August 28, 2023 • 24 mins
Mike and Wes discuss the preseason finale vs. Seattle (1:29), the sharp rise up the depth chart of T Rasheed Walker and WR Malik Heath (4:40), their selections for the most impressive rookie draft picks (7:53), the situation as it stands with the specialists (12:39), and the timeline for the pending roster decisions (16:49).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spoffer, joined as always
by my trusted colleague West and Hodkitz, who actually has
Vince Lombardi behind him just like I do. As we
come to you from different locations here at Lanmbelfield and Wes.
We are told, and we've been being allowed to say
(00:28):
this on the show, that this is the last zoom
episode of Unscripted. We will be back in the studio
with new cameras and a whole new setup and everything
for our next show. But for now here we are.
But yeah, Vince is in your background as well as mine.
That's actually kind of cool.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, it really is. And the Lombardi Show you can
call this one. No, I mean, the thing about it is,
I mean, obviously we're in a big transition right now
with our control room, and as much as I want
to be back in your physical presence and be able
to work off of each other and have that real
inner per dialogue, this past like four or five months
kind of brought me back to COVID a little bit.
When I'm sitting in my attic and you're sitting in
(01:07):
your living room or your office, whatever it was, and
kind of just making this whole thing work. But you know,
the beautiful thing about.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It, we figure it out as we go, right.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
The beautiful thing about is we have some incredible microphones.
So for the people that actually just listen to this
as a podcast probably have never actually seen anything different.
But I certainly am looking forward to being back and
doing these things up close and personal.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Yeah, well, for this episode we posted, we recorded and
posted a little bit early because we needed to get
this done prior to all of the news that is
going to happen on Tuesday, Tuesday afternoon with regard to
the roster reductions, and we will get to some thoughts
outlining that in a minute, but first to recap the
(01:51):
Packers pre season finale against the Seattle Seahawks wes the
final tune up for the starters, and of course, in
that regard, most of the attention all month long has
been on Jordan Love and the offense. That's where so
much youth on the Green Bay Packers resides. And for
the third straight game, Jordan Love and the number one
(02:11):
offense produced a touchdown in their brief cameo, and yeah,
some things could have gone a little bit better, a
little bit smoother. But to score a touchdown in each
of the three preseason games with your new starting quarterback,
that's not a bad way to go into the regular season.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
And to end, you know, and all those games feeling
pretty good about yourself. I mean, it went from Cincinnati
to New England to you know, that finale against the
the Seahawks, you know, all three times I think it
was like, oh, the offense got better today. I felt like,
you know, one of the arguments I made for playing
love and the starters in these games was the ability
to maximize the reps afforded to you during training camp,
(02:50):
and we said from day one, Mike, the Packers needed
every single one of them they can get, whether it's
the public practices, the private practices, any of them. This
is one of the big things that you have to
go about doing. So I really look at it, as
you know, fifteen plays, eighty yards, talking to Christian Watson
about it afterwards, it was all the things that happened
(03:11):
on that series that make me feel really confident about
where the Packers are heading. Offensively, it's vanilla defenses, Mike,
But as we talk about, if you don't move the
ball against vanilla defenses. That's also a cause for concern.
The Packers were able to do that. They did it
with a left tackle and Rashid Walker, who had played
four special team snaps a year earlier. Now he's blocking
(03:32):
the blind side of Jordan Love. Well, David Baktiari sits
out of the preseason game. You did it with Patrick
Taylor in Emmanuel Wilson cycling in the background. You did
it with Malik Heath, an undrafted free agent, catching a
big slant route for fifteen yards. Oh and then, by
the way, when it came time for paydert sixty yard
touchdown to Christian Watson. And as Watson told us afterwards,
(03:52):
that's a one on one play that he expects to
make and the Packers hope to continue making this season.
I thought, for Jordan Love's final audition here before we
get in regular season, it was an absolutely outstanding performance.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Yeah, I think I think the Packers offense feels pretty
good about itself heading into the regular season. Obviously, they
know they didn't necessarily face everybody's number ones on the
defensive side of the ball. Nobody's you know, nobody's saying
they've got this all figured out or anything like that.
They got the reps they needed, they put points on
the board on a fairly regular basis. They started to
(04:25):
smooth smooth some things out, and now things will shift
into the whole game planning phase. This isn't you know,
it's not just practicing the playbook anymore. It's going to
be starting to game plan for the Chicago Bears in
Week one. But in your last comment you mentioned two
players that I think are worth talking about here within
(04:45):
the context of guys who made a you know, it's
it's a it's a cliche meteoric rise, but I'll say
it anyway, A rise of that type up the depth
chart in this training camp and preseason. And I'm talking
about Rashid Walker on the offensive line and maliek Heath
in the receiving corps. Rashid Walker, as you mentioned, a
(05:09):
seventh round pick a year ago, took in some senses,
took a red shirt year as a rookie here in
Green Bay, and now by the end of his second
training camp he is the number two left tackle. He
was the guy filling in the back half of training
camp for David Baktiari when he was not lined up
(05:30):
with the first unit. And then maliek Heath, an undrafted receiver.
