#297 Packers Unscripted: Veteran additions, new outlook

your initial thoughts on this addition to the tight end group. Well, here's the two thoughts I have on this. One is more from a broader perspective the Packers. Historically, when Ted Thompson was running the personnel department, they would bring guys in for visits. But the one thing I've noticed this offseason, in particular with Bryan Goudekunst, is the guys coming in for a visit. It's serious. Um, Mohammed Wilkerson visits signs.

After about another week, Lewis comes in for visits Signs. Um. And if you look at and you break it down and really look at the whole picture of this thing. Louis gives them a dimension that they were missing at that tight end position. You know, he was a former pro bowler seven eight years ago. He's had some some fine receiving seasons, but his bread and butter, in a

lot of ways has been as a blocker. The Packers toyed around with this idea of really having a blocking tight end in two thousand and thirteen with Matthew Mulligan not nearly as accomplished as Lewis ended up not making the roster. But other than that, they've really just been trying to make the guys they have into blockers. I think Louis gives them a guy that is bona fide

at that position. And and really, I mean you look at in terms of all these guys accomplishments with Lance Kendricks figured in there as well, Uh, definitely the most decorated group of tight ends of the Packers have probably hadn't going back to the late nineties. Yeah, I agree with you, and the when I look at Louis, I do believe that his blocking is his forte and that is what he's going to bring first and foremost to

this team. But you also can't ignore the fact that last season, even though he had only was it, twenty five receptions, five of those, if I'm not mistaken, were for touchdown. That's that's an interesting percentage. I guess when you look at the statistics, you say, Okay, well, maybe he doesn't have the big time downfield threat. You know, the Packers have that in Jimmy Graham. They don't necessarily need another one. He's not the big time downfield threat.

Maybe he was earlier in his career, but those numbers from last year tell you that in the red zone he can still be a tough matchup and if he catch the ball. I mean, you saw a lot of the film that the Packers have, and I think we even put up the top ten plays he had in two thousand seventeen on our website. Yeah. Uh, he still

made a lot of plays. And the other thing is too, is there were some questions because he'd been on injury reserved twice in the last four years, one into two thousand seventeen, and whether or not the durability was starting to wane. Started all sixteen games for the Jaguars last year and then obviously into the playoffs as well as they gotten on their run. I think he played somewhere around like I think it was like seven or eight hundred offensive snaps. So he's more than capable of handing

handling that kind of workload. But he's also at the point of his career having just turned thirty four a week ago that you know, he can fit a potential niche as well. And if he means he isn't playing you know, you know, five six hundred snaps, I think he's gonna be okay with that. So adding him into the mix of that position, like I said, I think it just gives them a more traditional inline tight end uh, but also allows Jimmy Graham to to really be free

to do whatever they want with them. It just keeps those two tight end packages alive and well in this offense and and really being able to maximize those three veterans. Yeah. I got a question in our Insider Inbox column. Somebody asked, so does this signing improve the Packers running game more or the passing game more? And this is how I

answered it. I think because of the blocking prowess and just the experience that Lewis has, I think on the surface, this helps the Packers running game more, you've got a blocking tight end. If you want to line up and say, here we come, you've got that option. But at the same time, if you're improving the running game, you're improving

the passing game. You're helping Aaron Rodgers because if this team can run the ball consistently, Aaron Rodgers becomes that much more dangerous a quarterback because of how defenses have to respect the run. So if you can improve the running game, you are improving the passing game. Whether or not Louis catches twenty or forty or fifty passes this year,

that that's almost irrelevant in some senses. Yeah. And as one of the things I pointed out to I mean, I think the impact he could potentially have, assuming he still has something left. You know, he's gonna have to make this roster too. Yeah, but if he does, I think his impact is going to be seen more on the whole than just an individual stat box. Uh. The thing that was very interesting about last year with Mark Tellis Bennett and I know a lot of things went

south there, but he is he was. He's the best acker the Packers have had going back to Bubba Franks, And you could see the impact he made on those games. You know where Aaron Jones was able to get his first hundred yard performance and and how that really was important to being able to establish that early on in

the season. We'll see how Lewis matches up in that regard, But certainly when you look at time Montgomery and and Jones and Jamal Williams all coming back, all underneath twenty five years old, all really unique in terms of their skill sets, they will really benefit from a guy that brings that experience. And to take this one step further, because I know some people have asked, well, what does this mean for the other tight ends, the younger tight

ends on this roster. Mike McCarthy said it going back to the owner's meetings the Packers. If he had his druthers and the Packers had what they want, they would love to have four or five tight ends on this roster because of what that position lends itself to on special teams. So, by no means does this disqualify Manuel Bird or Robert Tonyan or some of these undrafted rookies trying to make this roster. They still have a very

