WEBVTT - #3 Packers Unscripted: Emerging potential 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:20.599 Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:24.040 I'm Mike Spofford alongside Wes Hodkowitz here at our studios 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:27.000 inside lambeau Field and West. It's that time of year, 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:30.080 within the last couple of weeks before training camp begins, 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:32.559 you start to think about who are some of the 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:36.080 young players, the guys who aren't really the household names 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:39.280 yet amongst the fan base who might start to emerge 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:41.920 might start to make a name for themselves as we 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:44.600 get into training camp in the preseason, maybe grab a 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:48.120 little bit larger role on offense or defense. Let's start 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:50.920 with the offense. Is there a guy that stands out 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:53.080 to you as maybe one you're going to keep your 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:56.760 eye on as training camp begins? You got a risk. 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:02.120 He has the name, he has the look, and more importantly, 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:04.600 I thought he showed a lot of bright spots during 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:06.640 that rookie season. Now we didn't get to see him 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:08.480 a whole lot on offense, you know, he had John 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.160 Kuhen there, but the times that we did see him, 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:14.319 I think I go back to Carolina and seeing him 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:17.480 in that nineteen yard reception he had completely bowling over 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:19.520 one of the defensive backs help to forget that play 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:23.040 from Carolina. Yeah, and it's those type of plays I 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:24.800 think can really show you the power that he has, 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:26.880 what he brings um, you know, as a potential run 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:29.520 blocker and and even in a situation like that. I mean, 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:31.840 that's what for so many years made John Kuon so 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:34.560 versatile and important, was what he could bring in so 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:36.840 many different areas of the offense. Now he's not currently 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.560 on the roster, Rakowski is the only established fullback that 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:43.759 the Packers have UM and you tie in his contributions 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:45.240 on special teams, I thought he did a lot of 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:47.520 good things there last year. Basically when you look at 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:48.880 a six round pick, it was think it was the 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:51.000 first time since maybe five or six years of the 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:53.440 Packers that drafted a fullback. It seemed like he did 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:55.440 everything you look for in year one. Yeah, I would 0:01:55.520 --> 0:01:57.680 I would say so. And looking at some of his 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:00.840 film on special teams from last season, not only in 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:03.080 coverage does he get down the field, you know, get 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:05.720 in there on tackles and and things like that, but 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:09.240 in the return game he's a good blocker. He threw 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:11.960 a lot of key blocks for some of these returns 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:14.560 that you know, Jeff Janis and Micah Hyde and guys 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.280 like that had for the Packers. And you know, you 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.800 really like the the buy in that he's had on 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:23.519 special teams. And I think a lot of that comes from, 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:29.679 you know, playing a position like fullback. He comes from Oklahoma. Yeah, yeah, 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:32.240 I had to earn everything, everything that he got in 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:36.040 college there for the Sooners. And when you talk about 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:39.160 a position like fullback, it almost lends itself to a 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:42.679 cult following. In Green Bay, you had William Henderson for 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:46.200 those ys. You know, then John Coon. We'll see if 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:48.079 there's any kind of a chant the fans can come 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:51.840 up with for for Aaron Ripkowski. But uh um, But yeah, 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:55.000 a sixth round pick, you know, developmental guy who I 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.120 think could very well take on a bigger role this year. Absolutely, 0:02:58.120 --> 0:02:59.639 And as you said to when you have a guy 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:01.760 that's a eight round pick or maybe not, as you know, 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:05.359 he's gonna have to really get what he earns, you're 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:07.200 gonna need to play on special teams. And I thought 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:08.799 one of the things too about him that that really 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:11.200 stood out was just how eager he was to take 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:13.720 on that role. Another guy that I think that was 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:15.480 eager to do that was time Montgomery, and I know 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:17.639 that's that's something that you've kind of pointed out is 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:21.000 someone that could potentially be maybe moving into that household 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:24.320 role this season. Yeah, provided he comes back from you know, 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:27.360 the ankle surgery. We didn't see him at all during 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:29.240 O t A S and mini camp. He was still 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.280 sidelined from the injury that cut his rookie season short 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:35.240 after six games. But you know, Montgomery stepped right in 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:37.640 last year as the kickoff return guy. Had a couple 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:40.080 of big returns in Chicago in Week one. He was 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:42.520 off to a great start as a rookie fifteen catches, 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.800 two touchdowns in the first six games before he got hurt. 