July 22, 2025 • 28 mins
Mike and Wes preview training camp by taking a look at various storylines, including Year 2 of Jeff Hafley’s defense (1:46), position and depth-chart battles (7:15), plus the offensive line (14:00) and receiver (19:30) competitions.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hi, everybody. Welcome back to another edition of Packers Unscripted
from Packers dot Com. I and Mike Spoffer, joined as
always by my trust and colleague Wes Hodkowitz. Coming to
you hear from our studios at Lambeufield and back from
our brief summer hiatus, and we are back west because
the first practice of training camp is right around the corner,
(00:26):
and that means tomorrow. Are you ready for this?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Not ready for this? Heat? From what I was gathering here,
ninety degree weather for the first day of training camp.
Should be fun. If you're coming to Lambo, be sure
to bring water and everything else. I should say, nichgie Field,
bring water and all the other things that come along
with it. But in terms of the actual overall excitement
of this team, Michael I wrote about it in Insider Inbox.
All of the narratives, all the conversation, all the talk
(00:50):
finally gives way to action. I'm excited to see the
Packers back on the practice field.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, this is where it all gets started, the build
up to the twenty twenty five regular season, which will
start in early September. There's a fifty three man roster
to select. There's a practice squad to choose as well.
After these several weeks of practices, joint practices, preseason games
and all that get taken care of, a lot of
(01:15):
storylines heading into this training camp for the Packers. So
I'm just gonna throw this out as an open ended
question to you and we can go back and forth
with the storylines that are sort of top of mind
for us individually as we get ready to cover this
training camp Forpackers dot Com. So what is the storyline
for this training camp that is at the top of
(01:37):
your list?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I think for me, Mike, it's going to be watching
the evolution of Jeff Hafley's defense in the second season.
And there's no right or wrong answer this. There's probably
eight different topics with the way this team is pick configured,
the amount of players that are coming back, the amount
of coaches that are coming back. There's a lot of
expectation on this year's football team. But Jeff Halfley, really
(01:58):
in that defense, arrived to schedule last year, and when
you think back to some of the things they had
to do, whether it was injuries or just certain situations,
the adaptation that was incorporated into that defense for the
first half of the season and how they kind of
built to a crescendo at the end of it. I
think really spoke volumes about his scheme, its malleability, and
then also the player's ability to adjust to that. Now,
(02:20):
along with that, one thing I'm very excited to watch
is just the overall versatility of that group. And I
know the V word has become kind of almost a
cliche in the National Football League. Everybody talks about versatility
and multiplicity. But this defense has an opportunity here to
do something I don't remember any Packers defense doing before,
in that you have two top corners and Nate Hobbs
(02:41):
and Keishawn Nixon who both can play inside and outside.
You have Javon Bullard, second round pick from last year,
who can play the slot. Evan Williams was the PFWA
All Rookie Team member, and Savior McKinney's the best safety
in football right now. There are so many different things
they can do with that secondary. You look at Eddrian
Cooper at the linebacker position, the defensive front loses TJ.
(03:02):
Slayton but returns everybody else. There's just a whale of
potential there. In addition to everything they already accomplished last season.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Yeah, there are multiple storylines with regard to this defense,
the first one being as you started Jeff Haffley's second season,
this is where things get interesting in the NFL, because
anybody can come in as a coordinator, surprise people, make
a splash, turn things around. Right. What happens in the
second season when all of your opponents have an entire
(03:29):
season's worth of film to study of how you deployed
your players and the different tricks and schemes and everything
else that you came up with over the course of
twenty twenty four And Jeff Hafley had to come up
with a lot because, as Matt Lafleur has said many times,
they thought they were going to go into twenty twenty
four with, like, all right, Rush four, Cover seven, let's
(03:50):
play this pretty much straight up and then throw some
surprises in here and there. Well, the Rush four part
wasn't working the way they thought it would or the
way they planned, and so it became this season of
simulated pressures and sort of fake blitzes. And it was
still a lot of rush for Cover seven, but it
wasn't always the same, guys. It wasn't necessarily straightforward. So
(04:11):
now what do the Packers' opponents do to react to
that when now all of that stuff is on film.
That being said, you have a new defensive line coach
and DeMarcus Covington. As you mentioned, everyone on the defensive
line is back except for TJ. Slayton. You added a
couple of pass rushers in the draft and Baron Surrell
Colin Oliver will see what types of roles potentially develop
(04:35):
for those guys. And to me, really the most intriguing
thing is the back end and some of the guys
that you mentioned, because when you have cornerbacks like Hobbs
and Nixon who can both play outside and in the slot.
You have a safety in Javon Bullard who can play
the back end as well as the slot. What are
(04:55):
the different packages, whether it be the bass, the nickel,
the doc I'm a big nickel, a small nickel, whatever
you want to call them. What are the different packages
of defensive backs for certain situations that Halfley in company
are going to come up with to put all of
this talent in the best possible position to make an
(05:15):
impact on the field. There are a lot of questions
in that regard that we don't know the answers to
and we're just gonna have to see it evolve throughout
the course of the season.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah, and the other aspect of this too, And I
made this comment throughout the offseason. I think with the
way the NFL has gone with playing nickel packages almost
as base packages now and how much you're seeing a
guy like Carrington Valentine, who on paper might not be
a starter based on the base alignment, but probably will
have a huge impact on this defense this season. You
(05:46):
have to have a starting five, it's like an offensive
line now. You have to be able to move guys around,
You have to be able to weather injuries. Last year
showed that with Jay r Alexander obviously right. The Packers
have to be able to have that type of a
able to make those type of adjustments. Credit to Hafley,
did you did that? Credit to you know, Derek Ansley
and in that cornerback room they adjusted And now how
(06:09):
do you build upon that in this upcoming season. I
think that's going to be really intriguing to watch and
just seeing exactly who could be the next guy that
jumps out and makes a huge impact right off the bat.
But we did our position by position series and we're
working through that. Actually it's ending today the Countdown to
Camp series. And as I was talking about the defensive backs,
I led with the safety room and the fact that
(06:30):
that one year renovation that they did, it wasn't just spectacular,
it was essential to what Green Bay did last season. Yeah,
and seeing how Xavier McKinney and Williams Bullard, I mean,
shoot katan Aladappo, Zane Anderson, seeing how that group now
takes that step forward, I think we'll have a similar
ramification on how this defense performs in twenty twenty five. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I think when we look at the defense as far
as position battles, so to speak, on that side of
the ball, the only one that really jumped out at me.
