#292 Packers Unscripted: Not so forgotten

third day of the NFL Draft. There was a guy picked in between all of that that we really haven't talked about a whole lot. But he's a guy who could play a pretty important role on this Packers defense. And Tea and I'm talking about linebacker or and Burke's from Vanderbilt. Now we have to see, obviously when the pads go on in the summer of the preseason games and how he fits into what Mike Petton wants to do. But this could be a pretty important draft pick for

the Packers. See here's the thing. Like you obviously are a draft expert, I always this is you know, all two fifty six guys who come off the board, none of them surprised. I'm more about the first two rounds, and once you get out of the first two rounds, that's where it. Sometimes it's like, Okay, you recognize some

of these guys, but others you don't. Burke's is a guy I, to be honest with you, didn't know a whole lot about and then hearing his story and listen to him talk, you know, you talk about him starting as a defensive back and playing safety and eventually moving

over to linebacker. So, to be quite honest with you, when he came into the locker room for the first availability with the media, I was anticipating guy that probably looked a little bit more in the form of Josh Jones, a full you know, six ft one, six ft two, uh safety, But you know a guy that mirrors more of a safety. I look at Burks now and it's like, how did that guy ever played defen because he is ripped. Yeah,

he's got some size. There is nothing small, you know whatsoever about his stature and in how he fills out. He looks like an inside linebacker. And now you bring him in and he has those measurables. The kind of things you look for in those hybrid tendencies. It just seems to me when you also, you know, factor in Burke's is his um you know, intelligence, and coming from Vanderbilt, this is a guy who appears to be built for

defenses in two thousand eighteen. Yeah, and he played safety initially atte Vanderbilt, as you mentioned, but that was about twenty pounds ago. He said he played safety when he was around two fifteen, And really he's one of these guys whose body was still maturing and still developing through

his college years. He didn't come out of high school with really that that full grown male adult body, so he was still growing and really because his body was still maturing, that's partly what led to his position changes along the way, going from safety to outside linebacker and

then event chually to inside linebacker. What's interesting to me about Burke's is I think this sets up very well because you, you and I are much the same way, and we're always a little skeptical of just how much rookies can play in the NFL, how much will they really contribute right away? And what intrigues me about Burke's is that coming from Vanderbilt, he has the smarts to

learn the playbook. We've seen that with other guys to Blake Martinez from Stanford, time Montgomery coming from Stanford, those guys were ready to jump in right away. So he's got that going for him. He's changed positions a lot along the way, as we just mentioned, He's played a

lot of different spots on defense. And then on top of that, he actually said in meeting with the media here in Green Bay for the first time that his coaches um his head coach Derek Mason at Vanderbilt also doubled as the defensive coordinator when he was there, and then also his inside linebackers coach his final year in Chris mar Both of those guys focused on teaching their players the entire defense they're they're coaching and teaching wasn't

about here's your position and here's your responsibilities. You know, just do your job. It was about understanding the big picture. So he's coming in really with UH with the type of background that can allow potentially a young player to hit the ground running, so to speak. And again I don't want to speak for how he's going to necessarily

fit in with what Mike Petton wants to do. But my point is that I think on the mental side of things, he's going to be ready if they find a role for and it's such an important role to be able to have that that mental capacity and not only process that information, but to be prepared for what you're going to see on a given day because of what your responsibilities are in coverage, what the potential responsibilities are as a blitzer. He said he did that occasionally

they're being able to defend the run. It is the one position inside linebacker where you basically have a hand in everything, and for the most part, it's pretty balanced across the board and what your responsibilities are. You can be better in one area than another, but you better not be deficient in one area, otherwise you're going to

get exposed. Uh. With Burke's coming into the league now, As you said, I always am very cautious making expectations too high for rookies because you and I have seen a time and time again, Mike, if you go into a season and you're counting on rookies to play out of their mind, you're probably not going to get to where you want to go. You have to have plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and Sometimes you're gonna get Casey Hayward.

Sometimes you're gonna get Greg Jennings. Sometimes there's gonna be these guys that step out and ball out their first year. But for Burks, I think the important thing is understanding the jump he is making now going from Vanderbilt and as it is, talented and experience he wasn't in that defense now, trying to understand what Mike Petton is trying to do and what his role is going to be here.

