Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford and he is the one and only Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to hear from our studios at lambeau Field and West As. We have to continue to wait, unfortunately, until the Packers coaching hires are official to talk about what is going on, particularly with the defensive coaching staff. I know the fans are very interested to find out exactly how this is going to take shape.
But in the meantime, let's talk about defense. Because the NFL playoffs are down to the final eight, uh, the last eight standing. And when you look at the teams that are involved and you look at defensive rankings, you've got five of these eight teams are ranked in the
top ten in the league in defense. That says something certainly about how to get this far, particularly for some teams that are in this position and they don't necessarily have that franchise Hall of Fame quarterback running the show on the other side. Minnesota first and total defense, Jacksonville second in total defense, the Philadelphi Eagles fourth in total defense.
Of those eight teams, the top three defenses left in the playoffs, all have questions at quarterback, and with all due respect the case Keenum has had a magnificent run. I don't know how many defensive coordinators out there right now are worried about case Keenum. I think he's shown
that he can manage, he can make plays. But ultimately it's been that Minnesota defense that has put them in positions that even if he has an interception or two in a game, or even if the the percentage, you know, completion percentage isn't where you needed to be, they can still find ways to win because that opposing passer rating is just so gosh darn lowe. Um. This is I think told you kind of a blueprint. Though. At the same time, Mike more and more with these had coaching
hires that are being made. For a while, it was kind of InVogue to go after the quarterback guru, and it still is. I mean, you look at um Naggy now in Chicago, they're looking for him to develop Mitchell Trubisky. But there's been some of these guys that have kind of gone against the grain, the Mike Zimmers of the world. Um, you look at what uh now, the way things have developed in Atlanta UM and what they've put together over
the last number of years. I think it says a lot about the direction of the league right now that, yeah, you have these quarterback reeves, you have the Doug Peterson's of the world now that are leading the charge. But conversely, you also have teams that are trying to find the nice defensive coordinator to be able to offset that. It's I think it's really an interesting cat and mosk and
that's played out over the last three or four years. Yeah, I think the most interesting one, uh, to me when I look at, as you say, over the last few years, is what's going on with the Atlanta Falcons. Because you had Matt Ryan Uh, He's been developed into that franchise quarterback, had some playoff appearances. All of that. Dan Quinn comes in as the head coach and revamps that defense and then builds the builds the defense to go with the
franchise quarterback. You know, Mike Smith had a lot of success as the head coach in Atlanta, but he didn't He never got them to a Super Bowl, and you know, they felt it was time to make a change and they went from from um a guy like Smith to to Quinn brought in a lot of those Seattle defensive principles, all of that kind of stuff. And now we're seeing the Falcons obviously get to the super Bowl last year,
should have won it. They're in position now, you know, they're they're going to Philadelphia to play what would arguably arguably be maybe the most vulnerable number one seed in the NFC playoffs in recent years, because Nick Foles is at quarterback instead of Carson wentz Um. The Atlanta Falcons, they they've they've got a legitimate shot here to make this even though they're a six seed, to make this two super Bowl trips in a row. Yeah, and and
that's an opportunity that you can't take lightly. And I just think you see, you know, there's some teams with the counter balance, the New the New Orleans, New Orleans PAGEOT New Orleans Saints haven't been one of the top ten defense in the league, but they're substantially significantly better than what they have. They have climbed, no doubt in that regard. New England has the top ranked offense, which
allows them to survive. They ranked defense. So seeing how all these things line up, there's been years I always use the example of the two thousand six Colts, where you know, Peyton Manning was at the peak of his powers and they were able to offset having the league's worst ranked run defense that season despite you know, you know, all the things working against them. Then you look at the two thousand fifteen Denver Broncos. How many teams in the NFL would be able to win the Super Bowl
with the way that Peyton Manning played that season? Not many? So uh, that's ultimately for me. Now that Julius Peppers is out of this thing, some of the storylines I was looking for in the first week are gone. After the wild card round, I'm really interesting who prevails here because I think I see this field as very even across the board. So is it a defensive mindset, is it an offensive mindset like what the Patriots have, or
is it somewhere in between? Right? And I think the conclusion to me out of this discussion is it makes me wonder as far as on paper, and we know the games are not played on paper, But does it mean the Pittsburgh Steelers are maybe the favorites to win it all? They've got Roethlisberger, Brown and Bell on offense, and they have the fifth ranked defense. Now that defense is missing Ryan Shazier from that unfortunate injury. That is a huge loss for a defense that is ranked in