I mean, obviously some issues with depth as far as
who's going to rotate in you know where, and as
I said before, what packages certain guys are going to
be used, and that'll all get sorted out. But in
terms of an actual position battle, maybe it's that number
(07:14):
three linebacker that we'll be watching closely. It'll be interesting
to see if Tyron Hopper, the second round player who
is a third round draft pick a year ago if
he can challenge Isaiah McDuffie for that number three linebacker spot.
I think last year, at this time, neither one of
us necessarily thought Isaiah McDuffie would be back after the
(07:34):
expiration of his rookie contract. But he is back. The
Packers like what he brings, not only in Halfley system,
but also obviously on special teams. So that's an interesting
position battle there. Although training camp is going to start
with Quay Walker on the pup list, he has an injury.
He was also injured during the spring, wasn't participating in
(07:59):
in the OTAs in mini camp that we watched earlier.
So in terms of who's going to be on the
field early on in training camp, a bunch of guys
are gonna be are gonna be getting those reps and
then we'll see when Walker comes back. Exactly where are
things with that number three linebacker spot, Because ideally Quay
Walker and Edger and Cooper are the one in one
(08:22):
a at linebacker who are going to be on the field.
I would imagine about ninety five percent of the time.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, I mean, it's it's getting to that point now
where Edgerrin Cooper with all that potential and all that
playmaking ability. There's still gonna be some young guy mistakes,
but you have to let him work through those things
on the field. And certainly kuay Walker now has been
the general that defense for a couple of years now,
and I feel like when you mentioned the Isaam McDuffie thing,
(08:47):
I just think he was such a sound investment that
green Bay made because one, it was a you know,
a market deal that worked for green Bay. You know
you're not having to bust the bank over it, right.
He's a special team stallwart. And then when a situate
like shod like this arises with kway Walker, he can
go in there and he can call the defense and
training camp and you're not going to skip a beat.
Isaiah Simmons is added into the mix. Tyron Hopper is
(09:08):
a third round pick. Christian Welch is back. I made
this comment in one of the little Q and as
I did over the off season about how this is
not the same linebacker unit that I covered my first
few years on the beat where it was aj Hawk
and what outside linebacker is moving to inside linebacker this season.
These guys are all high, high caliber athletes, but also
(09:31):
hugely credentialed, you know, middle linebackers in this league, so
definitely the deepest I think Green Bay has ever been
there during my time here, and seeing exactly who rises
to the top of that, it's going to be a
very interesting storyline to follow throughout training camp and honestly
throughout the regular season.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, and Isaiah Simmons is kind of the wild card
in this whole linebacker mix, right because maybe he's got
a chance to be the number three linebacker. I guess
I'm a little bit more intrigued just to see what
kind of a role Jeff Haffley wants to carve out
for a guy like that who has plenty of NFL experience,
brings you know, a different type of skill set and
(10:07):
whatnot to the table. He's sort of this great unknown
sort of in the mix here as far as a
veteran player goes so very intriguing. There one last thought
on the defense before we switch sides. I think the
other thing that we'll be watched very closely through the
preseason games and as we get down to roster selection
(10:29):
time is how is the depth in the cornerback room
going to sort itself out? Because you have Nixon and
Hobbs and Valentine, and you have a safety like Bullard
who can play in the slot. But beyond those top
four where things are gonna fall depth wise, at cornerback
is kind of a complete unknown right now. Maybe Kamal Hadden,
(10:53):
who is a former sixth round pick of the Kansas
City Chiefs, maybe he makes a run at things. Jonathan
Baldwin is a highly touted, un drafted rookie that the
Packers have brought in. You drafted Michael Robinson in the
seventh round. You drafted Kaylin King in the seventh round
a year ago, and he spent the bulk of his
rookie season on the practice squad. A lot of candidates,
(11:14):
but a lot of unproven players whom you know will
be called upon at some point during the course of
the season. So figuring out who is cornerback four, cornerback five,
cornerback six, how does that shake out? That's something that
will be worth watching.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah. Well, Gregory Jr. The Packers signed him to former
draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars, I believe, and as
it turned out and OTAs he ended up running with
the ones because of some of the injuries that they
had that flared up there, So that's right. I feel
like this reminds me this is not the first time
the Packers have done this. It reminds me of a
few instances at various positions where Green Bay just has
(11:51):
a wide breath of talent there, a lot of young
talent and just seeing exactly, okay, who's gonna kind of
grab the brass ring and then sort of a ses
beyond that. I mean, they've shown in the past too.
If they need to go get a Rasul Douglas off
the you know, practice squad of the Arizona Cardinals, they're
going to do that, right, But they have so much
versatility at that group that I think Green Bay is
(12:13):
allowed to sort of experiment a little bit without having
to commit to a veteran like some other teams have
done throughout the offseason. And the biggest key to that, though,
is going to be the health of not only the
incoming you know superstar here the way he's positioned in
Nate Hobbs, but also in Keishaw Nixon, because those are
your perimeter depth along with Carrington Valentine. And when you
(12:36):
look at this game, and I've said this time and
time again, the farther you get from the quarterback, it
seems like the more essential those positions have gotten in
the NFL. Between receivers, cornerbacks, tackles and even now you
look at a tight end like Tucker Craft, what he
can do. That's where you're a lot of these games
are won and lost, and yeah, it'll be interesting to
see who who all handles that.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
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Speaker 2 (13:40):
I'm ready to do some grilling right now.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, I know, I'm starting to get hungry. Now you
talk about these subs and grilling and all that. All right, Well,
offensive side of the ball, I think, at least for me,
for my money, so to speak, the biggest storyline is
exactly how the offensive line is going to get sorted
out in this training camp. Now. First off, as we
(14:03):
are recording this, reports have been out that the Packers
have signed Zach Tom the right tackle, to a long
term contract extension. So congrats to Zach. Always good for
both the player and the team to get something like
that figured out on the EVA training camp. That never hurts.
