#314 Packers Unscripted: Roster rundown

and that's former Oakland Raiders pass rusher Khalil Mack. The Packers reportedly in the discussions for a potential trade for Mac amongst some other teams. Mac ends up going to the Chicago Bears for a couple of first round draft picks, a big trade for right at the end of training camp. I can't remember a move like this across the lead at this stage that that was this monumental in terms of the type of player involved. Just your thoughts on what went down with all this. I guess they're calling

it the Khalil max Sweepstakes. Yeah, I guess it was. I mean, just such a unique situation first off, because of just what happened in Oakland with the Raiders for Mac to come available. You don't see a guy as young as he is, as talent as he is, and with as much upside as they're still there, come available at that stage of his career very often. And I thought when the interesting things of it, the Bears sort of you know, came out of nowhere to pick him up.

And you know you mentioned him being something you can't remember. Yeah, I don't remember a defensive player ever, you know, making that amount of money and being traded all within the span of you know, a couple you know, forty eight hours like Mac was. But you know, this is a move that I think Ryan Pace feels like, you know, it adds It obviously adds a in all pro type pass rusher to Vic Fangio's defense. And it just so turns out the Packers will see him this upcoming week.

It looks like so uh yeah, it was a really interesting discussion. I know our insider in backs fans have been talking about it for pretty much the last month. Um, you know, my whole two cents since the very beginning was it's not just what it takes to acquire him, it's going to be what is it worth to you to sign him long term? And and for the Bears, obviously that was an investment they were willing to make him with their quarterback situation right now being what it is.

A young guy, a young roster um, they had the room to to be able to do it. Yeah, and I'll say this with regards to the Packers. Brian goudakuns to address the media on late Sunday afternoon with regards to the roster. He was asked in kind of a roundabout way about Khalil Mack. He wasn't going to get into any specifics as far as the discussion. I look at it simply from this point of us. If the

price was two first round draft picks. I don't know if Gouda Kunst offered the Packers two first round picks in this next draft, because they have the one their own plus the one from the Saints, I don't know

if that was the offer. But if I'm the Raiders looking at it, and I have the Bears to first round picture from the Bears in the next two drafts or two from the Packers in the next draft, I'm looking at it to say, well, those picks that from the Bears with Mitch Trobiski, a young guy still developing at quarterback, Versus picks that are going to be determined by the play of Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. The

Packers and the Saints. I think they just went with the picks that they think we're gonna be higher, going to be worth more. I mean, regardless of the other issue you mentioned, which is fitting him under the cap and getting that deal done, because there was a lot of tension in Oakland as to you know, with him holding out and wanting a new deal and how much money he was going to want and all that kind of stuff. So a lot of logistics and everything that

that went into this. But I will say this, Bryan Goudakun said when he was hired he wants to be in on every conversation. He's holding true to his word from everything that we're hearing. Yeah, and even you know, going back towards the free agent process, and sometimes that's going to result in you signing a Jimmy Graham or you know, bringing back Tramont Williams if it makes sense, and sometimes it doesn't result in anything. It's important to be in those conversations. It was a big point of

emphasis for Goods coming in. They want to be in the know with everything, and I think up unto this point, now what eight months into this thing, he's loved up to that end of the bargain. Yeah, alright. Well, with regards to the fifty three players who are on the Packers active roster, already some adjustments being made before we

came into the studio here to record this episode. The Packers on Saturday afternoon at the cutdown time had eight wide receivers that has now been trimmed to seven with Jake Kumuro going on injured reserve. The Packers doing that because by putting him initially on the fifty three and then moving him to injured reserve, he is eligible to come back potentially at a later point this season, which you cannot do if you put the player on i

R before you get down to the fifty three. So the Packers now with seven receivers instead of eight, and they signed a new linebacker. Um Tumor is the last name. I'm the first name is escaping man at the moment, Corey Corey Tumor. So a new inside linebacker added too, added to the mix. There a lot of stuff going on here in the last seventy two hours with regards to the Packers roster. What sticks out to you? What

are your major impressions. I think the first thing is still with the receivers, and while they did end up putting Kumero on I are, the fact that they carried seven of them through the cutdown tells you what they think of that group. You know, just starting off from the very top, Gerano Mallison left no doubt I thought

in this preseason he's the number three receiver. And then you also have Trevor Davis, what he offers you on special teams, not only just as a returner, but as a gunner and the different things he can do there. And then obviously the biggest storyline is those three rookie receivers. All three of them made it. Much like the running backs last year, all three of them end up making

