WEBVTT - #774 Packers Unscripted: Previewing OTAs 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:10.559 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:14.080 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.840 by my partner in crime, Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:20.320 you here from our studios at lambeau Field and Wes. 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:25.040 It is late May. The time has arrived. OTAs are 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:29.000 underway for the Green Bay Packers, and not long after 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:32.280 we are done recording this episode, we will be out 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:36.040 at the practice field to watch the one practice this 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:38.000 week we get to watch. There will be a media 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:41.400 day once a week for the next three weeks during OTAs. 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:44.559 Today is that day, so we will talk about all 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:48.360 the happenings of today on our next show. But I 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:52.040 want to sort of preview this whole window of OTAs 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.440 and what you and I are going to be watching for. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:56.960 What do we look for at practice? There will be 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.400 some press conferences, locker room interviews, all that kind of 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:03.080 stuff going on. I've posted a story on our website 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:06.960 sort of five things to be looking for, just what's 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:09.679 on the radar of the media, so to speak, as 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:12.520 we head into these OTAs. What's something that jumps out 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:15.399 at you in terms of what your eyeballs will be 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:18.800 glancing toward at the practice field this afternoon. 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:22.760 Something to look at. I mean, hey, man, I love 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:25.640 the draft as much as anybody. I love the free agency, 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:28.240 but my goodness, it feels good to actually have some 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:32.399 real practices to cover some actual football, veteran football players 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:35.240 on the field, Guys that we're going to see for 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.759 the very first time in Packers' uniforms like Josh Jacobs, 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:44.360 Xavier McKinney. Very excited to see what this twenty twenty 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:47.080 four team looks like. Now again, you and I will 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:48.840 always say this, this in a lot of ways is 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:52.560 sort of the underwear Olympics. It won't be the you know, 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:57.240 full bore practices, you know, colliding thumping. It's gonna be 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:00.000 a lot of getting the process down, working on fundamentals 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:03.200 and then doing some team stuff. But I'll tell you what, Mike, 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:08.680 My biggest takeaway in two thousand and twenty one, I 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.480 think it was June seventh of twenty twenty twenty one 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:14.120 or June ninth, was that for me was always the 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.000 Jordan Love coming out party. That was the practice when 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:20.040 Aaron Rodgers wasn't here, Jordan Love balled out and we 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:22.320 started to see that those signs at the time right 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:24.800 that this guy could be a real superstar in this league. Again, 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:27.600 making no bold proclamations, but this is where you start 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.240 to see the progress that guys are making. I've seen 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.080 some of the videos, we've some of the photos that 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.480 Evan Siegel has taken. You get a feel for how 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:37.639 certain guys look, how their bodies look right now. That 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:40.800 for me is just always seeing who's gonna be primed 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:43.360 to take a jump, not making any bold predictions, but 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:46.920 seeing who has put themselves in a situation now with 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:50.000 two months until training camp to really take advantage of 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:51.840 what is going to be a wide open opportunity on 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:52.320 this roster. 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:56.760 Yeah, I think there's a lot of curiosity certainly, and again, 0:02:56.800 --> 0:02:59.280 there aren't gonna be any jobs one or loss like 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:01.960 the you know the week one starting lineup where there 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:04.000 are some open spots. You know, it's not going to 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:06.200 be decided here in May and June. It's going to 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:08.600 be training camp, it's going to be the preseason games, 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:12.960 the padded practices. These are obviously non contact practices, so 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.760 you have to understand all that going in. But when 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:19.200 you look at Jeff Hafley's new defense, here, everybody is 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:22.640 going to be wondering, Okay, what is the linebacking corps 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:24.560 going to look like out there? And what is the 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.920 safety position going to look like? You know, Kay Walker 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:29.640 is going to be a big part of this defense 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:32.000 somewhere in the middle at the linebacker level. You would 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:35.680 also expect Edger and Cooper, a second round draft pick, 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:37.480 a guy the Packers have a lot of high hopes 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:39.800 for and everything we heard from the defensive coaches, they 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:42.880 are very, very excited about this young man. You expect 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:45.520 him to be involved somewhere. But then you know, the 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.200 questions are when there are three linebackers on the field, 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:51.320 is Isaiah McDuffie. The third one is Tyron Hopper the 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:53.720 third one When you look at safety, you mentioned McKinney 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:58.480 prized free agent acquisition, early free agent signing for the Packers, 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:02.640 but none of them the veteran safeties from last year 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:05.000 are back. The only one who's back who played any 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:07.920 significant amount at safety in this defense last year was 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:11.600 Anthony Johnson Junior, who was a seventh round rookie last season. 