Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, sitting alongside my trusted colleague Wes Hodkuitz.
Speaker 1: Were coming to you here from our studios at lambeau
Speaker 1: Field West. Packers Bears Week one, the kickoff to the
Speaker 1: NFL season. It's just a couple of days away now,
Speaker 1: and we spent a lot of time talking yesterday's show
Speaker 1: previous shows about finally getting to unveil this new Packers offense.
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones, Davante Adams, the whole
Speaker 1: cast of characters. But we haven't spent much time talking
Speaker 1: about the Packers defense, and I think we do need
Speaker 1: to spend some time on that because, quite frankly, for me,
Speaker 1: I'm almost building more anticipation for what this defense is
Speaker 1: going to look like as opposed to last year when
Speaker 1: Mike Petton was in his first year, because it was
Speaker 1: this kind of the same cast of characters last year. Yes,
Speaker 1: you had a new coordinator, you added JayR Alexandra and
Speaker 1: Josh Jackson, but otherwise it was all the same crew.
Speaker 1: And this year you have a returning crew that learned
Speaker 1: the system the first year, and then you have this
Speaker 1: influx of guys essentially a fifteen draft class that was
Speaker 1: purchased in free agency, the Smith's and Adrian Amos, and
Speaker 1: then your twenty nineteen draft class at the top of
Speaker 1: the board and Rashaan Gary and Darnell Savage. This is
Speaker 1: really interesting now that we're finally going to see what
Speaker 1: Mike Petton's year two defense is gonna look like. Do
Speaker 1: you like to cook, Mike? Sometimes? Sometimes? Sometimes Do you
Speaker 1: ever find yourself going to the grocery store, You come home,
Speaker 1: there's a couple of different ingredients, a couple different things
Speaker 1: you're really excited about. You find a good I don't know,
Speaker 1: spare rib that you're really excited to throw in the
Speaker 1: oven and whatnot. That's the way I feel about the
Speaker 1: Packers defense, and I think that's what Packer fans should
Speaker 1: be excited about right now, is that you have all
Speaker 1: these new ingredients to work with with Mike pett and
Speaker 1: his defense. Now we got an idea of what he
Speaker 1: can offer, and not saying that those ingredients weren't grade too,
Speaker 1: but you kind of knew what you were dealing with
Speaker 1: at that point. Everything was sort of the same. You
Speaker 1: can only shine a penny so many different ways. What
Speaker 1: I like about this influx is because there's so many
Speaker 1: different types of acquisitions that they made. When you look
Speaker 1: at the rookie class, like you said, when you look
Speaker 1: at the two thousand fifteen free agents that have been
Speaker 1: signed that came through that draft and then not, you
Speaker 1: also have this two thousand sixteen draft coming to the
Speaker 1: prime of their careers, throwing Jaire Alexanders throwing some of
Speaker 1: these other people. This is to me, and I wrote
Speaker 1: this an insider inbox, this is the most intriguing a
Speaker 1: Packer defense has been, at least during my time on
Speaker 1: the beat, because there's so many new, uh different areas
Speaker 1: to work off of. Now, I'm not saying they're going
Speaker 1: to go out there and just dominate from day one.