the roster. A lot of projection there, but Mike McCarthy touched on it a little bit right on that Friday after the Kansas City game, and then Brian Goodkins did the same thing on Sunday. After the cuts are made, it's projection. It isn't just about where Jamon Moore and Eke st Brown and Marquez Valdes Scantling are today. It's where they're going to be a year from now, where they're gonna be two years from now. I think from the very beginning we talked about it during the roster

when they when they went with the draft. All three of these guys have incredibly talented gifts um and now it's gonna be the process of trying to develop those guys for the future. And and the nice thing is for them with having Randall Cobb, Davante Adams and even you know, Jimmy Graham there as well, along with you know Jonimlson going to his third year, it's not like these guys are gonna be pressed into action right away. There's still time to learn for them and to really

develop their their full skill set. Yeah. Well, the Packers, as we know, the fifty three man roster gets trimmed to forty six every every Sunday for game Day. So the decisions now with the wide receivers, you know who's going to be active and available to play on Sundays, because as you said, there are projections involved as far as the future with some of these guys, they may not be ready to play. They might be those game day inactives here and there as we go through this season.

One of the big decisions I thought coming out of the Kansas City game was whether or not the Packers would keep three quarterbacks on the fifty three man roster. Brett Honley was traded, as we had mentioned before the Kansas City game, elevated to Shaun Kaiser to the number two role. Then it came down to Tim Boyle. The undrafted rookie from Eastern Kentucky. Came out in the Kansas City game. First two drives march the Packers right down the field for two touchdowns. Then the second half didn't

go quite so well, so a very uneven game. The Packers decided to keep Boyle on the fifty three man roster. He is um, he is an active player, and uh really, I thought when he was in the game with I guess what I would call the second string type players. He performed, he functioned, he looked like he completely belonged. Now when you get to the third and the fourth string guys in the second half, something started to unravel there.

I think that's what the packers recognized that, hey, there's uh there, there's definitely enough upside to this quarterback to keep him on the team. He stole my point if you want to move on to the next topic, but I agree with you. That was my biggest takeaway from that game, the two series. I think it was two series that he got when he was actually working with the number two line and with you know, the receivers

that he had there. Robert Tanyan obviously had a connection with there as well, and a Tannian ends up making the roster. I thought he looked exemplary. Now, the thing you have to understand with Tim Boyle, though, is like as Mike McCarthy talked about with any young player, there's ups and downs. There's evan flow. Tim Boyle, this isn't gonna come out and put together like this Aaron Rodgers type performance where every series is clean. He's thrown for

four yards and three touchdowns. You know there's gonna be some fluctuation there. He's an undrafted rookie after all. But you go back to the things I've been saying since the very beginning with this guy. I love his pocket presence. He you know, if he makes a mistake in the pocket. It's not because the pressure got to him. He's willing to stand in there, take a hit and throw the football and put it where it needs to be. He has a great arm, and in the fact of the

matter is I think operating within this offense. You saw it, especially on that first series, he functions in it really well. And I even said to you, I mean, yes, he has those moments where things don't go quite right, but it really does surprise you that this is a young man that just didn't have a little more success at the college level than he did, because I think you see the natural ability there, and the Packers obviously saw enough in it to keep that third quarterback for the

fourth time in five years. Yeah, and hats off to Boil because he was in a tough spot in a lot of senses, because he had done some nice things in the first two preseason games and then he didn't play in the third round, so suddenly he gets thrown out there in Kansas City. He hasn't played an actual

game action for two weeks. His reps in practice, you're always going to be limited as the number four quarterback in terms of the number of reps you're getting because Hunley wasn't traded until right up right up to the end of the preparation for Kansas City, so for him to go out there those first two drives, I know there was a big pass interference penalty that helped. He threw had a couple of really nice throws. You mentioned Robert ton in young tight end who ended up making

this roster, the Packers keeping keeping four tight ends. I don't remember exactly the down and distance. I think it was a third down, maybe even a third and long. Okay, Um that that passed a Tanian over the middle that moved the chains, got the Packers into scoring position. That was sort of like an eye opener, like wow, like that ball came out of his hand, it was on time, It had some velocity. Um. Robert Tanyan, you know, caught it clean, big play and uh and something that both

