April 30, 2024 • 35 mins
Mike and Wes review the 2024 draft class, beginning with their first impressions and the first-round selection of Jordan Morgan (1:00), the Day 2 haul (4:07), how the Packers value versatility and leadership (10:40) as well as the emphasis on the Senior Bowl (13:28), the Day 3 highlights (16:18), and their choices for the most intriguing pick (20:45).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
by the one and only Weston had Kowitz. We're coming
to you, Hear from our studios at lambeau Field, to
talk about Wes the twenty twenty four NFL Draft. It
was a wild and crazy three days. I'll start by
(00:27):
asking have you recovered? Are you all right?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I think so. It's always interesting And you were talking
about this little bit on Monday. You Sunday was not.
I didn't get much accomplished on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Nope, me neither.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Well a couple a little later, I ended up taking
a good, like two hour nap as well, and then
I am not a good napper to begin with. So
then you kind of get back into the flow of things.
And yesterday went fine, and then today has been like
difficult to get rolling again. But we're here, We're excited,
and uh yeah, eleven more draft picks coming into the
Green Bay Packers fold.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Yeah, absolutely, well, as you said, it was eleven picks,
starting with offensive lineman Jordan Morgan in the first round.
And I have to say this because I'm normally not
right about anything. But I did say on our last
show before the draft, I predicted the Packers would have
eleven picks because it would be a combination of trade
(01:20):
trades up and trades down, which ended up being correct.
And then I said, if Brian Gudakum sat and picked
in the first round and did not trade, it would
be he would sit and pick an offensive lineman, and
I ended up being right on that count as well.
So I just have to say that because usually I'm
like totally wrong. But of the eleven picks, three offensive lineman,
(01:42):
three safeties, two linebackers, plus a running back, a quarterback,
and a corner back. Your first impression of this draft
class as a collective and what it means for the
twenty twenty four Green Bay Packer.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I'm gonna steer it back really quickly if I can
to your point about Morgan in the first round, because
once again we saw Brian Goodkuin's take three offensive linemen
in a draft. That's something that he's been very interesting
with the way he's approached this where there was back
to back years consecutive years where he took three. Last
year he took none.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yeah, for good reason.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
It was a well stocked cabinet. This year, you lose
some guys, so in coomes this new draft class, and
I give you credit. I give a lot of people credit. Obviously,
I picked Amarus Mims.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I was thinking, yeah, you were on offensive lineman as well, but.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
I think pound for pound, when you really break it down,
mike tackle, whatever Morgan ends up playing in the pros,
that's what made the most sense for Green Bay here.
I think that's what gave you the biggest bang for
your buck. It was interesting how it landed because Mims
goes off the board at eighteen, Graham Barton is still
there at twenty five. As it turned out, Geyton was
(02:53):
also still available. I think he ended up going twenty nine.
Tyler Goeiton. But the Packers really like Jordan Morgan. Like
his size, they like the way he bounced back from
the knee injury. He was a team leader. A common
thread between this draft was team captains in Senior Bowl participation,
and Morgan was a part of that. I think there's
a lot to like about his forty time, the athleticism there,
(03:15):
and then the one thing I'll kind of laugh at
a little bit. You and I talked so much about
Edger and Cooper and where is this guy going to be?
What's his value going to be? Well, the answer was
he was the forty fifth overall pick. And I think
if you listen to what folks like Daniel Jeremiah said
some of these other pundits, I think the Packers got
Edger and Cooper, who I believe will be a really
(03:36):
strong pro. I think he's gonna be a great guy
to pair up with kway Walker. I think they got
him for the maximum value there being able to move
back a couple spots, get a couple more picks to
have some trade equity with and some flexibility, and now
you're getting the first off ball linebacker that was drafted
in this draft class. I could go on forever about
this thing, Mike, but I think with how they set
(03:56):
the tone in the first two days, it reminded me
a lot of last year, where you found depth, you
found you address some needs, but I think you also
found some really intriguing football players as well.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yeah. Absolutely to me. To me, the crux the heart
of this draft was Friday, the second and third rounds,
Because having four picks on Day two of the draft
is a rarity. It just doesn't happen very often. And
through a combination of circumstances, the the extra pick still
left over from the Aaron Rodgers trade, and then the
(04:30):
move up from the fifth round to the third round
from the Rasul Douglas trade. That's why the Packers had
two seconds and two thirds and taking away and taking
nothing away from Jordan Morgan as the first round pick.
We had talked about offensive line and all that, so
that that did not surprise me. But to but what
(04:50):
the Packers did on Friday night, I think, you know,
get you get the number one, the first off ball
linebacker taken in the draft. You also take the second
safety off the board, who I believe, and I'll get
into this a little bit more in a minute. I
believe he had to be the number one safety on
(05:10):
the Packers board. I firmly believe that. Then you add,
excuse me, then you add a running back to the
equation in the third round. Really really interesting prospect. I
want to talk more about about Marshawn Lloyd as well.
And then you double up at the off ball linebacker
(05:30):
with uh, with Tyron Hopper from Missouri. That's uh, that's
sort of the you know, the blood and guts of
this draft to me is what the Packers did in
rounds two and round three. When I look at try
to look at things in the big picture, I think
the Packers got a combination of potential, if not likely,
(05:50):
immediate starters at some spots, but also then a lot
of depth and competition and everything at at various other positions.
To me, I think I think Edger and Cooper and
Javon Bullard are odds on favorites to earn starting jobs.
In Jeff Hafley's defense, that being said, I'm not ruling
(06:16):
out Tyron Hopper in the Edger and Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie,
Quay Walker that hole and how that's going to sort
itself out. And I'm not ruling out either of the
other two safeties with regard to Bullard and how and
how maybe that shakes out for who will be the
starting safety alongside Xavier McKinney the free agent acquisition, and
(06:37):
maybe you have another starter in Jordan Morgan. He's going
to start out, according to Matt Lafleur, at left tackle,
which means we'll be competing with Rashid Walker, who had
a heck of a year in twenty twenty three, but
he's only started one year in the NFL. That's not
to say that a guy like Jordan Morgan couldn't come
in and beat him out. I think I don't think
Rashid Walker is going to give up that spot very easily.
(06:59):
I think he's gonna And that's exactly what the coaches
and the scouts and everybody wants, is the competition to
try to, you know, raise everybody's level of play. It's
what worked for the Packers last year with the whole
youth movement at wide receiver and at tight end. We
saw how by the second half of the season all
(07:21):
the competition for playing time and for targets and for
everything else got the Packers offense to another level. And
I think they're looking for the same thing at various
positions with how they went about this draft.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah, absolutely, and looking specifically at safety. Know no disrespect
to what the Packers had at that position last year,
but I think when you're looking at the draft picks
that they ended up with here, you're just getting a
different caliber of athlete in a lot of ways. And
certainly Billard, it starts with him. I mean, it's a
guy that was a starting nickel cornerback for Georgia when
they won the National championship two interceptions of the National
(07:56):
Championship Game defensive MVP. Then the next he plays on
the back end. He talked about it as his conference
call with reporters. He sees himself as a three position safety,
a guy that can play in the slot. He can
play both positions in the back end. A lot to
like in terms of his speed, his athleticism. He's a
Georgia bulldog, and I think everybody understands. I believe it
(08:17):
was Pat Moore, who's Packer's scout, that even said that
when you play for Kirby Smart, you're gonna tackle, You're
going to have a tenacity. You don't get on the
field in the SEC and those environments if you're not
a competitor, if you're not giving it everything. And I
think that's something to look forward to with him. But
you know, Evan Williams is a guy and I joked
about this and Insider Inbox. I don't know how he
plays from a play style perspective, but when I close
(08:39):
my eyes and listen to that conference call, I could
have swore I was listening to Micah Hyde from ten
years ago.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
It's a really good comparable because because yeah, just his
just his voice, his demeanor as it came through over
the phone with the reporters. I agree with you, there's
a lot of Micah Hyde there.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
And you listen to safeties and they talk about communicators
and guys that can relate, you know, to their Teammatesilliams,
everything I've read in the subsequent days after, whether it
was at Fresno State or whether it was at Oregon,
it sounds like that's something that he did well. Now,
the thing that's going to be interesting is both him
and Bullard they look like more of the box safety types.