We know this is a young receiving corps. There were
three draft picks that were brought in, but by the
end of training camp in the final preseason game, Malik
Heath is out there running with the ones, catching passes
from Jordan love In in that final preseason game. Those
(05:50):
are two guys that at the beginning of training camp
we wouldn't have said that we're gonna be, you know,
spending a whole lot of time talking about them, but
their rise individually up the depth chart at their respective
positions very impressive.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Absolutely, and it's starting off with Walker. I asked, you know,
Sean Clifford after the game on Saturday. You know Clifford
that was his left tackle at Penn State. Yeah, for
I believe two years. And you know he even said
he's like, you watch his film from a year ago
to watching it now, not even just looking at the
Penn State stuff, just in Green Bay, just seeing the
quantum leap that Walker made and the story I keep
(06:24):
telling people, Mike, if you go back to the twenty
twenty one NFL Draft and you have those immediate like, hey,
what you know, way too early predictions for the draft
for the following year. There are a lot of pundits
out there that thought that Rashid Walker was going to
be a first round pick the next year, and unfortunately,
some injuries and things happened. He ends up falling to
the Packers in the seventh and the actual twenty twenty
(06:45):
two NFL Draft virtually red shirts. It comes back this
year looking to be at a completely stacked position with
yosh Naiman coming back on the tender. Certainly you had,
you know, Zach Tom looking like he's going to start somewhere,
and here comes Rashid Walker. And not just the fact that, okay,
he made this big improvement, the fact that the Packers
trusted him enough to block the blind side of Jordan
Love in two preseason games in which they're going to
(07:07):
be under the microscope, wanting to make sure that he
stays healthy. I think that showed a lot of faith
in him. And then from a Leak Heath standpoint, now
again we're gonna post this, We're gonna see how everything
shakes out. But guys who I thought made a great
account of themselves as undrafted rookies as college free agents.
I don't think, really, Milie Heath could have done much
more to impress this team, and precious coaching staff led
(07:28):
the Packers with receiving in the preseason and in every
opportunity he was given, I thought absolutely capitalized on it.
For a guy that came in as a backdoor college
free agent to be starting with the number one offense
in that preseason finale and even getting those work those
reps in practice the week leading up to it, I
think really speaks volumes about what the coaching staff thought
(07:50):
of him and the camp that Heath really put together
in Green Bay. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Absolutely, Well, another question I want to throw your way
with this training camp in pre season now in the books,
and we talk a lot about the rookies, of course,
and where they are and how they're going to fit in.
So the twenty twenty three draft class for the Packers,
which draft pick impressed you the most over the past month.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Luke Musgrave, just because I thought the strides he made
from day one to where it ended, I mean, he's
going to be asked to fill a really pivotal role
in this offense now, especially with Tyler Davis out for
the year. You know, Joside Deguar has a lot of experience,
but he's used more as an h back. When they
go to eleven personnel packages in the middle of the field,
you're going to see number eighty eight quite a bit.
(08:35):
And I felt like the Packers that you know, they
made an investment towards the future, the highest they've drafted
a tight end in twenty three years since Bubba Franks,
when they took Musgrave at number forty two, and you
saw the speed, you saw the length, you saw the legs,
you saw all the things that fit with him. But
I like the grind that he kind of was on
throughout camp. He didn't rest on his athleticism. He wants
(08:56):
to do the nitty gritty parts of the tight end
position as well. A lot of these guys, I think
on paper, we had a really good idea of what
these prospects are going to look like. Loose Luke Musgrave,
especially coming off of that injury, was the guy that
I thought impressed me the most in terms of what
he offered to this football team that went beyond the
resume and the draft grades that ultimately got him selected
(09:17):
in the second round.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Yeah, and my selection with regard to this is actually
going to be from the same round of the draft,
the second round, and it's it's Jayden Reid, the wide
receiver from Michigan State. He from almost the moment he
began taking reps with the number one offense, he just
has looked like he fits this offense, that he's he
(09:38):
is what the Packers have been looking for in that role.
They tried Amari Rodgers as a draft pick, they tried
a veteran like Taevon Austin a couple of years back.
They've tried different guys in that slot role. Obviously Randall
Cobb was here, and no offense to Randall Cobb. Jayden
Reid looks like he fits this offense better than Randall
Cobb ever did. And what he's done as a rookie
(10:02):
and what appears to be his very extensive knowledge of
the playbook and the connection that he's developed with Jordan
Love in a very short time. You said it, Musgrave
is going to play a big role in this offense.
I think Jaden Reid is going to play just as
big a role in this offense as a rookie, and
Packers are going to They're going to have some growing
pains on offense because they're going to be counting on
(10:23):
young guys like this who have so much to learn
and so much to figure out. And it is such
a long season. It is such a grind, especially for
rookies who have gone through all of that pre draft
stuff and then and then after you get drafted, then
you get thrown into a rookie mini camp, and then
you're thrown into OTAs with the veterans and mandatory mini camp.
You get about a month of a break and then
(10:44):
you've got to be, you know, in training camp full
speed ahead, and you're the one. You're the guys who
are taking a bunch of snaps in the preseason games
because the coaches want to get you ready because they're
going to be counting on you. This is going to
be a long haul for these rookie draft picks that
the Packers are going to be counting on. But both
Jade and Reid and Luke Musgrave sure look like they're
(11:05):
ready to play those big roles.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
And kids, if you ever wanted to have that testimonial
or that decision of whether or not to play football,
or what it's going to take to accept the excel
at the NFL level. Just run back that Mike Spofford's
speech right there, because I'll tell you what, I don't
think I would have been tough enough to handle it myself.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
I wouldn't have been the other thing I love.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
About Reid too. So many years I said this to
you during the game on Saturday. But so many years.
You know, people want to protect looks and all you
want to get to. But packers are running end a
rounds of Jayden Reid. They don't care if they put
it on film, They'll do it in practice whatever. Because
again I think it's not some trick play. This is
going to be this young man's role in the offense
and they want to get those reps down. An explosive
young player. And as we've talked about time and time again,
(11:46):
Matt Arvin, our beloved Matt Arvin here in the game
presentation department. He loves Jayden Reid from the beginning. A
Michigan State alumnus, always took a liking to this kid
coming out of you know, that part of the country.