That being said, all of those experiences pulled together are going to be really helpful for him and being able to really take his game and transfer it to the next level. Yeah, and this potentially sets up well for him because we've heard both ha Ha, Clinton Dicks and Mike McCarthy use the phrase likable and learnable when it

comes to Mike Patton's defensive schemes. So from that stamp point, he may not there may not be the complexities initially that a player has to decipher compared to say, Dom Caper's defense. And it's interesting when you compare with Blake Martinez. He picked up capers scheme from the mental side of it, he had it down, but even he admitted his rookie year then he was out there almost thinking too much, and it wasn't until his second year that he really

cut himself loose and really felt more comfortable. You wonder with with a different scheme and just a different way that Mike Petton goes about it, will that process be accelerated potentially with a player like Burke. The strength is the whole with Mike Petton's defense, and that he ties all those concepts together. He did in New York, he did in Buffalo to some extent, he even did it in Cleveland, and I think him bringing in his scheme

now into Green Bay. If he can weave all of those different components together and have his type of players in that scheme, I think they're going to get to where they want to go. But the big thing for Burke's, because we saw it with a guy from Stanford like Martinez, is taking it one day at a time and making sure you understand what you're doing before you're going out there trying to do it, and no question about it. With that, we will go to a breakback with more

on Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford in this chair, Wes Hodkowits in that one. West. Looking back on Rookie Orientation Weekend, we've talked a lot about the rookies, obviously, but there are also a handful of guys who participate in that who are not necessarily rookies, but they're eligible to participate because they haven't been on

the active roster. They haven't played in enough NFL games to be ineligible for for a Rookie orientation type of system. And one of those players that is definitely worth discussing here is tight End Emmanuel Bird. The Packers um haven't really added to their their tight End depth chart this year beyond Jimmy Graham and Lance Hendricks at the top

of things. And uh, Um, you wrote a fantastic story on our website, packers dot Com outlining the background of Emmanuel Bird, a story that hadn't really gotten out there in terms of everything that he's overcome with with his family and how he was raised. I don't want to steal your thunder. Go ahead and tell us what you what you discovered in the story that you wrote. Well, this starts off for me actually going back to last preseason and I don't know if you remember that, but

Bird comes in as a street free agent. He got cut by the Chiefs, and the Packers brought him in, and I was really impressed by the kid. He did everything he possibly couldn't make the team. Caught every pass throwing his way, didn't matter if it was Aaron Rodgers, Joe kl and he was catching it. Packers cut him,

He goes back home, almost gets into teaching. They bring him back in November on the practice squad, and then at the end of the season, he has that performance against the Detroit Lions twenty nine yards and ends up having a really fine outing. And I talked to him after the game, So those quotes, because that was the end of the season. Yeah, I kind of stashed for

an offseason story. And I remember being at the Combat and Chase Lytton, who was the quarterback for Marshall, which is where Bird played, He was talking to the media at a side table, and I wanted to ask him about Michael Clark, the big phenom you know, came in former basketball player, ends up being on the roster, and I remember that Bird also had gone to Marshall, so

I asked Linton about him. And his face just lit up, No pun intended the moment I brought up his name and he just said, he's the most humble and one of the hardest working people I've ever met. And getting a chance to talk to him a little bit mentioned you know, he has a really interesting backstory. So that allowed me to go back to his bio. It wasn't like I did this great sleuthing on the story or anything.

And it turns out that Bird had lost his mom when he was six years old, and then the woman who raised him, his aunt, Um Claudia Marshall, She passed away during his junior year of college. Father is not really involved in his life. Those were the bedrock for him and his brother Roscoe, who was a year older than him. And getting a chance to talk to Manuel and Roscoe about this and what they've gone through, basically watching their mom die at a young age. She had

an asthma attack. She ends up being transport to the ambulance, dies on the way to the hospital, gets raised by their aunt, a single mother, herself them and her their older sister, getting and welcomed into their family, and getting a chance to talk to him man about what this has been like and all this pales in comparison, Mike, when you look at trying to make a roster as an undrafted free agent whatever. The big goal for them was just trying to get a free college education. Roscoe

went and played at eight. Are you Sorry? You a b Alabama Birmingham? They shut down the program at the same time that his aunt comes down with cancer. She was a two time breast cancer survivor and mistastasized to her jaw, and both of those guys were still playing college football at the time when she passes away. There's so many layers to the story. But just seeing Emmanuel's approach to everything going back to last summer and even you know, no matter how insurmountable it is to make

the roster, he overcomes that. After understanding the backstory a little more, it gives you a better appreciation for exactly who this guy is. Yeah, and I know you and I are are in the business of of chronicling the stories and and trying to get to know these guys a little bit. And you know, but when you when you get to know one of these guys in that respect and tell that story, it's hard not to root for him and um, And I know we can't really