Guys that have played a lot in the slot have
(09:15):
that type of flexibility. Katano Ladeppo on the back end
of it, the last safety they drafted, appears to be
more of the back end type safety, and I think
there's value in that as well. I mean, not that
he can't play in the slot as well, but you know,
six foot two, two hundred and fifteen pounds, I mean,
this kid brings it. Had to work and cut his
(09:36):
teeth for everything that he got at Oregon State. He
was a walk on, very lightly recruited, waited three years.
It looked like he was gonna get his opportunity. Then
he gets hurt. Then he's a three year starter for them.
And I don't know if you've got a chance to
watch the play, but if you want to see what
that kid's all about. His chase down tackle against Washington
last year, where there is one guy that has any
(09:58):
chance of being able to bring down the ball carry
before the end zone, it's Katan and not only does
he take him down, he strips him of the ball
and they get the turnover.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Those are the extra effort plays when guys are going
to that second level that you need. The Green Bay
Packers they got Xavier McKinney. That's a huge get for them,
top free agent safety on the market. But other than that,
you only had Anthony Johnson Junior coming back a second
year player with three hundred defensive snaps, and Zane Anderson
who didn't see the field last year at safety. Benny
Sap played a little bit on special teams, but overall
(10:27):
you needed to find some answers for that. And when
we talk about the strength of this draft, an off
ball linebacker's piece of it. Offensive line is a piece
of it, but no position needed more of an infusion
of talent than safety, and Brian Goudikins came through.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah. Absolutely. It's interesting because you know, the fans ask
us a lout. Okay, so what's your biggest takeaway from
this draft? And I can't believe that I've been here
as long as I have and haven't really processed and
articulated this as I'm about to, but couple things I
(11:02):
discovered in this draft. It just it was sort of
like this mini epiphany that I had. It's not just
that the Packers like versatility in their players, whether you're
talking the offensive lineman or the safety who can maybe
play the slot corner. Excuse me. It's not just that
they like guys who you know, who have been a captain,
(11:25):
you know, a defensive captain and offensive captain, a team captain,
whatever that means in college. But it's that they place
they place a value on those types of things that
is built into the draft board, you know. And that's
why I said earlier, I think Javon Bullard was the
(11:46):
number one safety on the Packers board. He was considered
the number two or number three safety on most of
the lists that you look at, well, how does he
become the number one safety on the Packers board compared
to those other guys, well, all the other you know,
the draft analysts out there, and I'm not disparaging their
work at all, but they're looking at Tyler Duman from
Minnesota and Javon Bullard from Georgia, and they're looking at
(12:09):
the tape of how they play safety and the things
that they do, and a lot of people rated Tyler
Nuban as the better safety. But the Packers end up
putting a guy like Javon Bullard higher on their board
because he can also play the nickel, he can play
the slot corner. The versatility they probably view him, if
not if not just a better player maybe period than
(12:32):
the other safeties, but if all the other traits are
close enough to being equal, the versatility is what puts
a guy like Javon Bullard over the top, and you know,
bumps him up the draft board.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
YEP.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Five of these guys five of the Packers eleven draft picks,
including Evan Williams, who was a captain at Fresno State
before the transfer to Oregon. Five of these players were
captains on their team in college that is part of
the Packers draft grade and how how they build their board.
And so it's not just some kind of a coincidence
(13:06):
that the Packers are always drafting these versatile players and
drafting guys who were captains on their college teams. It's
part a it's a part of their evaluation process that
is factored into the grade and factored into how they
build the board. And it took me a lot of
years before before it kind of hit me. It's not
(13:26):
just some kind of coincidence. Right. The other thing I'll
say too, because you mentioned the Senior Bowl this year
in particular, eight of these eleven guys were at the
Senior Bowl. Actually nine of them were, but one of
them couldn't participate because he was he was dealing with
an injury at the time. I believe that was Hopper
from Missouri, if I'm not mistaken. But I started to
(13:49):
think a little bit more and I asked a follow
up question to a question to Brian Gudukunst on Saturday
night with regard to the Senior Bowl. And I asked
a follow up question again something that kind of hit
me how important the Senior Bowl is as an evaluation
tool because yes, these guys, they grind the tape, they
watch everything on video, but all all you know, you're
watching all the game video and that's that's when you
(14:11):
know the coaches have game planned, when you've studied your opponent,
et cetera, et cetera, And what you get at the
Senior Bowl is Okay, here Jordan Morgan, here's one of
the best edge rushers in the league in this draft class.
Coming out. You're going one on one against him in practice.
You haven't had a chance to study him, you haven't
watched any film on him. You just got to go
(14:32):
out there and play. That's what the Senior Bowl is.
That's what the that week of practices is from an
evaluation standpoint, and the Packers put a lot of stock
in that in how those guys perform in that environment.
I thought Brian Gudokun's comments on Saturday night really helped
to explain, you know, what it is about the Senior
(14:54):
Bowl that makes it different from an evaluation standpoint. So
those are a lot of the things that were going
through my head with her to this draft class and
how it kind of comes together for me. Any other
takeaways for you in sort of the collective set well,
and the.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Senior Bowl is an important tool too, And I've been
learning this more and more over my time, actually, probably
more with Packers dot Com than even when I was
at the Prescazette. Because it's one thing for Jordan Morgan
to be lining up against Leatu Latu, right and to
see some of the top guys in the country. Then
you go into the sixth round you have a guy
like Travis Glover, who, my goodness, Michael. When you look
in just terms of the makeup of a player, when
(15:29):
a guy is six foot six, three hundred and twenty pounds,
eighty four and a half inch wingspan, almost thirty five
inch arms, he looks the part as a tackle. But
he played at Georgia State, right, which is a program
that's still relatively in its infancy in the Sun Belt.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, it's only been around for about a dozen years
or so.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, So being able for him to go to the
Senior Bowl. I believe it was Jason Wildey who asked
Brian about this. That's a huge marker for him being
able to then match up against some of those top guys,
and it's somebody that definitely improved his draft stock through
that process as well.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yeah, well Over went to the Hula Bowl as well.
He was actually he was actually at two of the
college All Star games, and that was big for him,
as you said, as a smaller school guy. That's where
you get. You line up against the Power five conference
players and the evaluators get get an extra and even
more important look at you.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
And then the three guys I just want to touch
on quickly because we haven't mentioned their names yet. Jacob
Mounk from Duke. I don't know if I've ever heard
Brian as openly talk about a prospect that they legitimately
had their eye on in that day three. You know,
he mentioned there was numerous scouts in that room that
really liked him. If you look at it, the kid
has some really intriguing intangibles. He's six foot three, three
hund ten pounds, runs a five nine forty, very strong.
(16:41):
I believe he was the one that put up thirty
one on the bench press, a five year starter. Very rare.