But I'll tell you what, he lived up to the hype.
And I just think there's fast twitch, muscle fiber there.
I love the way he catches the football. I just
(12:06):
feel like he's going to be a difference maker and
a needle mover and a guy that's going to help
you move the chains in might. The more you talk
about this football team, if they stay healthy, they have
so many of these guys, right, Musgrave falls in that
category obviously, as we just talked about with Heath. With Reed,
you have Heath potentially in that equation. Samori two Rays
could potentially be coming back. And then, by the way,
we're not even talking about Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs. Yeah.
(12:28):
And when you're talking about a ceiling for a football
team and being on the younger side of things and
wanting to see where youth can take you, I mean,
there's so many guys to be excited about on this ride.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah, and you talk about youth potentially putting points on
the board. You got six round draft pick Onders Carlson,
a kicker who made a fifty seven yard field goal
at Lambo. The interesting thing to me, because we've talked
about a lot of his ups and downs and everything
that he went through when Anders Carlson was kicking in
lambeau Field.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
This summer time.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
He was smarting Odden with every exactly I mean, his
his his downs in terms of the ups and downs
they took. That took place on the practice field over
at Nichki, you know a little bit in Cincinnati and in
that first preseason game when he's been kicking in lambeau
Field Family Knight. The preseason games he's been, uh, he's
(13:17):
been as good as anyone. And the Packers are are
ready to ready to roll. There there is one and
this is relates to Anders Carlson. There is one roster
move that the Packers did make before we turned on
the cameras to tape this, and that is they have
decided to go young at punter with Daniel Wheeland. The
(13:37):
veteran pad O'Donnell has been released, and of course that
impacts Carlson because Daniel Wheelan will be his holder on
place kicks. An interesting decision here for the Packers. But
but you know, Brian gudakuns to he He's dropped all
kinds of hints every time he has spoken with the
media over the last several months. He's dropped all kinds
(13:59):
of hints that he is not afraid to go young.
He is not afraid to put together a young team
that he sees potentially growing together. And this initial roster
move on Monday that was made at punter certainly speaks
to that.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
It does, Mike, because Pat o'donald is one of the
three guys the Packers have that was actually over thirty
years old, you know, a very young football team. He
was one of the guys that you know, tended to
lean a little bit more towards that veterans side first
and foremost. You know, we're taping this. We got to
get to see what the initial fifty three looks like.
But if this does work out this way, that Wheeland
(14:33):
did in fact make the team, I saw a couple
of things online. I believe he'll be the first Irish
born NFL player in thirty eight years. Certainly, you've got to,
you know, can't overstate the importance of the international part
of this, for the for the league and where he
comes from, and you know, his development and going to
UC Davis and you know, finding a way through the
(14:53):
XFL to get into the NFL. I mean, this kid's
story is pretty remarkable. And you know, you tip your
cat to him because I think so many times Mike,
you and I have covered these training camp battles, especially
at the specialist positions, when you know Tim Mastay and
Mason Crosby were here a lot of times. It was
they bring in some guys, but at the end of
the day, you got you got your two. You don't
really think too much about who that next guy is
(15:15):
going to be. And in Wheeland's case, he made himself undeniable,
I felt, I mean, he showed a world class foot
Both him and Pat o'donald are really tall, very well
built guys. I mean no disrespect to Jacob Schump, but
you know, you go back to shum and sixteen and
Jacob's just a little bit taller than I am. I
mean it was a smaller type of smaller type of punter.
And now you get these like really long lever guys
(15:36):
that could just put the ball, you know, miles down
the field. That's going to be the big thing. But
also the rapport in the development that's going to have
to happen with Whalan Wheelan and Andres Carlson because that's
a big part of the relationship too. I know, there
was so much trust that got built between Mason and
Pat last year I think that was a big calming
(15:57):
influence on Mason and being able to kind of get
back on track after the knee injury after some you know,
we saw in twenty twenty one how difficult things can
be at times if the wholer situation isn't quite figured
out so that they're going to grow together is the
biggest thing. But certainly the Green Bit Packers appreciated of
what padd O Donald brought and now going to see
what lies behind this next door.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yeah, well we'll take a further look at where things
stand with these roster cuts and the deadline and everything
in just a minute, West but some sponsor business First
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(16:37):
We have something for everyone like our Wisconsin cheese curds,
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with your favorite sub or sub and a bowl Cousin
subs fifty years of better. All right, The deadline is
three pm Central Time on Tuesday. The Packers will have
to have their roster reduced to the NFL mandated fifty
(16:59):
three plays. Then the waiver period goes until I believe
it's noon on Wednesday, and then once the waiver period
has passed and players have cleared waivers, then teams can
start signing players back to their practice squad. And of
course there are now sixteen spots on the practice squad,
(17:22):
so there's a lot there's gonna be a lot of
interest obviously in how this works out, because because honestly
wes going into this, we don't really know are the
how many how many running backs are the Packers going
to have on the fifty three? How many wide receivers
is going to be six? Is it going to be seven?
What are they going to do at tight end? Tyler
Davis who's out for the season, He was never really replaced.
(17:45):
So is that a spot where Brian Gutukunstan company will
be looking at the waiver wire to possibly claim somebody
or sign a veteran, you know, who gets released maybe unexpectedly.
There are all kinds of possibilities out there and we
just have to we just have to wait and see
what happens. Because, for as much as you can you
try to get a handle on it, and there's certain
(18:07):
things that you think you know, and this is how
this puzzle piece is going to fit here and there.
