Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome back to another edition of Packers Unscripted
Speaker 1: from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford. He is
Speaker 1: my trusted colleague Weston Hodkowitz. We're still coming to you
Speaker 1: from disparate locations at lambeau Field. Hopefully sooner than later
Speaker 1: we will get back to normal with the setup in
Speaker 1: the studio and all that. But that's a discussion for
Speaker 1: another day because Wes. Today is the day before the
Speaker 1: first practice of Packers Training Camp. So my first question
Speaker 1: to you is are you ready for this?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, Michael, Because the fun thing about this, because
Speaker 2: I've had so many people, actually was walking out of
Speaker 2: the building with one of our it gurus, Tony Smith
Speaker 2: a couple of days ago, and you know, he asked
Speaker 2: me about like everyone asks, like, hey, what do you
Speaker 2: think of the team? You know, what do you think
Speaker 2: about training camp coming up? And the answer I've been
Speaker 2: giving anybody, whether it's you and I discussing it or
Speaker 2: whether it's inbox, is I'm just excited for the unknown.
Speaker 2: And yeah, there's a lot of trials and tribulation that
Speaker 2: are gonna come with that. There's gonna be ups and
Speaker 2: downs that'll come with that. But at the end of
Speaker 2: the day. I've never covered a situation like this before,
Speaker 2: and I thought it was very apropos that Matt Lafleur
Speaker 2: and his pre training camp presser kind of one of
Speaker 2: his last comments was, yeah, in a lot of ways,
Speaker 2: I feel like this is my first year again, Like, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's the same offense. They're not reinventing the wheel now
Speaker 2: at Jordan Love under center, but you are preparing a
Speaker 2: new quarterback for your scheme and to actually implement it
Speaker 2: on a down out play, play by play basis. And
Speaker 2: I think that's very exciting. So yes, am I ready?
Speaker 2: I'd better be ready because it's right here in front
Speaker 2: of us now.
Speaker 1: Yes, it is. The first practice of training camp is
Speaker 1: slated for Wednesday morning at Rainychki Field. It's gonna be hot,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be muggy. There's gonna be a lot of
Speaker 1: fans around.
Speaker 2: Uh, well, you wear your tank top for this one,
Speaker 2: your packers tank top?
Speaker 1: At my tank top? No, I might. I might stick
Speaker 1: with a uh, stick with with a T shirt and
Speaker 1: then another one to change into after I sweat through
Speaker 1: the first one. Yeah, but we'll uh, we shall see
Speaker 1: lots of stuff to h to pay attention here as
Speaker 1: training camp gets going, with the caveat that there is
Speaker 1: a ramp up period. The pads are not going to
Speaker 1: go on for a few days. Things the first few
Speaker 1: days still going to feel a little bit like, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, glorified. OTA's just a bigger crowd and and
Speaker 1: whatnot in attendance. But but the first couple of things
Speaker 1: that come to mind for me, aside from the quarterback
Speaker 1: Jordan Love and and and Matt Lafleur did mention also
Speaker 1: earlier on Tuesday, about the unknown with with regard to
Speaker 1: just where things are going to go with this this
Speaker 1: quarterback transition. There is a lot of unknown that everybody
Speaker 1: has to work through, players, coaches. But the Packers are
Speaker 1: heading into this training camp with what appear, at least
Speaker 1: in my eyes to be too open starting positions. And
Speaker 1: I'm talking about one on the defensive side of the
Speaker 1: ball at safety and the other one on the offensive
Speaker 1: side at right tackle. Based on what we saw during
Speaker 1: OTA's and mini camp in the spring, those are two
Speaker 1: positions that appear to be fairly open in terms of,
Speaker 1: you know, how things are going to shake out with
Speaker 1: the starting lineup come week one. And I think those
Speaker 1: are two spots to definitely keep an eye on here.