And if I keep telling people, remember the ACC played
basically throughout the COVID year. They didn't do a half
season or we're going to cancel the season, and then
they start playing no he played eleven year, eleven games
in twenty twenty. Yeah, he started at He started at
right guard predominantly. He started a season at right tackle
(17:04):
when they needed him there. And in the Packers just
overall loved the makeup of this kid in the.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Fact, and they traded up for him.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
They traded up for him. Yeah, going up eights or
forced five spots to get them. Yeah, seventh round. Very quickly,
just to touch on this, Michael Pratt, I mean, there's
nothing I can even say about this kid. Watch Tom
Pelisero's profile on him. It's an eleven minute video that
the NFL and NFL Network put together. People were asking
Insider Inbox on Monday when I was writing it, like, hey,
when is the feature coming on this guy? I would
(17:32):
love to write something on Michael Pratt. But I've also
I'm of that ILK that it's like if somebody else
does it and does it better and just does it
full bore, you just tip your cap to that person
and let them have their story because the job that
Tom did on that, I mean, just to give you
quickly and a synopsis of this, one of his best
friends growing up in high school played with them. The
(17:53):
receiver to his quarterback. Guys that came from two different
walks of life. Young man commits to Georgia Tech at
the same time that pract commits the Tulane. Unfortunately, you know,
the young man ended up, you know, committing suicide. And
it's something that Michael has worn with him. He has
the Belief seven tattoo on his inner bicep.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Very uniform number seven as well, in honor of his
high school teammate and friend.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
And then also lost his brother later on as well
to an illness shortly after he had just become an uncle.
His brother had just had a child. So a very
interesting story and interesting look into him, and I'll tell
you what for an eleven minute piece, it completely just
zips right by. Then finally Kaylan King last pick for
(18:40):
the Packers. This is a guy Michael that coming off
of his true sophomore year at Penn State eighteen breakups
twenty two breakups depending on who you talk to, three
interceptions looked, you know, played incredible for the Nitney Lions.
He comes back his junior year, it doesn't go as well.
Only two passes defense this past season. He has this
precipitous all down the draft boards ends up going two
(19:02):
fifty five overall.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
And he chose to come out early. He could have stayed,
but he chose to come out early and then ends
up falling all the way to the seventh round when
the Packers choose him with their eleventh and final pick
at two fifty five.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
And this is why I've been getting into a fight
with people on Twitter, because they're all, like, I made
the comparison to Carrington Valentine and all these so called
experts and scouts that evidently know everything about every seventh
round pick that's ever been in the NFL, telling me, no,
they're entirely different players. No, dude, what I'm saying is
that when you have a guy like Valentine, who also
came out a year early when he could have went back,
(19:37):
and he also is going to probably be the youngest
player on this team this year, King if he makes it,
would be the youngest player on this team. I think
he's going to play his entire season at twenty one
years old. All of that being said, his conference call
that he had with media and reporters afterwards incredibly emotional.
You can tell this kid is motivated to show that
he's still very much the player that he was a
sophomore year. There was a forty time that I think
(19:59):
also kind of factored into this thing, right in that
four to six range. I think he reranted at his
pro dain and it was four or five five, but
still teams were a little bit cheapish there. But I'll
tell you what he said, the Prema Packers are getting
the most competitive guy in the country, and just listening
to him talk about it, I believe him.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah, that's uh. I think that's going to be one
to watch for sure, and I want to get back
to that, but I will take care of some sponsor
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Cousin Subs fifty plus years of better. A couple other
things I wanted to get to. One. I want to
ask you who, in your mind, for whatever reason, you
can take in any direction you want. But who is
the uh sorry, I'm having a little trouble with my
(20:59):
screen here. Who is the most intriguing pick in this
draft for you? I'll start because because to me, the
guy that I'm just I'm most intrigued by is Marshaun Lloyd,
the running back from USC. And I mean I didn't
I most of the college football that I watch, admittedly
(21:19):
is Big ten football because I'm a Scotts some Badgers fan,
so I don't see the West coast. You know, guys
a lot.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
You also go to bed relatively early.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
That that too, I'm getting old. But man, five t nine,
two and twenty pounds, that's you know, that's the two
hundred and twenty pounds is Josh Jacobs size. But he's
a couple of inches shorter than Josh Jacobs. The you
you just you look at the numbers. Now, granted, he's
(21:49):
on a team with Caleb Williams, you know, the Heisman
Trophy winner, number one pick in the draft, so there's
a lot of focus on the passing game when you're
defending USC. But seven point one one yards per carry
as a number one running back, that definitely opens your eyes.
And I actually asked him on the conference call. You know,
so is that was the seven point one yards per carry?
(22:11):
Is that more because of you know, the speed and
elusiveness or is that more because of yards after contact?
And I think he kind of wanted to get a
message across by with the answer to the question because
he immediately said, oh, it's yards after contact. You don't
want I don't I don't want the first guy or
even the second guy to be bringing me down. So
I thought that was really interesting the way he answered
(22:33):
that question. But also as a receiver out of the backfield,
he averaged like seventeen yards per catch out of the backfield.
So you're talking about you're talking about a potential home
run hitter. You know, call him a call him a
changeup or you know, the in between Josh Jacobs and
(22:53):
AJ Dillon or whatever if you want to. But I'm
really really intrigued by what a guy like Marshawn Lloyd
might be able to do in Matt Lafleur's offense and
what just you know, what they might dial up in
terms of a package of plays that they go, Hey,
this is where this guy can be really good. So
let's use him this way and see what happens.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
And just to build on that, and I'll give you
a different player in a second, But five two and
twenty pounds and he runs a four four six, Yeah,
and he put up twenty six bench reps. I believe
it was.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah, I think it was. Yeah, it was either twenty
five or twenty six. But yeah, two hundred and twenty
five pounds.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
That's ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
That's that's close. That's close to what a lot of
offensive linemen, defensive linemen do. They're in the mid to
high twenties on the bench.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
With all due respect to Aaron Jones, who I don't
think felt like he ran his best at his combine.
But you know, Aaron, even though he put on a
little bit more weight going into the draft than what
he ended up playing at in Green Bay, he was
probably closer to one to ninety than two twenty yeah
by the time he got done here. But for sure,
you know, Aaron I think was in that four or
five six range. I mean, it just shows you how
(23:57):
shifty and dynamic. Now you gotta do it on the field,
you gotta do it on the grass. But the prospects
that there's a reason why Daniel Jeremiah right after the
Packers said he was his top, the top running back
in this year's draft.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Yeah, he was a fourth running back taken. Yeah, And
Jeremiah did not hesitate for a second and said, this
is the guy I believe is the top running back
in the.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Draft, and I think he's the perfect fit for Green
Bay because you do have Josh Jacobs, you have aj Dylan.
He's not going to be asked to come in and
be the number one back right away. That's one of
the things that people always talk so much about Aaron
Jones and well, why didn't Mike play him more early on?
Aaron Jones was still learning how to be a three
down running back during those early times, Packers just weren't
as deep at the position as they've been now the
(24:39):
last three, four or five years. So incredibly excited to
see where that takes us. You asked me, though, the
guy that I'm most intrigued by, and I have to
say it because it's the guy that I talk the
most about of all the guys that Packers drafted in
the pre draft process, and that's Eddrian Cooper. Yeah, because
to me, kuay Walker went on Twitter right after they
took him He's like, I'm looking forward to by new
(25:00):
unning made out there. He's a little bit shorter than Quay.
He actually ran one hundredth of a second faster than
Clay in the forty Quay excuse me in the forty,
and he is a downhill ceball hit ball linebacker. I
am so excited to see that infusion into this defense
because the line that I forget which analysts it was
(25:22):
that mentioned it on the third day, but the Packers
have basically remade the spine of their defense the second
level and the third level, between the hashes, between the numbers.
It's going to look different than it did last year.
