Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkoits were coming to you
Speaker 1: here from our studios at lambeau Field West. It's the
Speaker 1: final week of O t A is the final week
Speaker 1: of the off season program. This will actually be because
Speaker 1: you're headed to uh some golf courses later this week.
Speaker 1: Good for you, some some time with pah hod out
Speaker 1: on the links. That should be. That should be a
Speaker 1: good time. But because of that, this will actually be
Speaker 1: our last show until like the week, you know, a
Speaker 1: few days before training camp will come back and and
Speaker 1: uh and fire up Unscripted again. So because of that,
Speaker 1: this this is what I want to do. And this
Speaker 1: is a dangerous thing to do in the middle of June,
Speaker 1: but we're actually going to We're actually going to sort
Speaker 1: of preview train eating Camp, even though it's like it's
Speaker 1: like six weeks away. I want to fire some questions
Speaker 1: at you. Um, I'll provide my own answers to the
Speaker 1: questions as well. But this is sort of like, let's
Speaker 1: look ahead two based on what we've seen in the
Speaker 1: off season. So far since last season ended, the draft,
Speaker 1: the O t A S, the mini camp, everything that's
Speaker 1: gone on. So my first question to you with regard
Speaker 1: to training camp two is what is the first thing
Speaker 1: you are going to look for at the first day
Speaker 1: of practice in late July the receivers, Because for the
Speaker 1: first time it's actually gonna matter. Everybody wanted to make
Speaker 1: this about Aaron Rodgers is attendance in the off season program.
Speaker 1: We wasn't here, he was here. It didn't matter. These
Speaker 1: guys need to learn the playbook. And not only have
Speaker 1: they had a chance now for two months to learn
Speaker 1: the playbook, They're gonna have a chance here with the
Speaker 1: next six weeks to be able to pick this thing
Speaker 1: up even more and make sure that they are ready.
Speaker 1: The biggest line in the off season Mike. I know
Speaker 1: it didn't come during a clutch situation in week twelve
Speaker 1: or anything, but Roger's talking about how he prefers production
Speaker 1: or potential, even though they have a ton of potential
Speaker 1: right now. It's what can you do with that potential
Speaker 1: is ultimately what's gonna matter. I'm writing about in our
Speaker 1: Insider inbox for Tuesday. This is one of the big
Speaker 1: lines I feel is what the hallmark right now of
Speaker 1: these receivers. The three rookies all came in and each
Speaker 1: of them had made plays. They all had big days
Speaker 1: in practice. Juwan Winfrey had some big moments again during
Speaker 1: the offseason program. These guys have flashed with the opportunity.
Speaker 1: But when you get to training camp, that's where you
Speaker 1: need to stack it every single day. You need to
Speaker 1: perform in those padded practices, you need to perform in
Speaker 1: the preseason, and you've got to be healthy once you
Speaker 1: get to the end of August. The Packers, no bones
Speaker 1: about it, Mike, it's gonna be an Alan Lazard, Randall Cobb,
Speaker 1: Sammy Watkins kind of core there at the start. But
Speaker 1: who's gonna be that young guy that comes on like
Speaker 1: Davante Adams did in two thousand fourteen. Who's gonna be
Speaker 1: that young guy that makes a big play for this
Speaker 1: football team down the stretch. That's where these guys have
Speaker 1: to get to in this offense. So for me, for
Speaker 1: the first time, that's where I feel you really can
Speaker 1: start looking at the receivers and trying to figure out
Speaker 1: who's going to fit into that depth chart. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: figuring out that depth chart as as training camp the
Speaker 1: preseason goes along, We're gonna see those rookie draft picks
Speaker 1: get a ton of snaps in the preseason games. You
Speaker 1: know it's coming. Even if Aaron Rodgers is not going
Speaker 1: to play in the preseason and it's going to be
Speaker 1: the Jordan's Love Show in those three preseason games, He's
Speaker 1: going to be thrown to Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs
Speaker 1: and Samari tou A and and uh you know, and
Speaker 1: and uh you know, Jowan Winfrey and Malik Taylor and
Speaker 1: those guys as well are are going to get those
Speaker 1: opportunities as the competition there at that position really heats
Speaker 1: up in August. My answer to that question, the first
Speaker 1: thing I'm gonna look for on the first day of
Speaker 1: practice is David Bactieri at left tackle when they when
Speaker 1: they go to eleven on eleven. And I say that
Speaker 1: not to set off like a bunch of alarm bells
Speaker 1: if he's not, but then what's gone on for the
Speaker 1: last year and a half does start to be come
Speaker 1: a bit of a concern. If on the first day
Speaker 1: of training camp, when you're lining up for eleven on eleven,
Speaker 1: if that left tackle that five time all pro left
Speaker 1: tackle is not is not there, and there's there's some
Speaker 1: reason that he's not ready to fully practice. So that's
Speaker 1: gonna be the first thing that that I glance at,
Speaker 1: because if Bok tr is not lining up at left
Speaker 1: tackle at the start of training camp, then there's a
Speaker 1: potential domino effect in terms of who's lining up where
Speaker 1: at practice and where you know what the competition is
Speaker 1: going to be for this spot or that spot. So,
Speaker 1: um so that's the first thing on my list at
Speaker 1: at day one of practice. My next question for you,
Speaker 1: what do you feel will be the biggest overall storyline
Speaker 1: in this training camp? And maybe that's the same answer
Speaker 1: if it's the receivers, not necessarily, because I think a
Speaker 1: big storyline will be Jordan's love because he's going to
Speaker 1: get a lot of work in the preseason. Last year,
Speaker 1: you kind of you sort of forget, I mean, the
Speaker 1: shoulder injury knocked him out of one of those preseason games.