Speaker 2: Can I kind of tap into your memory bank a
Speaker 2: little bit, because you obviously have had a couple of
Speaker 2: years on me in terms of covering this football team,
Speaker 2: and I want to think, I want to ask you
Speaker 2: if you think this is a if this is a
Speaker 2: ripe comparison as far as safety is concerned. In some
Speaker 2: ways now, I was more of the fan, the youngster
Speaker 2: back then as far as how I watched the football team.
Speaker 2: But this kind of reminds me of that transition that
Speaker 2: the Packers sort of underwent when Mike McCarthy sort of
Speaker 2: started and the Packers were trying to figure out what
Speaker 2: their combination is going to be. Ultimately, Atari bigb ended
Speaker 2: up being one of the answers there. And then obviously,
Speaker 2: you know Nick Collins grew into becoming a franchise safety.
Speaker 2: But you know, markwan Manuel was signed, the Packers had
Speaker 2: a bunch of different guys that they had competing for that.
Speaker 2: That's what this feels like right now with Green Bay
Speaker 2: because while Darnell Savage is the returner, he's the guy
Speaker 2: that's the former first round pick, the fifth year veteran,
Speaker 2: the one that I would expect to be in that
Speaker 2: starting eleven come week one, the packers are really doing
Speaker 2: a full assessment on that entire position and what it's
Speaker 2: going to be beyond twenty twenty three. And to me,
Speaker 2: as I've said before, with the position of safety itself
Speaker 2: in the current the present day, I look at whoever's
Speaker 2: going to be the best compliment to Darnell Savage, whoever's
Speaker 2: going to be the one that gets the most out
Speaker 2: of him back there? Is the guy that I want
Speaker 2: to see emerge in that spot because I think when
Speaker 2: you look at Rudy Ford, when you look at Tarvarius More,
Speaker 2: that list just keeps going on going, right. I mean,
Speaker 2: you have John Owens is now in that competition. Dalan
Speaker 2: Levitt has been one of the probably the most veteran
Speaker 2: players on this roster, and then obviously in his gains,
Speaker 2: I think is a guy that's shown some promise. But
Speaker 2: who's going to be the one that gets that spot?
Speaker 2: Because I feel like safety is one of those positions
Speaker 2: you don't want to see a platoon. You want to
Speaker 2: see them build a one two combination of battery, if
Speaker 2: you will. The pitcher and catcher of those two guys
Speaker 2: working back there and I think when you look at
Speaker 2: Savage's history, that's the thing that has worked the best
Speaker 2: for him when you have that familiarity, when you know
Speaker 2: what the assignments are, and ultimately being able to get
Speaker 2: the most out of the guy that the Packers really
Speaker 2: invested a lot into four years ago.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think this, I think, you know, six is
Speaker 1: somewhat an apt comparison. I'd also maybe look in some
Speaker 1: respects at twenty thirteen when the Packers knew they had
Speaker 1: Morgan Burnett in one spot, but the other spot was
Speaker 1: kind of wide open. I think the biggest difference there,
Speaker 1: and maybe why it's a little bit more like six,
Speaker 1: is that the guys that we've seen at the top
Speaker 1: of the competition, at least the ones that we saw
Speaker 1: rotating in with Savage with the first defense during the
Speaker 1: spring Rudy Ford, Jonathan Owens, Tarvarius Moore put him in
Speaker 1: whatever order you want to right now. But those three
Speaker 1: guys have a lot more NFL experience than the guys
Speaker 1: had a decade ago when the Packers were in this
Speaker 1: spot where they knew they had Morgan Burnett, but they
Speaker 1: didn't know who the other guy was going to be. Obviously,
Speaker 1: then later on down the road, the first round draft
Speaker 1: pick was spent on Haha Clinton Dix. But the competition
Speaker 1: this time around seems to be with experienced players and
Speaker 1: it's just a matter of who's who's going to jump
Speaker 1: up and take it and run. Rudy Ford has the
Speaker 1: most experienced in the Packers system. Jonathan Owens was a
Speaker 1: full time seventeen game starter a year ago for the
Speaker 1: Houston Texans, and Tarvarius Moore was a half season starter
Speaker 1: for the San Francisco forty nine Ers a pretty darn
Speaker 1: good defense just a couple of years back, but then
Speaker 1: had an injury that cost him his entire twenty twenty
Speaker 1: one season before he came back and resumed a prominent
Speaker 1: special teams role for San Francisco last year. So none
Speaker 1: of these guys are brand new to the NFL in
Speaker 1: that respect, And even when you talk about dal Levitt,
Speaker 1: Innis Gains, other guys we may see, you know, fight
Speaker 1: for this spot as well, so experience experiences there and
Speaker 1: the Packers, you know, new secondary coach passinging coordinator Greg Williams,
Speaker 1: along with Ryan Downard, along with Joe Berry, the defensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: they're going to have to decide, you know, what is
Speaker 1: that best combination in the back end there as the
Speaker 1: defense makes this transition from Adrian Amos.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'd be remiss, you know. Also to mention
Speaker 2: Anthony Johnson, the Packers did use a draft pick on
Speaker 2: that pack as well. He is going to be a
Speaker 2: part of this because it is about who's going to start.