of those guys really showed what they're made up. A great point because I think it was the rising tide lifts all boats there, because I mean, you look at it. Boyle put it right where it needed to be and Tanya made a play on the ball once it got there. It wasn't just okay, it was a good throw and the catch wasn't there, the ball wasn't really where he

wanted to be. In time, you just made a play, No, I mean both sides were working on that, and I think, and you've covered this team a lot longer than I have, Mike, but in my time, I was literally was sitting here on Sunday trying to think about two guys that I think, in my opinion, played themselves on a roster that weekend. And maybe the Packers already had some idea where they were gonna do with these guys, but the what Boil showed early on and then what Tanyan did with the

reps that he was afforded. You know they always say every year, you know, you never really set out what you're gonna have for how many players are going to be on a roster, well, how many are going to be at a certain position. In my opinion, though, I still like the idea of having three quarterbacks, especially in today's environment with the c B A. And I love having four tight ends because there is that flexibility with special teams as well. You know, Kendricks and tanya know

both contribute in that fashion. I just think when you look at them keeping Tanya. You have three veterans there and now you have a young guy that you can develop behind them. I think that's a really good thing because, as we've talked about so many times on the show, Mike, it's really tough for a young tight end just to come in and set the world on fire. They need time,

and now Tanya is going to get that. Well, and what an opportunity for Tanya to be able to learn from the from these three tight ends that are ahead of him and Graham and Lewis and Kendricks. You couldn't ask for our situation as a young guy at that position trying to trying to make your way in the league. Graham catching, Louis blocking, and then you look at Lance Kendricks h back type all. That is a perfect classroom

to be in for for Tania. Yeah alright, Well, before we get onto some other topics here west a little sponsor business at home or here in the stands. We all know that Green Bay fans give it their all and that takes a lot of energy. So grab a warm bowl of Campbell's Chunky soup. It's meaty goodness fuels the greatness of packers fans everywhere. Try the delicious classic chicken noodle soup. Just visit your local supermarket and ask for Campbell's Chunky Soup. Official sup partner of the Green

Bay Packers. Okay, I wanted to get onto an element of this fifty three man roster, Brian Goudacun's first fifty three man roster that really stood out to me and I wrote about this on our website after gudacunts TATS press conference on Sunday afternoon. I look at three positions, in particular, tight end, as we've talked about, offensive line and cornerback. Look at some of these guys who are in reserve roles for the Packers West that are not

expected to start. Um they're not expected to be starting players. Lance Kendricks, Byron Bell a backup guard and tackle on the offensive line, and then Devon House at cornerback. All three of these guys entering their eighth year in the league. That's three reserve players that have a collective twenty plus years of experience in the NFL. That's something to me that is different about this roster compared to some Packers

rosters we've seen in recent years. Now, you can't have a ton of experience at backup positions all across the roster. The salary cap doesn't afford it. And number two, you want to have developing young players in your pipeline. That's part of uh the building block for sustained success in

this league. But we've seen over the last handful of years West when the Packers have injury strike and they have to call on reserve players, we've seen a lot of young guys who haven't played before, maybe they're even just being called up from the practice squad, and they get thrown in because of the injuries. At least now at these three spots tight end, offensive line and cornerback. If the Packers have to dig a little bit deeper

into their depth chart, they've got some experience there. And I think that's what makes this roster Brian Goodacus first fifty three man roster a little different from once we've seen, particularly in the first month of the season. Two was something I thought about now. I was at home working on our world famous game program and I had Packers dot Com up on my laptop and when I heard you asked that question, Good and I was like, that's a really good point and a really good, uh thing

that I had sort of looked over. But if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense, both from the perspective of just look out personally just at Devon House. I remember talking to Trumont Williams two weeks

ago after Williams signed. You remember House actually ended up resigning after that, and he said they actually talked a little bit and and Williams explained to him why he thought it would make sense for House to come back one more time, because one, there's a ton of cornerbacks that you're using on any given game in two, because of just what he could bring to that room and what he did last year if it wouldn't have been

for the lower body injuries that he dealt with. Byron Bell coming in and you mentioned Kendricks, even a guy like Lewis and even look at Corey Tumor now coming in at inside linebacker. Antonio Morrison was just traded on learning tackler from another team with with you know, twenty plus starts in his NFL career. So what that screams to me specifically this first month two months of the season is you've got guys that have been there, They've done that in the game is not going to be

foreign to them once they're in there. Um, Historically, when you look at Ted Thompson's teams, they always got better by December, especially the years in which they could avoid injuries, because you had young guys that were making progress every single week. And now I still think you're gonna have

that element. You look at how deep the Packers are at cornerback, you look at having Robert Tanian available, some of the young offensive lineman that are there with Byron Bell on that depth chart, and then you add into the fact that you have experience that's going to be able to guide you throughout that season. I think it's the perfect blend. Certainly, we have to see how everything works out. Injuries can change things very quickly in this league.