Speaker 1: We end up seeing a lot more Kirk Ben Kurt
Speaker 1: than I think a lot of people are really expecting,
Speaker 1: just be because of that. For that reason, so seeing
Speaker 1: love and in the strides he makes in year three
Speaker 1: is gonna be really telling this is the year where
Speaker 1: you really did start to notice. Okay, Aaron Rodgers is
Speaker 1: a good quarterback. I mean you heard Tom Clements talk
Speaker 1: about it. That's for him and Joe Philbin were having
Speaker 1: the discussions of you know, this guy we have behind five,
Speaker 1: he may be better than some of these guys at
Speaker 1: the Pro Bowl. I'm not saying Jordan's love needs to
Speaker 1: be at that point, but I think it does show
Speaker 1: you that this is where a guy is no longer
Speaker 1: a rookie, is no longer a young player. He's going
Speaker 1: to need to be able to guide this offense and
Speaker 1: and show that kind of veteran sort of thumb on
Speaker 1: the brewprint of how things go. And frankly, I'm excited
Speaker 1: for it. Uh my personal feelings are watching him during
Speaker 1: the offseason program. He does look a lot more sturdier
Speaker 1: in the pocket. It seemed like he had more consistent practices.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say he had that June's ninth practice that
Speaker 1: he had back in one whereas like, holy crap, like
Speaker 1: this guy looks like a top ten pick. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's just slinging it around confidently, fast. But I felt
Speaker 1: like there were fewer ups and downs with his game. Now,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be interesting watching it be more live. You know,
Speaker 1: they didn't do a lot of live reps. It didn't
Speaker 1: feel like and when they did it was like a
Speaker 1: seven on seven sort of quasi ideal. So I feel
Speaker 1: like Jordan's love will be a big storyline because as
Speaker 1: much as you are preparing, you're trying to work out
Speaker 1: some of these position battles. People love the quarterbacks. This
Speaker 1: is a quarterback driven league, and I know there's still
Speaker 1: a lot of Packers fans out there that haven't seen
Speaker 1: a lot of this guy yet because of the pandemic
Speaker 1: in so uh that to me that that's gonna be
Speaker 1: probably the driving force for this entire thing. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that. I think the Jordan's love development, that whole
Speaker 1: story is is definitely going to be front and center
Speaker 1: throughout throughout training camp. He's going to take the vast
Speaker 1: majority of the snaps in the preseason games because I
Speaker 1: don't expect Aaron Rodgers to play at all in the preseason.
Speaker 1: As we've talked before, he's taken the last preseason snap
Speaker 1: of his career. It's just not going to The Packers
Speaker 1: aren't going to go down that road anymore. But um,
Speaker 1: but Jordan's love. Jordan's love is the quarterback who needs
Speaker 1: the reps. The that development time is going to be
Speaker 1: so important for him. If I were to if I
Speaker 1: were to pick another, what I think will be a
Speaker 1: very big dominating storyline throughout training camp. I think it's
Speaker 1: going to be watching quay Walker and DeVante why at
Speaker 1: the two first round draft picks from George's defense, and
Speaker 1: how quickly, how smoothly they can assimilate themselves into Joe
Speaker 1: Berry's number one top unit. I mean, just to give people,
Speaker 1: to give the fans out there a little bit for
Speaker 1: those who wonder, like, Okay, when you guys go out
Speaker 1: to watch practice, like what are you watching? Right? So
Speaker 1: sometimes but this is how it works there. They're they're
Speaker 1: individual periods, different drills and stuff, and you know, you
Speaker 1: kind of pick out, Okay, I want to keep an
Speaker 1: eye on this guy, see how this guy looks when
Speaker 1: they get to what they call the team periods, which
Speaker 1: is eleven on eleven. You and I both were pulling
Speaker 1: out our notebooks and we're taking a look at the
Speaker 1: first reps in eleven on eleven. Because the guys who
Speaker 1: take the first reps are the guys who are who
Speaker 1: are at the top of the depth chart at that
Speaker 1: particular time. So we'll be watching, is you know, is
Speaker 1: Kay Walker lining up next to Deveandre Campbell with the
Speaker 1: number one defense? Is Devonte Wyatt lining up next to
Speaker 1: Kenny Clark in the number one defense? Now the Packers
Speaker 1: have other players, whether you're talking Chris Barnes, Dean Lowry,
Speaker 1: t J. Slayton, So there's always gonna be some rotation,
Speaker 1: but we'll be watching. Okay, how often are those rookie
Speaker 1: first round draft picks in there with the first unit?