Speaker 2: But one of the other reasons the Packers have all
Speaker 2: these prospects, have all these different various players is because
Speaker 2: of what they potentially add to special teams as well.
Speaker 2: When you mentioned Tarvarius More, yeah, he had a couple
Speaker 2: cups of coffee with the defense there in San Francisco,
Speaker 2: but he largely, you know, hung on as long as
Speaker 2: he did with the forty nine ers because of what
Speaker 2: he did on special teams. You look at Rudy Ford.
Speaker 2: I think one of the things that Rudy came to
Speaker 2: Green Bay, the biggest chip on his shoulder was Yeah,
Speaker 2: I know I'm an exceptional flyer. I know I'm an
Speaker 2: exceptional coverage player on special teams. I've been looking for
Speaker 2: the opportunity to prove that I can be a starter
Speaker 2: in this league and stay a starter. And then Jonathan Owens,
Speaker 2: I don't know. You'd have to probably search pretty long
Speaker 2: on you know, Football Database or NFL Reference and all
Speaker 2: these websites to find someone that has traveled such a
Speaker 2: long road to become a one year every game starter,
Speaker 2: playing almost a thousand snaps and then this offseason trying
Speaker 2: to find another opportunity for himself that that chip on
Speaker 2: his shoulder remains very large. So when you talk about
Speaker 2: all these position battles, there's probably other ones that are
Speaker 2: going to be maybe more important or things that the
Speaker 2: average fan are going to think about more. But in
Speaker 2: terms of the stakes, I don't know if there's anyone
Speaker 2: that is the higher. The stakes are higher than what's
Speaker 2: available for the Packers and these young safeties on this team,
Speaker 2: and the.
Speaker 1: Spot on the offensive side of the ball that appears
Speaker 1: wide open as training campigins for the Packers is right tackle,
Speaker 1: shaping up to be based on what we saw in
Speaker 1: the spring again to be a competition between the incumbent
Speaker 1: yosh Neimen and the second year pro Zach Tom a
Speaker 1: fourth round draft pick out of Wake Forest last year
Speaker 1: who proved as a rookie that he could jump in
Speaker 1: fill in at various spots, including left tackle for David
Speaker 1: Bakhtiari in a pinch. This will be interesting, West because
Speaker 1: you're talking about two very different body types. But also
Speaker 1: yosh Naimen has a heck of a lot of experience,
Speaker 1: Zach Tom not quite so much in that regard, and
Speaker 1: one of those things that could take multiple preseason games
Speaker 1: to decide, Oh, who's going to be lining up there
Speaker 1: in Week one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, certainly the Packers want to have us starting five
Speaker 2: figured out, but you and I have covered enough football
Speaker 2: to understand that even in the optimum situations like twenty fourteen,
Speaker 2: there was still one game where Brian Blogo wasn't able
Speaker 2: to play right, and a lot of times there are
Speaker 2: injuries that create domino effects. That's what's kind of funny
Speaker 2: to me about this competition right now, because we're whether
Speaker 2: or not Zach Tom prevails or Yashneiman prevails. Packers are
Speaker 2: going to need both of these guys this year. Whoever
Speaker 2: isn't starting is probably the next man up with a
Speaker 2: domino effect on the rest of the offensive line regardless.