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:47.960 And I think I kind of felt like as the 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:50.720 season went along last year without Jordy Nelson in the 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:53.400 offense started to struggle. Fans were talking about all the 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:55.880 Packers need to rebuild that receiver, they need to draft 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.680 some new receivers. It's almost like they forgot that time Montgomery. 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.320 You a third round draft pick out of Stanford, is 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:05.080 a guy who presumably will be back this year, and 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:07.320 I think he can make a big difference in this offense. Yeah, 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:08.920 And how many times have we talked about I know 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:11.320 I've I've mentioned this quite a bit that that sort 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.120 of backfield dual role that we saw with Randall Cobb 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:17.440 time Montgomery was doing that, I thought pretty well in 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:20.000 terms of it gave them another option for if they 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:22.280 wanted to bring somebody back to to kind of look 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.120 for a mismatch of the defense. Um, if you can 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.280 get both of those guys going now, they really didn't 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:30.920 have both healthy at the same time, and they did 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:33.120 test drive it a little bit, I'll be very interesting 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:34.520 if he can come back and play at a high 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:37.120 level this year and obviously put all that behind him, 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:39.760 what he could potentially add to the offense in that 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:42.800 sort of dual threat hybrid role. Yeah, there will be 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:45.720 the question with as much time as Montgomery has missed 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.200 with the injury, when he does get cleared, you know, 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:51.480 how soon will he reacclimate himself to the offense to 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:53.479 Aaron Rodgers. But you go back to the start of 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.760 training camp last year, there aren't a whole lot of rookies, 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:00.760 especially at receiver in this offense, who look like they 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:03.160 belong right away and look like they know what they're doing. 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:05.920 When I saw Time Montgomery the first few training camp 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:09.359 practices last summer. I was like, Wow, this kid gets it. 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.440 You know, obviously comes from Stanford. He's smart. The playbook 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:15.240 is not a problem for him. But he reminded me 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:17.560 in a lot of ways in terms of that that 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:20.560 quick early impression. He reminded me of Greg Jennings when 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:22.520 Jennings showed up on the scene in two thousand and 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:24.960 six and just looked like he belonged right away, and 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:27.560 that can be rare in an offense this complex. Yeah, 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.679 and keep in mind too time Montgomery missed a large 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:32.920 majority of the off season program as a rookie because 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.080 I think he was still finishing up at Stanford's right. 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.479 So for him, I believe this is I think it 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:40.600 was just mini camps he was here for last year 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:42.039 and to be able to sort of hit the ground 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:44.240 running like that move. I think he was pretty much 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.080 cemented in that number four role within the first week 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:50.040 or week and a half a camp. That that boat 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:52.080 as well, I think for what he can bring the 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:54.680 table both now and what he has to build off 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.280 now moving forward, Yeah, definitely. Well, a couple of two 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:01.200 thousand fifteen draft picks Ripkowski in Montgomery to keep our 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:04.000 eyes on and we'll switch gears to the defense. After 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:06.839 the break. We'll be back with more on Packers Unscripted 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:23.880 right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:27.680 alongside Wes Hodkowitz. Let's shift gears and talk about some 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:31.800 players to emerge potentially on the defensive side of the ball. 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.279 A lot of young guys, a lot of young prospects 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:37.960 of the Packers always have in training camp. Who's the 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:41.320 one that jumps out at you. Darius Gunter is the 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:44.240 one for me. And here's the thing. There's a lot 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:46.479 of cornerbacks for the Packers right now. They have a 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:48.840 lot of depth at position. So it's not a given 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:50.000 that he's gonna be able to get on the field, 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:51.800 even if he has a great training camp. Again, it's 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:53.680 gonna be a lot of factors that will play into that. 