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:15.720 So next to McKinney, Johnson will be in that competition. 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:18.800 And then you've got the draft picks Javon Bullard and 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:24.039 Evan Williams. We won't see catano Oladappo. He's still recovering 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:28.880 from a foot surgery, so we're expecting potentially to see 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:31.840 him in training camp, so we won't necessarily see him 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.560 at this point. But those are the guys kind of 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:38.359 involved in these competitions for the open spots, and I 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:40.880 guess you know we're going to at least get an 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:43.960 early look at kind of how the depth chart is 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:46.800 shaping up right now, where the what the coaches feel 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.640 is the starting point for this defense in OTA. Is 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:52.279 not to say that things won't change. That's not to 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:55.080 say that there won't be rotations. We might see something 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:58.039 today on the practice field in terms of how the 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:01.200 defenses aligned and where the depth chart is, and then tomorrow, 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.000 when the media is not there, they might be doing 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:07.160 something completely different with the personnel that we won't know about. 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:10.279 And that's kind of how things go during OTAs. But 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:12.040 those are the kinds of things that we'll have our 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:14.880 eyes on, specifically on the defensive side of the ball. 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.400 Yeah, and this is a real interesting thing because there 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.560 was a time where I always use the example. I'm 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:23.360 sure I've used it on unscripted before when we talk 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:27.240 about OTAs of twenty thirteen where they drafted Eddie Lacy, 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:29.600 but it was still Alex Green was the one taking 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.719 number one reps at running back. Sure with the makeup 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:35.880 of this roster, though, and I saw the stats somewhere 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:37.599 and I wish I knew how I could attribute to 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:40.560 Maybe it was Packers wire, but I'm not sure. Seventy 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.280 four of the ninety guys on the Packers roster right 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:47.279 now are on first time controllable contracts otherwise known as 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:51.880 rookie contracts, though they aren't all rookies, but that aspect 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.240 of it makes it so that with that, when you 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:55.960 don't have a ton of veterans that are kind of 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:59.080 locked in for a specific spot, you are going to 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:01.400 probably see Edrinko we're out there, much like in twenty 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.320 nineteen when you think about how we saw Darnell Savage 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:06.479 out there from day one, right next to Adrian Amos. 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:07.920 That's what I was going to say. I think in 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:12.679 some ways, you know, the way the Packers handle things 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.840 with the draft picks at this stage of the season. 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:19.880 I think in the Brian Gudukunst era, it's a little 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.440 different from the Ted Thompson era because we've seen since 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:26.480 Gudak Kunst has taken over as GM, Darnell Savage stepping 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:29.400 in day one, Josh Myers at center stepping in as 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.440 a starter day one. We're expecting to see that from 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.719 a guy like Cooper, maybe a guy like Bullard at safety. 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:38.120 But you mentioned in the Ted Thompson era there was 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:41.920 a little bit of hesitancy there was. It was more 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:45.840 of you know, okay, let the veterans still lead from 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:49.440 the front, and then you know, see what happens as 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:52.160 time goes on. So I think that's been a little 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:56.080 bit different approach in recent years compared to say, a 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:56.640 decade ago. 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:59.119 Yeah, and not to say that what work then doesn't 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.080 work now or vice. But I think the interesting aspect 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.080 of that is when you have somebody like Edgrin Cooper, 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:06.640 who by all intensive purposes, when you draft somebody in 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:09.640 the second round like they did when you draft Javon Bullard, 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:11.680 not saying they're gonna be Week one starters, but when 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:13.560 you take guys that high and you invest those type 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:16.200 of resources into the first off ball linebacker taken, the 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:20.000 second safety taken, you are expecting a return sooner rather 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:22.440 than later. I think everybody's expectation follows that. 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:23.680 So absolutely, it's a. 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:25.840 Huge thing for you know, Edgern Cooper to be able 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:27.960 to take some snaps with kuay Walker, much like it 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:29.800 was a big deal for two years ago kuay Walker 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:32.240 to work alongside DeAndre Campbell right out of the gate. 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:35.440 Those reps is you're starting to build that chemistry, you're 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:37.720 starting to build that rapport with one another. You can't 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.920 take those for granted because this thing. Maybe a lot 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.000 of fans might know this at this point, but in general, 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.280 those who do not. The OTAs and then the final 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:49.320 mini camp, that's your first round of installs. That's the 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:52.360 first rough draft of your offense and your defense. Then 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:55.000 they'll start recycling it and going back through things once 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:57.520 you get to training camp. So for Edgerrin Cooper, there's 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:00.280 a lot of value in working alongside Quay Walker or 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:02.600 Isaiah McDuffie. There's a lot of value for whether it's 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:06.040 Javon Bullard, whether it's Evan Williams, whoever it is, being 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:08.160 on the back end with Zavier McKinney, a veteran of 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:11.320 four years who's also learning this defense. Yeah, it's exciting. 