do that. That's not our job to cheer for certain guys. But but I think I think a lot of people, a lot of Packers fans who have now read the story, and if you haven't read it, be sure to check it out on Packers dot com. Emmanuel Bird will be become a little bit of a fan favorite as one

of these underdog type guys. And you mentioned all the different layers to the story, you mean, the other layer to it, aside from everything with the family, is just the fact that this is a guy he started out at junior college, then he was yeah, then then wanted to go to Alabama Birmingham to join his brother, but they shut down the program, so then he had to find another place to go play, ends up ends up playing at Marshall. You know, gets into the NFL, is

an undrafted player. I mean that path alone to be where he is right now is pretty remarkable. And then when you add in all of the family and personal stuff, the trials and tribulations that that that he's gone through. I you know, he's an impressive young man. And I can't imagine just how how mentally strong he is. I mean, you know, he'll be able to handle whatever is thrown at him. Yeah, and he has his degree, you know.

And he said one of the big things his aunt wanted to see was him and his brother walked across the stage. Unfortunately she wasn't able to do that, um in the you know, literal sense. But the fact that both of those brothers finished their degrees, that was her

super Bowl, as Roscoe said. And one of the other things I was really sad too, is the fact that when she was having her cancer, that this seerge surgery to remove the cancer from her job part of her jaw was the same time that Emmanuel was supposed to go to Marshall. But it was so important to her for those kids to finish their degrees. She wasn't asking anybody to come in and stay with her. She wanted

them out. She wanted them prospering. And uh, you know, Claudia Marshall is gonna be someone that's definitely gonna stay with both of those those kids for a long long time. Yeah, Emmanuel Bird will be will be certainly making a strong push for a roster spot here in his second year in the NFL. With that, we will go to a break Back with moren Packers Unscripted. Right after this Welcome Back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford here, Wes Hodker wits

there West. If there's a theme to this show, I guess it's the it's the forgotten guys, the forgotten stories

amongst the Packers. And there's another one here that's worth talking about because, as we mentioned, the Packers drafted three wide receivers on the third day of the draft, but there's a fifth round draft pick at wide receiver from last year who spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad, never made an appearance on the active roster like Michael Clark did, like Reggie Gilbert did at the

end of last year. Wasn't one of those guys fifth round draft pick out of Purdue And I'm talking about D'Angelo Yancey. And this is this is an interesting story because the competition at wide receiver for however many spots are available this summer through training camp in the preset is going to be pretty intense. It's going to be really fun to watch. And uh. Talking to D'Angelo yancy this past weekend as he again participated in in rookie orientation as a practice squad hold over. He's uh, he

doesn't want to. He's saying, hey, don't count me out. He's not going to. Uh, He's not going to back down from anybody. This is a guy who's going to throw himself into this fight for for a roster spot, and he feels like he's way more ready for it now than he was a year ago. Yeah, and uh, I mean you and I have said this since the day that the Packers drafted D'Angelo Yancy. He has a swagger about him, and he has a really good size

for the position. I mean, he is I think we use a lot of comparables last year to James Jones, Um. You know, Jamon Moore probably fits some of those well, but he's a bit taller, a bit a bit more full you know, fuller. But Yancey had some good plays last year. It was just the consistency side of it that I think kind of held him back in trying to make that jump from Purdue UM and being what

was really just a big play possession receiver. A lot of overtop stuff, I mean, some of that, some of those things you're not going to get away with in the NFL, and I think Yancey found that out, especially during the first three weeks of training camp. I remember doing a story on him last August, you know, as he was sort of mounting a little bit of a push to make the roster near the end of it, saying like, I don't think I fully you know, understood,

I think he appreciated the opportunity. I don't think he fully understood just how much of a change it was gonna be. You know, in an NFL camp, playing NFL teams and a bunch of guys that are all hungry to carve out their spots. He's in a really interesting spot now. As you pointed out in your story. I mean last year he was able to get a lot of work with Aaron Rodgers when he was working with the scout team. Uh And realistically, it's wide open behind