And I feel like somebody like Cooper can come in
and compliment what Walker does well. He can compliment with
Isaiah McDuffie does well. And then he had Tyrone Hopper
(25:44):
and Eric Wilson some of these other guys into the mix,
and suddenly you have a really intriguing position battle from
a position where going into the weekend we were kind
of looking at, Okay, well, exactly what do the Packers
need to accomplish here to make sure that they have
three inside linebackers with this switch to the.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Fourth Yeah, and a couple of a couple of things. Also,
as far as overall traits of this draft class, Brian
Gudokunz talked, particularly on the defensive side, wanted to upgrade
speed at various positions. And Cooper is a guy you
know who's I think. Gutakun said, he has rare speed
for the position, and John Eric Sullivan said, when you
(26:21):
see his speed on the field, there's a whoa factor
to it. So speed was definitely not just with Cooper
but with other draft picks as well. That was definitely
a high consideration. And as you mentioned, with a guy
like Jacob Monk and some of these other guys, the
experience level, I mean the number of guys in this
draft class that have thirty plus forty plus college starts
(26:43):
on their resume. Now, a guy like cal and King
did come out early, came out of year early, didn't
really play much as a true freshman, only played, you know,
two seasons. He's he's one on the other end of
the spectrum, not quite as much experience. But a lot
of guys in this draft class have a high level
of experience. Just a lot of pelts on the wall
(27:05):
in terms of the number of games that they played at,
you know, in the major college ranks. One thing that
was a surprise to me when it was all said
and done in this draft. But then we sort of
found out why, maybe a little bit, why is that
the Packers did not draft an edge rusher or somebody
(27:25):
who would be a defensive end in Jeff Hafley's four
to three scheme that the Packers are building here. But
then we learned from Matt Lafleur and Brian Gudakuns on
Saturday night, after all the picks were made, that kings Leyannigbari,
whom we all thought had torn his ACL in the
wild card playoff victory over Dallas back in January and
(27:46):
would need reconstructive surgery. YadA, YadA, YadA. We've all seen
it so often with acls. Kings Leyanningbari has not had
reconstructive surgery. There is there there. He is on a rehab,
a rehab and recovery path during which the Packers are
still hoping that he can avoid surgery because his ACL
(28:10):
issue was turned has been termed by Brian Gudukunston injury
not necessarily a tear, so that in part at least
helps explain maybe why Edge Rusher wasn't as urgent a
need heading into twenty twenty four, because if Enigbari with
an ACL in January, you're thinking he might be out
all of twenty twenty four, if not most of the
(28:32):
season before he can come back. Now there's a possibility,
and again it's still only a possibility at this point,
but if he avoids surgery, you're talking about a guy
who can make a much bigger contribution in twenty twenty
four than anybody thought a few months ago.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I'm really happy this came up because honestly, and I mean,
eventually we're going to talk about it, but I was
having a hard time trying to explain any of this
to people because one Enigbari looks fantastic in the final
locker room. I mean, I'm not judging people and if
they're able to play based on how they're he was
walking around better than some of the people that weren't injured.
Like after that game against San Francisco, because I was
(29:07):
in the locker room, Mike, I you know, it's a
jubilant time. The Packers had just beaten the Dallas Cowboys
basically starched them. Yeah, and it was really hard seeing
Kings Leanngbari, who went down late in that game with
what everybody thought was an ACL injury. He had the
towel over his head. He was inconsolable, just because you know,
you know, you get injured at that part of the season,
you might be looking at being on the sideline for
the next year.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Right.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Not only all that, but then we see these photos
from the first day of the offseason workouts where the
guys are just doing strength and conditioning stuff on the field.
This guy sprinting around hoops. I mean, he's he's doing
all the leg work you would not expect to see
from a guy that has an ACL injury.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
And yeah, when you're only three months three and a
half months removed from an ACL injury.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
And lo and behold, the Packers again are holding out hope. Now,
I don't know much about these things. I was always
under the under the understanding that if you have an
ACL injury, tear, whatever you wanna call it, you're gonna
have to have surgery because the ligament doesn't just heal itself.
MCL and LCL at PCL. So we'll wait and see
how everything. I'm hoping good thoughts for him, but even
(30:06):
more importantly Michael just looking at that position group as
a whole. I'm not saying it's as deep body for
body as like receiver is, but I felt like there
was enough competition there already that that wasn't going to
be a huge need for them, especially if I think
Bari is available because a couple things along with that,
I think they're very high on Brenton Cox Junior. He's
(30:26):
going to get more opportunities this year to try to
take that second year jump, former five star recruit at
Georgia and Florida. You have Preston Smith back once again
after he did some stuff with his contract, where Shaun
Gary is healthy once again. I thought Lucas Vanes looked
really good down the stretch last season, no doubt, and
they're at the four to three now. I don't know
what kind of stuff they're going to come up with
here with some of these all these defensive linemen they
(30:46):
have in how they could potentially factor into being an
edge rusher in some things we'll see.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
We haven't seen something that Carl Brooks certainly did at
Bowling Green. He lined up on the edge plenty. Obviously,
different level of competition there, but.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Hobie woulden't is listed one pound heavier than Lucas Van
s Now. He did tell or Wayne Larvy during the
pre draft, you know, Pepper rally that I think he
put on twenty pounds and he certainly looks like it.
But I just think there's a lot more flexibility that
the Julius Peppers thing in twenty fourteen opened my eyes
to all the possibilities. Other than maybe TJ. Slayton playing
(31:19):
a nine tech, I nothing really would surprise me anymore
with the defensive front. But all that being said, the
other thing, Green Bay historically has liked to play around
with the undrafted free agents there. Cox was the guy
last year. You know, maybe there's another prospect there as well.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
And that's the other part, is not talking about those yet.
We haven't haven't seen the official list from the communications
department as far as the undrafted rookie class, But yeah,
I mean, and I'm sure we'll talk about it again
this summer as well. No matter how difficult it looks
to make the Packers fifty three man roster, for whatever reason,
(31:58):
there always seems to be somebody in that undrafted rookie
class who emerges and proves to be a guy that
you that they can't cut him because they know he's
gonna get claimed and he's gonna go play somewhere else,
so they keep him. They keep him, even though you
would think that it would that that would just be
such a hard road to go, but somebody always seems
(32:18):
to succeed. That.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Malik Keith made the roster at the most the hardest
position to crack last year.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Yeah right, Yeah, there were so many guys.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
I mean, he beat out Bo Melton for a roster
spot and then Bo was one of their starters down
the stretch last season. It just shows you how far
that competition goes. You were asking about it, A lot
of people were asking Brian Gouducuntz about it. You always
want to build the most competitive ninety man roster possible,
But I do think there is a lot to be
said for what happened at tight end and receiver specifically
last year where the Packers just chalk those two rooms
(32:48):
full of talent, full of young bodies, and whether it
was injuries or some mid season adversity, whatever the reason was.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Yeah, opportunities arose for so many guys for various reasons.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Yeah, they were, you know, everybody was to get a
crack at everything. So we'll see where this takes them.
Now in the off season program, as everybody always talks about,
they're in shorts in shirts right now. You don't have
the contact football. We still have a long way to go.
You have to be able to weather the injuries. But Michael,
back to back really strong draft classes for the Green
Bay Packers. They added eleven more picks to that and
(33:19):
again hopes that you are filling out what hopes to
be a championship caliber roster.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Thirty five draft picks in three years. There are some
there are some teams that don't draft thirty five guys
in six years.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
I wonder how many of the Rams have drafted.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
In the last six years. I know exactly. We have
to go look that up.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
I'll check that out for Thursday.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Thirty five draft picks in three years. But it's how
the Packers have gotten from where they were to where
they are and trying to continue to move forward here
with Jordan Love taking the reins.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Last thing I'll mention, and maybe I want to talk
about this on Thursday, but if we don't, to make
sure I get this out there with the Packers making
those trades and Minnesota moving up and the Bear is
basically picking where they were. The Packers win in to
Friday with more second and third round picks than the
rest of the division combined, and went into the final
two days of the draft with twelve picks or ten
(34:09):
picks compared to twelve total for the for.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
The rest of the division. Yeah, the other three just.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
The way that. Again, everybody has their strategy. There's certain
needs that these teams have, but the Green Bay Packers
were not messing around and here we are. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Well we've gone a little bit overtime again today, but
that's okay because it was a busy three days at
twelve sixty five. And we'll have more to talk about
with this draft class on our next show, but for now,
we'll call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team.
We have all kinds of draft content out there. Go
to our Draft Central page on Packers dot com. There's
(34:44):
the stories, the videos, the highlights, the conference calls. Like
it's all out there for you on Packers dot com.