Speaker 2: But to your point, the most exciting part of it
Speaker 2: is you have a guy in Zach Tom that I
Speaker 2: think everybody agrees probably the better prospect in terms of
Speaker 2: the intangibles, right three year starter in college, fourth round pick.
Speaker 2: I love everything I saw from him and how he
Speaker 2: was able to hit the ground running. In a lesser
Speaker 2: year where the Packers are more up against it in
Speaker 2: terms of their roster, probably would have started more. It
Speaker 2: was just an act circumstance of injuries and different things
Speaker 2: that that sort of enabled him to move around as
Speaker 2: much as he did. But in some years I could
Speaker 2: see him being a guy that would plug in at
Speaker 2: one spot and that's your starter. Then you got Yashneiman,
Speaker 2: who's taken the long road to this spot. Six foot seven,
Speaker 2: three hundred and fourteen pounds. This is how you draw
Speaker 2: these guys up. But it took time for him to
Speaker 2: use that body type and showed that he could be
Speaker 2: a game in and game out starter. It is going
Speaker 2: to be a very intriguing battle to watch, But I
Speaker 2: think the fun thing for the Green Bay Packers is
Speaker 2: it's a good position to be in and regardless, you're
Speaker 2: probably gonna need both of these guys to get through
Speaker 2: a full season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no question about it. And several other storylines for
Speaker 1: us to pay attention to, for all the fans to
Speaker 1: watch here when training camp gets going. I do have
Speaker 1: a story on the website, five storylines as a Packers
Speaker 1: open training camp, but I'm gonna throw a few more
Speaker 1: at you, Wes, and I'll let you talk about whatever
Speaker 1: you want to. There's a rookie kicker who's looking to
Speaker 1: take over for the franchisees all time leading scorer. We'll
Speaker 1: be waiting to see when Rashaan Gary and or Eric
Speaker 1: Stokes is able to come back. By all accounts, everything
Speaker 1: with their rehab, different rehab processes, but things are going well.
Speaker 1: No timeline promised in terms of when those guys might
Speaker 1: come off the pup list physically unable to perform. And
Speaker 1: then obviously, you know the getting up to speed, getting
Speaker 1: on the same page, whatever you want to call it,
Speaker 1: all the young pass catchers with the new quarterback, you've
Speaker 1: got the second and your receivers, and Watson and Dobbs,
Speaker 1: you have the rookie tight ends in Musgrave and Craft.
Speaker 1: There's a lot going on here with this Packers team
Speaker 1: on both sides of the ball. And you know, it
Speaker 1: feels like, even though training camp is just getting started,
Speaker 1: it feels like that game in Week one is right
Speaker 1: around the corner.
Speaker 2: It does Mike. And the part that I find most
Speaker 2: interesting is looking at those pass catchers, those skill position
Speaker 2: players that you talked about, because kind of like the
Speaker 2: tackle situation, there might be a starter, there might be
Speaker 2: someone that plays more snaps, there might be more packages
Speaker 2: built around specific guys. But one of the points I
Speaker 2: laid out an insider inbox this past week was that
Speaker 2: wide receivers three through five I think are all going
Speaker 2: to have roles on this team. I think the tight
Speaker 2: ends probably all the way one through four are going
Speaker 2: to have specific packages and niches that they're going to fill.