Speaker 1: And I think through the practices, through the preseason games,
Speaker 1: those guys are going to play in the preseason, not
Speaker 1: necessarily with the Devondre Campbell's and Kenny Clarks of the world.
Speaker 1: But that's the storyline on the defensive side for me,
Speaker 1: is how quickly are those rookie first round draft picks
Speaker 1: going to establish themselves and the role that they are
Speaker 1: going to play on Joe Barry's unit in two Well, ultimately,
Speaker 1: when you go back and look at some of these
Speaker 1: past offseason programs, that's how we knew in two thousand
Speaker 1: nineteen that Darnell Savage was gonna be a big part
Speaker 1: of this thing. The Packers from the beginning of O. T.
Speaker 1: A s had him out there with Adrian names that
Speaker 1: is very rare. Like to give you a quick example
Speaker 1: of that. None of the offensive lineman the Packers drafted
Speaker 1: this year we're working with the first team units. They
Speaker 1: had Colvan and Land in the sixth rounder from last year,
Speaker 1: swapping with Yash and Iman at the two tackle positions
Speaker 1: with those they'd like to go. Usually typically with the
Speaker 1: veteran players in those settings, but Kay Walker was a
Speaker 1: guy that did get some run a little bit with
Speaker 1: the defense, and I think there's a number of different
Speaker 1: ways they're going to be able to utilize them. I
Speaker 1: know a lot of people were talking about Chris Barnes
Speaker 1: and what happens with Barnes now. I still think Barnes
Speaker 1: is a part of this equation, but it's the different
Speaker 1: ways and where you're gonna be lining up Walker that
Speaker 1: makes it interesting how that that group is going to
Speaker 1: come together. Walker is the X factor to me, just
Speaker 1: because he gives this defense something that they really haven't
Speaker 1: add before. Devandra Campbell pretty much out of the same mold.
Speaker 1: You know, he's he's a you know, a Bell cow
Speaker 1: type guy there. I mean, he's a guy that's going
Speaker 1: to play that Mike spot. But Walker looks like the
Speaker 1: movable piece that I remember thinking Ryan Cheesy or could
Speaker 1: have been in two thousand fourteen. She would have been
Speaker 1: able to fall in tow the Packers. He's the athletic
Speaker 1: type of linebacker that just when you've watched him so
Speaker 1: many times Mike in these practices, just when the ball
Speaker 1: gets snapped, how quickly he gets out of his hips.
Speaker 1: There is so much athleticism in that guy's six ft
Speaker 1: four body, and I can't wait to see more of
Speaker 1: the spring this summer. Excuse me? Yeah? Absolutely, Um, I
Speaker 1: got some more questions for you here, West, but we'll
Speaker 1: take care of we'll take care of the sponsor. Don't
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Speaker 1: There we go, There we go. All right, Well, you
Speaker 1: already mentioned the wide receivers. As far as position competition
Speaker 1: and whatnot. Is there another position that you think falls
Speaker 1: under the category of having sort of a competition to
Speaker 1: watch here as we head into training camp. It's a
Speaker 1: good question. I think my natural answer to this would
Speaker 1: be the defensive line. Just based on everything you just
Speaker 1: talked about. Where does a Davante Wyatt fit in? Where
Speaker 1: does a T. J. Slaton go? You know, the new
Speaker 1: veteran gas deep as they've ever been during my time
Speaker 1: on the beat I wasn't here for two thousand and
Speaker 1: ten with you, but they have a lot of options.
Speaker 1: The competition though, when you talk about who's going to
Speaker 1: ultimately be lining up where, it has to be the
Speaker 1: offensive line because when you look at the guard spots,
Speaker 1: John Runyon and Roy s Newman played more snaps than
Speaker 1: anybody last season. But they're gonna get a good push here,
Speaker 1: you know, with Sean Ryan coming in, with Zach Tom
Speaker 1: certainly you have all these you know, the Cole Van
Speaker 1: Lantin's of the world that are gonna try to compete
Speaker 1: for that right tackle spot. The Packers have drafted three
Speaker 1: straight years three offensive linemen. That's never happened in the
Speaker 1: modern era. You can go back to like the you know,
Speaker 1: the Jack Vanisi days and they had twenties seven rounds
Speaker 1: or whatever. Yeah, that would happen, but not since nineteen So,
Speaker 1: I mean the amount of resources at the Packers and
Speaker 1: Brian Guns have put into this offensive line, it shows
Speaker 1: you one how seriously they take the competition factor into
Speaker 1: how important it is to rebuild the depth on the line.