Be sure to check it out for wes I and
Mike thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will
see you next time.
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
by the one and only Weston had Kowitz. We're coming
to you, Hear from our studios at lambeau Field, to
talk about Wes the twenty twenty four NFL Draft. It
was a wild and crazy three days. I'll start by
(00:27):
asking have you recovered? Are you all right?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I think so. It's always interesting And you were talking
about this little bit on Monday. You Sunday was not.
I didn't get much accomplished on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Nope, me neither.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Well a couple a little later, I ended up taking
a good, like two hour nap as well, and then
I am not a good napper to begin with. So
then you kind of get back into the flow of things.
And yesterday went fine, and then today has been like
difficult to get rolling again. But we're here, We're excited,
and uh yeah, eleven more draft picks coming into the
Green Bay Packers fold.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Yeah, absolutely, well, as you said, it was eleven picks,
starting with offensive lineman Jordan Morgan in the first round.
And I have to say this because I'm normally not
right about anything. But I did say on our last
show before the draft, I predicted the Packers would have
eleven picks because it would be a combination of trade
(01:20):
trades up and trades down, which ended up being correct.
And then I said, if Brian Gudakum sat and picked
in the first round and did not trade, it would
be he would sit and pick an offensive lineman, and
I ended up being right on that count as well.
So I just have to say that because usually I'm
like totally wrong. But of the eleven picks, three offensive lineman,
(01:42):
three safeties, two linebackers, plus a running back, a quarterback,
and a corner back. Your first impression of this draft
class as a collective and what it means for the
twenty twenty four Green Bay Packer.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I'm gonna steer it back really quickly if I can
to your point about Morgan in the first round, because
once again we saw Brian Goodkuin's take three offensive linemen
in a draft. That's something that he's been very interesting
with the way he's approached this where there was back
to back years consecutive years where he took three. Last
year he took none.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yeah, for good reason.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
It was a well stocked cabinet. This year, you lose
some guys, so in coomes this new draft class, and
I give you credit. I give a lot of people credit. Obviously,
I picked Amarus Mims.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I was thinking, yeah, you were on offensive lineman as well, but.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
I think pound for pound, when you really break it down,
mike tackle, whatever Morgan ends up playing in the pros,
that's what made the most sense for Green Bay here.
I think that's what gave you the biggest bang for
your buck. It was interesting how it landed because Mims
goes off the board at eighteen, Graham Barton is still
there at twenty five. As it turned out, Geyton was
(02:53):
also still available. I think he ended up going twenty nine.
Tyler Goeiton. But the Packers really like Jordan Morgan. Like
his size, they like the way he bounced back from
the knee injury. He was a team leader. A common
thread between this draft was team captains in Senior Bowl participation,
and Morgan was a part of that. I think there's
a lot to like about his forty time, the athleticism there,
(03:15):
and then the one thing I'll kind of laugh at
a little bit. You and I talked so much about
Edger and Cooper and where is this guy going to be?
What's his value going to be? Well, the answer was
he was the forty fifth overall pick. And I think
if you listen to what folks like Daniel Jeremiah said
some of these other pundits, I think the Packers got
Edger and Cooper, who I believe will be a really
(03:36):
strong pro. I think he's gonna be a great guy
to pair up with kway Walker. I think they got
him for the maximum value there being able to move
back a couple spots, get a couple more picks to
have some trade equity with and some flexibility, and now
you're getting the first off ball linebacker that was drafted
in this draft class. I could go on forever about
this thing, Mike, but I think with how they set
(03:56):
the tone in the first two days, it reminded me
a lot of last year, where you found depth, you
found you address some needs, but I think you also
found some really intriguing football players as well.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yeah. Absolutely to me. To me, the crux the heart
of this draft was Friday, the second and third rounds,
Because having four picks on Day two of the draft
is a rarity. It just doesn't happen very often. And
through a combination of circumstances, the the extra pick still
left over from the Aaron Rodgers trade, and then the
(04:30):
move up from the fifth round to the third round
from the Rasul Douglas trade. That's why the Packers had
two seconds and two thirds and taking away and taking
nothing away from Jordan Morgan as the first round pick.
We had talked about offensive line and all that, so
that that did not surprise me. But to but what
(04:50):
the Packers did on Friday night, I think, you know,
get you get the number one, the first off ball
linebacker taken in the draft. You also take the second
safety off the board, who I believe, and I'll get
into this a little bit more in a minute. I
believe he had to be the number one safety on
(05:10):
the Packers board. I firmly believe that. Then you add,
excuse me, then you add a running back to the
equation in the third round. Really really interesting prospect. I
want to talk more about about Marshawn Lloyd as well.
And then you double up at the off ball linebacker
(05:30):
with uh, with Tyron Hopper from Missouri. That's uh, that's
sort of the you know, the blood and guts of
this draft to me is what the Packers did in
rounds two and round three. When I look at try
to look at things in the big picture, I think
the Packers got a combination of potential, if not likely,
(05:50):
immediate starters at some spots, but also then a lot
of depth and competition and everything at at various other positions.
To me, I think I think Edger and Cooper and
Javon Bullard are odds on favorites to earn starting jobs.
In Jeff Hafley's defense, that being said, I'm not ruling
(06:16):
out Tyron Hopper in the Edger and Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie,
Quay Walker that hole and how that's going to sort
itself out. And I'm not ruling out either of the
other two safeties with regard to Bullard and how and
how maybe that shakes out for who will be the
starting safety alongside Xavier McKinney the free agent acquisition, and
(06:37):
maybe you have another starter in Jordan Morgan. He's going
to start out, according to Matt Lafleur, at left tackle,
which means we'll be competing with Rashid Walker, who had
a heck of a year in twenty twenty three, but
he's only started one year in the NFL. That's not
to say that a guy like Jordan Morgan couldn't come
in and beat him out. I think I don't think
Rashid Walker is going to give up that spot very easily.
(06:59):
I think he's gonna And that's exactly what the coaches
and the scouts and everybody wants, is the competition to
try to, you know, raise everybody's level of play. It's
what worked for the Packers last year with the whole
youth movement at wide receiver and at tight end. We
saw how by the second half of the season all
(07:21):
the competition for playing time and for targets and for
everything else got the Packers offense to another level. And
I think they're looking for the same thing at various
positions with how they went about this draft.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah, absolutely, and looking specifically at safety. Know no disrespect
to what the Packers had at that position last year,
but I think when you're looking at the draft picks
that they ended up with here, you're just getting a
different caliber of athlete in a lot of ways. And
certainly Billard, it starts with him. I mean, it's a
guy that was a starting nickel cornerback for Georgia when
they won the National championship two interceptions of the National
(07:56):
Championship Game defensive MVP. Then the next he plays on
the back end. He talked about it as his conference
call with reporters. He sees himself as a three position safety,
a guy that can play in the slot. He can
play both positions in the back end. A lot to
like in terms of his speed, his athleticism. He's a
Georgia bulldog, and I think everybody understands. I believe it
(08:17):
was Pat Moore, who's Packer's scout, that even said that
when you play for Kirby Smart, you're gonna tackle, You're
going to have a tenacity. You don't get on the
field in the SEC and those environments if you're not
a competitor, if you're not giving it everything. And I
think that's something to look forward to with him. But
you know, Evan Williams is a guy and I joked
about this and Insider Inbox. I don't know how he
plays from a play style perspective, but when I close
(08:39):
my eyes and listen to that conference call, I could
have swore I was listening to Micah Hyde from ten
years ago.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
It's a really good comparable because because yeah, just his
just his voice, his demeanor as it came through over
the phone with the reporters. I agree with you, there's
a lot of Micah Hyde there.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
And you listen to safeties and they talk about communicators
and guys that can relate, you know, to their Teammatesilliams,
everything I've read in the subsequent days after, whether it
was at Fresno State or whether it was at Oregon,
it sounds like that's something that he did well. Now,
the thing that's going to be interesting is both him
and Bullard they look like more of the box safety types.