There is always something that happens at the roster cut
down deadline that surprises us that none of us really
saw coming. There's a decision made that the personal department's
been thinking about it, but they kept it under wraps
and and suddenly it's a it's a surprise to everyone.
(18:27):
So we'll just have to see what that might be
come Tuesday afternoon.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Yeah, it's very difficult. It's a tough situation, and obviously
your heart goes out to a lot of these guys
because these are their hopes and dreams. Mike. I mean,
there's so many guys I talked to and listen to
in the locker room after the game. I mean talking
about how you know, you got to keep a levelhead,
you have to stay focused. I know Emmanuel Wilson, I thought,
had a really interesting point about how he planned to
spend the day. And you know, he likes a journal.
(18:53):
He journals everything that he does. And you know there's
a by the Rookie Hotel, there's a late you a
little bit of body water down there. He was just
going to go down there and pray and just try
to stay as steady as you can be, because ultimately
the work is done. I mean now you just got
to kind of wait for the final results to show
themselves and then figure out, hey, is it fifty three,
is it practice squad? Is it somewhere else the NFL.
(19:15):
I think the hardest thing for me this time of
the year isn't even necessarily the guys that are just
on the bubble. It's the guys that you know that
are out there that maybe aren't going to get another
opportunity that they actually did play their last NFL football
or their last football game, and that Saturday night at
Lambeufield against the Seahawks. Because the story eventually for everybody
ends at some point. For me it was fifth grade,
(19:36):
but I mean for everybody, you know, there is that
turning of the page. So seeing the dreams come true
too is always fun. As I you know, I've been
well documented the eighteen year consecutive streak of the Packers
having at least one undrafted rookie make the week one
roster that had to get a little modified a couple
of years ago because of Chris Barnes not actually making
the initial fifty three, but then being brought on after
(19:58):
Kamal Martin is put on IRS, So I had to
make that slight modification. But when it comes to an
undrafted rookie making this team, it has been eighteen straight
years dating back to Ted Thompson's first year as general manager,
so that is probably always the underlying story of this,
seeing who potentially could be that guy, but also just
seeing how these positions, you know, ultimately sort out, right,
(20:19):
because depending on who you keep where has ramifications for
Rich Pasacia's special teams as well, and as we've seen
the last few years, a lot more emphasis being placed
on that with how the Packers build out their fifty three.
So it's a nerve wracking time, but it also is
an exciting time because now after months of conversation and
you know, reporting back for the offseason program four months ago,
(20:39):
now we finally get to see the twenty twenty three
off twenty twenty three Packers take form. Here as the
offense switches over to Jordan.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Love Yeah, and the other interesting piece to watch too. Now,
sometimes things happen, sometimes they don't, But this year the
Packers are the highest They've been in the waiver claim
order at this time of year since twenty nineteen, which
was the last time the Packers were coming off of
a non playoff season. So that's how you get that's
(21:08):
how you end up higher in the waiver claim order. Now,
back in twenty nineteen, the Packers didn't actually claim anybody
during this period of the roster cutdowns when they were
higher up in the order. We will see if that
potentially happens this time around or not. But when you're
sitting at I'm trying to remember now, is it fifteenth,
(21:28):
I believe the Packers are. That's you know, that's a
very different spot than when you're you know, twenty sixth
or twenty eight or you know, something like that when
certain players become available. So another thing to watch, and
there will be a lot of both with the waiver process,
the practice squad signings. There will be a lot of
roster machinations between now and Wednesday afternoon, and then, as
(21:52):
you just alluded to with Chris Barnes and situations like that,
maybe somebody gets activated to the fifty three, you know,
before the first game against the Chicago Bears. So it's
a constantly fluid situation. As Brian Gudokun says, roster building,
roster management is a twenty four to seven, three sixty
five thing. Just so happens that these next couple of
(22:14):
days are probably the busiest with the most activity in
the shortest period of time that you're gonna find on
the NFL calendar.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Two things, Michael quickly. One, will the Chicago Bears claim
six players again this year? We'll wait and see. There
the world stands in suspense. But two, Chris Barnes will
forever go down to me as the cheekiest move the
Packers have made here in the last twenty five years,
because not only did they cut him, they kept Kamal
(22:43):
Martin so that Martin could be designated to return because
he was gonna be help with basically the first half
of the season. They re signed Chris Barnes then, and
then he was the mike linebacker in that game starts
that next Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. Things that were
only made possible thanks to the COVID pandemic. I doubt
there's any way that would have ever worked out otherwise.
(23:03):
There had been too much, too much of Chris Barnes
out there.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Yeah, exactly. If Chris Barnes plays preseason games as an
undrafted rookie in twins starting, yeah, he he probably does
not clear waivers. But the Packers were the only ones
who had any film on him. They had him in practice,
they knew what they had. There were no preseason games
in the COVID year. So when Chris Barnes' name is
out there on the waiver where he was just a name,
(23:28):
you know, there was names, nobody, nobody knew anything about him.
And but you're right, that was a that was a
clever little move the Packers pulled a few years back.
So we'll see what We'll see what Brian Gudukunst has
in his back pocket this time around.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
And I'm cheering for Chris. He's down in Arizona. It
sounded like he had a pretty productive preseason, so hopefully
things work out for him down there. Packers got really
deep at inside back in the last couple of years.
But I definitely believe that Chris Barnes is still an
NFL player.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Yeah, I would. I would certainly agree with that. So
with that, we will call it a rap on the
sedition of Packers Unscript it'd be sure to follow all
of our coverage of the team. By the time we
do the next show, we will know what the roster is,
we should know what the practice squad is, and we'll
be looking ahead to where things are headed in week
one and hopefully Wes and I will be you know,
(24:14):
in closer proximity. So thank you for tuning in everybody.
