Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted, or should I say
Speaker 1: welcome back to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. I
Speaker 1: am Mike Spofford. He is the one and only wes Hodkuits.
Speaker 1: We're coming to hear from our studios at lambeau Field West.
Speaker 1: We are back. We will officially call this the kickoff
Speaker 1: of season four of Packers Unscripted. Can you believe that,
Speaker 1: like all great shows, Michael back for a fourth season,
Speaker 1: renewed by Craig Shieldbau or the man above and hitting
Speaker 1: it back in this action and the Packers dot Com
Speaker 1: in this studio incredible? How time fast, the time flies.
Speaker 1: Happy to be back, no doubt about it. And we
Speaker 1: are back because right around the corner we are just
Speaker 1: a matter of hours away. I guess we could say
Speaker 1: from the opening training camp practice of for the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers for Matt Lafleur in his first year as
Speaker 1: Green Bay's head coach, as well as a handful of
Speaker 1: other coaches who are on his staff and in Green
Speaker 1: Bay for the first time. We'll call this our training
Speaker 1: camp preview episode. We'll try to cover all the bases
Speaker 1: here For those who like to read, I just want
Speaker 1: to refer you to our Countdown to Camp series on
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com because West and I put together position
Speaker 1: by position, we go through every spot on the roster,
Speaker 1: laying out who all is there, the battles for starting positions,
Speaker 1: for playing time for roster spots, all of that. You
Speaker 1: can catch the whole series on Packers dot Com as
Speaker 1: it wraps up this week. But offensive side of the ball, West,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna throw it at you, what do you
Speaker 1: see in that phase of the game on the offensive
Speaker 1: side for the Packers As the number one issue heading
Speaker 1: into training camp. I think the number one issue is
Speaker 1: really finding more established playmakers. You know, you have Davante Adams,
Speaker 1: You've seen in spurts, what Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams
Speaker 1: can both do. Certainly the track records there with you,
Speaker 1: Mey Graham. But when you lose a playmaker like Randall
Speaker 1: Cobb a year after using a playmaker like Jordy Nelson,
Speaker 1: Packers need new talent to emerge. The exciting thing for
Speaker 1: them is I think there's a lot of really good
Speaker 1: candidates at the receiver position. We saw some hints of
Speaker 1: it last year. Mark Quez Valdes, Scantling Geronoo Allison is
Speaker 1: healthy again after the core muscle injury. But it's one
Speaker 1: thing to have that potential, it's another thing to turn
Speaker 1: it into production. And I think as they go into
Speaker 1: this year's training camp, this year's preseason, seeing which one
Speaker 1: of those guys kind of grabs the brass ring and
Speaker 1: establishes themselves in this offense. The quarterbacks there, the scheme
Speaker 1: is there with Matt Laflour, They just need that young
Speaker 1: talent to emerge. They feel good about it, but again,
Speaker 1: it has to be accomplished on the field. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think when you look at the skill positions on offense,
Speaker 1: that's really where the attention is. And I don't mean
Speaker 1: to discount what's going on in the offensive line when
Speaker 1: you have Billy Turner stepping in as a new starter,
Speaker 1: Lane Taylor coming back being healthy in an off season
Speaker 1: for the first time in a couple of years, and
Speaker 1: an All Pro at left tackle, and David bakt In
Speaker 1: a future Pro bowler. I think in Corey Lindsley, Brian Bulaga,
Speaker 1: all those guys. But when I look at the skill
Speaker 1: positions West you mentioned Jimmy Graham. He made no bones
Speaker 1: about the fact that he his first season in Green
Speaker 1: Bay did not go the way he wanted. You look
Speaker 1: at running back, I think Aaron Jones is a potential
Speaker 1: star in the making in this league and in this offense.
Speaker 1: Jamal Williams is a proven guy after a couple of years.
