#279 Packers Unscripted: More combine chatter

the linebacker from u c F, Shaq Griffin. I don't remember there ever being a story this good from the combine. I mean, what this guy is doing and the fact that he almost wasn't even invited to be there, and yet he ends up becoming the story of the week in Indie. H just remarkable. What what Shack Griffin is doing here. Three week reasons why I love this story. One, I mean, if you if you know anything about him,

he does not have a left hand. When he was four years old, he was born with a condition that caused great amount of pain in it, you know, under development it. Eventually they had it amputated when he was four years old. His twin brother, Quill is already playing for the Seattle Seahawks. He was a draft pick last year, and it's funny just hearing their banter back and forth

in chakuom Shack. He actually was like tweeting out right after he ran the forty and four point three eight, he's somebody needs to do like one of those synchronized things where it's me versus my brother. I mean, his personality is just remarkable. It's off the charts. He was, by far, I think, the most compelling guy at the podium, and he talked with the media before he even went and did that forty. It was after he did the twenty bench reps using a kind of a prosthetic that

helped him with that as well. He wanted to do six his max was eleven. He did, and and the thing I think that that ties this all together, that just makes it such an incredible story, is the fact that he said, you know, his whole goal through this thing. People say, well, you can't do this, you can't do that. You can't play in the NFL with one arm one hand, Well you, And then his rebuttal to that was, well

you can't play in the NFL with two hands. What does that say about you, I mean the journey this young man has been on to get to this point and then to show out the way he did during the combine. I I don't know, you'd have to go back. I'm sure there's something in history that has been up there with it. But this is one of the most compelling things that I've that I've seen in my And you know, these guys, these young guys, they all get excited for the combine. Everybody's got the nerves going, you

got the adrenaline going. But you just wonder how much adrenaline is going through Shatt Griffin when, as you said, his previous max on the bench was eleven reps of two pounds and he did twenty. And then he goes out there for his first forty yard dash and runs a four three eight And just to put that in perspective, that's the fastest combine forty yard dash time by a linebacker in fifteen years. Two thousand and three was the last time that somebody a linebacker ran a sub for four.

So it's it's amazing. This guy almost wasn't invited to the combine. He was a late invite, and everybody's talking about, oh, somebody will take a chance on him in the sixth or seventh round of the draft. Now you start to wonder, you know, could he actually be drafted on the second day of the draft, maybe maybe as high as a third rounder, which when you look at his tape, you look at the college tape and what he's done, I

know they're going to be questions. I raised him on on an earlier show before he had gone through all these workouts at the combine. He only he only has the one hand. You're trying, you're talking about trying to tackle a guy like a se Kwan Barkley, who is as dynamic and athlete to to come through the draft. He's going to be probably the number one overall pick,

but certainly within the top two or three picks. How does the guy missing a hand, missing the lower part of one arm tackle a guy like say Kwan Barkley in the open field. But you know, I'm not saying that, I'm I'm not saying that I'm trying to throw out all these doubts about him. I'm kind of done doubting. I mean, now it's like I want to see it get out there and play. Let's go seriously, after that I mean, how but how can anybody doubt him. I mean, it's not like he just tested out the world too.

He was incredibly productive. I think he was a former Defensive Player of the Year in the American Athletic Conference too. I mean, this is a guy that has been productive at every level of football he's played. The reason I'm really happy that he was able to get to the combine is it's a leving level playing field. Whatever you want to say about what these numbers mean, how much it really translates to football, you can have that debate.

But there's a difference, Michael, between doing this in Indianapolis and doing this at UCFS pro day, because if it happens at a pro day, people are always like, yeah, who is timing it? It's not automatic. I mean things, you know, the old Ohio State effect on forty times. I mean stuff like that, this guy did it, and he didn't front of the scouts. He did in front

of NFL personnel people. And if he's willing and he's able to do this in the highest pressure packed situation, a player is going to find himself in the pre draft process. What's this guy gonna do when he's on the field on Sunday. Yeah, what's your sense of where he might go in the draft now? Is he still is it still just going to be at the end of the day a six seventh round pick, the shine from the combine all wear off, or are these workout?

