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.159 in his head. He knows everything about, you know, any 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:34.960 guy that the Packers are going to choose. I think 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:38.040 that that press conference after pick number one on that 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:40.320 Thursday night of the draft could be pretty interesting. Yeah. 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:42.000 I think he's going to keep a similar approach. I 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:43.760 don't think he's gonna be like giving it away any 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:46.800 trade secrets beforehand, but you can just see when when 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:49.599 decisions are made. Even in this small two months that 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.960 he's been in that role, his reflection in research and 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:55.160 and obviously knowledge of players is expansive, and I think 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:56.920 he's gonna be willing to share that. Yeah, no doubt 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.000 about it. With that, we'll go to a break back 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:19.160 with more on Packers on scripted right after this. Welcome 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:22.160 back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford in this chair, Wes 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:26.080 Hodkowitz in that one West getting back to a subject 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.520 that we touched on, um, I guess would be a 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.000 little over a month ago now. When Mike McCarthy first 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:35.600 introduced the coaching changes, he talked about going back to 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:39.240 page one of the playbook with Joe Philbin and James 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:43.000 Campen and then the other new offensive assistance and really 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.080 kind of building it from scratch. I'll have to admit 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:48.440 I thought that was maybe a bit of an exaggeration, 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:52.800 but then revisiting the issue with Coach McCarthy at the 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:56.400 scouting combine in Indianapolis, he wasn't exaggerating at all. He 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:58.720 wasn't just you know, telling some story to to to 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.880 sound good. They literally went back to page one of 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:05.320 the playbook, you know, how to huddle up, and went 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:08.560 over everything to make sure that that, you know, all 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:11.280 of those basics that they're going to be teaching the players, 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:15.120 showing the players that everything is in place, and and 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.760 what struck me in that conversation with Coach McCarthy about 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.240 it is that he seems to me, anyway, after a 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.160 tough couple of months with having to make decisions, let 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:27.960 coaches go hire new guys and and everything that goes 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.440 into that, he seems very you know, revitalized and re 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.760 energized in a sense that that his offensive playbook. They 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:38.240 are literally going back to page one and rebuilding it. Yeah, 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:40.520 And I think there's two components of this that are 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:43.040 so important. The first thing is when you've been in 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:47.040 a role for thirteen years, um, it's only natural to 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:49.320 want to you know, shift some stuff and make some changes. 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:50.839 And I think the Packers have done a good job 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.440 of that periodically throughout that. I mean, you can never 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:57.240 say that McCarthy has not been reassessing where the team stands. 0:08:57.280 --> 0:08:59.599 He does it every offseason. But you look at this 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.040 coach staff. This is the big biggest structural change the 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:04.839 Packers have made with their coaching staff perhaps ever, when 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:07.880 you consider both the changes on the offensive and defensive 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.200 side of the ball. So you're getting in new guys, 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:12.400 You're getting in new philosophies, and even a guy like 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:14.560 you know, Joe Philbin, who's a big part of this 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:17.880 process returning to Green Bay. He was upfront about it 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:20.120 right from the get go. It's been seven years since 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:23.319 he's been here. I mean, things change, and there's stuff 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.240 that he's learned, There's philosophies that have evolved for him, 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.959 and the Packers offense looks a lot different now than 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.160 it did back in two thousand eleven as well, so 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.840 meshing all of those personalities together is important. But you know, 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:37.680 during the luncheon that we had with McCarthy, that was 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:39.559 one of the things I asked him, is that did 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:41.440 you always know that this was going to be the 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:43.600 plan that you wanted, you know, when he did your analysis, 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:46.040 that you wanted to actually, you know, just go back 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:48.240 to square one. And he said it really was a 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.640 two part pronged approach. It was going back after the 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.360 season and doing his review and deciding that, but then 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:55.760 also getting a chance to sit down with Philbin after 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.400 