Speaker 1: And then where does Dexter Williams fit into the mix
Speaker 1: as a sixth round pick out of Notre Dame with
Speaker 1: a lot of potential. And then at wide receiver, it's
Speaker 1: Davante Adams and right now a whole bunch of other
Speaker 1: guys right mvs. Geroni, Moyallison, e q st Brown, Jamond Moore, Jakumero,
Speaker 1: Trevor Davis coming back after a year sort of lost
Speaker 1: to injury. You might say, there's a lot to pay
Speaker 1: attention to here. You got any I guess early inclinations
Speaker 1: at wide receiver as to maybe how you see this
Speaker 1: shaking out the guys that really impressed me in this
Speaker 1: offseason program or obviously gern wo Allison and Marquis about
Speaker 1: this scantling Allison just because of the shape he returns
Speaker 1: in um he he looked like he was built for
Speaker 1: a big role this year. You can tell he put
Speaker 1: the time in. He got back from that core muscle injury,
Speaker 1: and it looked like a guy that could potentially play
Speaker 1: in the slot. He's certainly proven himself outside. I think
Speaker 1: he brings that multifaceted sort of skill set that Matt
Speaker 1: Lafour once out of the receivers from MVSS perspective, this
Speaker 1: is a guy that averaged what over fifteen yards per
Speaker 1: catch last season. He had thirty eight catches for six
Speaker 1: yards or whatever it was. I mean, he's a big
Speaker 1: play target and I think he has a field stretching
Speaker 1: scheme that's really going to help him in that regard.
Speaker 1: The guy that flew under the radar though, was Trevor Davis.
Speaker 1: I thought Trevor Davis had a really strong offseason program
Speaker 1: during the practices that were open to the media. We
Speaker 1: all know what he can do as a returner. He
Speaker 1: established himself in two thousand seventeen is one of the
Speaker 1: top returners in the league. But he also was making
Speaker 1: some plays on the offensive side of the ball. People
Speaker 1: sometimes forget when you think of Gjeroni Wilson going in
Speaker 1: his fourth year, so is Trevor Davis. I mean, this
Speaker 1: isn't a guy that just showed up out of nowhere.
Speaker 1: I mean he was a fifth round pick and now
Speaker 1: in his fourth NFL season. He has experience, he has speed,
Speaker 1: needs to put it together. Now. Yeah, the tight end position,
Speaker 1: I think is is one to watch as well. With
Speaker 1: regard to you have Jimmy Graham, you have another veteran
Speaker 1: in Marcedes Lewis, but the Packers made an investment in
Speaker 1: the draft in j Sternberger at at tight end. We've
Speaker 1: gotten a lot of questions and Insider Inbox about him.
Speaker 1: You and I both have talked about the the timeline
Speaker 1: the development of tight ends in this league. It's not overnight.
Speaker 1: The transition from being a college tight end to an
Speaker 1: NFL one is significant. And I pointed this out in
Speaker 1: our Insider Inbox column earlier this week in that you
Speaker 1: look at Jamichael Finley in two thousand and eight, he
Speaker 1: was a third round draft pick, a young guy without
Speaker 1: a lot of college experience because he had red shirted,
Speaker 1: played two years at Texas declared for the draft. Sternberger
Speaker 1: was a junior college guy one year in the SEC
Speaker 1: declares for the draft. I'm not saying Sternburger is going
Speaker 1: to be the next jere Michael Finley, but you're Michael
Speaker 1: Finley for as productive and dynamic of players. He became
Speaker 1: his first twenty two games in the NFL West, two
Speaker 1: touchdowns and one game with more than fifty six yards receiving.
Speaker 1: It doesn't happen overnight at the position. But a guy
Speaker 1: like Ja Sternberger, He's got Jimmy Graham and Marcedes Lewis
Speaker 1: in front of him. He couldn't ask to be in
Speaker 1: a better position room to get his NFL career start,
Speaker 1: and he has Robert Twyan pushing him for playing time
Speaker 1: to I like the competition that's brewing in that room.
Speaker 1: From Sternberger's perspective, That's exactly what I've said since day one,
Speaker 1: since the moment they draft him. I'm sure you could
Speaker 1: roll back the film of our of our conversations, is
Speaker 1: that it's going to be a patience thing with him
Speaker 1: understanding what he did and how as impressive as it
Speaker 1: was in one year of Texas and A and Texas
Speaker 1: A and M it was one year, you have to
Speaker 1: be able to build on that. You have to become
Speaker 1: a complete and full tight end. That going to be
Speaker 1: the learning process for him. The nice thing for the
Speaker 1: Packers perspective, what I really liked about the approach that
Speaker 1: Brian Goodkin's took here is he's given Jimmy Graham another shot.