Speaker 1: I think you have to be realistic. I think you
Speaker 1: have to understand that this is eleven players working as
Speaker 1: one and it's going to take time to bring those
Speaker 1: materials together, bring those players together. But at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, I think, is this team, if they
Speaker 1: can stay healthy, if that unit can stay healthy, And
Speaker 1: you and I have talked about a time and time again,
Speaker 1: seeing the progression that this defense can make with Mike
Speaker 1: Petton scheme and those principles behind it, I think it's
Speaker 1: very exciting. Well, it was obvious what the targets were
Speaker 1: to revamp this defense in the off season, and it
Speaker 1: was two positions. It was outside linebacker and safety. You
Speaker 1: brought in too free agent outside linebackers in Zadarius Smith
Speaker 1: and Preston Smith, and you spent your first round draft
Speaker 1: pick on an outside linebacker and Rashawn Gary. And then
Speaker 1: at safety you brought in a new starter in Adrian
Speaker 1: Amos and you spent your second first round draft pick
Speaker 1: on a safety in Darnell Savage. Those are the two
Speaker 1: positions that have gotten the makeovers here heading into and
Speaker 1: when you're when you're talking about trying to make impact
Speaker 1: plays in football games, you know it's sacks and its turnovers,
Speaker 1: and outside linebackers and safeties have a lot to do
Speaker 1: with sacks, fumbles and interceptions. And I think it's going
Speaker 1: to take some time for everything to come together because
Speaker 1: there's so many new guys in this system. But I
Speaker 1: still think the Packers are heading into Week one here
Speaker 1: in better shape defensively in terms of where they are
Speaker 1: with the system than they were last year at this time,
Speaker 1: and it's interesting to watch how this game has changed
Speaker 1: over even the last six, seven, eight years. I remember
Speaker 1: talking to Don Kaper's about this after the two thousand
Speaker 1: and thirteen season when they went and got Julius Peppers
Speaker 1: and they brought in some new people. They drafted ha
Speaker 1: Ha Clinton Dicks. There was a time not that long
Speaker 1: ago where you needed a dominant Pro Bowl pass rusher
Speaker 1: off the edge the other outside linebacker. You didn't really
Speaker 1: have a much of urgency there. I mean, there's a
Speaker 1: reason why it was Frank Zambo lining up across from
Speaker 1: Clay Matthews right during during a part of their career together.
Speaker 1: Safety was in neglected position, not just by the Packers,
Speaker 1: but a lot of NFL teams for a lot of seasons.
Speaker 1: They wanted their cornerbacks, they wanted their inside linebackers. They
Speaker 1: felt like that's where you win. But as the game
Speaker 1: has evolved, you've needed versatile safeties. You need multiple safeties,
Speaker 1: you need multiple outside linebackers. And I think the build
Speaker 1: up and the makeup of this roster right now that
Speaker 1: Brian Goodakins is put together reflects that, and it reflects
Speaker 1: the idea too that unlike other years where you'd see
Speaker 1: a guy like Rashawn Gary come in and you know,
Speaker 1: as a first round pick twelfth overall, they might be
Speaker 1: pushing him into the lineup day one, wanting production from him.
Speaker 1: You're not in that spot with za Darius Smith and
Speaker 1: Preston Smith, both twenty six years old, coming to the
Speaker 1: prime of their careers and under contract for a long time.
Speaker 1: I just I'm so intrigued, as I mentioned from the
Speaker 1: get go, just to see those pieces come together, how
Speaker 1: those free agents marry with the rookie acquisitions in the
Speaker 1: arts in between. It's to me, it's it's a reason
Speaker 1: to believe that this season could turn out differently for
Speaker 1: that unit. Yeah, there are a couple of caveats though,
Speaker 1: and I will mention these things. One is that for
Speaker 1: all of the change and whatnot, on paper, you have
Speaker 1: only one guy on this defense with a double digit
Speaker 1: sack season in his career, and that's Kyler Facral. Now
Speaker 1: the Packers are counting on the fact that, as you
Speaker 1: just said, the two Smiths being twenty six years old,
Speaker 1: they've had eight eight and a half sacks seasons in
Speaker 1: their career, that the double digit those higher numbers are
Speaker 1: on the way. So they're banking on that, and then
Speaker 1: also obviously adding a guy like Rashan Gary to the
Speaker 1: mix who they feel in a very short amount of
Speaker 1: time could become one of those type of players. The
Speaker 1: other thing is that we all know what shut down corners,
Speaker 1: what having to top flight cornerbacks can mean to a
Speaker 1: defense and can mean to a defensive coordinator in terms
Speaker 1: of his flexibility with his packages and with his calls.