Speaker 1: Billy Turner's gone, Look his Patrick's gone. Those were two
Speaker 1: of your most versatile guys and Elton Jenkins is still
Speaker 1: not back yet, coming back from the a c L
Speaker 1: that he sustained later in the season. You're going to
Speaker 1: need a backup center. Could that be Jake Hansen, Could
Speaker 1: it be a Zack Tom You're going to need guys
Speaker 1: that are also pushing for the right tackle job, because
Speaker 1: Josh Niman, as much as I think you and I
Speaker 1: have talked about that, the Packers want him to compete
Speaker 1: for that spot as well. In a perfect world, David
Speaker 1: Baker's back at left tackle, Josh Myers is there at center,
Speaker 1: and you let the rest of the pieces figure themselves out.
Speaker 1: And watching that through the one on ones, through the
Speaker 1: padded practices is going to be fascinating because as we
Speaker 1: saw last year, Mike, we watched Royce Newman work at
Speaker 1: right tackle for most of the offseason program were two
Speaker 1: weeks into training camp, and now he's positioned as the
Speaker 1: number one starting right guard right And that's what I
Speaker 1: was going to say, and that's the reason my my
Speaker 1: answer to this question also is the offensive line, because
Speaker 1: having drafted three offensive lineman once again back in April,
Speaker 1: I can't help but ask the question, is some are
Speaker 1: you gonna pull another Royce Newman. You know, is is
Speaker 1: Sean Ryan from this year's draft class gonna do what
Speaker 1: Royce Newman did as a rookie draft pick last year.
Speaker 1: And suddenly halfway through training camp it's like, oh, he's
Speaker 1: running with the ones every day, Like this guy is
Speaker 1: putting himself in a position to earn a starting job
Speaker 1: as a rookie. It could happen now. Obviously, the Packers
Speaker 1: like their young players, you know when you're talking about
Speaker 1: John Runyon, Royce Newman, Josh Niman, all of those guys.
Speaker 1: But you just don't know, especially once the pads go on,
Speaker 1: because through the offseason program there's no pads, there's no
Speaker 1: full contact. Once the pads go on and they start
Speaker 1: doing one on one pass rush, pass protection, you know
Speaker 1: against those guys, uh, you know, the Kenny clarks and
Speaker 1: and the Preston Smith's of the world. Right, and then
Speaker 1: you get into the you get into the eleven on
Speaker 1: eleven and you know, the banging in the trenches is
Speaker 1: pretty legit, even though they're not tackling guys to the ground.
Speaker 1: But but when the pads are on an it's a
Speaker 1: and and it's a full contact practice in that respect.
Speaker 1: That's when you find out about these offensive linemen and
Speaker 1: and maybe it is a Sean Ryan or Zach Tom
Speaker 1: that pulls a Royce Newman like. I think it's a
Speaker 1: very intriguing thing to see just exactly maybe what you
Speaker 1: know what develops you're going forward. And since you talked
Speaker 1: a little bit more about the offensive line, just gonna
Speaker 1: pivot very quickly back to the defensive line, because while
Speaker 1: it's a different type of competition, it's a healthy competition,
Speaker 1: and that the more guys that step up, the deeper
Speaker 1: they're going to be able to go with throw rotations.
Speaker 1: Why does that matter? Because I feel like not only
Speaker 1: having that gives you a better chance to keep guys
Speaker 1: fresh and whatnot, I also think that's what really could
Speaker 1: unleash Kenny Clark in this defense. The Packers have tried
Speaker 1: to find ways to get more double teams off of him,
Speaker 1: find ways to get him being able to kind of
Speaker 1: get one on ones and recavac a little bit more
Speaker 1: inside with Rashaan Gary and Preston Smith on the outsides
Speaker 1: of another guy can step up in that capacity. Dean
Speaker 1: Lawry coming off a career year, Jaren Reid coming in
Speaker 1: and obviously you talked about with Whyatt. More of these
Speaker 1: guys that can generate pressure, more guys can take pressure
Speaker 1: off of Kenny Clark. The more I think you're going
Speaker 1: to see from him. It's a two time Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: right now, that's finally coming to his prime at six
Speaker 1: years old. The world is that young man's oyster. Yeah,
Speaker 1: when you look at you look at this defensive line,
Speaker 1: put him in whatever or do you want. But your
Speaker 1: your main five guys, Kenny Clark, Dean Lowry, t J Slayton,
Speaker 1: jarn Reid, and then the high draft pick DeVante Wyatt.