Speaker 1: They brought back Marcedes Lewis. And I really think Robert
Speaker 1: Tonyan's a find. I think he has a skill set,
Speaker 1: especially on special teams that lends himself to that number
Speaker 1: three tight end position that I think he can contribute.
Speaker 1: But the one thing I just want to point out,
Speaker 1: and I don't disagree with Jimmy Graham. I know he
Speaker 1: feels like there was yards left out, their touchdowns left
Speaker 1: out there. But we tend to romanticize Jared Cook's two
Speaker 1: thousand and sixteen seasons so much. And I understand that
Speaker 1: Jimmy Graham played in all sixteen regular season games, but
Speaker 1: Graham had twice as many yards as Cooked it he
Speaker 1: had twice as many touchdowns even though it's only two.
Speaker 1: Then Cook did I think there's this idea that Jimmy
Speaker 1: Graham was going to come up and come in and
Speaker 1: put up thirteen yards and twelve touchdowns like he did
Speaker 1: in two thousand eleven. That isn't always how it works.
Speaker 1: I mean, that is a fleeting a couple of times
Speaker 1: a year type thing at the tight end position. The
Speaker 1: big thing for him is getting healthy, understanding how he
Speaker 1: fits in Matt Lafleur's offense, and b that go to
Speaker 1: target that Aaron Rodgers feels he can become. There's a
Speaker 1: reason why he's back, there's a reason why he's still here,
Speaker 1: and there's a reason why the Packers feel that this
Speaker 1: guy could be a different difference maker in this offense. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: when it comes to the offensive line, I do want
Speaker 1: to touch on this in that I think there's a
Speaker 1: lot of competition for the backup spots. It looks like
Speaker 1: the starting five based on what we saw in the
Speaker 1: offseason program during O t S and minicamp. Left right,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have Box, tr Taylor, Lindsley, Turner, Bologa. That
Speaker 1: seems to be the number one unit if everybody stays
Speaker 1: healthy and all of that. But the Packers have a
Speaker 1: number of guys and I'm not even sure West if
Speaker 1: there's going to be room for all of them on
Speaker 1: the fifty three man roster. But the Packers have a
Speaker 1: number of backup offensive linemen who have game experience, who
Speaker 1: have fifty three man roster experience. I'm talking about Justin McCray, Lucas, Patrick,
Speaker 1: Alex Light, Jason Spriggs, all of these, all of these
Speaker 1: guys who are going to be the reserves on the
Speaker 1: offensive line. That competition and how it shakes out, and
Speaker 1: how many offensive linemen end up being kept in the
Speaker 1: versatility maybe guys you know, being able to fill in
Speaker 1: at some different positions. All that is going to factor
Speaker 1: in to some interesting competition at that spot. It's the
Speaker 1: deepest group of offensive lineman the Packers have had during
Speaker 1: my time on the beat. I don't know if you
Speaker 1: can speak to that as well as long as you've
Speaker 1: been here. But the fact that you have a starting five,
Speaker 1: as I wrote in the Countdown the Camp series, that
Speaker 1: has three five starts in the NFL. Billy Turner can
Speaker 1: play right tackle if you need him to. He's made
Speaker 1: starts on the left side as well. And then you
Speaker 1: look at those reserves, I think you got right now.
Speaker 1: You have Lucas Patrick, Justin mccraie, and Cole Madison who
Speaker 1: returned to the team. They're all going to be competing
Speaker 1: for those interior offensive line spots. I think you're gonna
Speaker 1: see Adam Panky and and Nowlex Light trying to push
Speaker 1: Jason Spriggs for the outside tackle position in that reserve
Speaker 1: you know area, there is going to be a lot
Speaker 1: of talent out there, and I think when you see
Speaker 1: the second team third team offensive line during the preseason,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be as competitive a group as you seen
Speaker 1: at least during you know, the last ten years. I
Speaker 1: just I see so much talent. I see a lot
Speaker 1: of young guys. And I'm not even talking about Elton Jenkins,
Speaker 1: who was the second round pick, who by the way,
Speaker 1: started two years at the center. Looks like he's gonna
Speaker 1: be focusing more at the guard position right now, but
Speaker 1: he gives you that flexibility to if you're not a starter,
Speaker 1: you have to be able to do more than one thing.