he'd been rehired his offensive coordinator and come into the 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:00.600 realization that this is probably the best butt forward for 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:02.760 this team. Yeah. And another part of it too, that 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:06.319 that I didn't realize was part of Mike McCarthy's processes 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:10.200 that he talked about doing a four year study on 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:13.280 his offense, that that he's done that over the years, 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:17.800 and with two thousand and seventeen being his twelfth year 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:20.120 as the head coach, this was the third than four 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:22.760 year study that he did in the off season. In 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.040 terms of looking back at at a larger chunk of 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:28.160 things instead of just the previous season. And hey, you 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:30.480 look at you know, the last four years, two thousand 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:33.640 and fifteen and two thousand seventeen, two of the rougher 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:36.640 years on offense for different reasons, but two of the 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.200 rougher years on offense for the Packers. And I think 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:43.160 going through that, that's where now he feels, Okay, yeah, 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:45.240 it is time to go back to to square one 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:47.480 of the playbook and and go back to the basics. 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:50.640 And and it's an interesting dynamic with these offensive coaches 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:55.000 because Joe Philbin obviously has the history from McCarthy's uh, 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:58.480 you know, first five years, so he knows the history 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:00.960 of the offense, but then he wasn't here for some 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:02.760 of the evolution of it, as you said, for the 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:05.360 last six or seven years. You have someone like James 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:09.240 Campin who has been here all the way along and 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:11.400 knows all of the the ins and outs and the 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:14.480 wise as to how certain things have changed. Then you 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:18.600 also have a new pass game coordinator, Jim Hostler, who 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.840 has experienced with Philbin, having worked with him in the past, 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:24.400 but now both of them are here together in Green Bay. 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:27.920 Hostlers looking at a new offense, but Philbin is looking 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.040 at one that he knew from the beginning, but it's 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:32.400 changed a little bit. So there's just so many different 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:35.520 perspectives now in that room as far as how they're 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.000 building the playbook for twenty and I find it kind 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:40.640 of fascinating how this is all coming together. It certainly is, 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:42.160 and I don't think I have a high enough IQ 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:44.480 to be able to process all of it. It's just 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:46.719 like firelights going off in my brain right now. But 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.559 I think, ultimately, in the most simplistic way you could 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.360 say it, it's just trying to take all of these 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:54.920 dots that have already been connected and just bring the 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:58.400 rest of them together because there is that working relationship. 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:00.480 And I said right from the beginning when announced the 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:04.240 new coaches last month, there is a big opportunity here 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:07.120 that even though this group hasn't been together per se, 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:11.040 underneath one team won venue one name, a lot of 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.600 these guys have working relationships. And the biggest thing for me, 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:17.680 I think comes back to Philbin and the fact that, yes, 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.640 things have changed, but this offense, I think you can 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:24.640 look at it statistically objectively and agree it was at 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.200 its best when Joe Philbin was there with Mike McCarthy 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:29.840 coordinating this thing. Those two guys make each other better, 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:32.280 and now being able to get that group back together, 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:34.520 and the history that he also has with Aaron Rodgers, 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.760 it's it's really gives you a lot of hope that 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.280 this re rejuvenation, as you said, can ultimately get the 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:43.360 Packers offense to where they want to be once again 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:46.080 on a consistent basis. Yeah, well, a story we're definitely 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:48.080 going to be following all through the off season. But 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:49.680 with that, we're going to go to a breakback with 0:12:49.760 --> 0:13:10.840 Moron Packers Unscripted right after this, Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:14.160 Mike Spofford here, West, Hodko wits over there, West, continuing 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:17.480 our discussion with regards to the offense the offensive playbook. 