the top five in the league. So maybe you look at that and say, well, their defense isn't going to be able to perform the way it has for the bulk of the regular season, So it's hard to peg them as the the on paper favorites. Just really interesting to see how this plays out, especially I think in the NFC, you've got these four teams that you can have any one of several different NFC Championship game matches, and I think I think any one of them is
is is certainly possible. This is why this particular year, I'm so interested to see his Steelers Patriots AFC Championship game because this year New England's had a lot of problems on defense getting they haven't been able to get home with their pass rush. I think some of the things they were hoping for at the cornerback position haven't really come to pass. They've been saved in a lot of ways by the fact that they can basically outgun
everybody offensively. The Steelers. While it's incredibly tragic and you hope that Ryan Cheezier is gonna be able to walk again, live comfortably beyond what happens with football. But Pittsburgh, you know, he had some injury issues in the past, so Pittsburgh's had to learn how to play without him. You know, you have, I believe it it's Vince Williams inside. They have options at that position. They're just so deep at that on defense that I'm very interested to see if
they can have that unit come together. Be the compliment that Ben Roethlisberg needs to go and get that third Super Bowl title. Yeah. Well, well, we've got these these playoff games coming up. We'll talk about them more as the week continues, but for now, we're gonna go to a break back with more and Packers Unscripted, Red Eye to this Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford in this chair, Wes Hodkowitz in that one, and west Um shifting gears here a little bit to go back to
the Packers of GM front office situation. We've seen a lot of changes, obviously, and a lot of things to be excited about as we see Brian Goodakunst have to try to fill the very big shoes of Ted Thompson. But in the meantime, the Packers have also lost um highly ranked personnel executives in Elliott wolf and Alonso Highsmith.
They've gone to the Cleveland Browns to work with with former Packers personnel executive John Dorsey to uh to rebuild the Browns the own sixteen team here from there are some big shoes to fill just under new GM Brian goodacun stren't there. Yeah, there are, And I mean you look at the combined years that Elliott um wolf In Alonzo Highsmith had here. I mean high Smith again is another one of those proteges for Ron Wolfe that got an opportunity in the late nineties and and really made
the most of it. You know, we we talked so often about the Donald Driver's story his first couple of years and being able to to scout and you know, see the talent in him when they sent him down to Elkhorn State. I mean, some of these remote places when you hear Brian Gooduns talk about, you know, they want to leave no stone unturned. That's why, because you never know when you're gonna find a Donald Driver in
the seventh round. You never know where you're gonna get that next diamond that can make a Super Bowl championship team at a playoff contending team. From Ellie Wolf's perspective, I mean the word wonder kind has been thrown out there a lot in terms of you hear the stories of him at fourteen years old, you know, going through cut ups with his dad. Uh. And the one thing I think Ron has always talked about since day one is that Ellie didn't do this on the back of
Ron Wolfe. It may have helped him get a foot in the door, but everything he did since two thousand four, since he guy came on board as a as a scout and personality assistant, he's worked his way up the ladder ever since then. Two guys that had a lot to do with what the Packers were able to do, not only in building that Super Bowl forty five team, but every year when a draft and developed system being able to find that next gem that the Packers are going to be able to develop it is it's a
big hole for green Bay to to fill now. And Brian Goodkin said when he was meeting with the media on Monday, he hoped to have Elliott back as his right hand man, but wasn't going to hold him back from any other opportunity. You look at where they're at right now. He has confidence, he said right from that moment that if Elliott does move on, if they do
need to make changes there, he likes the Rolodex. He has a list of scouts that he's already looking at and feels like they'll still be able to keep this train moving. Yeah. And let's just say too that that opportunity in Cleveland, as I said on on our website this week, that's a talent evaluator's dream what Dorsey and high Smith and Wolf are are walking into there. You've got a young roster already, you have a ton of cap space to be able to uh, to be able
to build around. And in this upcoming draft, they have five picks in the first two rounds. I mean, what more could you ask for? I mean, yes, it's an own sixteen team, we get that, But this is this is a franchise that is that is set up for a quick turnaround. In my opinion, you hit on some draft picks, you have cap money to spend on free agents, and you find a quarterback. Now, those are all big tasks, but the Cleveland Browns are not as far away as
an Owen sixteen team you would think. Yeah, And I was talking to a talent of value in the league earlier this week and the phrase that they used to describe it as it's a sleeping giant in Cleveland because they did. They had a top ten, top twelve defense this year. They really were hurting at the quarterback position.
That's nothing against de Shaun Kaiser. Tough situation for him to be thrown into, but a lot of people think if you can get a quarterback there, and John Dorsey is one of the best when it comes to seeking out quarterback help in finding a way to get a team really in fourth year in terms of a turnaround.