Speaker 1: And I think when you look at this array of
Speaker 1: talent the Packers have at that reserve spot, there are
Speaker 1: guys that can plug in different spots. The big question
Speaker 1: is going to be it's when we can't answer for
Speaker 1: five weeks, but how many spots do you ultimately go
Speaker 1: with depending on how that roster looks at the end
Speaker 1: of August. Yeah. Absolutely. And one last thing before we
Speaker 1: move on to the defensive side of the ball, the
Speaker 1: backup quarterback Battle West. I don't know what you think.
Speaker 1: I think it's wide open. Uh, Deshaun Kaiser, Tim Boyle,
Speaker 1: Manny Wilkins, the undrafted rookie from Arizona State, would be
Speaker 1: the dark horse in the race obviously. But I've been
Speaker 1: asked this an insider in box numerous times and I've
Speaker 1: kept giving the same answer. I don't know who it's
Speaker 1: going to be, and I don't even know. I'm not
Speaker 1: even comfortable enough to say which guy. If there is
Speaker 1: a guy who's a favorite right now heading into training camp,
Speaker 1: I think it's wide open, and these guys are gonna
Speaker 1: play a lot to Mike. I think even Manny Wilkins
Speaker 1: is going to get a lot of opportunities this preseason.
Speaker 1: Because you know, this is a conversation for another day.
Speaker 1: I don't know how much Aaron Rodgers is going to
Speaker 1: play in this preseason. The third game, where traditionally has
Speaker 1: been your big game for the offense, the first team
Speaker 1: offense is going to be played in Canada. How does
Speaker 1: that affect things. I think you're gonna see Tim Boyle
Speaker 1: get a lot of opportunities under center. Deshaun Kaiser, as
Speaker 1: the presumptive number two, is going to get those opportunities
Speaker 1: as well. But each of those practices is going to
Speaker 1: be important. It's gonna be important to show, as I
Speaker 1: wrote an insider in box this past week, the Packers
Speaker 1: that they made the right decision not going out and
Speaker 1: finding a veteran quarterback to bring in a backup, somebody
Speaker 1: that that would be off the market, that probably would
Speaker 1: cost a couple million dollars, that has a wrecked track
Speaker 1: record in that regard. Brian Goodak instant go that way.
Speaker 1: He stood by Kaiser, who they made a trade for
Speaker 1: last year, still only twenty three years old. All the
Speaker 1: potential in the world has an NFL build, has an
Speaker 1: NFL arm just trying to hone in some of those
Speaker 1: small characteristics, the accuracy and whatnot. And then Boyle, who
Speaker 1: I saw one article that said he's put on even
Speaker 1: more arm strength this offseason. I made a joke about
Speaker 1: how he's gonna break the sound barrier with that. I
Speaker 1: just think that the training camper ups are gonna be important.
Speaker 1: But these preseason games, man, they are going to be
Speaker 1: imperative to show that those guys can be the number two. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you're right, and that those young guys it's up
Speaker 1: to them to show to reward the faith that Brian
Speaker 1: Gouda Kunts in the front office has shown in them
Speaker 1: by giving them this opportunity here in on the defensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball. To me, the biggest story is
Speaker 1: simply how do all the new pieces fit together for
Speaker 1: Mike Petton. You've got two brand new outside linebackers in
Speaker 1: Preston Smith and Zadarius Smith. You drafted an outside linebacker
Speaker 1: in the first round, and Rashawn Gary at safety. You
Speaker 1: got Adrian Amos the free agent acquisition, and another first
Speaker 1: round pick in Darnell Savage. The new pieces and how
Speaker 1: this all comes together with Mike Petton. It's been quite
Speaker 1: an off season on outside of the ball in Green Bay,
Speaker 1: and uh, it's time to get it started. So when
Speaker 1: was the last time you picked up a controller and
Speaker 1: played the Madden video game? What year was in? At
Speaker 1: least ten years okay, at least ten years ago. This
Speaker 1: reminds me. I don't know if they had franchise mode
Speaker 1: back there, but it almost reminds me of like you
Speaker 1: get that first off season when you start playing the
Speaker 1: game and you start to fiddle with the roster a
Speaker 1: little bit. You sign guys, you draft guys. That's as
Speaker 1: close to I think the Packers actual roster looking like,
Speaker 1: particularly on the defensive side of the ball. To that strategy.