But we're going to have to see just exactly what
(14:24):
happens with last year's first round pick Jordan Morgan. The
word during the spring was that he could be competing
at left tackle with Rashid Walker, he might be competing
at right guard with Sean Ryan for a starting spot,
or if he is unable to win either of those jobs,
he probably enters the season as the number six offensive lineman,
the first guy off the bench kind of thing. I'm
(14:48):
not in the game of predictions and whatnot. But I'll
just say this, if you've got a first round draft
pick who might end up being your number six guy
going into the season, not exactly a bad place to be.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
No, not at all. And if I may start here
about the Zach Tom thing, I was sitting in bed
this morning kind of thumbing through my phone and I
was thinking about this. With these fourth round picks, if
you look over the last twenty years, the Packers actually
haven't missed on an offensive lineman in the fourth round.
The cream of the crop obviously Zach Tom, David Bakhtiari,
(15:24):
Josh Sitting, TJ Lang, j C. Tretder. A lot of
his established playing time came in Cleveland, but played important
snaps for Green Bay two. And then Alan Barber and
Royce Newman are they both are NFL players, Like Royce
is still in the league even though it's not in
Green Bay. Allen ended up playing several years after his
time in Green Bay. It's not like the Packers just
had a guy they drafted and just couldn't play at all,
(15:45):
and most of them have been superstars. Just remarkable that
track record. Their Day three has been a very beneficial
day for Green Bay to select offensive linemup. My goodness,
the work that they've done and how they've built their
offensive lines. I don't know if you saw that one redraft.
I think it might have been PFF did it? They
redrafted the twenty thirteen NFL draft. David Bochiardi went fourth overall. Yeah,
(16:07):
and I think JC was sixteenth or something like that.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Nothing like going from fourth round picks to first round
picks in a redraft after the fact.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
And the amount of people talk about, you know, money
and everything else. The amount of draft capital.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
That you save with moves like that, Oh my gosh, it's.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
You can't even measure it. I mean, Lane Johnson was
a first round pick, right, Luke Jokol, I mean all
these guys. That thirteen was the same year that Fisher
Eric Fisher from Central Michigan went number one.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
To Kansas City City.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Yeah, was a fine NFL player, but not to Dave's level.
Just remarkable. Anyway, I'm getting past what you want to
talk about here, But again, the overall depth, I mean,
this all starts for me with Tom in that twenty
twenty two NFL draft class. The Packers got Tom in
the fourth round. They got Sean Ryan and the third
and they got Rashid Walker in the seven seven, a
(17:01):
two year starting left tackle. Now and there are so
many different superlatives you can go into, but basically, it
was an extreme rarity that the Packers had three offensive
linemen from the same draft class start every game for
them last season. Ryan stepped up in a major way
after Jordan Morgan's shoulder crept up on him. For me,
it's not about Morgan's talent. It is about the health.
(17:22):
If he's back, if he's healthy, if the shoulder's taken
care of, this guy absolutely is going to push for
a starting job at multiple positions. The athleticism is there,
the footwork is there. Is just a matter of him
being on the field. I think that makes the entire
group better. In addition to the fact that Sean Ryan,
because of what was happening with Elton Jenkins, he took
a ton of snaps at center during the offseason program.
(17:43):
The versatility is there for him too, if he's potentially
in a swing tackle, swing offensive lineman role. Jacob Munk.
The list goes on and on and on of guys
the Packers have developed on this offensive line. Fortunately, they
didn't have to dig into that depth last year because
of how guys were healthy up until that wild card
game against Philly.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Right, And that was the unfortunate thing is as healthy
as the offensive line was throughout the regular season, you
hit your biggest moment of adversity injury wise in the
playoff game. And then when you had to dig into
that depth, Jordan Morgan wasn't available and things didn't work out,
and that that Philly defensive front just controlled too much
of that football game.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
But to get that far, that was the healthiest the
Packers have been on the offensive line in the regular
season since the twenty fourteen season, and it was despite
the fact that their first round pick was dealing with
that shoulder. It's pretty astonishing what they were able to do.
But now that competition, everybody's back in the room. See
who comes out and who prevails.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah there, and you know that based on what happened
in the playoff game last year, the Packers are really
gonna look to have not just that sixth guy, the
first guy off the bench that maybe can jump in
at tackle or at guard whatever, but a seventh guy
and an eighth guy so that when you have eight
guys active on game day, on that game day forty
(19:00):
eight that if you need to dip into the seventh
man or the eighth man, they're gonna feel confident in it.
And there there are some good offensive linemen in this Packers'
position room right now who are not going to make
this team because the competition is such and quite frankly,
(19:20):
I think we can say the same thing about what's
going to transpire at wide receiver. We all know the situation.
You have your top four guys from last year back.
You drafted two guys in the first three rounds of
this draft in Matthew Golden and Saveon Williams. You signed
Mkole Hardman as a free agent from Kansas City, and oh,
(19:43):
by the way, you also have contributors like Malie Heath
and Bow Melton who have made an impact in games
when they've been out there. There isn't room for everybody
that's just going to be you just have to put
it out there. Some of these guys are not going
to make it on this team this year. The competition
(20:03):
at wide receiver is going to be pretty fierce.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
And it's going to go in so many different levels
and phases, right, I mean, bo Obviously, people made so
much noise about him, you know, playing a little bit
of cornerback ding the offseason program, the thing that nobody
talked about. He's really their only returning gunner right now.
Robert Rochelle's gone, Yeah, Corey Balentine has gone. Bo Melton
has had a huge impact on special teams in addition
to the fact that in twenty thirteen was the first
(20:27):
receiver to have one hundred yard game against Minnesota. There
are so many different ways you can slice this, but
I'll tell you what, man, when you add in a
talent like Matthew Golden, you add in Savion Williams, not
the pressure but just the overall ceiling of that room
continues to go up. I made a comment and insider inbox,
(20:47):
I mean, I don't know about you, but from just
strictly an x's and o's perspective, watching Golden in OTA's
in mini camp, I am absolutely just elevating at what
this guy could do with this offense. Because he's not
just a straight line four two nine receiver that's going
to be on goal balls and in those type of things.
(21:09):
They are going to use him in short area situations.
You know, there is going to be. He is quick,
he gets in and out of his his you know,
breaks very fast.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
He's already become a fun player to win. It's incredibly
fun towards There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
And just the way he knifs through a zone defense
and that Like, again, I'm not guaranteed this kid's gonna
have twelve hundred yards the first year. But when you
talk about the first receiver that the Packers have picked
in the first round in twenty two years, twenty three years,
this is the type of athlete that you're looking for.