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:56.520 But the thing I liked about what Gunter did last year. 0:06:57.440 --> 0:06:59.800 In my time covering the Packers so far, I don't 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:02.320 know if I've had anybody that has been I don't 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.400 want to say is is highly touted, But I mean, 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:06.520 I think the Packers felt pretty good about this guy 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.880 coming in. They thought there was some unfinished business he 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:12.600 had there from Miami and maybe hadn't reached his full potential. 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:14.720 Now a lot of people locked onto that forty time, 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:17.960 but the reality was is that he's a pretty good 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:21.400 cover cornerback and fitting into the Packer system, the press coverage, 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:24.120 you know, kind of tendencies that they have. He's a 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:25.880 strong guy, he's a lengthy guy, and I think he's 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.080 somebody that the Packers field fits pretty well into the secondary. Yeah, 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:32.920 undrafted cornerback from Miami. That's uh, that's worked. That's worked 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:36.480 here before with number thirty seven Sam Shields. But before 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:39.160 we we were not putting Gunter in that category just 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:42.440 yet obviously. But I remember last year in training camp 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:46.120 when he was making an early impression as an undrafted rookie. 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:48.680 You know, we start wondering, Hey, is this an undrafted 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:51.480 guy who could make the roster, And you know, we 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:54.400 start going around and asking the wide receivers like, hey, 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:57.240 you know, can this kid covers? He legit? And the 0:07:57.240 --> 0:07:59.960 wide receivers on this team said, hey, in press cover 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.640 or a jaman to man, He's physical the line of scrimmage, 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:06.280 he's got long arms, you know, strong guy. Um, he 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:08.720 has he has the tools to make it in this league, 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:11.000 he does, and and the Packers kind of expanded his 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.760 repertoire a little bit this offseason. He learned that inside 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:16.720 cornerback position, which he's picked up really well, which could 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:18.400 really help him, I think, get on the field more 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:21.320 because typically when he was only playing on the boundary, 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:23.000 that's a tough spot to get on the field because 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.280 you usually have your top two cornerbacks in those positions. 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:27.680 So for him, learning that inside spot, I think will 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:30.320 increase those opportunities, give him a chance to compete for more, 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.160 you know, a bigger role in this defense. But as 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:35.440 Joe went talked about too, and when I mentioned it 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:38.160 with him, Yeah, there were concerns about his speed and 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:40.040 if he could stand up to like high you know, 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:44.199 top receivers in the league. Really doesn't have a concern 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:45.600 with that right now. That there might be a few 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:48.079 exceptions that I think everybody struggles within this league, But 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:50.120 for the most part, he believes he's smart enough that 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:53.559 will put himself in positions to really be able to 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:55.720 hang in there with the best of the best. Yeah, 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:58.040 and Joe Wit has certainly proven himself as a coach 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.800 in terms of developing young cornerbacks and guys coming in 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.480 with maybe not a whole lot of pedigree, you might say. 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:05.599 I remember in the playoff game, I believe it was 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:09.080 at Washington in the wild card round last year, Gunter 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:12.320 got thrown in there, uh, thrown into the mix, and 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.360 to his credit, it was almost unnoticed. And you know, 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:18.520 it's almost like an offensive lineman. You know, if you 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:20.920 don't hear their name, that's probably a good thing. And 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:22.520 that was the way it was in a sense with 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.320 Gunter against the Redskins. I believe he was matched up 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:30.640 a few times with Pierre Garsona. Yeah, yeah, and uh, 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.280 you know, really held his own pretty well. Another defensive 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:37.800 guy that I'm going to watch as as training camp 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.520 unfolds as j Rhne Elliott, now not quite as young 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:44.200 third year guy um but was undrafted out of Toledo, 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:48.280 made the roster with a big preseason two years ago. 