Speaker 1: I mean, they just it was wholesale changes across the board,
Speaker 1: and I think that's exciting. I've written about it so
Speaker 1: many times. My fingernails are coming off the hinges here
Speaker 1: during the off season about how this group is going
Speaker 1: to come together, because there is all the talent in
Speaker 1: the world. They got two of the top pass rushers
Speaker 1: on the market this offseason, they got one of the
Speaker 1: top safeties on the market this offseason. And then, by
Speaker 1: the way, those two first round picks that we talked
Speaker 1: this past year about, they were both used on the
Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball. Now, Gary looked explosive, he
Speaker 1: looked great, I thought during the offseason. But this has
Speaker 1: to be the Smith Show in two thousand nineteen. That's
Speaker 1: why President is it Arius are here. Seeing how they
Speaker 1: adapt to Mike Petton scheme is going to be exciting.
Speaker 1: And seeing how Darnell Savage matches up with Adrian Amos
Speaker 1: and and how those two potential pieces fit together. The veteran,
Speaker 1: the youngster that's the first round pick. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of dynamic play there. And that's not even talking about
Speaker 1: the cornerback position with JayR Alexander coming back after what
Speaker 1: he did a year ago. Yeah, well, let's talk about
Speaker 1: that cornerback position because you and I have talked about
Speaker 1: it before this defense last year. In my opinion, this
Speaker 1: defense had its best stretches when Kevin King and JayR
Speaker 1: Alexander were on the field together as the one and
Speaker 1: two cornerbacks whatever order you want to put them in.
Speaker 1: The problem was that with injuries to King and a
Speaker 1: couple of minor injuries to Alexander, they weren't on the
Speaker 1: field very much together at all. So to me, that's
Speaker 1: a huge element of this Mike Petton defense taking the
Speaker 1: leap for it in year two and being able to
Speaker 1: play at its best for an extended stretch is for
Speaker 1: those two guys. And then you're developing guys like Josh
Speaker 1: Jackson and maybe a Tony Brown behind them, and you
Speaker 1: have the veteran and Tremont Williams at corner in that
Speaker 1: top four or five mix as well. But it's it's
Speaker 1: that those one two guys. It hinges on that to me,
Speaker 1: so that Mike Patton isn't trying to play this mix
Speaker 1: and match and scramble game to figure out, Okay, how
Speaker 1: am I going to do this because one of my
Speaker 1: top corners is sitting out all the time. There are
Speaker 1: three keys that I established when I kept going back
Speaker 1: and looking over this defense throughout the off season. Three keys,
Speaker 1: specifically in the secondary, I think will be tied to
Speaker 1: the Packers having the kind of season they want to
Speaker 1: have on defense, particularly against the passing game. One, Kevin
Speaker 1: King being healthy. If Kevin King can play in fifteen
Speaker 1: or sixteen games this year, the secondary is going to
Speaker 1: be singing. Secondly, Jr. Alexander taking a year to jump
Speaker 1: after everything he brought to the table in year one,
Speaker 1: when and everything, But even more so than that, if
Speaker 1: Rush Jackson can learn from what he did as a
Speaker 1: rookie and put that towards being a consistent contributor in
Speaker 1: his second year, it's gonna be really valuable for this defense.