In addition to the fact that Savian Williams played ninety
(21:42):
five different positions at TCU, In addition to the fact
that Christian Watson was doing sprints during these practices on
the sideline. Again, we have to see where this goes.
He's on the pup. Time will tell when Christian Watson
number nine is available. But I've said this to people before.
If you're not at a good place in your rehab,
the Packers will not allow you to be down in
(22:04):
practice with a knee injury of that significance.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
You can't be out there, yeah there, and they're not
going to let you just stand on the sideline and
watch and whatnot. So yeah, I'm really interested to see
exactly now. I'm still not expecting Christian Watson to take
the field in training camp, and if that holds, then
at least at the start of the season, there will
be kind of an extra spot on the fifty three
(22:28):
for wide receiver that wouldn't otherwise be there, or that
won't be there when Watson is cleared and is able
to come back. So that is one thing to watch.
But yeah, what we saw in mid June of Christian
Watson when he was doing his rehab off to the side,
all of us in the media, you know, it was
like our you know, jaws were on the floor because
(22:51):
you start doing and you're like, the injury was in January.
It was week eighteen of the regular season. He had
the surgery at some point later that month or whatever.
But it's like here, it is June and that injury
was in January, and you're looking at a guy that
you wouldn't even think anything was wrong with.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
So I've stopped trying to figure out acls after like
the King Sanigbari thing last year. I'm done trying to
diagnose players just when they're out there. They're out there.
But to the original point you were making, just to
close on this, the Packers have a receiving cores. Where
as soon as you get to talk about one player like, oh, yeah,
Dontavian Wicks, Oh, Jaden Reid's been the leading receiver of
the past two seasons, Romeo Dobbs and before anyone writes off,
(23:31):
m Coole Hartman. Hartman was taking a lot of the
kickoff in punt return snaps during the offseason program.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
He also was the star of mini camp at wide
receiver at those last couple of days. I mean, there's
no denying that.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
So it's it is an astonishingly deep group and seeing
exactly Yeah, they have to cut a roster. Yeah they're
gonna have X amount receivers in week one, But what
Matt Lafleur decides to do with that group, Jason Vrabel,
Adam Stenovich, how they want to use these guys? Yeah,
I mean Jordan loved Man. We didn't even talk about
(24:03):
Josh Jacobs. I mean, like Tucker Craft, Luke Musgrave is back.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
I mean, those are the storylines for the regular season,
maybe not so much in training camp, but I do
what you bring up Jacobs. One last thing I do
want to touch on with regard to the offense before
we go is how is the depth at that position
going to sort itself out behind Jacobs? Because you have
Marshaun Lloyd, third round draft pick a year ago, ended
(24:31):
up sort of taking a quasi red shirt year because
of the various injuries and whatnot that he dealt with.
But you've got Lloyd, You've got Emmanuel Wilson, You've got
Chris Brooks. Both Wilson and Brooks played a ton last
year behind Jacobs and made significant contributions in their own right.
So who's going to be that next guy up behind
(24:52):
Josh Jacobs at running back? I think that's an interesting
question that this training camp in preseason is going to answer.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Yeah, and how those guys all built off of each other?
That could have been I wrote this in the offseason,
but that could have been a very difficult situation for
Green Bay when AJ Dillon goes down and Marshaw Lloyd
deals with a hamstring injury and lower body injuries that
keep him out on the shoulder injury too that kept
him out for all but one game against Indianapolis. Right,
that could have been just a disaster. Emmanuel Wilson made
(25:20):
that a second thought, and it was funny. One of
the things that I was talking to Wilson about this offseason,
he mentioned, you know, Chris Brooks has been working with him,
showing him how to play that second RB role that
Brooks really excelled at, almost like a full back h
back type role during the second half of the season
when they did some of those packages. Once he got
established in this offense, Chris Brooks comes in out of
(25:42):
nowhere with Miami and ends up being a very stable
option as a pass protector and a pass catcher and
ends up getting his first career touchdown. I mean, it
just goes on and on and on. And I'll tell
you what, Mike, when you hit on your draft picks,
when you make good free agent decisions, this is what happens.
You open up a window for yourself because you can
(26:03):
look at all these positions and you can go one A,
one B, one C different guys that you could turn
to based on game plans, depending on injuries. That's where
the Packers are at right now. And that's why you
and I have said routinely this offseason, this is the
deepest roster. When you look at the full fifty three,
when you look at a full seventy in the end season,
with the practice squad a full ninety in the off season,
(26:24):
and watching that all play out in this practice field
this summer is going to make for some really entertaining football.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Yeah, and the personnel department is going to have a
lot of difficult decisions to make when decision time comes.
But that's the goal. You don't you wouldn't have it
any other way. You want to have difficult decisions because
if all the decisions are easy, then the personnel department
probably didn't really do its job. And this personnel department
(26:53):
has built has built a ninety man off season roster
that is very impressive. And how it all to gets
selected pared down. And there are things that are going
to come up, injuries and whatnot that will come up
over the course of the next month that are going
to factor into the decision as well. There will be
unforeseen things coming down the road. But the bottom line
(27:14):
is the vast majority of the decisions are going to
be tricky. They're going to be difficult, But that's what
a personnel department's job is is to make its own
job difficult, right, and and so we'll have to see
how it sorts itself.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
You don't want to lose players. But at the same time,
if you end up at the end of a training
camp and none of your guys get claimed, none of
your guys get signed, nobody tries to bring in any
of your free agents as practice squad players, that's not great. Yeah,
And when you look at last season, Green Bay lost
a number of guys at the end of camp. Christian
Welch ended up being one of them. He's back, but
(27:47):
they're in a position right now and that it just
it gets so exciting the way you could you could
really orientate a roster based on the talent that you have.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yeah, you're presently well. It all gets started on Wednesday
at ten thirty am Rainischki Field, I will there. You
will be there, yeah, with the sunscreen on and uh,
probably in my back pocket for a reapplication at some
point during practice. But with that we'll call it a
wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to
(28:16):
follow all of our coverage of the team, all of
our coverage of training camp. We'll have it for you
on Packers dot com and we will do our best
to resume two episodes of Packers unscripted per week from
now until who knows right.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Wes, Yeah, till the end of the season.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Well, thank you for everybody, and we will see you
next time.