Is is this going to propel him up to either be an early Day three pick or possibly even a late Day two picks. Well, first off, I think what this did is it definitely guarantees he's getting drafted. I think there was some question about if you could potentially be a late rounder, if he's gonna be a priority free agent, just because it concerns that you just outlined he's definitely getting picked. Now. He talked about what that moment's gonna be like for him, how his brother was

all calm and collected. He's not going to be like that. Whenever it happens, He's going to be through the roof. There will be no I don't want to say no humility, but there's definitely gonna be no hiding his emotions. Now, the question is where is going to be Uh, That's something that NFL executives are going to have to answer. It's tough. Mike second day Draft picks second and third round. It's tough to get into that category. You've got to be one of the top hundred prospects in the draft

to do it. I think it definitely is going to put him in that conversation for fifth and six. But you see it every year, man, there's always one team that finds a player they like and they're willing to take him a little earlier, and he could potentially sneak into those middle rounds. I think that you see f pro day is probably gonna go a long way and determining invalidating a lot of the things that he did

at the combine. Yeah, if he can, if he can match some of those things that he did, at least not fall off in terms of the testing where it isn't just oh he had all this adrenaline going, you know, and whatnot? He does that again. Yeah, but a great story for sure. With that, excuse me, we'll toss to a break back with more on Packers Unscripted. Read after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford here, Wes Hodkuwitz over there, and weston one of our shows from Indie.

We talked quite a bit about the Wisconsin Badgers top tight end Troy fu mcgali. He's considered, you know, a mid round draft pick, I guess I would say in this upcoming draft. But he was one of six Wisconsin Badgers at the Combine, and three of those other five are all linebackers. And I'm talking about Jack Sitchy, Leon Jacobs, and Garrett Dooley. You had a chance to sit down with them when they met with the media. Sounded like three old college teammates who were enjoying a little reunion

off the football field. Yeah, first and foremost, if Garrett Dooley can find his way to Green Bay, Wisconsin after this draft process, I know the media would be very happy. Really, I've by far probably one of my favorite interviews at the Combine. Just a very gregarious guy came the long way to get to where he is, which is a common theme, it seems like with a lot of these Badger's prospects. But what the NFL actually did on Saturday, they put them all at the same table, Leon Jacob,

Scarrett Dooley, Jack Cichy. They were all there, um and there's only so many media people from Green Bay, so you pretty much got one on one time with all

of them if you wanted them. Uh. And it was interesting going back with Dooley and in replaying this past season and what it was like for them and what those linebackers and what that defense went through when it was told to them that Jack Cichy would miss the season with that torn a c L a deflating moment for those guys, and really, uh, it took time, he said, It took a good week for them to really compose themselves again and be like, all right, we're not gonna

have our leader, We're not going to have that emotional presence out there on the field. We all have to elevate our games. And you're talking about a defense that was already preparing because they weren't going to have Vince Bagel and t J. Watt at two of those key linebacker spots because they had been drafted. And then all of a sudden, the bell Cow guy you know coming back was Jack Cichy and now he's out as well. Yeah, And Citchi even said to it was difficult for him.

His dad actually got him a journal right after the injury happened, and that allowed him to gather some of his thoughts and he said that was one of the things that end up leading to him writing that Players Tribute piece, kind of reflecting on his time in Madison, the fact he only did play twenty four games due to injury, but Sichi ended up becoming basically a pseudo coach with the defensive staff throughout the course of this season, and you saw guys like Dooley who a year earlier

had started his first game in the big house, uh, you know, and and really had to just kind of find his way as a starting outside linebacker. He has seven and a half sacks to lead the defense during his final year. Leon Jacobs, which basically played every position that the badgress could offer him throughout his five years and including fullback. Well, he ends up moving in starting

outside linebacker opposite Dully and is pretty productive there. The numbers sacks wise probably weren't there, but his athleticism is through the roof, and Dully even said he's the kind of guy that's just built in a lab, which ended up being pretty much proven correct with the reps that he did on the bench. I think it was twenty six and then also his forty time, which was sub four or five. A lot of athleticism there. So all these guys are trying to now make their way in

the NFL and find a way into that conversation. But one thing that definitely helped them, they said after being away from each other for really two months after they got done with that Bowl game, getting back together, being able to rekindle a lot of those relationships, and as Dooley said, to be able to be in Indianapolis trying to really audition for an NFL team, There's no way better way to do it than with your best friends. Yeah. And two other Badgers who were at the combine both

defensive backs, cornerback Nick Nelson and safety Natrelle Jamerson. But I think the most maybe intriguing one other than Fumgali with with his pedigree and what he accomplished over his career heading into the draft, the intriguing one to me is sitchy. And I'm not saying that. You know, he would have been talked about, you know, like a Miles Jack, one of these top linebackers who then you know, had this serious knee injury and then you wonder where his

draft stock is. But he didn't really get a chance to be the guy at Wisconsin. You know, as I mentioned, Vince Bagel and t J. Watt both get drafted, and and you know, two thousand seventeen was supposed to be Jack Cichy as the center of attention, so to speak, on a very good Wisconsin defense, and that didn't happen.