Speaker 1: And that's Jiar Alexander and Kevin King. And once again
Speaker 1: Kevin King spent a training camp injured, injured his hamstring
Speaker 1: on family Night, missed several weeks. He's back on the
Speaker 1: practice field. He's expected to play on Thursday. But just
Speaker 1: how much Kevin King is going to be able to
Speaker 1: play not only Thursday but throughout the course of the
Speaker 1: season I think is also going to be a big
Speaker 1: factor for Mike Petton And just how good potentially this
Speaker 1: defense Absolutely, because as you wrote in the Packers year
Speaker 1: book this year, when you have JR. Alexander and Kevin
Speaker 1: King both healthy, that gives you, you know, too, potential
Speaker 1: one A, one B type cornerbacks that you're gonna be
Speaker 1: able to play with. But the one thing I do
Speaker 1: like about in regards to just how the cornerbacks position
Speaker 1: is structured. This year, it's as deep in terms of
Speaker 1: not just what you would consider to be relative talent,
Speaker 1: it's as deep an experience as they've had in a
Speaker 1: number of years. When you look at Truman Williams right
Speaker 1: now is the slot nickel guy, but could push outside
Speaker 1: if you need him to. Tony Brown got a lot
Speaker 1: of reps during the preseason during the time in which
Speaker 1: Kevin King was out. Josh Jackson is back from you know,
Speaker 1: the the injury with the Achilles foot, what have you.
Speaker 1: And then you see the young guys that they kept
Speaker 1: on this roster too. It's some It seems like for
Speaker 1: a point in time, the Packers were either going to
Speaker 1: go extremely young with their backups or they were gonna
Speaker 1: have veterans and keep you know, they're young guys on
Speaker 1: the practice squad. This year they have both, and you
Speaker 1: obviously want if you're the Packers, you're hoping and knocking
Speaker 1: on wood that Kevin King can play in all sixteen games.
Speaker 1: But if for whatever reason he can't, or GW your
Speaker 1: Alexander can't. I just feel like this year's group they're
Speaker 1: not necessarily in that position where you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: end up putting, you know, a guy that maybe isn't
Speaker 1: ready for that moment on the field like they had
Speaker 1: to in some of these previous seasons. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: there's certainly a reason. I think there are multiple reasons
Speaker 1: the Packers decided to keep seven cornerbacks on this roster.
Speaker 1: I mean, one is that those guys earned the jobs.
Speaker 1: But we all know how roster decisions and numbers can work.
Speaker 1: But you keep seven cornerbacks because of a how the
Speaker 1: game has played these days and how many cornerbacks you're
Speaker 1: going to use at different points in time time. Be
Speaker 1: Kevin King's injury history, and see Termon Williams and just
Speaker 1: his age um and Rmon Williams has been fighting off
Speaker 1: father time as well as anybody has for a while,
Speaker 1: but you just never you never know at what point
Speaker 1: maybe it's going to catch up to him and he's
Speaker 1: not quite going to be the player that he was.
Speaker 1: So you've got seven cornerbacks, and as you said, West,
Speaker 1: it's a mixture of some experienced guys and some younger guys.
Speaker 1: But I think at the end of the day, and
Speaker 1: I don't not not trying to pick on anybody in particular.
Speaker 1: But this defense is at a point where you're not
Speaker 1: going to have to line up Ladarius Gunter across from
Speaker 1: Julio Jones in a big game, which is what where
Speaker 1: the Packers were three years ago. Yeah, and and that's
Speaker 1: that's ultimately what we're getting at here. You see just
Speaker 1: some of these guys, And it wasn't just Gunter. There
Speaker 1: were a number of undrafted rookies and first year players
Speaker 1: that had to play in big key spots for this
Speaker 1: team to match and tough matchups in games that matter
Speaker 1: down late in the season. Now, that's gonna be a
Speaker 1: thing that happens, Mike. You're gonna need guys at certain
Speaker 1: positions to step up. We even saw in some regard
Speaker 1: to Curtis Bolton during the preseason before he injured his knee.
Speaker 1: But you don't want to have that as a recurring
Speaker 1: thing that you're dealing with weekend and week out. That's
Speaker 1: where the Packers were in a lot of circumstances, and
Speaker 1: I think it probably speaks of the direction the league
Speaker 1: is going that this is the fifth consecutive year the
Speaker 1: Packers have carried either eleven or twelve defensive backs on
Speaker 1: this initial fifty three my first year in two thousand twelve,
Speaker 1: when I cover this team, you're looking at eight or
Speaker 1: nine at that position. In the fact that it shifted
Speaker 1: like that, and you've seen sort of even Brian Goodkin
Speaker 1: has talked about it. Inside linebackers aren't as prevalent as
Speaker 1: they were before because you're seeing a guy like Raven
Speaker 1: Green playing in the box. Now. You need to have
Speaker 1: that multiplicity to be able to not only weather injuries
Speaker 1: but also be able to take on those spread offenses.