Speaker 2: And frankly, I think there's even opportunity for an RB
Speaker 2: three in this offense. I think you go back to
Speaker 2: the construct of how Matt Lafleur originally wanted to build
Speaker 2: this thing. I think there's an opportunity there for a
Speaker 2: Tyler good Sintat, Patrick Taylor, lou Nicchols, somebody else to
Speaker 2: get involved there with Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, and
Speaker 2: that multiplicity of options I think is what makes this
Speaker 2: offense the most dangerous. People will talk about, well, you know,
Speaker 2: Jordan Love and Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs, and certainly
Speaker 2: that is going to be a foundational part of the
Speaker 2: passing game. But it's about all these guys they've added
Speaker 2: around them that I think is going to be the
Speaker 2: most intriguing to me. Tight end, though, as Matt Lafleur illustrated,
Speaker 2: it is more than just catching the ball. It's more
Speaker 2: than just running seams. It's more than just about being
Speaker 2: and having the fastest ten yards split like Muskrave had
Speaker 2: at the combine. It's also about running offense, it's about blocking,
Speaker 2: it's about understanding all the different nuances that go into
Speaker 2: that position that maybe necessarily aren't something that fantasy football
Speaker 2: owners are thinking about. That's the part that the Packers
Speaker 2: are going to have to master, especially if Marcedes Lewis
Speaker 2: doesn't return.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and when, as you mentioned in talking about our
Speaker 1: last topic about the Packers really needing everybody, I see
Speaker 1: that very much much the same with with the tight
Speaker 1: ends and the wide receivers, because even though you expect
Speaker 1: because of where Luke Musgrave and Tucker Craft were drafted,
Speaker 1: you expect them to be the future at tight end,
Speaker 1: but Josiah Deguarre and Tyler Davis are going to be
Speaker 1: needed in this group, particularly in the early part of
Speaker 1: the season, as as those young guys get up to
Speaker 1: speed and and and prove that they belong in the NFL.
Speaker 1: You look at wide receiver, there's a lot of promise
Speaker 1: with Samari Toure coming back his second year, you know,
Speaker 1: showed some showed some things in the spring. I think
Speaker 1: Jaden Reid as a second round draft pick, everybody expects
Speaker 1: him to eventually, you know, get to the same type
Speaker 1: of level that Christian Watson and Romeo Romeo Dobbs are
Speaker 1: at in this offense. But Samarrii Toure is going to
Speaker 1: have a spot. He's going to have a role and
Speaker 1: and opportunity to, uh, you know, to make an impact
Speaker 1: on this offense. And you know how it goes in
Speaker 1: this league. If a guy who gets an opportunity seizes
Speaker 1: it and starts to produce, it doesn't matter who's behind him.
Speaker 1: The coaches are not just going to say, Okay, well
Speaker 1: it's this guy's turn. Now. You know, you're ten catches
Speaker 1: for one hundred and fifty yards in the first three
Speaker 1: weeks of the season, We're just going to kick you
Speaker 1: to the curb. It doesn't work like that. If you
Speaker 1: if you sees an opportunity and you produce you can
Speaker 1: start to establish yourself in this league. And I think
Speaker 1: at both wide receiver and tight end the Packers have
Speaker 1: young guys behind their younger guys. The opportunities are going
Speaker 1: to be there and we'll just have to see what happens.
Speaker 2: Here's where this gets fun too, right, Mike, because as
Speaker 2: you were mentioning during our intro, well, it's you know,
Speaker 2: you have the ramp up period, which in a lot
Speaker 2: of ways looks like OTA's. Well, who wasn't here during
Speaker 2: OTAs Jyr Alexander Russeul Douglas. When you talk about those
Speaker 2: young receivers specifically, I think that's where the bar comes in.