Hi, everybody. Welcome back to another edition of Packers Unscripted
from Packers dot Com. I and Mike Spoffer, joined as
always by my trust and colleague Wes Hodkowitz. Coming to
you hear from our studios at Lambeufield and back from
our brief summer hiatus, and we are back west because
the first practice of training camp is right around the corner,
(00:26):
and that means tomorrow. Are you ready for this?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Not ready for this? Heat? From what I was gathering here,
ninety degree weather for the first day of training camp.
Should be fun. If you're coming to Lambo, be sure
to bring water and everything else. I should say, nichgie Field,
bring water and all the other things that come along
with it. But in terms of the actual overall excitement
of this team, Michael I wrote about it in Insider Inbox.
All of the narratives, all the conversation, all the talk
(00:50):
finally gives way to action. I'm excited to see the
Packers back on the practice field.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, this is where it all gets started, the build
up to the twenty twenty five regular season, which will
start in early September. There's a fifty three man roster
to select. There's a practice squad to choose as well.
After these several weeks of practices, joint practices, preseason games
and all that get taken care of, a lot of
(01:15):
storylines heading into this training camp for the Packers. So
I'm just gonna throw this out as an open ended
question to you and we can go back and forth
with the storylines that are sort of top of mind
for us individually as we get ready to cover this
training camp Forpackers dot Com. So what is the storyline
for this training camp that is at the top of
(01:37):
your list?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I think for me, Mike, it's going to be watching
the evolution of Jeff Hafley's defense in the second season.
And there's no right or wrong answer this. There's probably
eight different topics with the way this team is pick configured,
the amount of players that are coming back, the amount
of coaches that are coming back. There's a lot of
expectation on this year's football team. But Jeff Halfley, really
(01:58):
in that defense, arrived to schedule last year, and when
you think back to some of the things they had
to do, whether it was injuries or just certain situations,
the adaptation that was incorporated into that defense for the
first half of the season and how they kind of
built to a crescendo at the end of it. I
think really spoke volumes about his scheme, its malleability, and
then also the player's ability to adjust to that. Now,
(02:20):
along with that, one thing I'm very excited to watch
is just the overall versatility of that group. And I
know the V word has become kind of almost a
cliche in the National Football League. Everybody talks about versatility
and multiplicity. But this defense has an opportunity here to
do something I don't remember any Packers defense doing before,
in that you have two top corners and Nate Hobbs
(02:41):
and Keishawn Nixon who both can play inside and outside.
You have Javon Bullard, second round pick from last year,
who can play the slot. Evan Williams was the PFWA
All Rookie Team member, and Savior McKinney's the best safety
in football right now. There are so many different things
they can do with that secondary. You look at Eddrian
Cooper at the linebacker position, the defensive front loses TJ.
(03:02):
Slayton but returns everybody else. There's just a whale of
potential there. In addition to everything they already accomplished last season.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Yeah, there are multiple storylines with regard to this defense,
the first one being as you started Jeff Haffley's second season,
this is where things get interesting in the NFL, because
anybody can come in as a coordinator, surprise people, make
a splash, turn things around. Right. What happens in the
second season when all of your opponents have an entire
(03:29):
season's worth of film to study of how you deployed
your players and the different tricks and schemes and everything
else that you came up with over the course of
twenty twenty four And Jeff Hafley had to come up
with a lot because, as Matt Lafleur has said many times,
they thought they were going to go into twenty twenty
four with, like, all right, Rush four, Cover seven, let's
(03:50):
play this pretty much straight up and then throw some
surprises in here and there. Well, the Rush four part
wasn't working the way they thought it would or the
way they planned, and so it became this season of
simulated pressures and sort of fake blitzes. And it was
still a lot of rush for Cover seven, but it
wasn't always the same, guys. It wasn't necessarily straightforward. So
(04:11):
now what do the Packers' opponents do to react to
that when now all of that stuff is on film.
That being said, you have a new defensive line coach
and DeMarcus Covington. As you mentioned, everyone on the defensive
line is back except for TJ. Slayton. You added a
couple of pass rushers in the draft and Baron Surrell
Colin Oliver will see what types of roles potentially develop
(04:35):
for those guys. And to me, really the most intriguing
thing is the back end and some of the guys
that you mentioned, because when you have cornerbacks like Hobbs
and Nixon who can both play outside and in the slot.
You have a safety in Javon Bullard who can play
the back end as well as the slot. What are
(04:55):
the different packages, whether it be the bass, the nickel,
the doc I'm a big nickel, a small nickel, whatever
you want to call them. What are the different packages
of defensive backs for certain situations that Halfley in company
are going to come up with to put all of
this talent in the best possible position to make an
(05:15):
impact on the field. There are a lot of questions
in that regard that we don't know the answers to
and we're just gonna have to see it evolve throughout
the course of the season.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah, and the other aspect of this too, And I
made this comment throughout the offseason. I think with the
way the NFL has gone with playing nickel packages almost
as base packages now and how much you're seeing a
guy like Carrington Valentine, who on paper might not be
a starter based on the base alignment, but probably will
have a huge impact on this defense this season. You
(05:46):
have to have a starting five, it's like an offensive
line now. You have to be able to move guys around,
You have to be able to weather injuries. Last year
showed that with Jay r Alexander obviously right. The Packers
have to be able to have that type of a
able to make those type of adjustments. Credit to Hafley,
did you did that? Credit to you know, Derek Ansley
and in that cornerback room they adjusted And now how
(06:09):
do you build upon that in this upcoming season. I
think that's going to be really intriguing to watch and
just seeing exactly who could be the next guy that
jumps out and makes a huge impact right off the bat.
But we did our position by position series and we're
working through that. Actually it's ending today the Countdown to
Camp series. And as I was talking about the defensive backs,
I led with the safety room and the fact that
(06:30):
that one year renovation that they did, it wasn't just spectacular,
it was essential to what Green Bay did last season. Yeah,
and seeing how Xavier McKinney and Williams Bullard, I mean,
shoot katan Aladappo, Zane Anderson, seeing how that group now
takes that step forward, I think we'll have a similar
ramification on how this defense performs in twenty twenty five. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I think when we look at the defense as far
as position battles, so to speak, on that side of
the ball, the only one that really jumped out at me.