Speaker 1: And I think when you look on paper the way
Speaker 1: the Packers are structured right now, and again there's a
Speaker 1: lot of things that have to work out for that
Speaker 1: to be relevant in December, But on paper, I think
Speaker 1: you have to like what you're seeing. Yeah. Well, Patton's
Speaker 1: big theme throughout this offseason training amp leading up to
Speaker 1: the start of the season, his big theme has been
Speaker 1: the two t s, tackling and turnovers, And quite frankly,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm not gonna put a whole lot of stock
Speaker 1: into what happened in the preseason, because yes, there were
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of mis tackles, but the starters weren't
Speaker 1: really on the field all that much and the time
Speaker 1: that they were there trying to chase down what was
Speaker 1: his name from Baltimore, Lamar Jackson. I mean, absolutely singular talent.
Speaker 1: There's nobody else like him playing in the NFL. So
Speaker 1: that was kind of an odd circumstance to me for
Speaker 1: the starters to get their only really legitimate snaps of
Speaker 1: the preseason. We also saw the defense turn the ball
Speaker 1: over a bunch of the preseason. They did get a
Speaker 1: bunch of turnomers, but again, the starters weren't on the
Speaker 1: field that much. So I think there's there's a lot
Speaker 1: of unknown as to just where this unit is going
Speaker 1: to be with that big theme of tackling internal and
Speaker 1: there's gonna be give and take with that whole scenario.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think you look at Kadar Holman and
Speaker 1: can't Chan and Sullivan, guys that made the roster. You know,
Speaker 1: based on big plays in the preseason that gets you
Speaker 1: on the roster. It doesn't build up much equity past
Speaker 1: Week one, though. You need to be able to earn
Speaker 1: that that starters need to be able to earn that
Speaker 1: and build that momentum throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 1: The tackling is a situation though that I think they
Speaker 1: could really make a statement if they could come out
Speaker 1: of the gate and actually look very competent and secure
Speaker 1: and comfortable in that phase of the game. Because it
Speaker 1: is going to take time. Every NFL team is going
Speaker 1: to go through it. We know the storyline has been
Speaker 1: beaten to death in terms of what teams are dealing
Speaker 1: with now at the CBA environment, trying to find the
Speaker 1: best way to prepare your football team with taking the
Speaker 1: contact out of a lot of those offseason practices. So
Speaker 1: everybody's starting from square one from that regard. But if
Speaker 1: you're able to establish that early on, especially against the
Speaker 1: team like Chicago that can be as multiple as they are,
Speaker 1: I think that's something you can really propel yourself forward
Speaker 1: with by making a statement. A soldier feel that, you
Speaker 1: know what, it was a big emphasis and we're answering
Speaker 1: that right off the bat. Yeah. Well, a couple of
Speaker 1: these guys we've talked about actually have gone into Week
Speaker 1: one here on the defensive side and they change their uniform.
Speaker 1: They did. Darnell Savage, who grabbed number twenty six when
Speaker 1: he was drafted in the first round. He has switched
Speaker 1: and is now wearing number twenty one, and Raven Green,
Speaker 1: who made the roster last year as an undrafted rookie
Speaker 1: wearing number thirty six, has now switched to number twenty four.
Speaker 1: What do you make of that? Well, first off, I
Speaker 1: didn't get a chance to ask for Raven Green about
Speaker 1: this little bit of a spoiler alert here. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: try to do that once we're done with the unscripted today.
Speaker 1: That's one of my topics for the last locker room
Speaker 1: of the week is to figure out what exactly he
Speaker 1: did there, because he didn't wear twenty four at at
Speaker 1: James Madison. But on the other side of things, it
Speaker 1: was really interesting listening to Savage discuss it. There is
Speaker 1: a rapper I'm sure you're well familiar out of Atlanta
Speaker 1: named twenty one Savage. He did a really nice collaboration
Speaker 1: with post Malone Psycho. You're probably familiar with that as well.