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.080 And I think when you look at the reps and 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:15.720 the mental stuff and understanding exactly what your assignments are 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.080 going to be, being alongside those veterans can go a 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:19.840 long way for these rookies right out of the gate. 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:22.280 Yeah. And I think on the offensive side of the ball, 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:25.200 the two things that are going to be watched the 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:28.280 most by us by the media that are out there 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:31.880 Josh Jacobs taking over as the number one running back 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:34.840 in this offenses. And as I wrote in the story 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.720 that's on our website, I think the curious thing with 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:41.680 Jacobs is that we heard both from Jacobs and from 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:45.480 Matt Lafleur in the off season this idea of Jacob's 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.600 being used a little bit more as a pass catcher 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:51.360 out of the backfield than he was with the Raiders. 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:54.800 And when you look at the numbers in his five 0:08:54.840 --> 0:09:00.000 seasons with the Raiders, Jacobs averaged about forty receptions per season. 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:03.440 You look at in the you know, the Aaron Jones 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:07.960 era here in Matt Lafleur's offense, Jones's single season high 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:13.240 four receptions with Matt Lafleur is fifty nine. So you 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.040 just wonder how this how this is going to evolve 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:17.959 and how Josh Jacobs is going to be used. We're 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.080 not going to really get much of an idea as 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.400 far as you know the running game goes, because I mean, 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:28.640 you know, Josh jacobs game is breaking tackles and things. 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:30.200 You know that that we're not going to see that 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:32.800 out there on the practice field, right, So that's all 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:35.720 really going to have to wait, quite honestly, probably until 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.480 the regular season before we really get a sense of 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:41.720 how he's going to look in the running game in 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.200 this offense. But his usage in the passing game is 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:45.640 something to be watched very closely. 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.040 I like the trend that this happened with this league too, 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:50.120 because I remember, and you were a little bit older 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:51.640 than me, a little bit more mature than I was. 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:53.839 I was watching the two thousand and three, two thousand 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:56.920 and two, two thousand and four Packers as as basically 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:59.000 a kid. I was a teenager at that time, and 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:01.480 I remember when Green had all those catches for the 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:04.000 Packers back in that twenty years ago. I remember thinking 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:05.920 to myself, I'm like, man, what's wrong with this offense 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:08.200 that they have to continually keep going to the running back? 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:10.440 There always was that sort of faux paw. It felt 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:12.720 like that if you're using your running back as a receiver, 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:15.640 that's probably an indictment on your receivers. But what's been cool, 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.400 and I don't know if it's David Johnson recently retired, 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:20.000 or just some of the ways that the league has 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:25.040 gone Austin Eckler where I feel like it's really the 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.480 Pandora's box now. If you can get the ball in 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:29.360 your running back's hands, and for the running backs, I 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.000 think that's the future of the position now, because if 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.079 you want to last in this league, you have to 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:36.000 be a pass catcher. And I think Josh Jacobs is 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:39.040 really excited about that. I feel like Matt Lafleur, one 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:42.120 of the things that really expanded Aaron Jones's ability and 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:44.120 what made him a Pro Bowl running back instead of 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:48.160 just a really intriguing youngster, was how he developed as 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:50.800 a three down back, and that included his pass catching ability. 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.560 So I'm excited to see that aspect of Jacob's games. 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:56.280 There were signs of it in Oakland and in Las Vegas, 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:59.200 but it wasn't a big It was almost more like 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:02.520 it was a an auxiliary part of their offense. Yeah, 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.199 Whereas for Green Bay, as we've seen with Aaron Jones 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:07.200 and to some extent aj Dillon. I mean, that's a 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:09.280 core principle there that that Green Bay is going to 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:10.560 take advantage of it if they can well. 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:12.480 And I think across the league, when you talk about 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:14.959 using running backs out of the backfield in the passing game, 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:19.080 it's it's a way to keep that, you know, to 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.560 boost the completion percentage of the quarterback. And I don't 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:25.079 mean that just from a statistical standpoint, but it's about 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:28.280 the efficiency of the offense. You know, you go back 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.560 twenty years ago, if a quarterback completed sixty percent of 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:33.880 his passes, I was considered pretty good. Well, now the 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:37.720 benchmark is more like sixty six sixty seven, pushing seventy 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:40.120 percent because of the way the game is played now, 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:42.920 and part of that is using running backs out of 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:45.480 the backfield in the passing game where the completion percentage 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:47.760 is higher. You try to get the guy the ball 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.880 in space and you know, let him go to work. 