Speaker 1: Those are your five. Now that's about as deep a
Speaker 1: five on the defensive line as I think the Packers
Speaker 1: have had on paper, at least in in quite a while. Yeah,
Speaker 1: in this recent exactly since since since they went to
Speaker 1: essentially a three four based defense. But what I think
Speaker 1: will be interesting to watch is is you know who's
Speaker 1: lining up where in certain packages, Who's you know, who's
Speaker 1: going to have which which role and and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: for a guy like Whyatt, the young rookie, he might
Speaker 1: be more you know, things might be more limited because
Speaker 1: they'll want to say, as a young player, okay, this
Speaker 1: is what we want you to do. These are the
Speaker 1: packages you're going to play in and go for it,
Speaker 1: and then maybe they expand right Whereas then you know
Speaker 1: a veteran guy like Jaren Reid coming in, Yes, he's new,
Speaker 1: he needs to get up to speed in the system,
Speaker 1: but this is a guy who's been there, done that
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And and as he told reporters last
Speaker 1: week and I wrote about on the website, he feels like, Hey,
Speaker 1: I'll play anywhere. Just tell me where to go, tell
Speaker 1: me where you want me to line up, what my
Speaker 1: assignment is, and and I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: get it done. And so how how these roles and
Speaker 1: responsibilities get sorted out with those five top guys on
Speaker 1: the defensive line, I think is definitely a story. And
Speaker 1: if you haven't a chance, ye be sure to go
Speaker 1: to Packers dot com check out spot story on Jar
Speaker 1: and read a real fascinating look into the man and
Speaker 1: also the player what he could be for this defense
Speaker 1: this season. The one thing I've been saying, I'm writing
Speaker 1: it again an inbox this week, and maybe it's the
Speaker 1: number ninety, you know, maybe I'm off based on this.
Speaker 1: He really does remind me from a body standpoint though
Speaker 1: a lot of b J Raji, and when you look
Speaker 1: at his track record both the ten and a half
Speaker 1: SAX season and also some of the stuff he's done
Speaker 1: more recently as a run stuffer, he has that two
Speaker 1: way kind of potential. And that's exactly why. It's exactly
Speaker 1: where Brian Gudacuns brought him in as a as a
Speaker 1: as a veteran guy to to add to that group.
Speaker 1: And then obviously they targeted Wyatt in the in the
Speaker 1: first round of the drafts as a young guy. Alright,
Speaker 1: so position groupings aside, is there another player to watch,
Speaker 1: like individual player to watch who's high on your list
Speaker 1: for when training camp rolls around. I think the guy
Speaker 1: kept saying, and I'm why break president at this point
Speaker 1: is a Mari Rodgers. I've written about him, We've talked
Speaker 1: about him. But this is the dude who I just
Speaker 1: felt like, more than a position that's attached to his name,
Speaker 1: this is a guy that really could kind of crack
Speaker 1: the code maybe with this offense. Matt Lafleur is an
Speaker 1: incredibly multiple versatile scheme. We saw it from day one,
Speaker 1: what they were able to do out of the gate
Speaker 1: in nineteen I know some people were very critical at
Speaker 1: that time about it. But reality was they won thirteen games,
Speaker 1: and they protected the football and they moved it down
Speaker 1: the field. I think they probably have to get more
Speaker 1: back towards some of that stuff and how do they
Speaker 1: do it in nineteen A lot of it was misdirection,
Speaker 1: a lot of it was prestap motion, a lot of
Speaker 1: it was being able to utilize the skill sets of
Speaker 1: the players that you have available to you. And you
Speaker 1: gotta remember about to Mari Rodgers Man, this young man
Speaker 1: has been around football his entire life. You know, his
Speaker 1: his dad was an accomplished football player. He went to
Speaker 1: Clemson in one and then was a thousand yard receiver
Speaker 1: his last season there. He doesn't like what happened last year.
Speaker 1: That was a bad taste in his mouth, what happened
Speaker 1: being only playing as little as he did offensively and
Speaker 1: having some miscuse there on the returns. He has coming
Speaker 1: back with something to prove this year. And I know
Speaker 1: everybody gets bigger, stronger, faster, smarter in the offseason. It's
Speaker 1: one of the biggest, you know, cliches that always gets
Speaker 1: beaten into the mud. But you and I watched him
Speaker 1: in practice. This guy does look leaner and he does
Speaker 1: look more confident. Yeah, he has to put that to work,
Speaker 1: the same as these young rookies dead you have to
Speaker 1: be able to do it in August. But if if
Speaker 1: things really start to click for him with the pre
Speaker 1: stap motions, with some of the stuff you can do
Speaker 1: with him on the outside, with getting an open space,
Speaker 1: he has a body type and a skill set that
Speaker 1: is even replaceable in this offense right now. And I
Speaker 1: just feel like he is the guy that the more
Speaker 1: they can get out of a Mari Rodgers, I think,
Speaker 1: the better this offense is going to be in. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna stick with the same position there, and uh,
Speaker 1: the a guy who's high on my list in terms
Speaker 1: of a player to watch it. And I'll be honest,
Speaker 1: I'll preface this by saying it may even be more
Speaker 1: so a player to watch come week one necessarily than
Speaker 1: training camp. But it's al Lazard. And I say that
Speaker 1: because and I'm not saying that just because you know,
Speaker 1: he wasn't here for O t A S and mini
Speaker 1: camp and you know, the restricted free agent tender, and
Speaker 1: there's some news floating around out there at the time
Speaker 1: that we're taping this, but all of that aside. Last
Speaker 1: week at mini camp, Aaron Rodgers came right out and
Speaker 1: said it, Alan's Alan Lazard has a chance to be
Speaker 1: a number one receiver in this offense, be a number
Speaker 1: one receiver on an NFL team for the first time
Speaker 1: in his career. How does he respond to that? Right? Um?