Guys that have played a lot in the slot have
(09:15):
that type of flexibility. Katano Ladeppo on the back end
of it, the last safety they drafted, appears to be
more of the back end type safety, and I think
there's value in that as well. I mean, not that
he can't play in the slot as well, but you know,
six foot two, two hundred and fifteen pounds, I mean,
this kid brings it. Had to work and cut his
(09:36):
teeth for everything that he got at Oregon State. He
was a walk on, very lightly recruited, waited three years.
It looked like he was gonna get his opportunity. Then
he gets hurt. Then he's a three year starter for them.
And I don't know if you've got a chance to
watch the play, but if you want to see what
that kid's all about. His chase down tackle against Washington
last year, where there is one guy that has any
(09:58):
chance of being able to bring down the ball carry
before the end zone, it's Katan and not only does
he take him down, he strips him of the ball
and they get the turnover.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Those are the extra effort plays when guys are going
to that second level that you need. The Green Bay
Packers they got Xavier McKinney. That's a huge get for them,
top free agent safety on the market. But other than that,
you only had Anthony Johnson Junior coming back a second
year player with three hundred defensive snaps, and Zane Anderson
who didn't see the field last year at safety. Benny
Sap played a little bit on special teams, but overall
(10:27):
you needed to find some answers for that. And when
we talk about the strength of this draft, an off
ball linebacker's piece of it. Offensive line is a piece
of it, but no position needed more of an infusion
of talent than safety, and Brian Goudikins came through.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah. Absolutely. It's interesting because you know, the fans ask
us a lout. Okay, so what's your biggest takeaway from
this draft? And I can't believe that I've been here
as long as I have and haven't really processed and
articulated this as I'm about to, but couple things I
(11:02):
discovered in this draft. It just it was sort of
like this mini epiphany that I had. It's not just
that the Packers like versatility in their players, whether you're
talking the offensive lineman or the safety who can maybe
play the slot corner. Excuse me. It's not just that
they like guys who you know, who have been a captain,
(11:25):
you know, a defensive captain and offensive captain, a team captain,
whatever that means in college. But it's that they place
they place a value on those types of things that
is built into the draft board, you know. And that's
why I said earlier, I think Javon Bullard was the
(11:46):
number one safety on the Packers board. He was considered
the number two or number three safety on most of
the lists that you look at, well, how does he
become the number one safety on the Packers board compared
to those other guys, well, all the other you know,
the draft analysts out there, and I'm not disparaging their
work at all, but they're looking at Tyler Duman from
Minnesota and Javon Bullard from Georgia, and they're looking at
(12:09):
the tape of how they play safety and the things
that they do, and a lot of people rated Tyler
Nuban as the better safety. But the Packers end up
putting a guy like Javon Bullard higher on their board
because he can also play the nickel, he can play
the slot corner. The versatility they probably view him, if
not if not just a better player maybe period than
(12:32):
the other safeties, but if all the other traits are
close enough to being equal, the versatility is what puts
a guy like Javon Bullard over the top, and you know,
bumps him up the draft board.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
YEP.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Five of these guys five of the Packers eleven draft picks,
including Evan Williams, who was a captain at Fresno State
before the transfer to Oregon. Five of these players were
captains on their team in college that is part of
the Packers draft grade and how how they build their board.
And so it's not just some kind of a coincidence
(13:06):
that the Packers are always drafting these versatile players and
drafting guys who were captains on their college teams. It's
part a it's a part of their evaluation process that
is factored into the grade and factored into how they
build the board. And it took me a lot of
years before before it kind of hit me. It's not
(13:26):
just some kind of coincidence. Right. The other thing I'll
say too, because you mentioned the Senior Bowl this year
in particular, eight of these eleven guys were at the
Senior Bowl. Actually nine of them were, but one of
them couldn't participate because he was he was dealing with
an injury at the time. I believe that was Hopper
from Missouri, if I'm not mistaken. But I started to
(13:49):
think a little bit more and I asked a follow
up question to a question to Brian Gudukunst on Saturday
night with regard to the Senior Bowl. And I asked
a follow up question again something that kind of hit
me how important the Senior Bowl is as an evaluation
tool because yes, these guys, they grind the tape, they
watch everything on video, but all all you know, you're
watching all the game video and that's that's when you
(14:11):
know the coaches have game planned, when you've studied your opponent,
et cetera, et cetera, And what you get at the
Senior Bowl is Okay, here Jordan Morgan, here's one of
the best edge rushers in the league in this draft class.
Coming out. You're going one on one against him in practice.
You haven't had a chance to study him, you haven't
watched any film on him. You just got to go
(14:32):
out there and play. That's what the Senior Bowl is.
That's what the that week of practices is from an
evaluation standpoint, and the Packers put a lot of stock
in that in how those guys perform in that environment.
I thought Brian Gudokun's comments on Saturday night really helped
to explain, you know, what it is about the Senior
(14:54):
Bowl that makes it different from an evaluation standpoint. So
those are a lot of the things that were going
through my head with her to this draft class and
how it kind of comes together for me. Any other
takeaways for you in sort of the collective set well,
and the.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Senior Bowl is an important tool too, And I've been
learning this more and more over my time, actually, probably
more with Packers dot Com than even when I was
at the Prescazette. Because it's one thing for Jordan Morgan
to be lining up against Leatu Latu, right and to
see some of the top guys in the country. Then
you go into the sixth round you have a guy
like Travis Glover, who, my goodness, Michael. When you look
in just terms of the makeup of a player, when
(15:29):
a guy is six foot six, three hundred and twenty pounds,
eighty four and a half inch wingspan, almost thirty five
inch arms, he looks the part as a tackle. But
he played at Georgia State, right, which is a program
that's still relatively in its infancy in the Sun Belt.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, it's only been around for about a dozen years
or so.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, So being able for him to go to the
Senior Bowl. I believe it was Jason Wildey who asked
Brian about this. That's a huge marker for him being
able to then match up against some of those top guys,
and it's somebody that definitely improved his draft stock through
that process as well.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yeah, well Over went to the Hula Bowl as well.
He was actually he was actually at two of the
college All Star games, and that was big for him,
as you said, as a smaller school guy. That's where
you get. You line up against the Power five conference
players and the evaluators get get an extra and even
more important look at you.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
And then the three guys I just want to touch
on quickly because we haven't mentioned their names yet. Jacob
Mounk from Duke. I don't know if I've ever heard
Brian as openly talk about a prospect that they legitimately
had their eye on in that day three. You know,
he mentioned there was numerous scouts in that room that
really liked him. If you look at it, the kid
has some really intriguing intangibles. He's six foot three, three
hund ten pounds, runs a five nine forty, very strong.
(16:41):
I believe he was the one that put up thirty
one on the bench press, a five year starter. Very rare.
And if I keep telling people, remember the ACC played
basically throughout the COVID year. They didn't do a half
season or we're going to cancel the season, and then
they start playing no he played eleven year, eleven games
in twenty twenty. Yeah, he started at He started at
right guard predominantly. He started a season at right tackle
(17:04):
when they needed him there. And in the Packers just
overall loved the makeup of this kid in the.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Fact, and they traded up for him.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
They traded up for him. Yeah, going up eights or
forced five spots to get them. Yeah, seventh round. Very quickly,
just to touch on this, Michael Pratt, I mean, there's
nothing I can even say about this kid. Watch Tom
Pelisero's profile on him. It's an eleven minute video that
the NFL and NFL Network put together. People were asking
Insider Inbox on Monday when I was writing it, like, hey,
when is the feature coming on this guy? I would
(17:32):
love to write something on Michael Pratt. But I've also
I'm of that ILK that it's like if somebody else
does it and does it better and just does it
full bore, you just tip your cap to that person
and let them have their story because the job that
Tom did on that, I mean, just to give you
quickly and a synopsis of this, one of his best
friends growing up in high school played with them. The
(17:53):
receiver to his quarterback. Guys that came from two different
walks of life. Young man commits to Georgia Tech at
the same time that pract commits the Tulane. Unfortunately, you know,
the young man ended up, you know, committing suicide. And
it's something that Michael has worn with him. He has
the Belief seven tattoo on his inner bicep.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Very uniform number seven as well, in honor of his
high school teammate and friend.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
And then also lost his brother later on as well
to an illness shortly after he had just become an uncle.