Speaker 2: That's where you get the litmus test for these young guys,
Speaker 2: seeing how they stand up to that challenge. The fun
Speaker 2: thing to me about this is if there wasn't a
Speaker 2: Romeo Dobs this year, if there wasn't a Christian Watson,
Speaker 2: and shoot, if there wasn't a Samari too Rae. If
Speaker 2: you flip the script and go back to last year
Speaker 2: and there was no Jaden Reid, I think people would
Speaker 2: have been talking a lot more about Dantavian Wicks than
Speaker 2: they did, just because there's all these young guys that
Speaker 2: these headlines are going to be drawn about. Certainly, you
Speaker 2: look at the physique of Christian Watson and everything that
Speaker 2: Dobbs did last offseason coming back, those are going to
Speaker 2: be people that you naturally sort of gravitate towards. But
Speaker 2: I thought Dantavian Wicks looked exceptional during the off season
Speaker 2: program and I'm excited to see how he does now
Speaker 2: as he gets ready into training camp. Seven former NFL
Speaker 2: draft picks mike all taken within the last two years,
Speaker 2: helped make up this receiving corps, and it goes beyond
Speaker 2: that as well when you look at some of the
Speaker 2: guys that could be available for them. I mean, certainly
Speaker 2: there's some undrafted dudes in this class that I thought
Speaker 2: showed out a little bit during the off season program.
Speaker 2: That is where it gets exciting for Green Bay and
Speaker 2: also understanding that who is going to be the one
Speaker 2: that helps and sort of develops that rapport with Jordan
Speaker 2: Love in these practices while going up against the jyr
Speaker 2: Alexanders and Rasoul Douglases. I think even during the ramp
Speaker 2: up period, even before the pads come on, that's where
Speaker 2: we're going to start to learn a lot more about
Speaker 2: these young guys seeing when they are going up against
Speaker 2: that type of competition.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, well, I wanted to care a little bit
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Speaker 1: All right, Well, one of the questions that Matt Lafleur answered,
Speaker 1: although he sort of didn't answer it either, understandably. So
Speaker 1: everybody's wondering what is going to happen with regard to
Speaker 1: the preseason playing time. How much is Jordan Love going
Speaker 1: to play? How much are the starters going to play?
Speaker 1: There's so many young guys and all that. Matt Lafuer said, Hey,
Speaker 1: it's going to be a fluid situation. I think the
Speaker 1: fact that the Packers are going to have a joint
Speaker 1: practice with the Cincinnati Bengals when they're on the road
Speaker 1: they're going to have a pair of joint practices with
Speaker 1: the New England Patriots when New England comes to Green Bay.
Speaker 1: I think a lot could hinge on just how the
Speaker 1: coaches feel about what the guys are, what the young
Speaker 1: guys in particular are getting out of those practices, and
Speaker 1: where they are, including quarterback Jordan Love. As far as
Speaker 1: then deciding, okay, how much should they play in the
Speaker 1: preseason game? How much risk do you want to take? There?
Speaker 1: One thing I will say, and I said this from
Speaker 1: the beginning because people were asking, you know, way back
Speaker 1: in February, how much is Jordan Love going to play
Speaker 1: in the preseason if he takes over as a starting quarterback?
Speaker 1: I think it mostly hinges on how much does Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur want to play the starting offensive line? Because no
Speaker 1: offense to any of those other guys, but you're not
Speaker 1: going to put Jordan Love out there in a preseason
Speaker 1: game behind the number two offensive line. He's not going
Speaker 1: to do that. So it's not just about how much
Speaker 1: does Jordan Love need to play, but how much are
Speaker 1: the offensive is the number one offensive line in front
Speaker 1: of him going to play? All of that becomes, you know,
Speaker 1: part of the puzzle fitting together. Just what is going
Speaker 1: to happen with the preseason playing time when we get
Speaker 1: a couple weeks down the road here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially if the Cincinnati Bengals are lining up Trey Hendrickson,
Speaker 2: that's a decision that green By Packers need to make
Speaker 2: in that moment. The thing that's funny to me about
Speaker 2: this process is that I think there was only one
Speaker 2: year where this was actually a legitimate question. I think
Speaker 2: it's become sort of a pop popular thing for me
Speaker 2: to bring up. But twenty twenty one, excuse me, was
Speaker 2: the one year where I thought this was actually a
Speaker 2: real question in preseason because that year, regardless of what
Speaker 2: they were going to do with Aaron Rodgers, I think
Speaker 2: actually that offensive line did need to get some snaps
Speaker 2: together in the preseason because you knew you weren't going
Speaker 2: to get David Baktiari back and you had to figure
Speaker 2: out what the plan of action was going to be
Speaker 2: at that position. So we saw the first team starters
Speaker 2: actually be out there in those first two preseason games.