I mean, obviously some issues with depth as far as
who's going to rotate in you know where, and as
I said before, what packages certain guys are going to
be used, and that'll all get sorted out. But in
terms of an actual position battle, maybe it's that number
(07:14):
three linebacker that we'll be watching closely. It'll be interesting
to see if Tyron Hopper, the second round player who
is a third round draft pick a year ago if
he can challenge Isaiah McDuffie for that number three linebacker spot.
I think last year, at this time, neither one of
us necessarily thought Isaiah McDuffie would be back after the
(07:34):
expiration of his rookie contract. But he is back. The
Packers like what he brings, not only in Halfley system,
but also obviously on special teams. So that's an interesting
position battle there. Although training camp is going to start
with Quay Walker on the pup list, he has an injury.
He was also injured during the spring, wasn't participating in
(07:59):
in the OTAs in mini camp that we watched earlier.
So in terms of who's going to be on the
field early on in training camp, a bunch of guys
are gonna be are gonna be getting those reps and
then we'll see when Walker comes back. Exactly where are
things with that number three linebacker spot, Because ideally Quay
Walker and Edger and Cooper are the one in one
(08:22):
a at linebacker who are going to be on the field.
I would imagine about ninety five percent of the time.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, I mean, it's it's getting to that point now
where Edgerrin Cooper with all that potential and all that
playmaking ability. There's still gonna be some young guy mistakes,
but you have to let him work through those things
on the field. And certainly kuay Walker now has been
the general that defense for a couple of years now,
and I feel like when you mentioned the Isaam McDuffie thing,
(08:47):
I just think he was such a sound investment that
green Bay made because one, it was a you know,
a market deal that worked for green Bay. You know
you're not having to bust the bank over it, right.
He's a special team stallwart. And then when a situate
like shod like this arises with kway Walker, he can
go in there and he can call the defense and
training camp and you're not going to skip a beat.
Isaiah Simmons is added into the mix. Tyron Hopper is
(09:08):
a third round pick. Christian Welch is back. I made
this comment in one of the little Q and as
I did over the off season about how this is
not the same linebacker unit that I covered my first
few years on the beat where it was aj Hawk
and what outside linebacker is moving to inside linebacker this season.
These guys are all high, high caliber athletes, but also
(09:31):
hugely credentialed, you know, middle linebackers in this league, so
definitely the deepest I think Green Bay has ever been
there during my time here, and seeing exactly who rises
to the top of that, it's going to be a
very interesting storyline to follow throughout training camp and honestly
throughout the regular season.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, and Isaiah Simmons is kind of the wild card
in this whole linebacker mix, right because maybe he's got
a chance to be the number three linebacker. I guess
I'm a little bit more intrigued just to see what
kind of a role Jeff Haffley wants to carve out
for a guy like that who has plenty of NFL experience,
brings you know, a different type of skill set and
(10:07):
whatnot to the table. He's sort of this great unknown
sort of in the mix here as far as a
veteran player goes so very intriguing. There one last thought
on the defense before we switch sides. I think the
other thing that we'll be watched very closely through the
preseason games and as we get down to roster selection
(10:29):
time is how is the depth in the cornerback room
going to sort itself out? Because you have Nixon and
Hobbs and Valentine, and you have a safety like Bullard
who can play in the slot. But beyond those top
four where things are gonna fall depth wise, at cornerback
is kind of a complete unknown right now. Maybe Kamal Hadden,
(10:53):
who is a former sixth round pick of the Kansas
City Chiefs, maybe he makes a run at things. Jonathan
Baldwin is a highly touted, un drafted rookie that the
Packers have brought in. You drafted Michael Robinson in the
seventh round. You drafted Kaylin King in the seventh round
a year ago, and he spent the bulk of his
rookie season on the practice squad. A lot of candidates,
(11:14):
but a lot of unproven players whom you know will
be called upon at some point during the course of
the season. So figuring out who is cornerback four, cornerback five,
cornerback six, how does that shake out? That's something that
will be worth watching.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah. Well, Gregory Jr. The Packers signed him to former
draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars, I believe, and as
it turned out and OTAs he ended up running with
the ones because of some of the injuries that they
had that flared up there, So that's right. I feel
like this reminds me this is not the first time
the Packers have done this. It reminds me of a
few instances at various positions where Green Bay just has
(11:51):
a wide breath of talent there, a lot of young
talent and just seeing exactly, okay, who's gonna kind of
grab the brass ring and then sort of a ses
beyond that. I mean, they've shown in the past too.
If they need to go get a Rasul Douglas off
the you know, practice squad of the Arizona Cardinals, they're
going to do that, right, But they have so much
versatility at that group that I think Green Bay is
(12:13):
allowed to sort of experiment a little bit without having
to commit to a veteran like some other teams have
done throughout the offseason. And the biggest key to that, though,
is going to be the health of not only the
incoming you know superstar here the way he's positioned in
Nate Hobbs, but also in Keishaw Nixon, because those are
your perimeter depth along with Carrington Valentine. And when you
(12:36):
look at this game, and I've said this time and
time again, the farther you get from the quarterback, it
seems like the more essential those positions have gotten in
the NFL. Between receivers, cornerbacks, tackles and even now you
look at a tight end like Tucker Craft, what he
can do. That's where you're a lot of these games
are won and lost, and yeah, it'll be interesting to
see who who all handles that.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Well, we'll switch gears to the offensive side of the
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Speaker 2 (13:40):
I'm ready to do some grilling right now.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, I know, I'm starting to get hungry. Now you
talk about these subs and grilling and all that. All right, Well,
offensive side of the ball, I think, at least for me,
for my money, so to speak, the biggest storyline is
exactly how the offensive line is going to get sorted
out in this training camp. Now. First off, as we
(14:03):
are recording this, reports have been out that the Packers
have signed Zach Tom the right tackle, to a long
term contract extension. So congrats to Zach. Always good for
both the player and the team to get something like
that figured out on the EVA training camp. That never hurts.