His brother had just had a child. So a very
interesting story and interesting look into him, and I'll tell
you what for an eleven minute piece, it completely just
zips right by. Then finally Kaylan King last pick for
(18:40):
the Packers. This is a guy Michael that coming off
of his true sophomore year at Penn State eighteen breakups
twenty two breakups depending on who you talk to, three
interceptions looked, you know, played incredible for the Nitney Lions.
He comes back his junior year, it doesn't go as well.
Only two passes defense this past season. He has this
precipitous all down the draft boards ends up going two
(19:02):
fifty five overall.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
And he chose to come out early. He could have stayed,
but he chose to come out early and then ends
up falling all the way to the seventh round when
the Packers choose him with their eleventh and final pick
at two fifty five.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
And this is why I've been getting into a fight
with people on Twitter, because they're all, like, I made
the comparison to Carrington Valentine and all these so called
experts and scouts that evidently know everything about every seventh
round pick that's ever been in the NFL, telling me, no,
they're entirely different players. No, dude, what I'm saying is
that when you have a guy like Valentine, who also
came out a year early when he could have went back,
(19:37):
and he also is going to probably be the youngest
player on this team this year, King if he makes it,
would be the youngest player on this team. I think
he's going to play his entire season at twenty one
years old. All of that being said, his conference call
that he had with media and reporters afterwards incredibly emotional.
You can tell this kid is motivated to show that
he's still very much the player that he was a
sophomore year. There was a forty time that I think
(19:59):
also kind of factored into this thing, right in that
four to six range. I think he reranted at his
pro dain and it was four or five five, but
still teams were a little bit cheapish there. But I'll
tell you what he said, the Prema Packers are getting
the most competitive guy in the country, and just listening
to him talk about it, I believe him.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah, that's uh. I think that's going to be one
to watch for sure, and I want to get back
to that, but I will take care of some sponsor
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(20:37):
all paired with your favorite sub or sub in a bowl.
Cousin Subs fifty plus years of better. A couple other
things I wanted to get to. One. I want to
ask you who, in your mind, for whatever reason, you
can take in any direction you want. But who is
the uh sorry, I'm having a little trouble with my
(20:59):
screen here. Who is the most intriguing pick in this
draft for you? I'll start because because to me, the
guy that I'm just I'm most intrigued by is Marshaun Lloyd,
the running back from USC. And I mean I didn't
I most of the college football that I watch, admittedly
(21:19):
is Big ten football because I'm a Scotts some Badgers fan,
so I don't see the West coast. You know, guys
a lot.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
You also go to bed relatively early.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
That that too, I'm getting old. But man, five t nine,
two and twenty pounds, that's you know, that's the two
hundred and twenty pounds is Josh Jacobs size. But he's
a couple of inches shorter than Josh Jacobs. The you
you just you look at the numbers. Now, granted, he's
(21:49):
on a team with Caleb Williams, you know, the Heisman
Trophy winner, number one pick in the draft, so there's
a lot of focus on the passing game when you're
defending USC. But seven point one one yards per carry
as a number one running back, that definitely opens your eyes.
And I actually asked him on the conference call. You know,
so is that was the seven point one yards per carry?
(22:11):
Is that more because of you know, the speed and
elusiveness or is that more because of yards after contact?
And I think he kind of wanted to get a
message across by with the answer to the question because
he immediately said, oh, it's yards after contact. You don't
want I don't I don't want the first guy or
even the second guy to be bringing me down. So
I thought that was really interesting the way he answered
(22:33):
that question. But also as a receiver out of the backfield,
he averaged like seventeen yards per catch out of the backfield.
So you're talking about you're talking about a potential home
run hitter. You know, call him a call him a
changeup or you know, the in between Josh Jacobs and
(22:53):
AJ Dillon or whatever if you want to. But I'm
really really intrigued by what a guy like Marshawn Lloyd
might be able to do in Matt Lafleur's offense and
what just you know, what they might dial up in
terms of a package of plays that they go, Hey,
this is where this guy can be really good. So
let's use him this way and see what happens.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
And just to build on that, and I'll give you
a different player in a second, But five two and
twenty pounds and he runs a four four six, Yeah,
and he put up twenty six bench reps. I believe
it was.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah, I think it was. Yeah, it was either twenty
five or twenty six. But yeah, two hundred and twenty
five pounds.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
That's ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
That's that's close. That's close to what a lot of
offensive linemen, defensive linemen do. They're in the mid to
high twenties on the bench.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
With all due respect to Aaron Jones, who I don't
think felt like he ran his best at his combine.
But you know, Aaron, even though he put on a
little bit more weight going into the draft than what
he ended up playing at in Green Bay, he was
probably closer to one to ninety than two twenty yeah
by the time he got done here. But for sure,
you know, Aaron I think was in that four or
five six range. I mean, it just shows you how
(23:57):
shifty and dynamic. Now you gotta do it on the field,
you gotta do it on the grass. But the prospects
that there's a reason why Daniel Jeremiah right after the
Packers said he was his top, the top running back
in this year's draft.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Yeah, he was a fourth running back taken. Yeah, And
Jeremiah did not hesitate for a second and said, this
is the guy I believe is the top running back
in the.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Draft, and I think he's the perfect fit for Green
Bay because you do have Josh Jacobs, you have aj Dylan.
He's not going to be asked to come in and
be the number one back right away. That's one of
the things that people always talk so much about Aaron
Jones and well, why didn't Mike play him more early on?
Aaron Jones was still learning how to be a three
down running back during those early times, Packers just weren't
as deep at the position as they've been now the
(24:39):
last three, four or five years. So incredibly excited to
see where that takes us. You asked me, though, the
guy that I'm most intrigued by, and I have to
say it because it's the guy that I talk the
most about of all the guys that Packers drafted in
the pre draft process, and that's Eddrian Cooper. Yeah, because
to me, kuay Walker went on Twitter right after they
took him He's like, I'm looking forward to by new
(25:00):
unning made out there. He's a little bit shorter than Quay.
He actually ran one hundredth of a second faster than
Clay in the forty Quay excuse me in the forty,
and he is a downhill ceball hit ball linebacker. I
am so excited to see that infusion into this defense
because the line that I forget which analysts it was
(25:22):
that mentioned it on the third day, but the Packers
have basically remade the spine of their defense the second
level and the third level, between the hashes, between the numbers.
It's going to look different than it did last year.