So you just wonder, you wonder what that does. You know, I would I would have thought, uh, you know, for whatever my opinion is worth that Jack Cichy, if everything goes according to plan in he's probably a mid round draft pick now coming with the injury and everything. You wonder if he's going to get drafted, will somebody take a flyer on him, so to speak, in the sixth

or the seventh round. But there's one thing, one thing about him, you know, with what he's done and coming back from the knee injury and everything, he's certainly it's certainly not going to be for a lack of effort and a lack of work. He's done what it takes to to try to put himself in the best position possible.

As Julie said, people gravitate towards him, whether he was acting as a coach, whether he was on the field, whatever he was doing people wanted to be like Jack Cichy, and it's the reason why I dually said if he could take any teammate into the NFL with him, it would for sure be Citchy. Now I was talking with him a little bit, he mentioned he feels like he's right now. He's hoping to Actually he only really did the bench press at the combine. I think he did

nineteen reps of that. He's hoping to be able to do more drills during the Wisconsin Pro Day, which will be coming up later this month. He estimated that he's not that far away from being able to run potentially of forty, but only time will tell. His biggest goal is basically by mid May end in May, to be ready to go and to be able to start contributing uh and once training camp comes around, show that he's

he's going to be healthy. The one benefit, it's an incredibly big silver lining, but the fact it did happen in August, it's given him seven months to recover and and hopefully for his perspective, can keep him in the conversation for playing this season. Yeah. Well, one of these Wisconsin Badger stories very interesting to follow. But with that we will throw it to a break back with more on Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packer's Unscripted.

Mike Spofford next to West, hod Kwits and West. I know in our last show we talked quite a bit about the cornerback position, but we didn't address the safeties, and I think it's worth mentioning a couple of these guys, especially the ones who were being talked about at the top of the draft, because it's almost as though they're

not safeties anymore there. You know, when you're talking about Alabama's Minca Fitzpatrick, Florida States Derwin James, probably the first two safeties that are going to go off the board, you're talking about super versatile, hybrid type players. They can play deep safety, they can play in the box, they can play slot cornerback. I'm sure the hybrid linebacker thing

would would be right up there, Alley. You know, they can blitz off the edge if called upon, They can cover one on one, whether it's tight ends or wide receivers. These guys are are the type that are becoming incredibly valuable in the NFL. And you can see just you know, not just because of the athletic ability, but overall their what they show on tape and all these different things that they do for their college teams and for their college defenses. It just it just elevates their draft stock.

I mean both Fitzpatrick and James. You're talking about potential top ten picks here. Yeah, and for that reason, because versatility and those hybrid traits are so difficult to find, and being able to have people that not only can do that athletically but understand all those different concepts and in various things are being asked to him. Fitzpatrick has a really good background in this. I mean he had

to already do some of this in his jew. You know, the year before, which I believe would be a sophomore year at Alabama, Eddie Jackson goes down. He was playing star. Then he has to go and play safety. This year, they just played him everywhere that they wanted to. Uh. He has great speed, great intangibles, and a real knack for football. I mean the Scutting report I saw. I think with NFL draft scout loves ball, lives ball was their number one strength with him, and you could get

a sense of that you were talking to him. I mean, how much it really means to him to play this game. And you look at it league wide. Now, Mike the top defense in the league. They have somebody like that, the Tyron Matthews, I mean, the Mike, the Mark Barrens, just guys that do everything for a defense in Fitzpatrick and and obviously a lot of these guys have these traits, but it really is the golden era I think for safety is being able to have this amount of versatility,

and not only that but also value. Now. Yeah, and and that that's what I mean when I talk about the value because in a sense, what we're seeing in terms of the draft stock of players like this is it's a shift. Obviously, there's value in versatility because because of injuries, out of necessity, you know, coaches love to be able to move different guys around. These type of guys, we're not talking about, you know, versatility just for the

sake of versatility. We're talking about them being a defensive coordinator's chess piece on the board, sort of like Clay Matthews is sometimes for the Packers. Certain pass rushers become, um, you know, those chess pieces for defensive coordinators. These hyper athletic safeties for for lack of a better phrase, these are the guys who might be developing into those those next those next chess pieces for de coordinators, don't you