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:21.920 One of the specifics and specific players that we talked 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.720 about at the combine with coach McCarthy and with Brian 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:30.040 Gudokuns is Time Montgomery. And I think the safest thing 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:33.360 to say is that it does not matter or it 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:37.600 will not matter what position Time Montgomery is listed as 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:39.920 on the roster, whether they list him as running back 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:43.480 or wide receiver. I think the messages that they are 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:46.000 going to find ways to get Time Montgomery the ball 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.640 and where he lines up in relation to the snap 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:52.080 of the ball is really not the issue. Yeah, And 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:55.680 I think Mike, we put so much emphasis on positions. 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.719 If we've learned anything over the last four years, positions 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:02.800 really don't matter. It's about the player. And I get it. 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.880 It's a fantasy football thing though too, so I understand 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:10.160 I don't aggravating part of this whole process. I understand 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:12.920 it from that perspective, But in the in the bigger picture, 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.040 you have to realize how much it really doesn't mean 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:21.560 what position was Jared Cook tight end, right back, played receiver, 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:26.920 played boundary receiver, even in the slot, Morgan Burnett, Micah Hyde, 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:30.800 Julius Peppers, the list goes on and on. But you're right, 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:34.400 because Time Montgomery there's a lot of value in that 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.120 fantasy football thing if he's in the running back spot 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.360 because you can use them there and you know, potentially 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:42.440 be able to reap those rewards. But the thing is 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:47.119 about it to me, from my perspective, is that Mike McCarthy, 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:50.280 when they're sitting in on these meetings, they don't care 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:52.440 about what position he's playing. And what he's listening at. 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.080 They care about the availability side of it. They care 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:57.680 about the production side of it. And if there's one 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:00.360 thing the Packers are looking for from Montgomery two thousand 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:04.160 and eighteen is availability, because he's shown he can be 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.640 the type of playmaker that can really make an impact 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:10.080 on a football game. He's done it as a receiver, 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:11.560 he's done it as a running back. He's done it 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:13.960 at every position they've put him at. And there is 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:17.320 a huge benefit, Michael to splitting him out from the 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:19.800 backfield and having a guy in the slot with his hands, 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.840 because he has tremendous hands. So I thought the biggest 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.240 takeaway from me and it's not just Montgomery, it's also 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.680 Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams, Mike McCarthy. Even though I 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:32.200 think you can use all these guys in a multitude 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:34.680 of different ways, Mike McCarthy just wants them all to 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.080 be available. He wants to have that there and and hey, 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:38.920 there's only so much you can do about that. But 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:41.840 I think if you could get all three of them 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.880 on the field available at the same time, the miss 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:48.960 the matchup games and that Packers could play, Uh, it 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.960 really could get a defensive coordinator's head spinning. Yeah, That's 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:53.680 what I was gonna say is is at the end 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:55.080 of the day, it's going to come down to the 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.160 matchups and what type of matchup they feel in a 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:01.960 certain game against a certain defense that Time Montgomery they 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:04.280 feel can take advantage of. And I don't want to 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:06.520 go so far as to say that that it becomes 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:09.280 a chess piece type of thing like we're talking about 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:11.880 with certain defensive players, but it kind of gets close 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:14.400 to that in a way against a certain defense or 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:17.200 when you're looking for a certain matchup where you want 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:20.840 to get Time Montgomery, as an example, isolated against a 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:23.560 certain defender, against a certain linebacker or a safety or 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:25.360 whoever that might be, and then get him the ball 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.440 in a certain way. That's where the the offensive coordinator 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:30.640 is thinking very much along the same lines as a 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:34.080 defensive coordinator saying, I want to get my pass rusher 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:37.200 matched up against this blocker, you know, So that's how 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:39.000 I'm going to scheme things so he can be one 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.640 on one there and hopefully make something happen. Yeah, and 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:43.600 I think, Mike, you look at I've said this to 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.800 you before, but the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots, 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:50.120 there were eleven running backs and on those active rosters 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:52.600 in those games. One of the things that the Patriots 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:55.320 have been really successful at, even if they haven't been 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.640 able to find a prototypical number one back, is that 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:00.800 in a matchup game in a week two week basis, 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:03.120 they can roll with Dion Lewis, they could go with 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.880 Rex Burkehead. You have James White, we know what his 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.280 history is. Brandon Bolden just signed another contract they have 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:13.040 and Mike what gles Gleslie whatever his name was from 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:17.160 Buffalo this past year. Um, all those guys gave them 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:20.119 so many different things that defense has had to prepare 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.359 for and then some of that matters, some of it didn't. 