Speaker 1: Josh Jackson played a lot mike if you look back
Speaker 1: on it as a rookie, saw action in all sixteen games,
Speaker 1: believe he started ten of them. There were the highs,
Speaker 1: there were the lows, but working through that and becoming
Speaker 1: that eight interception guy that he was at Iowa. If
Speaker 1: you get those three pieces going together and can keep
Speaker 1: them on the field together, along with your Truman Williams
Speaker 1: and your Tony Brown's and you know Kadar Holman having
Speaker 1: a really strong offseason. You get that group filled out,
Speaker 1: you get that versatility together. Jai Alexander said it. They
Speaker 1: have the pass rush now to get home, to be
Speaker 1: able to force quarterbacks into bad situations, and a lot
Speaker 1: of young ballhawks that can go and really capitalize on
Speaker 1: those opportunities. Yeah, when you look up front on the
Speaker 1: defensive side, I think if I were to pick one
Speaker 1: position across the board for the Packers, where all else
Speaker 1: being equal as far as injuries not necessarily making decisions
Speaker 1: for people, if there's one position, I think the Packers
Speaker 1: might have a really tough cut coming. As far as
Speaker 1: a guy they really don't want to let go, but
Speaker 1: they're going to be forced to just based on the numbers.
Speaker 1: I think it might be the defensive lines because you've
Speaker 1: got Kenny Clark and Mike Daniels. They had some injuries
Speaker 1: last year. They are back. You don't have Mohammed Wilkerson
Speaker 1: as far as that big three we were all talking
Speaker 1: about last year, but with those injuries up front, Dean
Speaker 1: Lowry got a lot more playing time, and he really
Speaker 1: came on strong at the end of the year. Tyler
Speaker 1: Lancaster came on strong at the end of the year,
Speaker 1: so did Montravius Adams. Then you add a draft pick
Speaker 1: in Kingsley Kiki to the mix, another young guy like
Speaker 1: Fidel Brown who flashed here and there. I don't know
Speaker 1: if the Packers are going to have room for everybody
Speaker 1: that they really believe belongs on an NFL roster on
Speaker 1: the defensive line, because they've put together a really nice
Speaker 1: up and coming young group behind a veteran like Mike
Speaker 1: Daniels who's going to be ending a contract here himself.
Speaker 1: It's really interesting to Mike. There were years, especially to
Speaker 1: going back to my days at the Press, because that
Speaker 1: they had asked us to cut the roster. You know,
Speaker 1: during the offseason. He has to cut the roster before
Speaker 1: the start of the regular season. And there would be years,
Speaker 1: I'm not kidding you where I would look at the
Speaker 1: defensive front and I'd kind of be like, Okay, I
Speaker 1: gotta find five guys here. And that's not a disrespect
Speaker 1: to some of those defenses, but there just wasn't that depth.
Speaker 1: There was a reason why they went and drafted, you know,
Speaker 1: Kenny Clark. There's a reason why they tried to get
Speaker 1: Dayton Jones in two thousand thirteen. They needed to really
Speaker 1: deepen that preserve. In talking with Mike Daniels earlyer this offseason,
Speaker 1: they've kind of done that. Now you have Daniels coming
Speaker 1: back off the foot. I think it's his expectation to
Speaker 1: be back here early on. We'll see exactly how that
Speaker 1: situation plays out. But Kenny Clark's a guy that played
Speaker 1: the snaps last year when he was healthy and wasn't
Speaker 1: complaining about He actually looked even better. Things you can
Speaker 1: get away with when you're twenty three years old. But
Speaker 1: Dean Lowrie quietly had the best year of his career.
Speaker 1: I thought you saw Tyler Lancaster come out of relative
Speaker 1: nowhere if you look at it from an undrafted perspect
Speaker 1: maybe even though the Packers felt pretty good about him.