Speaker 1: Uh and I remember there was some hooting and hollering
Speaker 1: when the Packers drafted Uh Savage and he was number
Speaker 1: twenty one. That was pointed out to him yesterday where
Speaker 1: his selection was, and there were some fans are like,
Speaker 1: got it, he has to be twenty one Savage. He wasn't.
Speaker 1: He was twenty six. He went with the number that
Speaker 1: he played with for two years at Maryland. Jamerson was
Speaker 1: a hole over from the season he was wearing number
Speaker 1: twenty one and he kept it. But Jamerson was released
Speaker 1: at final cutdown. So Sunday morning comes around and Darnell
Speaker 1: Savage goes, you know what, I'm sick. I think I
Speaker 1: want to wear twenty one now. I think whether or
Speaker 1: not he wants to admit it, I think it's a
Speaker 1: great marketing opportunity for the young man. He's going to
Speaker 1: show up on a lot of sites. He's gonna get
Speaker 1: a lot of exposure they probably would have received otherwise.
Speaker 1: And let's be honest too, I mean, you always want
Speaker 1: to marry like you know, like whenever the popular stuff
Speaker 1: is going on outside of what but you want to
Speaker 1: have that together with NFL. I mean that's what any
Speaker 1: industry wants to do, right, You want to build those
Speaker 1: brands together. And now Darnell Savage gets a chance to
Speaker 1: do it. I also want to point out with Raven
Speaker 1: Green how special this is for a guy like this.
Speaker 1: This is an undrafted rookie last year would have probably
Speaker 1: taken any number that they wanted to give him. He's
Speaker 1: now put himself in a position a year two to
Speaker 1: be able to say, you know what, Yeah, give me
Speaker 1: a note, give me a new uh, a new numeral
Speaker 1: there on my on my green and gold jersey. UM.
Speaker 1: Another thing I want to get to and I'm not
Speaker 1: trying to ignore the offense here. I just feel like
Speaker 1: we've talked about the offense, ignored the defense yesterday, and
Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll talk a little bit more about the
Speaker 1: offense in our final preview show tomorrow before we hop
Speaker 1: on the plane to Chicago. But I want to touch
Speaker 1: on special teams here quickly. To West, Mason Crosby is
Speaker 1: the kicker. The Packers made the decision to go with
Speaker 1: him and released Sam Ficken. But the other thing that
Speaker 1: I think is interesting here with new coordinator Sean Maninger,
Speaker 1: you have a couple of linebackers who were I guess
Speaker 1: you could kind of call him the bell Cows in
Speaker 1: some ways on special teams a year ago, a year
Speaker 1: that did not go well on special teams. But two
Speaker 1: guys who did perform well as rookies were or In
Speaker 1: Burk's and James Crawford, and Or and Burke now is hurt.
Speaker 1: James Crawford has been released so I'm kind of wondering
Speaker 1: just who are going to there's an opportunity here for
Speaker 1: guys to emerge as leaders on special teams. I think
Speaker 1: Raven Green, who we talked about, is one of those
Speaker 1: potential guys. But who are some of the other guys
Speaker 1: you see that maybe on these coverage units, return units
Speaker 1: are are potentially going to rise to the topic. That's
Speaker 1: a great question, first off, because you need those guys there.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying you need to always have a Matthew
Speaker 1: Slater on your roster who for ten years is going
Speaker 1: to be a multiple time Pro bowler and can play
Speaker 1: on all four core units. But you need to have
Speaker 1: guys that you're comfortable with and you know, and they've
Speaker 1: talked about that time and time again during this offseason.