We will see you next time.
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spoffer, joined as always
by my trusted colleague West and Hodkitz, who actually has
Vince Lombardi behind him just like I do. As we
come to you from different locations here at Lanmbelfield and Wes.
We are told, and we've been being allowed to say
(00:28):
this on the show, that this is the last zoom
episode of Unscripted. We will be back in the studio
with new cameras and a whole new setup and everything
for our next show. But for now here we are.
But yeah, Vince is in your background as well as mine.
That's actually kind of cool.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, it really is. And the Lombardi Show you can
call this one. No, I mean, the thing about it is,
I mean, obviously we're in a big transition right now
with our control room, and as much as I want
to be back in your physical presence and be able
to work off of each other and have that real
inner per dialogue, this past like four or five months
kind of brought me back to COVID a little bit.
When I'm sitting in my attic and you're sitting in
(01:07):
your living room or your office, whatever it was, and
kind of just making this whole thing work. But you know,
the beautiful thing about.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
It, we figure it out as we go, right.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
The beautiful thing about is we have some incredible microphones.
So for the people that actually just listen to this
as a podcast probably have never actually seen anything different.
But I certainly am looking forward to being back and
doing these things up close and personal.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Yeah, well, for this episode we posted, we recorded and
posted a little bit early because we needed to get
this done prior to all of the news that is
going to happen on Tuesday, Tuesday afternoon with regard to
the roster reductions, and we will get to some thoughts
outlining that in a minute, but first to recap the
(01:51):
Packers pre season finale against the Seattle Seahawks wes the
final tune up for the starters, and of course, in
that regard, most of the attention all month long has
been on Jordan Love and the offense. That's where so
much youth on the Green Bay Packers resides. And for
the third straight game, Jordan Love and the number one
(02:11):
offense produced a touchdown in their brief cameo, and yeah,
some things could have gone a little bit better, a
little bit smoother. But to score a touchdown in each
of the three preseason games with your new starting quarterback,
that's not a bad way to go into the regular season.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
And to end, you know, and all those games feeling
pretty good about yourself. I mean, it went from Cincinnati
to New England to you know, that finale against the
the Seahawks, you know, all three times I think it
was like, oh, the offense got better today. I felt like,
you know, one of the arguments I made for playing
love and the starters in these games was the ability
to maximize the reps afforded to you during training camp,
(02:50):
and we said from day one, Mike, the Packers needed
every single one of them they can get, whether it's
the public practices, the private practices, any of them. This
is one of the big things that you have to
go about doing. So I really look at it, as
you know, fifteen plays, eighty yards, talking to Christian Watson
about it afterwards, it was all the things that happened
(03:11):
on that series that make me feel really confident about
where the Packers are heading. Offensively, it's vanilla defenses, Mike,
But as we talk about, if you don't move the
ball against vanilla defenses. That's also a cause for concern.
The Packers were able to do that. They did it
with a left tackle and Rashid Walker, who had played
four special team snaps a year earlier. Now he's blocking
(03:32):
the blind side of Jordan Love. Well, David Baktiari sits
out of the preseason game. You did it with Patrick
Taylor in Emmanuel Wilson cycling in the background. You did
it with Malik Heath, an undrafted free agent, catching a
big slant route for fifteen yards. Oh and then, by
the way, when it came time for paydert sixty yard
touchdown to Christian Watson. And as Watson told us afterwards,
(03:52):
that's a one on one play that he expects to
make and the Packers hope to continue making this season.
I thought, for Jordan Love's final audition here before we
get in regular season, it was an absolutely outstanding performance.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Yeah, I think I think the Packers offense feels pretty
good about itself heading into the regular season. Obviously, they
know they didn't necessarily face everybody's number ones on the
defensive side of the ball. Nobody's you know, nobody's saying
they've got this all figured out or anything like that.
They got the reps they needed, they put points on
the board on a fairly regular basis. They started to
(04:25):
smooth smooth some things out, and now things will shift
into the whole game planning phase. This isn't you know,
it's not just practicing the playbook anymore. It's going to
be starting to game plan for the Chicago Bears in
Week one. But in your last comment you mentioned two
players that I think are worth talking about here within
(04:45):
the context of guys who made a you know, it's
it's a it's a cliche meteoric rise, but I'll say
it anyway, A rise of that type up the depth
chart in this training camp and preseason. And I'm talking
about Rashid Walker on the offensive line and maliek Heath
in the receiving corps. Rashid Walker, as you mentioned, a
(05:09):
seventh round pick a year ago, took in some senses,
took a red shirt year as a rookie here in
Green Bay, and now by the end of his second
training camp he is the number two left tackle. He
was the guy filling in the back half of training
camp for David Baktiari when he was not lined up
(05:30):
with the first unit. And then maliek Heath, an undrafted receiver.