Speaker 2: But as you said, it comes back to our Elton
Speaker 2: Jenkins and David baktier are going to be out there
Speaker 2: in Cincinnati. Are they going to be out there against
Speaker 2: New England. If they are, okay, let's see Jordan go
Speaker 2: out there and maybe work a little bit. If they're not,
Speaker 2: you are getting two practices against actual NFL competition guys
Speaker 2: that do not look the same as your defense, and
Speaker 2: I think there's a value in that. But their only
Speaker 2: situation I think Green Bay needs to figure out is
Speaker 2: when they travel to Cincinnati knowing whether or not Love
Speaker 2: is going to play, because you only have one real
Speaker 2: practice to figure that out. After that, maybe you can
Speaker 2: start to us, you know, maybe make some judgments on
Speaker 2: whether or not you think he needs to work. But
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, the Packers, they schedule
Speaker 2: these joint practices for a reason. They want to get
Speaker 2: that work against other NFL competition, other NFL defensive coordinators.
Speaker 2: And I'm sure based on how they feel getting through
Speaker 2: Family Night probably will go a long way and determining
Speaker 2: which course of action they take as they move into
Speaker 2: the preseason.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you want to get that work against other teams,
Speaker 1: But where you have the opportunity to protect your players
Speaker 1: and particularly the quarterbacks, and that's where there is a
Speaker 1: lot of value, certainly for young quarterbacks particular and young
Speaker 1: receivers and others on offense as well, that the packers
Speaker 1: are going to try to take advantage of every opportunity
Speaker 1: they have. There last thing I'll throw at you here, Wes,
Speaker 1: before we go and get ready for Wednesday mornings opening practice.
Speaker 1: Anything else that you that is on your radar that
Speaker 1: you're going to be keeping an eye on in these
Speaker 1: first couple of days of practice before we come back
Speaker 1: for another show.
Speaker 2: I always look at the special teams. I always look
Speaker 2: at the coverage units. I mean, there's not a whole
Speaker 2: lot to be drawn about that in the first week
Speaker 2: or so, but as you go through it, that's where
Speaker 2: you start to get some of those questions answered about
Speaker 2: who could potentially be those those secondary guys, those those
Speaker 2: guys that could end up making this roster as specialists.
Speaker 2: When you see them start working on the first team units,
Speaker 2: when you start seeing them build that familiarity, that actually
Speaker 2: is sort of an glimpse into what the you know,
Speaker 2: Rich Basaci and his coaches are thinking. But also I
Speaker 2: think this is very important is seeing how the defense
Speaker 2: comes together throughout this training camp. Beause last year, the
Speaker 2: whole idea and the mantra of everybody was that this
Speaker 2: is going to be a top five group. They're going
Speaker 2: to be dominant. Look at how much success they're having
Speaker 2: against Aaron Rodgers in this offense, and ultimately they got
Speaker 2: off to a kind of a slow start. There are
Speaker 2: going to be so many The defense is interesting right
Speaker 2: because there are so many positions where everything's solidified. If
Speaker 2: Devandre Campbell and Kwai Waraka are healthy, those are your
Speaker 2: inside linebackers. They could play together for a thousand snaps
Speaker 2: this season. You know, JayR Alexander, Rusoul Douglas and probably
Speaker 2: Keishaw Nixon are going to be out there all the time.