Speaker 1: When I look at it again outside looking in, I mean,
Speaker 1: Kyler Facral is one of the core guys already. He
Speaker 1: did have ten and a half sacks last year, but
Speaker 1: he also did it while basically playing on every special
Speaker 1: teams unit for the Packers. They reintroduced the fullback position
Speaker 1: this year on this roster. Danny Vitally, people don't really
Speaker 1: really lies this. During his rookie year with Sean Monega
Speaker 1: at Cleveland. He was actually on the Pro Bowl ballot
Speaker 1: that year as Cleveland special teamer. Had I think a
Speaker 1: half or maybe a dozen tackles that season. As much
Speaker 1: as he made the roster for his exploits as a fullback,
Speaker 1: he was used on special teams as well that season,
Speaker 1: So he has a certain capability there. Raven Green. But
Speaker 1: let's be honest here, Mike, the the m v P,
Speaker 1: if you can say it like that to me, is
Speaker 1: Trevor Davis. And it's not just because of the return certainly,
Speaker 1: he's a very capable kickoff and punt returner. He's also
Speaker 1: their number one gunner. Uh. Their number two gunner, Econemius
Speaker 1: st Brown is now out for the year after suffering
Speaker 1: that ankle injury in Canada, so they need a big
Speaker 1: performance out of Trevor Davis. I'm guessing you're gonna see
Speaker 1: Will Redmond's take a step there and be one of
Speaker 1: those core guys as a gunner, and on some of
Speaker 1: those units, you can't replace a guy like Crawford. I
Speaker 1: just think he brings so much in terms of energy
Speaker 1: to that position. But I do feel like there are
Speaker 1: guys that excel enough on that phase that they're going
Speaker 1: to be able to sort of stem the tide without him.
Speaker 1: I think what you said about Trevor Davis and a gunner,
Speaker 1: that's a really good point because when we talk about
Speaker 1: combinations that we haven't seen, j K. Scott as a
Speaker 1: punter and Trevor Davis as the top gunner is not
Speaker 1: a combination that we've seen. And a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: Jeff Janis as a number one gunner with quite frankly,
Speaker 1: a less talented punter in Jacob Chum, the Packers had
Speaker 1: a really, really good net punting average and they really
Speaker 1: limited opponent's punt returns. Now you combine j K. Scott
Speaker 1: going into his second year, he had a fantastic preseason.
Speaker 1: All the arrows are pointing up for him. And then
Speaker 1: if Trevor Davis can stay healthy and be that gunner
Speaker 1: like Jeff Janis was a couple of years ago, that's
Speaker 1: an interesting combination here for the Packers special teams and
Speaker 1: and could be just as important as whoever else is
Speaker 1: on those coverage units. And you're also going to have
Speaker 1: Jake Kumerou as a guy that has established himself that
Speaker 1: he's more than just a one particular phase guy that
Speaker 1: he can play in coverage to you, and it's you know,
Speaker 1: Robert Tanian has going to have a bigger role in
Speaker 1: the offense this year, but he you know, turned into
Speaker 1: one of the core guys last season. So there is
Speaker 1: a lot of returning experience in that way. But what
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have my eye on is the gunners spot
Speaker 1: because it's so intricate to what you do on punts.
Speaker 1: And you may probably don't even remember this, but we
Speaker 1: got to see Trevor Davis basically do it in one
Speaker 1: game last year and he had a great tackle after
Speaker 1: a pretty nice punt from J. K. Scott. Don't ask
Speaker 1: me which team it was against, but it remade me
Speaker 1: kind of perk up and go, yeah, that's what you
Speaker 1: can do when you have a guy with that type
Speaker 1: of speed that puts on that pressure with that hang time.
Speaker 1: Then unfortunately end up having another hamstring injury and that
Speaker 1: wipe that out. But I think you're gonna see him.
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna see uh. You know, I think
Speaker 1: Channon Sullivan's probably involved with it. There's gonna be a
Speaker 1: lot of those guys are gonna be mixing in with
Speaker 1: those returning guys and hopefully putting their best foot forward
Speaker 1: in two thousand nineteen. Alright, well, with that, we're going
Speaker 1: to sign off on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be
Speaker 1: sure to follow all of our coverage of the team
Speaker 1: on packers dot com, subscribe to us, like us on
Speaker 1: iTunes and other podcast services if you're so inclined. On Twitter,
Speaker 1: he's at West hot I met Mike Spofford at Packers
Speaker 1: for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll
Speaker 1: see you next time. M