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.120 And it's a big part of a lot of teams 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:56.400 offenses across the league. So definitely curious to see what 0:11:56.440 --> 0:12:01.480 the Packers end up doing with Jacobs there as I 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.200 shifted gears a while ago to the offense, I said 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:06.720 two things. I think the second thing that we're all 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:09.160 going to be watching is where is first round pick 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:12.280 Jordan Morgan lining up. The word was he will be 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:17.360 starting things at left tackle, but there's all the all 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:20.120 the talk about how he's certainly capable of playing guard, 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.360 and we may not really find out that much about 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:26.640 where things are with this during OTAs, but we're certainly 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:29.120 going to be watching as to where he's lining up 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:32.080 and where he currently is on the depth chart at 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:33.120 this stage of the off season. 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:34.520 There is one thing that I'm going to be able 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:36.200 to draw from when you and I walk out there 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:38.000 and I look at the team periods, I look at 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:40.360 just some of the offensive line drills. The number one 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:42.760 thing I'm gonna look at is whoever the starting five is, 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:44.640 that first five or whatever you want to call him. 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:47.600 That says a lot about those five players. Yep, Because 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:49.640 this year, more than any other, and last year was 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:51.760 tight too, there was a reason why the Packers didn't 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:54.120 draft any offensive lineman. They had a bevy of them, 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:57.600 but this year, with the draft capital that they invested 0:12:57.640 --> 0:12:59.480 in the position, the amount of veterans that they had 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:02.200 coming back. If you're in that five, I think that 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:04.120 says a lot about you as a player. You know, 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.880 Elton Jenkins will be there, you know, obviously, Josh Myers 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:08.800 and Zach tom The list goes on and on in 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:11.120 terms of who the core guys are gonna be, probably 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:14.199 for this offensive line. But Rashid Walker put together such 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:17.080 a solid resume last year. I thought Sean Ryan, what 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:20.040 he did to rebuild his body, the dedication he showed 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:24.440 to learning that guard position, it speaks volumes that he 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:26.240 was able to work himself into the lineup by the 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:28.240 end of last season and show, hey, I'm a third 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:30.120 round pick. There's a lot of potential here. I got 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:33.120 something for people to look at. I'm excited about that 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:35.199 aspect of it. To get back to your original question, 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:37.240 Jordan Morgan, this is where it all gets put to 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.000 the test, right Because he talked about being a left tackle. 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.520 We all wrote about him being a left tackle. Where 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:44.679 do you put him from day one? Yeah, the Packers 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:46.640 haven't been in this position in a long time. You 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:48.960 were here in twenty ten covering the Packers. I was not. 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:52.480 I couldn't tell you how they allotted Brian Blaga what 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:55.320 his plan was, or Derek Sharrod for that matter. A 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:58.000 lot of times in my era of covering Packers football, 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:00.600 it's been all right, well, we really like David, We're 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:02.200 going to give him a opportunity to compete at right 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:05.720 tackle with Don Barclay. And then something happens with Brian Bloga, 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:08.720 and then Bachtiari's at left tackle. Same thing with j C. Tretder. 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:10.920 He was going to be the center, then he gets hurt. 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:13.480 Next thing, you know, Corey Lindsley's the guy. Yeah, there's 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:17.040 so many different butterfly effects to this thing, but overall, 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:20.000 I think the exciting thing for Packer fans is Packers 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:22.600 had a pressing need on the offensive line given all 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:24.880 of their departures this offseason, and I feel like they 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.320 did a good job in helping restock those reserves. 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:30.080 Yeah, and it's it's a completely different as far as 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.480 going back to the last time the Packers drafted an 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:34.720 offensive lineman in the first round, and you're talking about 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:38.480 Derek Shrod twenty eleven, Brian Beloga in twenty ten. It's 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:41.680 a completely different situation right now because when you go 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:46.280 back to twenty ten, you had and Brian belogas brought 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:49.120 in as a first round draft pick from Iowa. You 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:55.040 had two established veteran tackles in Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher. Now, 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:58.080 as that season went along, Mark Tauscher ended up blowing 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.400 out his knee. Brian Beloga takes over and up being 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:02.280 the starting right tackle in the Super Bowl. And at 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:05.640 the time he was the youngest player in terms of years, 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:09.720 months and days on you know, on the calendar to 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:14.040 start the to start a Super Bowl, So you never 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:17.200 know how these things are going to uh are going 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:19.880 to sort themselves out, of course, and UH and the 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:22.480 other thing that quite frankly, right now, we don't know 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:24.400 how it's going to sort itself out, and we don't 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:26.680 know how much of a look we're going to get 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:28.920 at this over the next few weeks with just being 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.760 out at the practice field one day a week. But 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:35.120 the Packers have three kickers here, Wes yea. There's there's 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:38.160 Andres Carlson, the incumbent six around draft pick from Auburn 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:41.360 last year. We all know about his his ups and downs. 