We know this is a young receiving corps. There were
three draft picks that were brought in, but by the
end of training camp in the final preseason game, Malik
Heath is out there running with the ones, catching passes
from Jordan love In in that final preseason game. Those
(05:50):
are two guys that at the beginning of training camp
we wouldn't have said that we're gonna be, you know,
spending a whole lot of time talking about them, but
their rise individually up the depth chart at their respective
positions very impressive.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Absolutely, and it's starting off with Walker. I asked, you know,
Sean Clifford after the game on Saturday. You know Clifford
that was his left tackle at Penn State. Yeah, for
I believe two years. And you know he even said
he's like, you watch his film from a year ago
to watching it now, not even just looking at the
Penn State stuff, just in Green Bay, just seeing the
quantum leap that Walker made and the story I keep
(06:24):
telling people, Mike, if you go back to the twenty
twenty one NFL Draft and you have those immediate like, hey,
what you know, way too early predictions for the draft
for the following year. There are a lot of pundits
out there that thought that Rashid Walker was going to
be a first round pick the next year, and unfortunately,
some injuries and things happened. He ends up falling to
the Packers in the seventh and the actual twenty twenty
(06:45):
two NFL Draft virtually red shirts. It comes back this
year looking to be at a completely stacked position with
yosh Naiman coming back on the tender. Certainly you had,
you know, Zach Tom looking like he's going to start somewhere,
and here comes Rashid Walker. And not just the fact that, okay,
he made this big improvement, the fact that the Packers
trusted him enough to block the blind side of Jordan
Love in two preseason games in which they're going to
(07:07):
be under the microscope, wanting to make sure that he
stays healthy. I think that showed a lot of faith
in him. And then from a Leak Heath standpoint, now
again we're gonna post this, We're gonna see how everything
shakes out. But guys who I thought made a great
account of themselves as undrafted rookies as college free agents.
I don't think, really, Milie Heath could have done much
more to impress this team, and precious coaching staff led
(07:28):
the Packers with receiving in the preseason and in every
opportunity he was given, I thought absolutely capitalized on it.
For a guy that came in as a backdoor college
free agent to be starting with the number one offense
in that preseason finale and even getting those work those
reps in practice the week leading up to it, I
think really speaks volumes about what the coaching staff thought
(07:50):
of him and the camp that Heath really put together
in Green Bay. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Absolutely, Well, another question I want to throw your way
with this training camp in pre season now in the books,
and we talk a lot about the rookies, of course,
and where they are and how they're going to fit in.
So the twenty twenty three draft class for the Packers,
which draft pick impressed you the most over the past month.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Luke Musgrave, just because I thought the strides he made
from day one to where it ended, I mean, he's
going to be asked to fill a really pivotal role
in this offense now, especially with Tyler Davis out for
the year. You know, Joside Deguar has a lot of experience,
but he's used more as an h back. When they
go to eleven personnel packages in the middle of the field,
you're going to see number eighty eight quite a bit.
(08:35):
And I felt like the Packers that you know, they
made an investment towards the future, the highest they've drafted
a tight end in twenty three years since Bubba Franks,
when they took Musgrave at number forty two, and you
saw the speed, you saw the length, you saw the legs,
you saw all the things that fit with him. But
I like the grind that he kind of was on
throughout camp. He didn't rest on his athleticism. He wants
(08:56):
to do the nitty gritty parts of the tight end
position as well. A lot of these guys, I think
on paper, we had a really good idea of what
these prospects are going to look like. Loose Luke Musgrave,
especially coming off of that injury, was the guy that
I thought impressed me the most in terms of what
he offered to this football team that went beyond the
resume and the draft grades that ultimately got him selected
(09:17):
in the second round.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Yeah, and my selection with regard to this is actually
going to be from the same round of the draft,
the second round, and it's it's Jayden Reid, the wide
receiver from Michigan State. He from almost the moment he
began taking reps with the number one offense, he just
has looked like he fits this offense, that he's he
(09:38):
is what the Packers have been looking for in that role.
They tried Amari Rodgers as a draft pick, they tried
a veteran like Taevon Austin a couple of years back.
They've tried different guys in that slot role. Obviously Randall
Cobb was here, and no offense to Randall Cobb. Jayden
Reid looks like he fits this offense better than Randall
Cobb ever did. And what he's done as a rookie
(10:02):
and what appears to be his very extensive knowledge of
the playbook and the connection that he's developed with Jordan
Love in a very short time. You said it, Musgrave
is going to play a big role in this offense.
I think Jaden Reid is going to play just as
big a role in this offense as a rookie, and
Packers are going to They're going to have some growing
pains on offense because they're going to be counting on
(10:23):
young guys like this who have so much to learn
and so much to figure out. And it is such
a long season. It is such a grind, especially for
rookies who have gone through all of that pre draft
stuff and then and then after you get drafted, then
you get thrown into a rookie mini camp, and then
you're thrown into OTAs with the veterans and mandatory mini camp.
You get about a month of a break and then
(10:44):
you've got to be, you know, in training camp full
speed ahead, and you're the one. You're the guys who
are taking a bunch of snaps in the preseason games
because the coaches want to get you ready because they're
going to be counting on you. This is going to
be a long haul for these rookie draft picks that
the Packers are going to be counting on. But both
Jade and Reid and Luke Musgrave sure look like they're
(11:05):
ready to play those big roles.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
And kids, if you ever wanted to have that testimonial
or that decision of whether or not to play football,
or what it's going to take to accept the excel
at the NFL level. Just run back that Mike Spofford's
speech right there, because I'll tell you what, I don't
think I would have been tough enough to handle it myself.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
I wouldn't have been the other thing I love.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
About Reid too. So many years I said this to
you during the game on Saturday. But so many years.
You know, people want to protect looks and all you
want to get to. But packers are running end a
rounds of Jayden Reid. They don't care if they put
it on film, They'll do it in practice whatever. Because
again I think it's not some trick play. This is
going to be this young man's role in the offense
and they want to get those reps down. An explosive
young player. And as we've talked about time and time again,
(11:46):
Matt Arvin, our beloved Matt Arvin here in the game
presentation department. He loves Jayden Reid from the beginning. A
Michigan State alumnus, always took a liking to this kid
coming out of you know, that part of the country.
But I'll tell you what, he lived up to the hype.
And I just think there's fast twitch, muscle fiber there.