Speaker 1: And and yes, he's he's a leader. He's a guy
Speaker 1: who's done all of the dirty work, and I think
Speaker 1: he's going to continue to do those kinds of things.
Speaker 1: But in terms of the opportunities that he's going to
Speaker 1: be given in this offense by an offensive coordinator, a
Speaker 1: play caller, a quarterback who who trust him and they
Speaker 1: know what he can do, then what is he going
Speaker 1: to do when those opportunities ramp up? Right? And again,
Speaker 1: that's why I say maybe it's more so watching him
Speaker 1: starting in week one because he's going to be such
Speaker 1: a big part of this passing offense, more so than
Speaker 1: training camp. But I'm gonna watch. I really want to
Speaker 1: watch him in the eleven on elevens during training camp
Speaker 1: as well to see what opportunities go his way. What
Speaker 1: is drawn up for Alan Lazart Alan Lazard is the
Speaker 1: best story. He is one that is going to go
Speaker 1: down for the ages for the Packers because he wasn't
Speaker 1: just an undrafted free agent. He wasn't even the Packers
Speaker 1: undrafted free right right. He was Jacksonville's and Brian Goodkunst
Speaker 1: late in that season being able to pick him up
Speaker 1: and sign him and sort of steal him away, and
Speaker 1: what otherwise was a lost twenty eighteen campaign ended up
Speaker 1: paying big dividends for Jim down the line. Now, the
Speaker 1: big question for Alan is can you go from being
Speaker 1: a really good story to being a really really good
Speaker 1: NFL receiver. He's been a great fit for this offense.
Speaker 1: He's had some big moments, but whether it was with
Speaker 1: the core muscle injury or just the opportunities that were
Speaker 1: going with Davante Adams, he was that secondary option. He's
Speaker 1: going to be driving the bus here earlier this season.
Speaker 1: He's the He's the guy that has the biggest known
Speaker 1: commodity for Rogers that's also in the prime of his
Speaker 1: career in a in a in a contract hither two
Speaker 1: as a guy who has the one year restricted free
Speaker 1: agent tender looking to hit unrestricted free agency after one
Speaker 1: more season. Career highs of roughly five yards eight touchdowns,
Speaker 1: he has a chance to boot those career high single
Speaker 1: season career high numbers significantly this year, and then you know,
Speaker 1: enter free agency that with with with the chance to
Speaker 1: land a huge contract. With the way receivers are getting
Speaker 1: paid in this in this league, all of that is,
Speaker 1: all of that is now part of his story and
Speaker 1: part of his situation that is going to be watched
Speaker 1: U from the beginning here and I could I could
Speaker 1: not care less what the scouting reports said coming out
Speaker 1: of Iowa State. I couldn't matter what time was, I
Speaker 1: couldn't care about any of that stuff. You have a
Speaker 1: six ft five tur and twenty pound receiver that has
Speaker 1: found ways to win his routes in the NFL. Oh
Speaker 1: and by the way, at every level of football this
Speaker 1: guy has played, he has succeeded. He's the all time
Speaker 1: leading receiver at Iowa State. If you throw out all
Speaker 1: the stuff where people overthink these things were over baked
Speaker 1: the potato, everything points to Alan Lazar being a productive
Speaker 1: franchise type receiver and now he has the opportunity to
Speaker 1: prove it. I thought you were going to say over
Speaker 1: bake the cake, and then you threw potato in there. Oh.
Speaker 1: I never go with that I never go with the
Speaker 1: real cliches, Mike, I always gotta throw a little bit
Speaker 1: of a spinoff. You're always keeping me on my toes
Speaker 1: west always, all right. Last one I have for you,
Speaker 1: who is the player that we're not talking about, that
Speaker 1: no one's talking about that maybe just maybe come middle
Speaker 1: of training camp, end of the preseason games, that we
Speaker 1: might be talking about UM in terms of whether it's
Speaker 1: somebody who's going to be a surprise to make the
Speaker 1: roster or um carving out a role on this team
Speaker 1: that maybe we didn't envision, didn't expect. Is there anybody
Speaker 1: It's kind of a tough question, especially in the middle
Speaker 1: of June, but is there anybody that comes to mind
Speaker 1: for you? Well, I appreciate you gave me about twelve
Speaker 1: seconds to think about that. I was I was buying. UM.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put this one out there, and it's not
Speaker 1: necessarily answer to your question, but I think we need
Speaker 1: to realize what's happening and Green Bay and A. J.
Speaker 1: Dillon is at a point now where this guy, to me,
Speaker 1: reminds me a lot of you know, where another certain
Speaker 1: running back was at when Matt la Fleur got into
Speaker 1: Tennessee a number of years ago, not comparing the two.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm not saying his name, but a J.