think quivocally? And then looking at Derwin James stats, just bringing them up four point seven forty four point four seven forty four seven will be a little different UHT vertical twenty one reps on the bench press? Are you kidding for a safety for for a guy that's six three? Yeah, I mean that's gonna get a lot of teams thinking and being able to find these type of guys and develop them. It's not easy, you know, it's gonna take some time, and sometimes guys are able to come in

and adapt to it sooner than others. But with both of them coming from these Power five conferences and in programs that have such a history in developing these kind of players, I think it's going to help them out in the long run. But I think hearing both of them talk and hearing a lot of these safeties talk this week, and every single person is selling themselves on being able to play both safety spots, being able to play the slot cornerback positions, and if you need me

in the box, I'll be there. It's just that those type of intangibles that when you look now and you get a prospect, you have a guy come in, you don't just have to say, all right, well he feels that whole that's where he's gonna play, No, because sometimes you have a Morgan Burnett already there ha ha, Clinton Dick. Sometimes guys need to do other things. And I think that's one of the things that makes it most enticing to look at these type of players is because it

isn't just one position, it's four or five. Yeah, no doubt about it. With that, we're gonna go to another break back with more on Packers Unscripted right after this

Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford in this chair, West Hodkowitz in that one, and West before we go another defensive back, and I don't mean to beat the subject to death, but yeah, another guy that we do need to talk about, though, and that is Duke Dawson from the University of Florida, Gainesville, the Gators and maybe a name that that fans don't necessarily recognize, but there's

a pretty neat Packer connection with with Mr Dawson. Tell Us about there is he's god brothers with Nick Collins, the former Packers safety, three time Pro bowler, obviously was on his way to having a pretty you can make an argument for a Hall of Fame type career at the time of that neck injury. But he's grown up with Nick Collins in his life. He basically considers him his blood brother. With just how close their families are. I believe the tie in is that his mother or

collins mother is his godmother. I forget all that works, but regardless, this is a guy that has trained with Nick Collins. He watched every single one of his games when he played from the Packers from beginning, middle and end, and obviously that includes Super Bowl forty five, which is

one of probably the marquis moments of Collins' career. Doubt and he he joked about this too a little bit because his original plan when he was getting ready to go out and you know, attempt to you know, make this a college career, he was thinking he might end up at like a one double a school like Collins did, like a Bethune Cookman or something like that. And then the big school started calling the Alabama's the big schools

in the South. He also joked that his whole goal in life when he was younger, as he always wanted to play at Florida State. I don't know if he looked at his bio or not, like he played at Florida instead, had a chance to go down there, visit that campus and decided to switch his allegiances and it turned out pretty well for him during his time with the Gators. Yeah, what what are you hearing? What's the scuttle butt so to speak on just how highly rated

a prospect here? Yeah, So what's interesting is he's kind of similar that he plays a much he has he said he plays a much different position from from Collins, but he's sort of similar in his build a little bit. Five ten two oh eight, isn't the tallest cornerback in the world. Basically played that nickel slot corner at Florida. So because of that that specification, he's probably not going to get those round and one, maybe round two looks, but a definite middle round prospect that I think a

lot of teams are gonna be looking at. And as I mentioned some of the earlier shows, um with the way that this league has evolved and how spread offenses work. You don't need to necessarily be six to anymore five, you know, eleven and a quarter in order to get on the team's radars. You're five tens sometimes that will do.

His biggest takeaway though, from his time with Collins, going back and watching him play while they were at different positions, the type of tackler that Collins was, and just how much he how assertive he was in the open field.

That's something he tried to take away from his game and implemented into his own and now as he prepares for that next level, taking a lot of those lessons that he got from Collins and trying to you know, make his own career now and show that you know, he's Collins, isn't the only one from that that branch that that can play. Yeah, and you wonder what a guy like Nick Collins thinks and that, you know, we've talked about it before obviously how unfortunate it was that

his career ended when it did. But going back to our last segment talking about these versatile safeties and all these different roles these guys are playing. I mean, Nick Collins came out of Bethune Cookman with blazing speed, he was. He was a super fast guy, had tremendous range as a center fielder, which is why Ted Thompson drafted him in the second round even though he was coming from such a small school. He's certainly a guy who would who would fit right in with what is going on

at the safety position in the NFL. Gosh, yeah, I mean, if if this was two thousand eleven, if if you could go back and change history a little bit, how this defense adapted, how this league adapted. I think Nick Collins would have went right along with that, just because he could do so many different things. Mike, he was a ball hawk. He was a guy that could play in the box. He was a good tackler, could blitz. The way he blitz or the way he developed over time,

it was it was impressive to watch. Yeah. Alright, Well, 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 find him at west Hod I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, We'll see you next time. M HM.