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:51.600 We saw him last year early in the season against 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.400 Seattle in Week two, has the interception in the fourth 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:57.040 quarter when the Packers are protecting the lead, gets a 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:00.560 forced fumble that creates another turnover on the very next 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:03.640 Seahawks possession to seal the game. Then he has back 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:07.880 to back sacks in consecutive games, against the Chiefs and 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.800 the forty nine is the next two weeks and then 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:13.160 you know, kind of fell off the radar a little bit. 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:17.000 Do you think jay Ron Elliott is a guy who 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:19.840 maybe can build on those things he did last year, 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.160 even though they were early in the season. I certainly do. 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:24.240 I Mean, there's that old adage that if you contribute 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:26.160 on special teams you've become a you know, a factor 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:28.320 on special teams. That usually is a good precursor you're 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:30.760 having a bigger roll down the line and defense defensively. 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:32.440 I mean, you look at Desmond Bishops and the other 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:34.440 guys have done that in the past in Green Day, 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.480 although it wasn't at j R. Owen's position. But the 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:39.640 thing I like about him is he's been a natural leader. 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:41.400 He's been a guy that stepped up and fit well 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:44.960 into ron Zooks units. And you can see that playmaking ability. 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:46.640 We saw it his first year. You know, the five 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:48.800 sacks in the preseason that got him onto the roster. 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:52.160 This past season, three sacks the game against Seattle where 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:55.000 he made such a big impact. What kind of hampered 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:56.400 him and I know you talked about it was that 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.360 quad injury, and you know that was something that sort 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:01.440 of lingered down a stretch and sort of inhibited him 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:04.040 a little bit. Yeah, he never never quite came all 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.240 the way back from that, I don't think, at least 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.559 not until at the very end. But he also talked 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:12.160 in the offseason not only about trying to stay healthy, 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:16.800 keep keep his body healthier, but two on the defensive side, 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:19.839 not to chase plays. He almost he almost confessed that 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:22.360 when he made those big plays early in the season, 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.560 then he started to chase those big plays instead of 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:27.920 just staying within the scheme and doing his job. And 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:30.800 if you chase plays and get out of position, that's 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:33.080 a quick ticket to the bench because because a good 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:35.040 offense is going to exploit that. And I think he 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:37.520 learned something last season. And depending on how much the 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:40.480 Packers use Clay Matthews an outside linebacker, you can make 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.240 a case at that position, the edge rusher, elephant, whatever 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:45.960 you want to call it, is the most deep spot 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:48.520 they have right now. So it's gonna be something where 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.160 j is going to have to obviously earn those reps 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:53.439 and when he does get them, make the most of 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:56.000 them because you're dealing with, you know, Matthews and Peppers 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:57.960 and Nick Perry and all these other guys at that 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:00.439 position as well. Yeah, but it's I think it's a 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.360 nice luxury, you might say, for Dom Caper's to have 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:07.439 a guy like that who hasn't necessarily reached his full potential, 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:10.199 but he already knows the system because he's been here 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:12.120 a couple of years, and so maybe there is that 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.880 greater opportunity for him to jump in and do something. Yeah, well, 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:17.880 with that, we'll throw it to a break and we'll 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:19.680 be back with more to talk about a couple of 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.920 other young guys on defense here on Packers Unscripted. Right 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:36.040 after this, Welcome back to Packers Unscripted Mike Spofford alongside 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.760 Wes Hodkwitz and Wes. You mentioned Ladarius Gunter in the 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:41.440 last segment. I want to go back to the cornerback 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:45.439 position and the top two draft picks from last season, 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:49.040 Damarius Randall Quentin Rollins in the first and second rounds. 