Speaker 1: Dillon has been on the come up here the last
Speaker 1: two years. Last year was a huge opportunity for him,
Speaker 1: and I thought you saw what happened when he wasn't
Speaker 1: available in that game against San Francisco having a real
Speaker 1: hard time stopping a J. Dillon before he went out
Speaker 1: with a rib injury. And I feel like, you know,
Speaker 1: it may not be in the preseason games, this may
Speaker 1: only be in training camp, but just getting a look
Speaker 1: at him the spring and uh, you know, seeing the
Speaker 1: photos that Evan Siegel happened to take at the softball
Speaker 1: game on Sunday, My goodness, this guy is a mack truck.
Speaker 1: And I just feel like we'll see what it looks like.
Speaker 1: We'll see how much him and Aaron Jones around the
Speaker 1: field together. We don't know, but when you go into
Speaker 1: this season, as much as we talked about Lazard and
Speaker 1: this is a big year for him, Aaron Jones is
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl running back. A J. Dillon was the
Speaker 1: leading rusher for this team last season. I just feel like,
Speaker 1: for as much as people want to dog on this
Speaker 1: offense and what the identity is going to be. You
Speaker 1: have two running backs that are staring you in the
Speaker 1: face saying, hey, we're elite guys. Yes there's Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: and yes Rogers will find ways to move the ball
Speaker 1: down field with his arm. But I just feel like A. J.
Speaker 1: Dillon is the catalyst here. He is the key they
Speaker 1: can get this running game going early in the season.
Speaker 1: I think all the other piece has fallen place from there. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I think I think that is Uh. I think that's
Speaker 1: definitely something that we're going to be talking about as
Speaker 1: as we get towards Week one. A guy that I
Speaker 1: was going to mention as the as My answer to
Speaker 1: this question is probably probably doesn't count because I was
Speaker 1: going to say, tighten Tyler Davis. But you wrote a
Speaker 1: feature story on Titan Davis recently, so I can we
Speaker 1: can't really say like nobody's been talking about him because
Speaker 1: I didn't say Tyler Davis. For that reason, I'm like that,
Speaker 1: and that's why I say, like, it's not that's not
Speaker 1: fair for me to say that either, because you did
Speaker 1: write a story at the at the I believe it
Speaker 1: was the first week of O T I'm gonna shove
Speaker 1: Tyler Davis down your throat and then I'm gonna tell
Speaker 1: you that nobody's talking right. Yeah, so that so that
Speaker 1: doesn't count. But so so here's my answer. You know,
Speaker 1: looking at looking at the whole year one to year
Speaker 1: two thing that we talked about, right where guys make
Speaker 1: the big jump, they get more accustomed to the NFL game,
Speaker 1: They start to they start to find their way and
Speaker 1: feel their way a little bit more. Right. I look
Speaker 1: at the draft class from last year, It's like, hey,
Speaker 1: we we saw what Eric Stokes can do. We know
Speaker 1: what Josh Myers can do. We already talked about Amari
Speaker 1: Rodgers and and uh and where things might be going
Speaker 1: with him. Royce Newman ended up ended up being a starter.
Speaker 1: So I start to kind of fall on t J. Slate,
Speaker 1: the fifth round defensive lineman, the fifth round draft pick
Speaker 1: from from one, and we had talked about, you know,
Speaker 1: those those top five guys, and I just wonder if
Speaker 1: this is a young man, because nobody has really been
Speaker 1: talking about him at all. He did get you know,
Speaker 1: he was taking a lot of number one reps through O. T. A. S.
Speaker 1: Because Dean Lowry was was was sitting out with with
Speaker 1: an undisclosed injury. But I just wonder what kind of
Speaker 1: a role t J. Slayton might carve out for himself
Speaker 1: here in year two. We when we asked, anytime we
Speaker 1: asked Jerry Montgomery about t J. Slayton, it's always like
Speaker 1: the answer is something along the lines of, there's so
Speaker 1: much he really likes about what this young man can do,
Speaker 1: but he just wants to see it consistently. It can't
Speaker 1: come and go all the time, right, And it's sort
Speaker 1: of through his rookie year, it sort of came and
Speaker 1: went um at different times. If t J. Slayton figures
Speaker 1: out sort of that that consistency thing and his game
Speaker 1: levels out of little bit, he just might be a
Speaker 1: guy in that in that group of five on the
Speaker 1: defensive line, that top five on the defensive line that
Speaker 1: we start seeing on the field a bit more. I'm
Speaker 1: just throwing it out, and it's why you saw a
Speaker 1: tire Lancaster as much as he did the last four years, Tyler,
Speaker 1: God bless him. He's gotten every bit of ability out
Speaker 1: of his body. And that's by being disciplined. It's by
Speaker 1: being consistent. You know. He was an undrafted free agent
Speaker 1: out of Northwestern I think a few people would have
Speaker 1: saw him going into year five now right, just based
Speaker 1: on the law of averages. But he ended up being
Speaker 1: playing a big role for this for this defense, even
Speaker 1: if he wasn't maybe necessarily considered a starter, but he
Speaker 1: played so many snaps because whether it was injuries or opportunity,
Speaker 1: the guy was in there. That's what they need from
Speaker 1: t J. Slayton now, because something's gonna happen at some
Speaker 1: point this season, whether it be Read Clark, Lowry Wyatt,
Speaker 1: somebody is gonna be out for a minute, and they're
Speaker 1: gonna need someone to step up in slating. At six
Speaker 1: ft five three and thirty pounds, he has as much
Speaker 1: athleticism in that body as I've seen from any defensive
Speaker 1: lineman that has come through Green Bay during my time here.