Davante Adams, in Randall Cobb, all of these guys. Nobody is locked into a roster spot. No, there's a across the board competition for those three four you know spots. However, many of the packers decided to roll with Yeah, and he is, as you mentioned, a big moment for him was last year late in the season when Aaron Rodgers was coming back from the broken collar bone. Rodgers took a few practices where he was the Scout team quarterback. Yancey was a Scout team wide receiver all season long

because he was on the practice squads. He was always on that look team, you know, being the Scout team offense for the number one defense. But getting those practices with Aaron Rodgers, I sensed in talking to him that kind of gave him a little boosting his confidence that that in working with Rogers, he it's sort of reaffirmed that he's doing some things right. He's remade his body a little bit. He's dropped about fifteen pounds from where

he was. He says he feels a lot a lot smoother, a lot a lot faster, getting in and out of his brakes better, all that kind of stuff, you know, and and everything about the uh, you know, the game slowing down for him as well. Now this is the I he had. I believe it was around nineteen yards per catch his his final year at Perdue. He certainly made some big plays, but he found out last year a couple of things. One he uh, he said he didn't really take seriously, that every rep in practice is

like a game rep. That's how you have to go about it when you're trying to make an NFL I think I think he appreciates that a little bit better now. And the other thing is he's also learned there's no such thing as status. His comment was, you know, when the helmet goes on, there are no favorites. He was a fifth round draft pick who got cut um, So that's the whole you know, there is no status. It worked against him in a sense last year because his

draft status really didn't matter. Well, he looks at it as you know. Now it can work in my favorite because just because the Packers drafted these other three guys, that doesn't mean that they're going to keep them over me. If I go out and perform, I'll get the spot. And it's it's the healthy attitude to take. And I'm interested to see what he does. Yeah, And and it just touched really briefly on the Rogers scout team thing. You and I. It seems like every year, every summer

we talked about this. When Aaron Rodgers is running the scout team, there's nothing scout team about it. It's Aaron Rodgers versus the world. It doesn't matter who else is on the field with him. He's going out there to win. So that competitiveness you have to imagine it's going to go far now as Yancy goes into uh, probably the biggest summer of his life trying to show that he's an NFL receiver. All Right, with that, we will go to another break back with more and Packers Unscripted right

after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted Mike Spofford joined by Wes Hodkowitz and West. Before we get too far away from the NFL Draft, there's one other thing we should toss out there for discussion. It's something that Mark Murphy has addressed in his monthly column on Packers dot Com called Murphy Takes five, and that is the possibility of Green Bay hosting the NFL Draft at some point.

And now to clarify where things are in that process. Initially, the Packers had applied to host the draft right around this time in nineteen area. I think there was some sentiment to maybe try to get it for nineteen with that coinciding with birthday of the Packers in August often

coming up. But the Packers decided to delay their application, and now they have applied to host the Draft in either or, And one of the big reasons behind that is, UH, the Brown County Arena just across the street here from lambeau Field is being replaced by a new exposition center and that is supposed to be finished by that time frame, so that would be something that could be incorporated then a new facility incorporated into However, green Bay would host

the Draft, so some interesting goings on there. And you know, we won't know anything obvious see for quite a while. But I don't know about you. I think if the city of Green Bay hosted the NFL Draft, that'd be pretty cool. I think it would be really neat, and especially since there's no chance, uh in this lifetime that we're gonna see the Super Bowl come here for obvious reasons, I think this would be a really good consolation, and it would have been cool for the hundred year to

be able to host it. But you know, Title Town is still in the infancy of this project. It made so many strides with it, but yet there's still a lot to be you know, parceled out and figured out and implemented. UH, and then obviously, as you mentioned the exhibition hall as well, UM is going to go a long way, uh and being able to develop everything. There's hotels coming up everywhere. It seems like there's like two going up right now on the east side of Lambo.

So the hotel thing is another aspect of this that needs to get short up. But you can see all of the steps are moving in the right direction to this possibly being uh, you know, a reality at some point. And honestly, Mike, it's the most storied franchise in the history of the league. Um, it means so much to the NFL, it only makes sense that at some point it will find its way to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Yeah,

I think it will at some point. When exactly that's going to be is is very hard to say, but uh, but you know, you look at what's been done so far with this traveling, you know thing, with hosting the draft. Chicago Philadelphia both did a great job. Dallas had it based in the stadium in in Jerry's world there that sort of almost took it to a new level in terms of the fan intensity and and the fan involvement

and everything. So kind of a new standard here now for for these cities coming up in and nineteen or I'm sorry to host it, will see what happens. It's only increased the awareness and popularity of it, and I think it's also avoided it from getting stale, to bring some new life to the project. Absolutely. With that, we are going to sign off on this edition of Packers Unscripted. To be sure to follow all of our coverage of

the team on packers dot com on Twitter. He's at west hot I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time. M HM.