I love the way he catches the football. I just
(12:06):
feel like he's going to be a difference maker and
a needle mover and a guy that's going to help
you move the chains in might. The more you talk
about this football team, if they stay healthy, they have
so many of these guys, right, Musgrave falls in that
category obviously, as we just talked about with Heath. With Reed,
you have Heath potentially in that equation. Samori two Rays
could potentially be coming back. And then, by the way,
we're not even talking about Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs. Yeah.
(12:28):
And when you're talking about a ceiling for a football
team and being on the younger side of things and
wanting to see where youth can take you, I mean,
there's so many guys to be excited about on this ride.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah, and you talk about youth potentially putting points on
the board. You got six round draft pick Onders Carlson,
a kicker who made a fifty seven yard field goal
at Lambo. The interesting thing to me, because we've talked
about a lot of his ups and downs and everything
that he went through when Anders Carlson was kicking in
lambeau Field.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
This summer time.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
He was smarting Odden with every exactly I mean, his
his his downs in terms of the ups and downs
they took. That took place on the practice field over
at Nichki, you know a little bit in Cincinnati and in
that first preseason game when he's been kicking in lambeau
Field Family Knight. The preseason games he's been, uh, he's
(13:17):
been as good as anyone. And the Packers are are
ready to ready to roll. There there is one and
this is relates to Anders Carlson. There is one roster
move that the Packers did make before we turned on
the cameras to tape this, and that is they have
decided to go young at punter with Daniel Wheeland. The
(13:37):
veteran pad O'Donnell has been released, and of course that
impacts Carlson because Daniel Wheelan will be his holder on
place kicks. An interesting decision here for the Packers. But
but you know, Brian gudakuns to he He's dropped all
kinds of hints every time he has spoken with the
media over the last several months. He's dropped all kinds
(13:59):
of hints that he is not afraid to go young.
He is not afraid to put together a young team
that he sees potentially growing together. And this initial roster
move on Monday that was made at punter certainly speaks
to that.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
It does, Mike, because Pat o'donald is one of the
three guys the Packers have that was actually over thirty
years old, you know, a very young football team. He
was one of the guys that you know, tended to
lean a little bit more towards that veterans side first
and foremost. You know, we're taping this. We got to
get to see what the initial fifty three looks like.
But if this does work out this way, that Wheeland
(14:33):
did in fact make the team, I saw a couple
of things online. I believe he'll be the first Irish
born NFL player in thirty eight years. Certainly, you've got to,
you know, can't overstate the importance of the international part
of this, for the for the league and where he
comes from, and you know, his development and going to
UC Davis and you know, finding a way through the
(14:53):
XFL to get into the NFL. I mean, this kid's
story is pretty remarkable. And you know, you tip your
cat to him because I think so many times Mike,
you and I have covered these training camp battles, especially
at the specialist positions, when you know Tim Mastay and
Mason Crosby were here a lot of times. It was
they bring in some guys, but at the end of
the day, you got you got your two. You don't
really think too much about who that next guy is
(15:15):
going to be. And in Wheeland's case, he made himself undeniable,
I felt, I mean, he showed a world class foot
Both him and Pat o'donald are really tall, very well
built guys. I mean no disrespect to Jacob Schump, but
you know, you go back to shum and sixteen and
Jacob's just a little bit taller than I am. I
mean it was a smaller type of smaller type of punter.
And now you get these like really long lever guys
(15:36):
that could just put the ball, you know, miles down
the field. That's going to be the big thing. But
also the rapport in the development that's going to have
to happen with Whalan Wheelan and Andres Carlson because that's
a big part of the relationship too. I know, there
was so much trust that got built between Mason and
Pat last year I think that was a big calming
(15:57):
influence on Mason and being able to kind of get
back on track after the knee injury after some you know,
we saw in twenty twenty one how difficult things can
be at times if the wholer situation isn't quite figured
out so that they're going to grow together is the
biggest thing. But certainly the Green Bit Packers appreciated of
what padd O Donald brought and now going to see
what lies behind this next door.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yeah, well we'll take a further look at where things
stand with these roster cuts and the deadline and everything
in just a minute, West but some sponsor business First
Serious XM NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up
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(16:37):
We have something for everyone like our Wisconsin cheese curds,
mac and cheese, golden fries and creamy shakes, all paired
with your favorite sub or sub and a bowl Cousin
subs fifty years of better. All right, The deadline is
three pm Central Time on Tuesday. The Packers will have
to have their roster reduced to the NFL mandated fifty
(16:59):
three plays. Then the waiver period goes until I believe
it's noon on Wednesday, and then once the waiver period
has passed and players have cleared waivers, then teams can
start signing players back to their practice squad. And of
course there are now sixteen spots on the practice squad,
(17:22):
so there's a lot there's gonna be a lot of
interest obviously in how this works out, because because honestly
wes going into this, we don't really know are the
how many how many running backs are the Packers going
to have on the fifty three? How many wide receivers
is going to be six? Is it going to be seven?
What are they going to do at tight end? Tyler
Davis who's out for the season, He was never really replaced.
(17:45):
So is that a spot where Brian Gutukunstan company will
be looking at the waiver wire to possibly claim somebody
or sign a veteran, you know, who gets released maybe unexpectedly.
There are all kinds of possibilities out there and we
just have to we just have to wait and see
what happens. Because, for as much as you can you
try to get a handle on it, and there's certain
(18:07):
things that you think you know, and this is how
this puzzle piece is going to fit here and there.
There is always something that happens at the roster cut
down deadline that surprises us that none of us really
saw coming. There's a decision made that the personal department's
been thinking about it, but they kept it under wraps
and and suddenly it's a it's a surprise to everyone.