Speaker 2: We know what the rotation looks like at outside linebacker,
Speaker 2: especially once Rashaun Gary's back. But defensive line, there's a
Speaker 2: lot of question marks. You have Kenny Clark, who has
Speaker 2: been a two time Pro Bowl player, and then you
Speaker 2: have the rest of the room that has combined for
Speaker 2: two NFL starts. Right now, you look at the questions
Speaker 2: at safety right now, those are two big questions that
Speaker 2: Green Bay needs to answer with their position groups during
Speaker 2: this training camp and into the preseason. And I am
Speaker 2: very interested to figure out what that is going to
Speaker 2: be because the defense does have I expectations and regardless
Speaker 2: of how they look in these training camp practices, it
Speaker 2: is going to be about making sure when you step
Speaker 2: on the field at Ford Field, excuse me, Soldier Field
Speaker 2: in week one, this can be a group that can
Speaker 2: be counted on and relied on here to help the
Speaker 2: Packers set the tone.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think I think the other piece to
Speaker 1: that too is that the Packers may you know, every
Speaker 1: year we talk about the second year jump, but you know,
Speaker 1: players going from their rookie season to their second year.
Speaker 1: This year, in particular, I think the Packers are counting
Speaker 1: on that second year jump to play a major part
Speaker 1: on both sides of the ball. When you look at Watson, Dobbs,
Speaker 1: and Toure at wide receiver. We talked about Zach tom
Speaker 1: possibly winning a spot on the offensive line or being
Speaker 1: the next man up, being the sixth man, Kway Walker,
Speaker 1: Devonte Wyatt. On defense, those guys going into their second seasons,
Speaker 1: you know, Matt Lafleur talked about those guys not playing
Speaker 1: with any hesitation anymore. They should know the playbook. They
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's all out every snap. There isn't
Speaker 1: there isn't as much thinking going on Brian Gudakunz mentioned
Speaker 1: it's about it's about consistency. Yeah, anybody, a rookie anywhere,
Speaker 1: anybody from a rookie to a fifth year guy can
Speaker 1: flash in training camp and make a play here and there.
Speaker 1: But these guys who are graduating from being rookies into
Speaker 1: second year players, can they establish consistency? Can they do
Speaker 1: it day in and day out. It's not just you know,
Speaker 1: they make the headlines one day and then nobody's talking
Speaker 1: about them again for another week. So those are the
Speaker 1: things to watch for because this second year, that this
Speaker 1: draft class from twenty twenty two, that is that's moving
Speaker 1: into their their second season there, the Packers are going
Speaker 1: to be counting on a lot of those guys to
Speaker 1: make a big time impact in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And the other reason to focus on a too mike.
Speaker 2: If the Packers didn't feel like DeVante White couldn't handle it,
Speaker 2: if they felt like TJ. Slaton could have handled it,
Speaker 2: they were not so far up against the salary cap
Speaker 2: that they couldn't have brought in veteran help. They did this,
Speaker 2: and they went the direction they went because they felt
Speaker 2: like these are the guys we drafted We knew the
Speaker 2: situation with Dean Lowery and jer and read in a
Speaker 2: lot of these veterans, and we were confident in moving
Speaker 2: forward with them now as the face of that defensive line.
Speaker 2: It's a gamble, it's a risk always, but certainly the
Speaker 2: Packers want to give these guys that opportunity. Same thing
Speaker 2: at tight ends, same thing at receiver. You have young
Speaker 2: guys that you've invested in. Now you want to see
Speaker 2: those investments start to pay dividends. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, they've got they've got to play. They've got they've
Speaker 1: got to prove it. They have to play and prove
Speaker 1: that they belong and the Packers are going to be
Speaker 1: relying on some big time production out of young players
Speaker 1: to make this twenty twenty three season of success. So
Speaker 1: with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscript. It'd be sure to follow all of
Speaker 1: our coverage of the team, everything going on with training
Speaker 1: camp at twenty twenty three. We will have it for
Speaker 1: you on Packers dot com and Wes and I will
Speaker 1: be back again in a couple of days. So for Wes,
Speaker 1: I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody, and
Speaker 1: we will see you next time,