Speaker 1: He came up from the practice squad when Kenny Clark
Speaker 1: was down. He was there starting nose tackle for three weeks,
Speaker 1: and by the way, they actually defended the run pretty
Speaker 1: well during those three weeks. You have montrevious Adams needs
Speaker 1: to really show that he can be the player of
Speaker 1: the Packers felt he was three years ago, and then Kiki,
Speaker 1: I think is such a great prospect for them because
Speaker 1: as he settles into his body and they figure out
Speaker 1: an exact role for him, I think the one drawback
Speaker 1: to how he was used in colleges he never really
Speaker 1: got to be one guy. He had to be a
Speaker 1: number of different guys. And then, not to mention, on
Speaker 1: third downs, you're gonna see guys like you know, Zadarius
Speaker 1: Smith move inside. So I'm just it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: really difficult decision on the defensive lines sometimes, you know,
Speaker 1: out of hand causes, you know, change the game a
Speaker 1: little bit. Not wishing for any injuries whatsoever, but seeing
Speaker 1: how those roles get filled, and then also how much
Speaker 1: playing time trickles down past you know the Clarks and
Speaker 1: Lowry's and and obviously the Mike Daniels is gonna be
Speaker 1: really interesting to watch. Yeah, well, one guy we didn't
Speaker 1: talk about yet on the defensive side, but he's a
Speaker 1: nice transition into the special team's discussion, and that's Orn
Speaker 1: Burke's at inside linebacker. He's a guy who looks like
Speaker 1: he's ready and prepared to seize that other inside linebacker spot.
Speaker 1: On defense next to Blake Martinez, and then it's Burke's
Speaker 1: and another inside linebacker and James Crawford, who maybe two
Speaker 1: of the guys who are looked to, as you know
Speaker 1: the quote unquote Bell Cows the real leaders on special teams.
Speaker 1: As the Packers under a new coordinator looking to really
Speaker 1: revamp their special teams and get away from all the
Speaker 1: penalties and all the problems with the field position and
Speaker 1: everything that you really hindered the team on both sides
Speaker 1: of the ball. Frankly in teens, so um special teams
Speaker 1: to me, when I I look back to Crawford and Burkes,
Speaker 1: they were solid special teams players for the Packers last year,
Speaker 1: and those guys had one penalty apiece out of all
Speaker 1: those penalties that were on special teams. So these are
Speaker 1: the guys that can lead the way and get everybody else,
Speaker 1: get everybody else to follow and lean up that that
Speaker 1: aspect of the game. Just to close up and put
Speaker 1: the book end on the defensive conversation, oren Bergs, A
Speaker 1: lot of people have asked, is he going to be
Speaker 1: the guy next to Blake Martinez? Obviously looks like that
Speaker 1: in early down situations. His competition, though, is not going
Speaker 1: to be Crawford. It's not gonna be Tie Summers. It's
Speaker 1: going to be showing that he can be on the
Speaker 1: field on third downs and stay ahead of some of
Speaker 1: those defensive backs there that also have gotten those opportunities
Speaker 1: on special teams. The thing Seanmaninga talked about from the
Speaker 1: day he got hired was aggression and discipline. Burke's and
Speaker 1: Crawford are both two guys that epitomized that if you
Speaker 1: could have eleven James Crawford's on the field, you're gonna
Speaker 1: have one of the better special teams units in the
Speaker 1: league because of how he's able to tow that line
Speaker 1: and be able to play within himself without drawing those
Speaker 1: unnecessary penalty negative yardage. That being said, this is going
Speaker 1: to be a big change for the Packers. They said
Speaker 1: they need to be able to establish some veteran leaders
Speaker 1: on that group, and then Crawford's one of them. I
Speaker 1: think Burke's can be one of them, depending on how
Speaker 1: much he's utilized on defense. But being able to establish
Speaker 1: those guys and also keep some guys healthy so you
Speaker 1: don't have to keep cycling people through that's going to
Speaker 1: be the challenge here. In addition to just being able
Speaker 1: to play fundamentally, so that would certainly help. Well, we
Speaker 1: are about out of time, so we're going to call
Speaker 1: it a wrap on this edition of Training Camp preview
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team on Packers dot com as training
Speaker 1: camp gets underway, and we'll be with you regularly now
Speaker 1: for shows throughout training camp, and then we'll crank up
Speaker 1: to our five days a week during the regular season.
Speaker 1: You're ready for that, I hope, So, I hope my
Speaker 1: wife sticks around, but yeah, I think I think I
Speaker 1: should be okay. All right with that? We will sign
Speaker 1: off on Twitter. He is at west hot I am
Speaker 1: at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks
Speaker 1: for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.