He did exactly that in Kansas City that particular year draft when he went there, there wasn't a bona fide number one overall quarterback trades the second round pick to get Alex Smith and then this last year trading for Patrick Mahomes, who very well may end up being their quarterback of the future. They're gonna look to do the same thing and he's gonna have two really good talent evaluators and Alonso high Smith and Elliott Wolf to help him find that next guy. Two picks in the first four,
they'll have options. Yeah, absolutely, And with regards to the Packers and trying to fill those shoes, the fans are asking, well, you know, who are the next guys coming up the pipeline. We'll see what Brian Gudacunts decides. As you said, you know, he's got that rolodex, all kinds of contacts around the league people he might look at bringing in people in house. Right now, you have John Eric Sullivan who's the director
of college Scouting. He's been with the Packers since two thousand three or four right around it doesn't for and then uh um, and then you also have John Wojahowski if I'm saying that name correctly. He's only been with the Packers for about five or six years now, but he is a he's a longtime scout who began his scouting career around the same time that good Kins did.
So um a lot of experience there in the next two lieutenants so to speak, who are who are in the pipeline and we'll just see what We'll see what the new GM decides to do in terms of how he wants to uh to structure. What's going to be his personnel department? Yeah, and I mean you look even further down that list to Matt Malispina has a lot of experience in the NFL. He's now a college scout, joined the Packers last year. Alonzo Dotson has been with
them now for the past five season. The scouting up here in the Midwest, and uh, you know Sam cel we talked about every year in the draft. Their their West Coast regent scout does a tremendous job. Definitely options from that regard. I think the other thing that he consider too, in sort of that Mike Spofford, let's be real moment of the week, these are scenarios, Brian goodiuntz was going to have to talk out with Mark Murphy because you knew what the domino effect might be of
him becoming GM Elliot Wolf might leave. You didn't know what was going to happen with some of those personnel people. So I have a feeling, while I do not know this, I have a feeling that there is a plan laid out. There is an agenda, much like when a college head coach moves in kind of letting people know, you know who I might be looking at to join me. I feel pretty comfortable if I'm a Packers fan right now. And what Brian Goodocus is going to be able to
do to rearrange that up front office. Yeah, you know, he's been thinking through these scenarios because the bottom line is the Packers went into this with four people perfectly highly qualified to be general managers in this league. Alonzo Highsmith, Elliott Wolf, Brian goodacunstant Russ Ball you knew. I mean, when you're in a situation like that and you have that many qualified people, they are not all going to
stay if they don't get the job. And the Packers managed to keep two of them and the other two left and moved on to another opportunity. So, um, lots of lots of change going on, but lots to be excited about it. Yeah, absolute, definitely. With that, we'll toss to a break back with more on Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford here,
Wes Hodkowitz over there, and West Packers new GM. Brian Goodkins wasted uh no time, I guess with uh with inking his first player, his first official transaction as general manager, occurs on Wednesday, he signs a young running back Northern Illinois product, and I'll try to pronounce the name correctly. It's Joel Juan yo and UH, an undrafted player from a year ago who tried to make it with the Chicago Bears but then was injured and placed on i R.
Packers are going to give him a shot. And if you haven't seen the picture of of Gouda Kunst and his UH and his first signing, it's on packers dot com. It's also on the Packers Twitter account. One of those historical things, you know, moments in time you just never know, right, Yeah, And it was funny. I had the same reaction. I saw it on Twitter quite a bit too. And Packers announced a transaction. They always say okay, the Packers have signed so and so the transaction was announced by who
the GM was. So it was very interesting that first time seeing Brian Brian Gooda Kun's name there and not Ted Thompson. First time in thirteen years that that happened. Um. Yeah, it's interesting. For the young man, a great opportunity and for for Gooda kun'st this shows you that he's thinking. You know that that they're they're always considering those u f A s and we'll see what this young man can do. He'll have an opportunity to come in this offseason.