good opportunity. It's just the Packers now we are going to take a look at an accomplished tight end and see what he brings to the table as a blocker. Yeah, a guy like Lewis certainly had an impact on the career of Maurice Jones, drew on the early success of a guy like Leonard Fournett and Jacksonville. So tatersting to see, yeah, Fred Taylor back earlier in Lewis's career as well. So with that, we've got to go to a break back with more on Packers Unscripted right after this, Welcome back

to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford in this chair, West Hodkowitz and that one Wes. You brought up his name in the opening segment, Mohammed Wilkerson, the I guess more highly touted free agent signing. The Packers had this one coming on the defensive side and with the defensive line, and

we've talked about it. This was really a signal in my mind, when you already have Kenny Clark, Mike Daniels and up and coming type of players like Dean Lowry and Montrevius Adams on that unit, you add a veteran guy like Wilkerson. Two double digit sack seasons in his career, has a Pro Bowl on his resume. You're sending the signal that the defensive line is the foundation of this new defense under Mike Patton. You get that same impression absolutely, Mike,

because here's the thing. The Packers strength the defensively is their defensive line. It was that way before Mohammed Wilkerson signed, and it's certainly re emphasized that after he did sign with the Packers, and I think listening to him speak both when he talked to the media last week but also when he did the Q and A with the Packers Twitter account, um the reasons for him coming back, it really was two fold. It was Aaron Rodgers, which you know we often hear, we heard it from Rickie

Jean Francois last year. But it's also really being able to be the tipping point for this defensive line and and maybe give them that veteran presence that not only they you know they've had veterans in the past, but a guy that can make an impact. This is the biggest thing, and and it's the biggest question I've had all offseason. Again, I don't think we're gonna get answers for it completely until we see week one how these guys are utilized. But Wilkerson has a wealth of football

behind him. He's been incredibly durable throughout the course of his career, and the fact that he was able to make the impact he did during his first two seasons with Mike Petton in New York. That third season is where he truly broke out and became an all Pro

type player. But how productive he was for being an end of the first round pick in two thousand eleven and then in what he did in two thousand and twelve, I mean, he was a guy getting five six secs seasons and you don't always see that for defensive lineman in this league being able to step in there. There's been a couple along the way that they're just impactful,

high round players that can do it. But I think Wilkerson and how easily he was able to get involved and immerse himself in that defense, not only does that speak well for him now coming back into Petton's defense, but I think it also says something too about the scheme that Petton runs and how young players can come in and thrive immediately. Yeah, and he downplayed a little bit.

The whole notion of him sort of teaching everybody on the defensive line, you know everything about Mike Patton's defense. He he even admitted, Hey, you know, it's been a few years. There's some things that I've got to you know, brush up on here and and uh and catch up on because some you know, things change and evolve over

time in this league. But at the same time, then you hear from a guy like Kenny Clark, who really pointed out, you know, it's not so much you know, Mohammed Wilkerson showing like the xs and os in the meeting room or something like that. It's more when they're on the practice field in a sense, like hey, you know on this certain type of rush package, like this is the angle you know that you take, or this is how you take on the double team. It's those

little things that aren't necessarily written in the playbook. They're not spelled out. But when you get out on the field and a guy like Wilkerson has played for Mike Petton, then he can he can just pass along those little tips like hey, this is what he's looking for, this is how he wants this to look in action, and I think the players are going to benefit from that. Yeah, absolutely, Mike.

And and the thing is too that, you know, you look at the Kenny Clarks of the world, a guy now twenty two going into twenty three years old, um youngest can be, but yet still falling success in his

second NFL season. It's gonna be interesting to see what exactly pett and thinks of these guys, because, as we talked about it last week's show, first time Clay Matthews is gonna be playing in a defense that isn't Dom Capers for the most part, with a couple exceptions here and there, the Capers is the only d C a

lot of these guys have known. Patton is gonna come in and, as I wrote an insider inbox on on Tuesday, with a fresh pair of eyes to to kind of look at this thing and determine, Okay, who can be our playmakers, how do we build this defense, and how do we get the most out of this collective whole into me Again, this is just looking at the board as it stands right now, it appears as if defensive line is where they're going to have the starting point.