But we're going to have to see just exactly what
(14:24):
happens with last year's first round pick Jordan Morgan. The
word during the spring was that he could be competing
at left tackle with Rashid Walker, he might be competing
at right guard with Sean Ryan for a starting spot,
or if he is unable to win either of those jobs,
he probably enters the season as the number six offensive lineman,
the first guy off the bench kind of thing. I'm
(14:48):
not in the game of predictions and whatnot. But I'll
just say this, if you've got a first round draft
pick who might end up being your number six guy
going into the season, not exactly a bad place to be.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
No, not at all. And if I may start here
about the Zach Tom thing, I was sitting in bed
this morning kind of thumbing through my phone and I
was thinking about this. With these fourth round picks, if
you look over the last twenty years, the Packers actually
haven't missed on an offensive lineman in the fourth round.
The cream of the crop obviously Zach Tom, David Bakhtiari,
(15:24):
Josh Sitting, TJ Lang, j C. Tretder. A lot of
his established playing time came in Cleveland, but played important
snaps for Green Bay two. And then Alan Barber and
Royce Newman are they both are NFL players, Like Royce
is still in the league even though it's not in
Green Bay. Allen ended up playing several years after his
time in Green Bay. It's not like the Packers just
had a guy they drafted and just couldn't play at all,
(15:45):
and most of them have been superstars. Just remarkable that
track record. Their Day three has been a very beneficial
day for Green Bay to select offensive linemup. My goodness,
the work that they've done and how they've built their
offensive lines. I don't know if you saw that one redraft.
I think it might have been PFF did it? They
redrafted the twenty thirteen NFL draft. David Bochiardi went fourth overall. Yeah,
(16:07):
and I think JC was sixteenth or something like that.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Nothing like going from fourth round picks to first round
picks in a redraft after the fact.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
And the amount of people talk about, you know, money
and everything else. The amount of draft capital.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
That you save with moves like that, Oh my gosh, it's.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
You can't even measure it. I mean, Lane Johnson was
a first round pick, right, Luke Jokol, I mean all
these guys. That thirteen was the same year that Fisher
Eric Fisher from Central Michigan went number one.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
To Kansas City City.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Yeah, was a fine NFL player, but not to Dave's level.
Just remarkable. Anyway, I'm getting past what you want to
talk about here, But again, the overall depth, I mean,
this all starts for me with Tom in that twenty
twenty two NFL draft class. The Packers got Tom in
the fourth round. They got Sean Ryan and the third
and they got Rashid Walker in the seven seven, a
(17:01):
two year starting left tackle. Now and there are so
many different superlatives you can go into, but basically, it
was an extreme rarity that the Packers had three offensive
linemen from the same draft class start every game for
them last season. Ryan stepped up in a major way
after Jordan Morgan's shoulder crept up on him. For me,
it's not about Morgan's talent. It is about the health.
(17:22):
If he's back, if he's healthy, if the shoulder's taken
care of, this guy absolutely is going to push for
a starting job at multiple positions. The athleticism is there,
the footwork is there. Is just a matter of him
being on the field. I think that makes the entire
group better. In addition to the fact that Sean Ryan,
because of what was happening with Elton Jenkins, he took
a ton of snaps at center during the offseason program.
(17:43):
The versatility is there for him too, if he's potentially
in a swing tackle, swing offensive lineman role. Jacob Munk.
The list goes on and on and on of guys
the Packers have developed on this offensive line. Fortunately, they
didn't have to dig into that depth last year because
of how guys were healthy up until that wild card
game against Philly.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Right, And that was the unfortunate thing is as healthy
as the offensive line was throughout the regular season, you
hit your biggest moment of adversity injury wise in the
playoff game. And then when you had to dig into
that depth, Jordan Morgan wasn't available and things didn't work out,
and that that Philly defensive front just controlled too much
of that football game.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
But to get that far, that was the healthiest the
Packers have been on the offensive line in the regular
season since the twenty fourteen season, and it was despite
the fact that their first round pick was dealing with
that shoulder. It's pretty astonishing what they were able to do.
But now that competition, everybody's back in the room. See
who comes out and who prevails.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah there, and you know that based on what happened
in the playoff game last year, the Packers are really
gonna look to have not just that sixth guy, the
first guy off the bench that maybe can jump in
at tackle or at guard whatever, but a seventh guy
and an eighth guy so that when you have eight
guys active on game day, on that game day forty
(19:00):
eight that if you need to dip into the seventh
man or the eighth man, they're gonna feel confident in it.
And there there are some good offensive linemen in this Packers'
position room right now who are not going to make
this team because the competition is such and quite frankly,
(19:20):
I think we can say the same thing about what's
going to transpire at wide receiver. We all know the situation.
You have your top four guys from last year back.
You drafted two guys in the first three rounds of
this draft in Matthew Golden and Saveon Williams. You signed
Mkole Hardman as a free agent from Kansas City, and oh,
(19:43):
by the way, you also have contributors like Malie Heath
and Bow Melton who have made an impact in games
when they've been out there. There isn't room for everybody
that's just going to be you just have to put
it out there. Some of these guys are not going
to make it on this team this year. The competition
(20:03):
at wide receiver is going to be pretty fierce.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
And it's going to go in so many different levels
and phases, right, I mean, bo Obviously, people made so
much noise about him, you know, playing a little bit
of cornerback ding the offseason program, the thing that nobody
talked about. He's really their only returning gunner right now.
Robert Rochelle's gone, Yeah, Corey Balentine has gone. Bo Melton
has had a huge impact on special teams in addition
to the fact that in twenty thirteen was the first
(20:27):
receiver to have one hundred yard game against Minnesota. There
are so many different ways you can slice this, but
I'll tell you what, man, when you add in a
talent like Matthew Golden, you add in Savion Williams, not
the pressure but just the overall ceiling of that room
continues to go up. I made a comment and insider inbox,
(20:47):
I mean, I don't know about you, but from just
strictly an x's and o's perspective, watching Golden in OTA's
in mini camp, I am absolutely just elevating at what
this guy could do with this offense. Because he's not
just a straight line four two nine receiver that's going
to be on goal balls and in those type of things.
(21:09):
They are going to use him in short area situations.
You know, there is going to be. He is quick,
he gets in and out of his his you know,
breaks very fast.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
He's already become a fun player to win. It's incredibly
fun towards There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
And just the way he knifs through a zone defense
and that Like, again, I'm not guaranteed this kid's gonna
have twelve hundred yards the first year. But when you
talk about the first receiver that the Packers have picked
in the first round in twenty two years, twenty three years,
this is the type of athlete that you're looking for.