Speaker 1: He's a very He's a very intriguing prospect. There's no
Speaker 1: There's no question about it. And I know he's not
Speaker 1: a rookie, but I still call him a prospect because
Speaker 1: he hasn't because he hasn't quite found his way yet.
Speaker 1: But but the but I think the opportunity may be
Speaker 1: there for and I remember talking to his position coach
Speaker 1: at Florida saying you know, we really were hoping to
Speaker 1: get him back one more year, but obviously t J
Speaker 1: felt like it was the right time for him, and
Speaker 1: I think based on what he did last season, he
Speaker 1: proved he can play at this level. If I can
Speaker 1: just do this to Mike, I'll throw this in there
Speaker 1: because obviously A. J. Dillon is a name that everybody
Speaker 1: knows about. But even though my my points still stands,
Speaker 1: the other guy I'll mention quickly is Sean Davis because
Speaker 1: when you're looking at the safety position, that's been a
Speaker 1: big spot. The number three safeties played a lot in
Speaker 1: this defense. Yeah, we talked a bit about this on
Speaker 1: our last show, kind of where you know, where some
Speaker 1: of those those guys who are sort of next on
Speaker 1: the depth chart, you know here at the end of
Speaker 1: the spring. We'll see if that carries over to the
Speaker 1: start of training because if they want to move around
Speaker 1: in in you know, an Adrian Amos or Darnell Savage,
Speaker 1: they need someone else to help fill in the back end. Davis,
Speaker 1: despite there being a you know to draft picks and
Speaker 1: Vernon Scott and also you know Carpenter coming in and
Speaker 1: his gains being back, this guy is the one that's
Speaker 1: in that spot, and I think so often, Mike, we
Speaker 1: could talk about guys coming off the practice squad that
Speaker 1: could sign mid season, and fans really don't know who
Speaker 1: those guys are. Sean Davis was a draft pick. He
Speaker 1: was drafted in the National Football like fifth round pick
Speaker 1: a year ago. So like this guy has, you know,
Speaker 1: some credentials to him. It's just that Packer fans don't
Speaker 1: know who he is. And I think that's a guy
Speaker 1: that again, when you're talking about players who are going
Speaker 1: to play a lot in the preseason lot and training camp,
Speaker 1: you know it's a tight competition there at safety, and
Speaker 1: he's right now probably the one right at the front
Speaker 1: of the classroom and that and that depth tart guy,
Speaker 1: so to speak. At cornerback, Keyshaan Nixon, the um, the
Speaker 1: veteran free agent acquisition. We're gonna talk about him a lot.
Speaker 1: We're gonna see him a lot on special teams. But
Speaker 1: he's also he's also going to be part of potentially
Speaker 1: part of the Dime defense, one of the dime packages
Speaker 1: six dB packages that that Joe Barry is going to have.
Speaker 1: That's another guy. Haven't talked about him a whole heck
Speaker 1: of a lot but based on what we saw when
Speaker 1: the defense was on the field in the mini camp
Speaker 1: with the eleven on eleven, those are two guys that
Speaker 1: are sort of the next guy up right behind all
Speaker 1: the main guys that that we've been talking and you
Speaker 1: can tell the Packers Packers think something that Nixon. It's
Speaker 1: not like Rich Bessacci brought him into play special teams
Speaker 1: in Bessacci is sitting there going, yeah, throw him in
Speaker 1: at the slot too, That's not the way it works.
Speaker 1: But obviously Joe Barry in the defensive coaches Jerry Great,
Speaker 1: they're seeing something there with that guy. And as we
Speaker 1: talked about before, he has some size to him, and
Speaker 1: you know he's not a small guy in terms of
Speaker 1: how he's built. So another guy. I'm just excited to see,
Speaker 1: you know, how those things fall into place, because certainly
Speaker 1: with some of these rotations inside, there's a lot more
Speaker 1: known you know, production there on the outside as opposed
Speaker 1: to inside. With this defense right now, yeah, no question
Speaker 1: about Well, with that, we will call it a rap
Speaker 1: on this edition of Packers Unscripted. We will be back
Speaker 1: a few days before the start of training camp and
Speaker 1: we will crank this all up again. There is one
Speaker 1: more week of O t A S here before the
Speaker 1: close of the off season program. So we got a
Speaker 1: lot of coverage on the website packers dot com, lots
Speaker 1: of stories, lots of info all that be sure to
Speaker 1: check it out, but for now for WES, I am Mike.
Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will see
Speaker 1: you next time.