When you have Mike Daniels coming off his first Pro Bowl, the history and lineage of what Mohammed Wilkerson has done in this league, and Kenny Clark at twenty two years old being able to have the performance he did late last season throwing Dean Lowery maybe montrevious Adams taking another step. They added some more defensive him in through the draft

and unrestricted undrafted free agency. It is a complete group, and trying to find the best ways to get the most out of that is going to be probably the biggest task that Petton has, you know, going into this training camp. Yeah, and when you look at something that Wilkerson has in common, he's from New Jersey, where like

Daniels is also from New Jersey. But interestingly, two very very different personalities here in terms of uh, you know, Mike Daniels being very very loud, very outspoken, not shy at all, not saying Mohammed Wilkerson is a shy guy, but just as I said before, very understated, a little bit more low key. I think he's fine with with Mike Daniels being the the vocal leader of the group. And what I really like about the Wilkerson signing, because you've heard me talk about this before, I write about

it an insider inbox all the time. Never underestimate a motivated professional athlete. Mohammed Wilkerson is motivated. He he was released in the middle of a large, big money contract. He now he's at the Packers. He's still got believes he's still got plenty of tread left on the tire, so to speak. He's he's looking to revive his career here. He's looking to make a statement whether then his future

is in Green Bay or somewhere else. He's a motivated player and I kind of like throwing that into the mix here with a new defense. Yeah, and it's been a long time since he's been in the playoffs too, so I mean trying to, you know, after getting that little bit of tastic success the first few years with Rex, Ryan and Petton, now trying to, you know, get back

on that winning ways. It's it's going to be something that I think when you look at the opportunity now in front of you in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers as your quarterback, if you hold up your end of the bargain at the end of the day, good things are gonna happen. You're gonna have a chance with that we'll go to a break back with Morn Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford right here, West Hodko, It's all the way over there, West.

Continuing our discussion of the Packers defense, Mike Patton's defense, what he's bringing. We heard from Clay Matthews last week during the first open practice of O T A S. And Matthews touched on a lot of different subjects here and there, as he often does when he stands at his locker fields questions from all angles from the media. One of the key things that I took away from his words, and I wrote about this on our website.

I think he he really believes that one of the the driving forces, so to speak, behind this Mike Petton defense is going to be unpredictability. It's going to be about not necessarily the the opposing offense, opposing offensive coordinator, opposing quarterback knowing quite for sure what you're gonna be running in certain down and distant situations and certain spots on the field, red zone, short yardage, whatever that might be.

There's going to be an element of unpredictability here. And I'm really curious to see exactly how it's gonna play. I want to just quickly bring up the Mic Zimmer defense for a moment um. And again I'm not trying to sit here and be like, Okay, that's the standard. But but the double a gap blitz scheme that he always runs, why is that so effective in this league?

Would you care to take that question? I think it's because when those guys mug up there at the at the line of scrimmage on either side of the center, you never know if you don't come it or not. You don't know if they're dropping, you don't know if they're sending both. You don't know if they're gonna go one, you don't know if they're gonna come on a stunt. A lot of different avenues for what you can do. And to be fair to down capers, there was a

lot of that in his scheme as well. But I think what happened the last two years in specific, when you have the injuries mount up like they did, and we saw this in two thousand thirteen as well, it reduces the amount of unpredictability you can do, and especially with some of the young guys coming in, we talked about the communication issues, some of the problems with guys trying to step up. That was ultimately the downfall of

last season. The challenge for Petting here is that he has a lot of pieces on the chessboard here during the off season with this, with Wilkerson coming in the revamped secondary. But the question is gonna be once you get to week eight and week nine, what are you gonna do When somebody goes down, somebody else has to step up. And the thing that I took away from what both what Matthews has said and both what other players have said this offseason is it's making sure that

everybody is ready. Whether it's the undrafted rookie, whether it's the accomplished veteran. They need to be in a position to come in there and not have a drop off, not just at the position, but in terms of the group the eleven players on the field. You have to be able to keep that chemistry, that fluidity going throughout the defense. So, yeah, with Petton, there is gonna be a lot of unpredictability. There is gonna be a lot of different looks and something. It's not even just like, Okay,

we're gonna send all eleven guys at the quarterback. It's not like that. It's giving them different pre snap looks that they can't just sit there and identify the mic and identify who's coming on a blitz or where the safety is going to be. It's being multiple. That's what Petton did in New York and had success. It's what he did in Buffalo that one season in two had success. And it's the system now that he's going to try

to bring the Green Bay. Yeah, and as I said, I'm very curious to see how it's gonna work out, because when you look back when Dom Caper's first arrived two thousand nine, two thousand ten, he was working with a lot of veteran players. You look at two thousand ten, I know there were injuries, the Packers said, guys filling in, But who was filling in for Nick Barnett and inside linebacker when he went out with an injury Desmond Bishop, who had been drafted in two thousand seven. He was