In addition to the fact that Savian Williams played ninety
(21:42):
five different positions at TCU, In addition to the fact
that Christian Watson was doing sprints during these practices on
the sideline. Again, we have to see where this goes.
He's on the pup. Time will tell when Christian Watson
number nine is available. But I've said this to people before.
If you're not at a good place in your rehab,
the Packers will not allow you to be down in
(22:04):
practice with a knee injury of that significance.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
You can't be out there, yeah there, and they're not
going to let you just stand on the sideline and
watch and whatnot. So yeah, I'm really interested to see
exactly now. I'm still not expecting Christian Watson to take
the field in training camp, and if that holds, then
at least at the start of the season, there will
be kind of an extra spot on the fifty three
(22:28):
for wide receiver that wouldn't otherwise be there, or that
won't be there when Watson is cleared and is able
to come back. So that is one thing to watch.
But yeah, what we saw in mid June of Christian
Watson when he was doing his rehab off to the side,
all of us in the media, you know, it was
like our you know, jaws were on the floor because
(22:51):
you start doing and you're like, the injury was in January.
It was week eighteen of the regular season. He had
the surgery at some point later that month or whatever.
But it's like here, it is June and that injury
was in January, and you're looking at a guy that
you wouldn't even think anything was wrong with.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
So I've stopped trying to figure out acls after like
the King Sanigbari thing last year. I'm done trying to
diagnose players just when they're out there. They're out there.
But to the original point you were making, just to
close on this, the Packers have a receiving cores. Where
as soon as you get to talk about one player like, oh, yeah,
Dontavian Wicks, Oh, Jaden Reid's been the leading receiver of
the past two seasons, Romeo Dobbs and before anyone writes off,
(23:31):
m Coole Hartman. Hartman was taking a lot of the
kickoff in punt return snaps during the offseason program.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
He also was the star of mini camp at wide
receiver at those last couple of days. I mean, there's
no denying that.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
So it's it is an astonishingly deep group and seeing
exactly Yeah, they have to cut a roster. Yeah they're
gonna have X amount receivers in week one, But what
Matt Lafleur decides to do with that group, Jason Vrabel,
Adam Stenovich, how they want to use these guys? Yeah,
I mean Jordan loved Man. We didn't even talk about
(24:03):
Josh Jacobs. I mean, like Tucker Craft, Luke Musgrave is back.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
I mean, those are the storylines for the regular season,
maybe not so much in training camp, but I do
what you bring up Jacobs. One last thing I do
want to touch on with regard to the offense before
we go is how is the depth at that position
going to sort itself out behind Jacobs? Because you have
Marshaun Lloyd, third round draft pick a year ago, ended
(24:31):
up sort of taking a quasi red shirt year because
of the various injuries and whatnot that he dealt with.
But you've got Lloyd, You've got Emmanuel Wilson, You've got
Chris Brooks. Both Wilson and Brooks played a ton last
year behind Jacobs and made significant contributions in their own right.
So who's going to be that next guy up behind
(24:52):
Josh Jacobs at running back? I think that's an interesting
question that this training camp in preseason is going to answer.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Yeah, and how those guys all built off of each other?
That could have been I wrote this in the offseason,
but that could have been a very difficult situation for
Green Bay when AJ Dillon goes down and Marshaw Lloyd
deals with a hamstring injury and lower body injuries that
keep him out on the shoulder injury too that kept
him out for all but one game against Indianapolis. Right,
that could have been just a disaster. Emmanuel Wilson made
(25:20):
that a second thought, and it was funny. One of
the things that I was talking to Wilson about this offseason,
he mentioned, you know, Chris Brooks has been working with him,
showing him how to play that second RB role that
Brooks really excelled at, almost like a full back h
back type role during the second half of the season
when they did some of those packages. Once he got
established in this offense, Chris Brooks comes in out of
(25:42):
nowhere with Miami and ends up being a very stable
option as a pass protector and a pass catcher and
ends up getting his first career touchdown. I mean, it
just goes on and on and on. And I'll tell
you what, Mike, when you hit on your draft picks,
when you make good free agent decisions, this is what happens.
You open up a window for yourself because you can
(26:03):
look at all these positions and you can go one A,
one B, one C different guys that you could turn
to based on game plans, depending on injuries. That's where
the Packers are at right now. And that's why you
and I have said routinely this offseason, this is the
deepest roster. When you look at the full fifty three,
when you look at a full seventy in the end season,
with the practice squad a full ninety in the off season,
(26:24):
and watching that all play out in this practice field
this summer is going to make for some really entertaining football.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Yeah, and the personnel department is going to have a
lot of difficult decisions to make when decision time comes.
But that's the goal. You don't you wouldn't have it
any other way. You want to have difficult decisions because
if all the decisions are easy, then the personnel department
probably didn't really do its job. And this personnel department
(26:53):
has built has built a ninety man off season roster
that is very impressive. And how it all to gets
selected pared down. And there are things that are going
to come up, injuries and whatnot that will come up
over the course of the next month that are going
to factor into the decision as well. There will be
unforeseen things coming down the road. But the bottom line
(27:14):
is the vast majority of the decisions are going to
be tricky. They're going to be difficult, But that's what
a personnel department's job is is to make its own
job difficult, right, and and so we'll have to see
how it sorts itself.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
You don't want to lose players. But at the same time,
if you end up at the end of a training
camp and none of your guys get claimed, none of
your guys get signed, nobody tries to bring in any
of your free agents as practice squad players, that's not great. Yeah,
And when you look at last season, Green Bay lost
a number of guys at the end of camp. Christian
Welch ended up being one of them. He's back, but
(27:47):
they're in a position right now and that it just
it gets so exciting the way you could you could
really orientate a roster based on the talent that you have.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yeah, you're presently well. It all gets started on Wednesday
at ten thirty am Rainischki Field, I will there. You
will be there, yeah, with the sunscreen on and uh,
probably in my back pocket for a reapplication at some
point during practice. But with that we'll call it a
wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to
(28:16):
follow all of our coverage of the team, all of
our coverage of training camp. We'll have it for you
on Packers dot com and we will do our best
to resume two episodes of Packers unscripted per week from
now until who knows right.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Wes, Yeah, till the end of the season.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Well, thank you for everybody, and we will see you
next time.
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