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:53.080 And they were brought along very quickly by Joe Witt, 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:56.480 but brought along quickly because they showed right away that 0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:00.160 they belonged in the NFL. And the thing that really 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.880 stood out to me the most about both Rollins and 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:05.600 Randall is the fact that you have two guys that 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:10.440 were pretty raw to the NFL cornerback position. You know, 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.720 Rollins only played quarterback one year at Miami of Ohio, 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:18.440 four year starter otherwise in basketball, and then you had Randall, who, 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:20.560 in addition to playing baseball at one point in his 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:24.880 college career, played safety the past two years at Arizona State. 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:27.960 How quickly both of those guys jumped in and contributed 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.360 to this defense, I thought went a long way to 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:34.000 what the Packers were able to do. Considering you lose 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:36.640 Hermont Williams, you lose Devon House, there's a lot of 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:41.160 questions in that secondary. In those two guys, especially Randall, 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:43.839 being able to contribute almost from day one, I think 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:45.440 they went a long way to what the Packers were 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:47.640 able to accomplish. What was I think the NFL six 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:50.920 ranked past defense, Yeah, no doubt about it. And they 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:55.000 both had their really big playmaking moments. Rollins was the 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:57.400 first one. He had the pick six against St. Louis. 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:01.200 Then Randall matched him with a pick six later in 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:03.439 the season against Oakland. The Packers had not had a 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:07.320 rookie return an interception for a touchdown since two thousand 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:10.760 and two. Safety Marcus Anderson, and then suddenly they have 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.400 two rookies who do it in the same season. Pretty remarkable. 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:17.200 Then Randall against the Chargers in Week six, breaks up 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:19.920 the fourth down pass to save a seven point victory 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.920 down there on the goal line. And and uh, what 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:26.560 those guys did. And the fact that really you talked 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:29.560 to Joe Wit about them, they're just scratching the surface 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:31.920 perhaps as to what they can do and and their 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:35.440 ability to perhaps move around play inside and outside in 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:38.320 the defense. A lot of possibilities here. Yeah, and and wait, 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:40.840 evens mentioned you know Randall actually talked to him last 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:42.760 year about wanting to play inside a little bit. I 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.080 mean that traditionally has been a big playmaking position. When 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:48.120 you look at what Charles Woodson's did their Casey Hayward 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:51.200 in his rookie season the six interceptions, that's been a 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:53.880 spot for young guys to make a pretty big impact 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:56.520 right away in this defense. The thing for the Packers 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:59.600 is they didn't have anybody established outside when they lost Williams, 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.080 so Randall kind of ended up falling in that spot, 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:05.200 right Heyward's best position being the nickel as well. So 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:08.760 this offseason has allowed them to sort of expand his horizons. 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:12.520 Now we saw Rollins play both inside and outside last year. 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:16.120 Um so working under Joe Wit and really taking in 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.680 all of those positions, that's something that I think is 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:22.400 really exciting for the secondary as far as where they 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:25.360 could all fall in two thousand six. Yeah, and talking 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:28.080 to Randall and I think this goes along with that 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:31.880 potential playmaking opportunity in the slot that you're talking about. 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:34.920 Talking to him during the off season, he said what 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:37.040 he wants to do in year two is get to 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:40.480 the point where he knows the defense so well that 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:44.480 he can start to show the quarterback one thing when 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:47.840 he's doing another, you know, disguising what he's doing. And 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.840 that's what creates those potential opportunities for big places. And 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:52.880 you saw last year that's what ha ha Clinton Dicks. 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:55.200 He started moving more into that realm. And he mentioned 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:58.000 this offseason plays where maybe you know, somebody else is 0:15:58.000 --> 0:15:59.760 supposed to blitz out of the slot. I think he said, 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:01.920 Mike go was it against Minnesota and he ended up 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:04.920 switching the call because Bridgewater could see that was coming. 