And I feel like somebody like Cooper can come in
and compliment what Walker does well. He can compliment with
Isaiah McDuffie does well. And then he had Tyrone Hopper
(25:44):
and Eric Wilson some of these other guys into the mix,
and suddenly you have a really intriguing position battle from
a position where going into the weekend we were kind
of looking at, Okay, well, exactly what do the Packers
need to accomplish here to make sure that they have
three inside linebackers with this switch to the.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Fourth Yeah, and a couple of a couple of things. Also,
as far as overall traits of this draft class, Brian
Gudokunz talked, particularly on the defensive side, wanted to upgrade
speed at various positions. And Cooper is a guy you
know who's I think. Gutakun said, he has rare speed
for the position, and John Eric Sullivan said, when you
(26:21):
see his speed on the field, there's a whoa factor
to it. So speed was definitely not just with Cooper
but with other draft picks as well. That was definitely
a high consideration. And as you mentioned, with a guy
like Jacob Monk and some of these other guys, the
experience level, I mean the number of guys in this
draft class that have thirty plus forty plus college starts
(26:43):
on their resume. Now, a guy like cal and King
did come out early, came out of year early, didn't
really play much as a true freshman, only played, you know,
two seasons. He's he's one on the other end of
the spectrum, not quite as much experience. But a lot
of guys in this draft class have a high level
of experience. Just a lot of pelts on the wall
(27:05):
in terms of the number of games that they played at,
you know, in the major college ranks. One thing that
was a surprise to me when it was all said
and done in this draft. But then we sort of
found out why, maybe a little bit, why is that
the Packers did not draft an edge rusher or somebody
(27:25):
who would be a defensive end in Jeff Hafley's four
to three scheme that the Packers are building here. But
then we learned from Matt Lafleur and Brian Gudakuns on
Saturday night, after all the picks were made, that kings Leyannigbari,
whom we all thought had torn his ACL in the
wild card playoff victory over Dallas back in January and
(27:46):
would need reconstructive surgery. YadA, YadA, YadA. We've all seen
it so often with acls. Kings Leyanningbari has not had
reconstructive surgery. There is there there. He is on a rehab,
a rehab and recovery path during which the Packers are
still hoping that he can avoid surgery because his ACL
(28:10):
issue was turned has been termed by Brian Gudukunston injury
not necessarily a tear, so that in part at least
helps explain maybe why Edge Rusher wasn't as urgent a
need heading into twenty twenty four, because if Enigbari with
an ACL in January, you're thinking he might be out
all of twenty twenty four, if not most of the
(28:32):
season before he can come back. Now there's a possibility,
and again it's still only a possibility at this point,
but if he avoids surgery, you're talking about a guy
who can make a much bigger contribution in twenty twenty
four than anybody thought a few months ago.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I'm really happy this came up because honestly, and I mean,
eventually we're going to talk about it, but I was
having a hard time trying to explain any of this
to people because one Enigbari looks fantastic in the final
locker room. I mean, I'm not judging people and if
they're able to play based on how they're he was
walking around better than some of the people that weren't injured.
Like after that game against San Francisco, because I was
(29:07):
in the locker room, Mike, I you know, it's a
jubilant time. The Packers had just beaten the Dallas Cowboys
basically starched them. Yeah, and it was really hard seeing
Kings Leanngbari, who went down late in that game with
what everybody thought was an ACL injury. He had the
towel over his head. He was inconsolable, just because you know,
you know, you get injured at that part of the season,
you might be looking at being on the sideline for
the next year.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Right.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Not only all that, but then we see these photos
from the first day of the offseason workouts where the
guys are just doing strength and conditioning stuff on the field.
This guy sprinting around hoops. I mean, he's he's doing
all the leg work you would not expect to see
from a guy that has an ACL injury.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
And yeah, when you're only three months three and a
half months removed from an ACL injury.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
And lo and behold, the Packers again are holding out hope. Now,
I don't know much about these things. I was always
under the under the understanding that if you have an
ACL injury, tear, whatever you wanna call it, you're gonna
have to have surgery because the ligament doesn't just heal itself.
MCL and LCL at PCL. So we'll wait and see
how everything. I'm hoping good thoughts for him, but even
(30:06):
more importantly Michael just looking at that position group as
a whole. I'm not saying it's as deep body for
body as like receiver is, but I felt like there
was enough competition there already that that wasn't going to
be a huge need for them, especially if I think
Bari is available because a couple things along with that,
I think they're very high on Brenton Cox Junior. He's
(30:26):
going to get more opportunities this year to try to
take that second year jump, former five star recruit at
Georgia and Florida. You have Preston Smith back once again
after he did some stuff with his contract, where Shaun
Gary is healthy once again. I thought Lucas Vanes looked
really good down the stretch last season, no doubt, and
they're at the four to three now. I don't know
what kind of stuff they're going to come up with
here with some of these all these defensive linemen they
(30:46):
have in how they could potentially factor into being an
edge rusher in some things we'll see.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
We haven't seen something that Carl Brooks certainly did at
Bowling Green. He lined up on the edge plenty. Obviously,
different level of competition there, but.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Hobie woulden't is listed one pound heavier than Lucas Van
s Now. He did tell or Wayne Larvy during the
pre draft, you know, Pepper rally that I think he
put on twenty pounds and he certainly looks like it.
But I just think there's a lot more flexibility that
the Julius Peppers thing in twenty fourteen opened my eyes
to all the possibilities. Other than maybe TJ. Slayton playing
(31:19):
a nine tech, I nothing really would surprise me anymore
with the defensive front. But all that being said, the
other thing, Green Bay historically has liked to play around
with the undrafted free agents there. Cox was the guy
last year. You know, maybe there's another prospect there as well.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
And that's the other part, is not talking about those yet.
We haven't haven't seen the official list from the communications
department as far as the undrafted rookie class, But yeah,
I mean, and I'm sure we'll talk about it again
this summer as well. No matter how difficult it looks
to make the Packers fifty three man roster, for whatever reason,
(31:58):
there always seems to be somebody in that undrafted rookie
class who emerges and proves to be a guy that
you that they can't cut him because they know he's
gonna get claimed and he's gonna go play somewhere else,
so they keep him. They keep him, even though you
would think that it would that that would just be
such a hard road to go, but somebody always seems
(32:18):
to succeed. That.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Malik Keith made the roster at the most the hardest
position to crack last year.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Yeah right, Yeah, there were so many guys.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
I mean, he beat out Bo Melton for a roster
spot and then Bo was one of their starters down
the stretch last season. It just shows you how far
that competition goes. You were asking about it, A lot
of people were asking Brian Gouducuntz about it. You always
want to build the most competitive ninety man roster possible,
But I do think there is a lot to be
said for what happened at tight end and receiver specifically
last year where the Packers just chalk those two rooms
(32:48):
full of talent, full of young bodies, and whether it
was injuries or some mid season adversity, whatever the reason was.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Yeah, opportunities arose for so many guys for various reasons.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Yeah, they were, you know, everybody was to get a
crack at everything. So we'll see where this takes them.
Now in the off season program, as everybody always talks about,
they're in shorts in shirts right now. You don't have
the contact football. We still have a long way to go.
You have to be able to weather the injuries. But Michael,
back to back really strong draft classes for the Green
Bay Packers. They added eleven more picks to that and
(33:19):
again hopes that you are filling out what hopes to
be a championship caliber roster.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Thirty five draft picks in three years. There are some
there are some teams that don't draft thirty five guys
in six years.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
I wonder how many of the Rams have drafted.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
In the last six years. I know exactly. We have
to go look that up.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
I'll check that out for Thursday.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Thirty five draft picks in three years. But it's how
the Packers have gotten from where they were to where
they are and trying to continue to move forward here
with Jordan Love taking the reins.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Last thing I'll mention, and maybe I want to talk
about this on Thursday, but if we don't, to make
sure I get this out there with the Packers making
those trades and Minnesota moving up and the Bear is
basically picking where they were. The Packers win in to
Friday with more second and third round picks than the
rest of the division combined, and went into the final
two days of the draft with twelve picks or ten
(34:09):
picks compared to twelve total for the for.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
The rest of the division. Yeah, the other three just.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
The way that. Again, everybody has their strategy. There's certain
needs that these teams have, but the Green Bay Packers
were not messing around and here we are. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Well we've gone a little bit overtime again today, but
that's okay because it was a busy three days at
twelve sixty five. And we'll have more to talk about
with this draft class on our next show, but for now,
we'll call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team.
We have all kinds of draft content out there. Go
to our Draft Central page on Packers dot com. There's
(34:44):
the stories, the videos, the highlights, the conference calls. Like
it's all out there for you on Packers dot com.
Be sure to check it out for wes I and
Mike thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will
see you next time.
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