(18:27):
So we'll just have to see what that might be
come Tuesday afternoon.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Yeah, it's very difficult. It's a tough situation, and obviously
your heart goes out to a lot of these guys
because these are their hopes and dreams. Mike. I mean,
there's so many guys I talked to and listen to
in the locker room after the game. I mean talking
about how you know, you got to keep a levelhead,
you have to stay focused. I know Emmanuel Wilson, I thought,
had a really interesting point about how he planned to
spend the day. And you know, he likes a journal.
(18:53):
He journals everything that he does. And you know there's
a by the Rookie Hotel, there's a late you a
little bit of body water down there. He was just
going to go down there and pray and just try
to stay as steady as you can be, because ultimately
the work is done. I mean now you just got
to kind of wait for the final results to show
themselves and then figure out, hey, is it fifty three,
is it practice squad? Is it somewhere else the NFL.
(19:15):
I think the hardest thing for me this time of
the year isn't even necessarily the guys that are just
on the bubble. It's the guys that you know that
are out there that maybe aren't going to get another
opportunity that they actually did play their last NFL football
or their last football game, and that Saturday night at
Lambeufield against the Seahawks. Because the story eventually for everybody
ends at some point. For me it was fifth grade,
(19:36):
but I mean for everybody, you know, there is that
turning of the page. So seeing the dreams come true
too is always fun. As I you know, I've been
well documented the eighteen year consecutive streak of the Packers
having at least one undrafted rookie make the week one
roster that had to get a little modified a couple
of years ago because of Chris Barnes not actually making
the initial fifty three, but then being brought on after
(19:58):
Kamal Martin is put on IRS, So I had to
make that slight modification. But when it comes to an
undrafted rookie making this team, it has been eighteen straight
years dating back to Ted Thompson's first year as general manager,
so that is probably always the underlying story of this,
seeing who potentially could be that guy, but also just
seeing how these positions, you know, ultimately sort out, right,
(20:19):
because depending on who you keep where has ramifications for
Rich Pasacia's special teams as well, and as we've seen
the last few years, a lot more emphasis being placed
on that with how the Packers build out their fifty three.
So it's a nerve wracking time, but it also is
an exciting time because now after months of conversation and
you know, reporting back for the offseason program four months ago,
(20:39):
now we finally get to see the twenty twenty three
off twenty twenty three Packers take form. Here as the
offense switches over to Jordan.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Love Yeah, and the other interesting piece to watch too. Now,
sometimes things happen, sometimes they don't, But this year the
Packers are the highest They've been in the waiver claim
order at this time of year since twenty nineteen, which
was the last time the Packers were coming off of
a non playoff season. So that's how you get that's
(21:08):
how you end up higher in the waiver claim order. Now,
back in twenty nineteen, the Packers didn't actually claim anybody
during this period of the roster cutdowns when they were
higher up in the order. We will see if that
potentially happens this time around or not. But when you're
sitting at I'm trying to remember now, is it fifteenth,
(21:28):
I believe the Packers are. That's you know, that's a
very different spot than when you're you know, twenty sixth
or twenty eight or you know, something like that when
certain players become available. So another thing to watch, and
there will be a lot of both with the waiver process,
the practice squad signings. There will be a lot of
roster machinations between now and Wednesday afternoon, and then, as
(21:52):
you just alluded to with Chris Barnes and situations like that,
maybe somebody gets activated to the fifty three, you know,
before the first game against the Chicago Bears. So it's
a constantly fluid situation. As Brian Gudokun says, roster building,
roster management is a twenty four to seven, three sixty
five thing. Just so happens that these next couple of
(22:14):
days are probably the busiest with the most activity in
the shortest period of time that you're gonna find on
the NFL calendar.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Two things, Michael quickly. One, will the Chicago Bears claim
six players again this year? We'll wait and see. There
the world stands in suspense. But two, Chris Barnes will
forever go down to me as the cheekiest move the
Packers have made here in the last twenty five years,
because not only did they cut him, they kept Kamal
(22:43):
Martin so that Martin could be designated to return because
he was gonna be help with basically the first half
of the season. They re signed Chris Barnes then, and
then he was the mike linebacker in that game starts
that next Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. Things that were
only made possible thanks to the COVID pandemic. I doubt
there's any way that would have ever worked out otherwise.
(23:03):
There had been too much, too much of Chris Barnes
out there.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Yeah, exactly. If Chris Barnes plays preseason games as an
undrafted rookie in twins starting, yeah, he he probably does
not clear waivers. But the Packers were the only ones
who had any film on him. They had him in practice,
they knew what they had. There were no preseason games
in the COVID year. So when Chris Barnes' name is
out there on the waiver where he was just a name,
(23:28):
you know, there was names, nobody, nobody knew anything about him.
And but you're right, that was a that was a
clever little move the Packers pulled a few years back.
So we'll see what We'll see what Brian Gudukunst has
in his back pocket this time around.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
And I'm cheering for Chris. He's down in Arizona. It
sounded like he had a pretty productive preseason, so hopefully
things work out for him down there. Packers got really
deep at inside back in the last couple of years.
But I definitely believe that Chris Barnes is still an
NFL player.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Yeah, I would. I would certainly agree with that. So
with that, we will call it a rap on the
sedition of Packers Unscript it'd be sure to follow all
of our coverage of the team. By the time we
do the next show, we will know what the roster is,
we should know what the practice squad is, and we'll
be looking ahead to where things are headed in week
one and hopefully Wes and I will be you know,
(24:14):
in closer proximity. So thank you for tuning in everybody.
We will see you next time.
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