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:06.680 Those are the things that when you can start to 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:09.080 play the game within the game, can really help a 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:11.320 cornerback or defensive back in general take their game to 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:14.680 another level. Yeah. Now, we didn't see Rollins really during 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:17.000 the off season through O t S and minicamp. Had 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:21.280 a nasty little dislocated finger injury that kept him sideline, 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:24.520 nothing that I guess has been ruled as anything serious. Well, 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:29.000 we expect him back for training camp. But aside from 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:32.160 maybe that, you know, disguising and playing tricks on the quarterback, 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.800 what do you see as maybe the next step for 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:37.120 these two in their games? Yeah, it probably is going 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.160 to come down to maybe the more regular playing time 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:43.200 because you lose Casey Hayward, who actually led the secondary 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:46.280 and snaps at the cornerbacks and snaps last season. That's 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:49.160 defensive plays that they're gonna have to find guys for. 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:52.080 And more and more we're seeing defense has moved to 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:57.200 these spread offenses. They're playing nickel and dime packages of 0:16:57.240 --> 0:16:59.200 the time. At least you need to be able to 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:00.720 expand that. You need to have to be able to 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:03.800 go pretty deep into that depth chart. How will Rowlins 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.080 respond when he's actually a week to week contributor, You know, 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:09.080 he even you go to the Washington game and in 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:13.280 the playoffs, he really wasn't still uh consistent guy. I 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:15.879 mean he there were opportunities for him, but you know 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:18.280 there was also Micah Hyde and and Casey Hayward. Well 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:20.360 where did those guys fit now when you take away 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:22.520 Heyward snaps and how will they respond to that extra 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:24.960 playing time? I know Randall even talked about working on 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:27.280 his conditioning to to put himself in a better spot. Yeah, 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:29.600 and it's really interesting with these two as well. They're 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:32.480 good friends, and not just because they were drafted one 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:34.639 two by the Packers. They actually met at the Senior 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.959 Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. They were roommates at the Senior 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:41.520 Bowl and Randall actually joked at the time, you know, 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:44.400 telling Rollins, Hey, we're gonna end up on the same team, 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:46.879 and Rollins was like, Oh, you're crazy, that will never happen. 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:49.399 And then sure enough it happens. The Packers take them 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:51.960 in the first and second rounds and a lot of promise, 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.240 a lot to watch in the future from those two guys. 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.199 So with that, we'll throw it to a break and 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:59.479 we'll be back with more on Packers Unscripted right after this. 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:15.200 Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford alongside Wes hod 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:17.480 Kowitz and Wes. Let's wrap up the show with a 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:21.639 quick look back at a big moment from the Rogers 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:24.680 to Rogers Hail Mary in Detroit. It wins the sp 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:27.760 for Play of the Year. You and I were both 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:30.200 in the press box at Ford Field when this happened. 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.560 So what do you remember most about that moment? Well, 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:37.359 I remember my laptop just completely, you know, incinerated in 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:40.359 front of me. It's on fire. We were doing a 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:42.680 running games story that night, so I had to send 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.360 as soon as the game ended, and obviously with how 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:48.520 things turned out, there was even an overtime, it was 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:50.560 like the game was over. I had to reconstruct my 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:53.720 entire at least the first two words of my game story. 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:55.680 And I went and took a picture down at the 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.159 spot that Richard Rogers caught the ball afterwards, with the 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:00.720 photo that said, this is where my game story died. 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:05.040 Just an iconic moment, one that I'll never forget. And 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:07.760 I know everybody associated with the Packers. For everything to 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:10.080 fall the way it did in the game, to end 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:11.960 in that fashion, it's gonna be one for the history 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:15.199 books for sure. Yeah, and I remember processing everything that 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:17.479 had happened because you talk about deadlines and getting your 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:20.760 work done and getting your story written right away. As 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:23.800 I'm flying back on the plane from Detroit late that night, 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:27.040 I started thinking about all the things that had to 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:29.920 happen in order for the play to even take place. 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:33.400 I go back to when the Packers are down one, 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:37.399 after Rogers had scrambled and scored the touchdown by the 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:40.360 pylon there. Detroit had third and twelve on their own 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:42.560