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:23.919 And then at the end of the day, and at 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:25.840 the end of the day, you're not wearing out any 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:28.200 one of those guys over the course of sixteen games. 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:30.920 So no huddle offense. The Packers want to have guys 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:32.440 that they can just keep in there at the same time. 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.160 But the more that all those guys can do, it's 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:37.719 gonna be for the better and for time. Montgomery, assuming 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:40.880 everything works out with his risk coming back from that injury, 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:45.639 this experience, Mike Receiver running back wherever they put him. 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.000 That background is only going to make him that much 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:50.560 better as a football player. Yeah. Well, and and time 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:53.760 Montgomery not to say that he hasn't been incentivized or 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:57.000 or certainly dedicated to what he does, but he also 0:17:57.040 --> 0:17:59.840 will be in a contract here and this is gonna 0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:01.520 be a big year for him in terms of what 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:04.040 sets up for the rest of his football career. Yeah. 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.120 With that, we'll go to a break back with more 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:25.760 on Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:29.480 Unscripted Mike Spofford alongside West, hod Kits and West Quickly, 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:31.360 A topic I want to get to before we go 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.600 here today. We talk a lot on this show. We 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:37.720 hear it from coaches and press conferences, at podiums, all 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:40.520 that kind of stuff about the second year jump, a 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:43.720 player who makes a big leap in terms of his 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:47.800 his body type, his productivity, his his accomplishments on the 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:50.800 field from the first year to the second year. So 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:53.680 a question that I raised with with coach McCarthy and 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.439 India is, okay, take a look at the Packers if 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:58.520 if you were to pick out two guys from that 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:03.879 draft class, who really made that big second year jump 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:06.639 in T seventeen, it's Blake Martinez and Kenny Clark. I 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:09.600 don't think there's any disputing that. So then the question 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:11.560 as well, after they make the big second year jump, 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:16.520 what's next, And Coach McCarthy said, without hesitation, He's like, 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:19.240 next is you become a core player. You go from 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:22.119 being the guy everybody's looking at as a young player 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:25.280 on the rise two then you're making that transition to 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:28.400 be a veteran player that the coaches and the personnel 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:31.240 staff are looking at as somebody who's going to be 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:34.480 part of the long term future of this team. And 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:37.520 certainly Martinez and Clark are two guys who right now 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:40.440 are on that trajectory. And I can definitely see both 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:43.240 of those guys becoming core players, even with a new 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:47.119 defensive coordinator, becoming core players for a Green Bay Packers defense. 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:49.040 I mean, if you can play, you can play. I mean, 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:52.679 it's I'm going back to Vick Catchman's old saying it 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:56.440 is it's really plays, not players. Are players not plays time? 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.160 And then I went and mess it up. But here's 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:01.800 the thing is, there's a few exceptions to the rule. 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:04.159 And then Clay Matthews probably was just because of how 0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:06.560 dynamic he was right off the base. Um, you know, 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:08.920 b J. Raji had probably his two best seasons in 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:12.760 the NFL in year one and year two. But look 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:15.919 at Davante Adams, right, look at a guy like Randall 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:20.439 Cob Jordy Nelson, Corey Linsley. The list goes on and on. 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.639 Guys who really uh, Mike Daniels is probably the poster 0:20:23.720 --> 0:20:27.080 child for it. Guys who in every single season took 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:29.600 another step forward and then once they got to that 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:33.040 year four, we're just youth. Year three, d year four, 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:36.800