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:44.800 There's the veteran Greg Joseph, who has been kicking for 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:47.400 the last few years with the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:50.240 decided to move on, the Packers swooped in and signed 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:52.520 him and figured, this is this is a this is 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:55.680 an established veteran player that we can have compete with Carlson. 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:58.720 And then there's an undrafted prospect in Jack put Lesni 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:03.440 who is also here. I don't know if if the 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:07.080 Packers are going to use OTAs and the mini camp 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:10.920 in June to whittle this kicker competition from three down 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:14.960 to two. I suspect that that might be how this goes, 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:18.240 because I've never been around a team that had three 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:22.160 kickers in training camp before. But we've also only been 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:24.560 around rich Pasacia for a couple of years, so who 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:26.760 knows how exactly he wants to go about this, and 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:28.760 this is going to be his show to run in 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.120 terms of the kicking competition. But if we get a 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:33.360 chance to see these guys kick live, you know, have 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:36.160 a field goal period while the bedia is out there, 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:37.880 we'll certainly have our eyes peel. 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:39.720 Well, if you think about it, Mike, this is I 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.760 actually think it's a pretty savvy move on the Packers part, 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:45.760 because if there's any position that you can actually I mean, 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:47.560 I guess you could do a punter two. But if 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:49.920 there's any position where you could legitimately have a competition 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:52.560 in OTA's in mini camp, it is kickers. Oh yeah, 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:54.840 I mean the Packers run their special teams periods. We 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:56.640 may see it today, we may not. We'll see how 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:57.040 they do it. 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.360 Yeah they But yeah, the open as it is. As 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:02.520 I was talking about before, with what we might see 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:06.200 or might not see, there will definitely be field goal 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:09.720 kicking periods as part of this competition during OTAs. The 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:12.280 question is will they have those on the day that 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:14.600 the days that the media is out there or were 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.440 those beyond the days that are where the practices are closed. 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:21.119 We don't control that, and and we just have to 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.439 rely on what we get a chance to see. 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:25.119 But I think it will be interesting to see. You know, 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:28.160 Greg Joseph, as Rich Pisacci talked about, this is actually 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:30.760 really I mean, he's he's you know, from South Africa, 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:35.200 Johannesburg kicked it, you know, in Florida, grew up there. 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.400 But he's been a minute since he's been playing in outdoors. 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:40.960 He's been in domes for for a while now. Yeah, 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:44.080 you look, I mean obviously had that time in Cleveland, 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:46.280 I think probably five or six years ago, but then 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.320 you look at it from you know, andres Carlson's perspective. 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:52.359 Bisacci talked about him coming back stronger and seeing where 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:55.040 he's at now in the second year. And I commend 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:59.520 the Packers for given Jack pazzle Lesni pud Lesnie p 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.479 Lesnie boy, the guy with the hod quits. Last thing. 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:05.960 He really needs to get the pronunciations down, doesn'ty. I 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.280 give the Packers credit for letting him have an opportunity 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:10.320 because he was signed as a street free agent at 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:13.040 the end of the season, we're seen as the initial competition. 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:17.040 And then if I remember correctly, well maybe Dillard would 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:19.960 qualify as an unrestricted free agent. I can't remember if 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:21.640 he was in that window or not, but I'll put 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:25.240 to that point, Joseph was really the only UDFA that 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:29.240 they had signed or UFA that they signed. So giving 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:31.240 Jack still an opportunity to be part of this thing 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.320 and show what he can do. A lot of times, Mike, 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:35.320 we saw it with Ryan Longwell, you know, we see 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:37.600 it with these kickers over time and time again. They 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:41.880 just need that opportunity. Justin Tucker was an undrafted free 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.160 agent twelve years ago, believe it or not. So, I mean, 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:45.960 isn't that guys just need a shot? 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:48.320 Yeah, I mean, you know there's always the discussion about, 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:50.240 well do you spend a draft pick on a kicker? 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:52.800 And you know, in every team, situation is different and 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:54.840 it can depend on how many draft picks you have 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.280 in a given year and all that. But the guy 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:01.159 who is who is currently the best kicker in the 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:03.800 NFL and is probably going to go down as the 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.040 greatest one of all time, wasn't even drafted and he's 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:09.040