a fourth year player, Exactly. You know, Dom Capers was working with a lot of veteran guys and that's where you know the acquisition of of Mohammed Wilkerson comes in the Packers have had a lot of young players who are now reaching that latter stage of their career. But Petton also has to work in there. It's a young cornerback group. There's a lot of young players in the secondary. You know, Blake Martinez, an inside linebacker now into his third year, he's getting to that stage where you start

to call him more of a veteran player. There's a there's a mix here, and you know some of that, some of the unpredictability can be based on, you know, okay, how much of the playbook can they absorb? Patton has to find the right balance with his veteran guys and his young guys. How much can how much can they really handle so that you don't have the communication issues and other things that can happen during the course of the season when injuries happen and guys are shuffling in

and you know what else happens to Mike. You have Wilkerson coming at the defensive line, You have Tremont Williams resigned at cornerback. What does that do? It challenges the young guys on the roster to step up to elevate their game. You want to start on the boundary you want to start at that nickel star position. Earn the job, win the job, take the job, and run with it. Yeah, it's all right there for everybody, and I think for me,

I know there's questions at outside linebacker. People are going to talk about that all summer long. But there are so many roles, not just starting jobs, but so many rolls up for grabs right now on that defense. Patton is looking for guys to grab that, to take that opportunity and run with it. And it's all there for you. If you play well, if you step up, you show that you can handle the system in the scheme, you're going to have an opportunity in this defense. Yeah, I

agree with you with that. We're gonna go too their break back with more and Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted Mike Spofford alongside Wes Hodkowitz and West. Before we go today, I want to shift gears back to the offensive side of the ball for a minute. Interestingly, we've talked a lot during this offseason about how players are forgetting about two thousand seventeen. It

was a rough year for a lot of guys involved. Obviously, there's been a lot of change front office wise, player wise, coaching wise since then. But one guy who definitely has a really strong, solid two thousand seventeen to look back on is offensive lineman Justin McCrae. But interestingly, he's one of the first guys in the locker room who's also going to say, hey, I've got to forget about sev I can't rest on anything that I did in the past. I need to look forward. I think it's his recognition

that he has an opportunity in front of him. His opportunity right now is a completely different one from where he was last year at this time. He recognizes it and he's really going to try to go after it. Well. Mike, And in the last segment you talked about, you know, never underestimating a motivated player. And there's two ways to do that. I mean, there is the way that Wilkerson has, you know, where he's had success, he's two time All Pro,

trying to show that he's still that guy. Then you look at a guy like McCrae, who has been an undrafted, you know, under the radar prospects since day one, you know, and coming into the league in two thousand and fourteen, spending a year with the Titans, getting cut off their practice squad, being out of football for full two seasons, you know, working as a bellman in Orlando, trying to train with his twin brother, Jordan's, you know, for another opportunity,

you know, playing the Arena Football League. This was his last chance last year, after he impressed at that UCF Pro day that the Packers brought him in. He was probably the nine guy on the roster during the off season, but he gradually worked his way up and when opportunities presented themselves, he took advantage of those and he showed an eight spots starts that he can handle whatever the Packers throw at and whether it was guard, tackle, even center.

So the lesson there for McCrae is that nothing is guaranteed. He has to do it all over again to prove not only am I worthy of a spot on the fifty three, but a guy that legitimately could be considered

for that starting right guard job. Yeah, and we've heard some things from Mike McCarthy and from offensive line coach James James Camping about mccrawe's dedication in the off season to his conditioning he's he I don't want to say he's rebuilt his body, because he had an NFL body obviously to begin with, but he's he's reworked and he's

reconditioned it a little bit. They're not putting any numbers on it in terms of where his weight is or or the body fat percentages, all that kind of stuff that maybe other other players other teams make more public. But um, he's shown the dedication that it's going to take to take the next step in his career. I think it's a great sign that a guy who really came out of nowhere in a sense and made a

name for himself in the NFL, he's not satisfied. He realizes there's more out there in front of him, there's more work to do, and he's going to do what it takes. And I think that's where the undrafted thing comes in, and him flying underneath the radar and understanding what it's like to be out of this league and trying to earn your way back in it. And and you know, now the Packers Jarry Evans still a free agent.

It looks like the Packers are looking at McCrae and some of these internal reserves to fill that spot for the time being. McCrae wants to show that you don't need to look no further. Yeah, what he put on film last year should get be enough, but also putting himself over the top to being consideration for that job. Yeah, a valuable swing guy at multiple positions, but maybe the starting right guard in ten. We'll see. With that, we have to sign off on this edition of Packers Unscripted.

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. H