You know probably you know, something can always happen, but I mean otherwise he'll be back in April and a chance to compete and make this roster. I think the thing that stands out to me the most. And sometimes people ask this question, well, why why do these transactions matter? Who? Who cares? You know? Who they signed a futures contracts. Well, the end of March last year, nobody was talking about Justin McCrae. I even somewhat wrote that off. Other than
the fact that his brother had been here before. Justin McCrae ends up starting at games. You don't know where you're gonna get contributions. And that's why when you have a ninety man roster, you'll see these teams really maximize that they'll sign guys from their practice squad, but they'll also go and find other guys that maybe they brought in for a pre draft visit. Bueno was one of those guys last year the Packers had in for a
pre draft visit. So there is a history there It's not that they just are like throwing a dart at the board and being like, yeah, let's bring that young who who's my first signing. Let's just sign somebody. That's not how it works. So it's it's a thought process that they're constantly going through. Obviously, the Bears thought enough of them to bring him into camp, give him that chance. Injury happens, he's out. But I think this shows you
again that that problem. We're two months away from free agency, we're a month and a half away from basically the you know, NFL scouting combine. But if you're a GM in the league, you're always thinking, You're always trying to find that next guy. Yeah, and it is about building
that most competitive ninety man roster that you can. I'm curious that you know that this first transaction happens at running back because obviously the Packers have a young stable of backs and uh and let's let's talk about that a little bit more. But we'll go to a break for now back with more on Packers Unscripted. Right up to this, Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford here, Wes Hodku. It's all the way over there and west.
With regards to the running back situation, as I said, it's kind of curious that that new GM Brian Gudin's first signing is a running back because if there's one area, that one position that you think Um may not get a whole lot of attention from the Packers in this upcoming draft, it's running back. Because of what green Bay did last year drafting three Um fourth round, fifth round, seventh round. You also have Time Montgomery in the mix there.
Um Packers really like what they have at the position, and certainly the young young man from northern Illinois will will add to the competition amongst a bunch of young prospects. But Green Bay ends up this season with two rookie running backs who both surpassed four hundred rushing yards in a season. That's the first time in franchise history that's ever happened with two rookies. UM a lot of promise
at the position. And if all these guys stay healthy, you almost get the feeling that they're not all going to be happy, but that will be a good thing in a sense. One thing I just want to point out two carries one thousand six yards, eight touchdowns. If that would have been one player we would have been talking about a potential offensive Rookie of the Year candidate. Yep, but that is what Jamal Williams and Aaron Jones gave
the Packers in combination this year, thunder and lightning. Unfortunately, due to injury situation really weren't able to see them work in tandem very often, but they both came up for the team at very important times. You're right if you're probably a fantasy football owner in this isn't your favorite situation. But I think the thing I really like about what the Packers are doing at this position, I
said an insider in box very recently. I actually I was always very critical of what the Patriots did and the fact that they never really settled other than maybe when Corey Dillon was there. They've never really settled on a running back. They always used three four different guys. But you start to see, as I cover the league more the method to their madness in New England and
why I think it benefits the group. I'm really interested if the Packers can keep these guys healthy, if they could take a similar approach because Jamal Williams, Aaron Jones, time Montgomery and then obviously Davante may still in that
equation as well. They all give you something different. And if you can get a healthy Montgomery with the kind of playmaker he is, and the way that Jamal Williams, how well rounded he is, the explosiveness of Aaron Jones, I think the possibilities are really endless for that position. The fact that the Packers did set that record this year with two running backs over four hundred yards rushing individually, first time ever, I think that actually speaks to what
they've built coming out of that two thousand seventeen NFL draft. Yeah, I think. I think the thing that I like the most about the stable of running backs, and particularly the two rookies and Jones and Williams that produced so well for Green Bay when they were called upon. You hear a lot of times about running backs that that they need to get into a rhythm, get into a flow, get lathered up, what however you want to say it. In a game. These guys were able to produce without
necessarily needing that constant attention, that constant feeding. They go in the game, they get their they get their number called, and they produce for the offense. They helped provide the balance. Whether it was for Aaron Rodgers at quarterback or Brett Hunley, there was some balance there and it wasn't about necessarily having to feed the same guy, you know, six or seven times on one ten play drive or something to
get him going, to get him in the flow. These guys just took what they were given and they got some results. Yeah. And the thing that's oppressive about it too is that when there were instances in which they had to be the every down back basically out of attrition at the position, both of those guys stepped up too. So that's that says a lot about them in terms of what their future is going to be in this league.
Because you have to have that dual mindset. You have to be ready to handle the ball eight percent of the time if that's what ends up happening due to the game situation, but you also need to be able to be a fast starter if you're only getting that third offensive possession, to make the most out of that. Uh. That is a critical critical part of being an NFL running back. First dound, second on third down. Whenever you're sent in there, you're able to actually, you know, make
the most event produced. Yeah, when you look at these guys heading into their second year, Jimal Williams, I think would like to get you know, maybe more explosive, be able to to to take some of those eight yard runs and make them more explosive plays. Whereas Aaron Jones, he knows if he can work on his past protection, he'll get on the field more and be more reliable in an every down sense. But with that, we've got to call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com on Twitter, you can still find him Matt west Hodd I am still at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time. H