But as it stands right now, I think it's really impressive what Brian good Kinz is built because it seems to be a perfect marriage there between experience and also a lot of upside. Yeah, it's it's it seems to be a little bit more of a balance. And you know, when we're on the sidelines that practice during training camp, we're talking to the other beat reporters there, you know, guys that we know very well. We've had long relationships with a lot of them, and I had conversations with

guys on the sideline. We'd be kicking things around, like, well, you know, is Kendricks going to make this team? Is Byron Bell going to make this team? And a lot of guys are like, well, yeah, look at what tanyans do when it doesn't look like Kendricks is gonna make it. I was like, well, hold on here, let's just let's see.

And what ends up happening. They end up keeping them both the young developing player and the experience backup who can step in at a moment's notice and know exactly what he's doing and has a player who's been on the stage before and very similar in that respect with Bell. You look at they ended up keeping an undrafted rookie like Alex Light at offensive tackle, a young developing player. I know the injury happened with Kyle Murphy and he's on injured reserve and all that, but um, but then

you have a veteran like Bell. It wasn't just okay, cut that guy loose because we feel like we have a young developing guy. It's like, no, let's maybe find a way, as you say, to have that marriage, to have to have both have your cake and eat it too, so to speak. And as I said, you can't do it at all positions across across your roster. It's not realistic. But in certain spots the Packers were able to do that.

And that's what I what I like about the construction of this and what I think stands out is something a little different and the Mike Spofford, let's be a real moment of the week here that you look at

the forty six you're talking about it earlier. You need guys like Byron Bell that can play guard, that can play tackle, Lucas Patrick who can play center in the both guard positions, you know, and while Jason Spriggs, you know it appears to be a little bit more specialized with the tackle position, still has shown in the past that he can move inside if he needs to. That's really the most important thing too. And I think when

you look at you're building your depth. Don Barclay did it for so many years here, even you know, justin mccraig last year. You have to have guys that number six, number seven offensive linemen that can go in there and not be a let up and and know what they're doing. And I think that's what Bell gives you, and I that's the main reason why Brian Goodcuins went out and signed him back in the spring. Yeah. Well, young developing players are always going to be part of a draft

and developed roster like the Packers have. And one guy that we definitely need to talk about here is James Crawford inside linebacker. I have to confess, Wes. He was never even on my radar, partly because he showed up two weeks into training camp. He was a he was a late signing, ends up making the fifty three man roster. Lights the world on fire on special teams in in Kansas City, Brian Goodakun said, one of the best special teams performances that the Packers have had in quite some time.

In a preseason game, he earns his way onto the roster and you nailed it. An insider inbox the other day, this was like Chris Banjo all over again. A guy who comes in late the process and training camp you don't really think a whole lot of him, But Banjo did the same thing. He was so impressive on special teams that that's how he got a spot. And not only did Banjo get that spot, he ended up sticking around here for a few years and was a special

Teams captain at certain times. And he's still in the NFL right now New Orleans. I mean special teams man. You as Jared Bush, They'll keep you in the league for eight nine years off you if you can, you know, be accountable in your assignments. Hey, listen, um. One thing I really loved from Bagudicus press conference when he was talking to the media, he was has about I think

it was Zack Chiner and Hunter Bradley. They went with Hunter Bradley as a long snapper and he was asked, well, why was trainer taking most of the one reps throughout camp? And he's like, well, he was here longer, and I kind of got I sort of thought about that a little bit with James Crawford also Alex Light. You know those guys are running with the threes and fours and

in camp and sometimes you got to remember that. You know, everybody wants to slot people on depth charts and oh this guy belongs here and this means this, and that means that. Well, sometimes guys are just really good football players too. And she as Crawford. From what I recall, I don't remember him being on many of the first team special teams units, but here he is lo and behold a nephew of Charles Woodson. Ye. Kind of an interesting factoid there as well. And hey, this is a

really hungry ballplayer. And I don't really know his whole story in White. Took until August eighth for him to sign, but the fact that he came in here picked things up as quickly as he did the first time an undrafted rookie has made the roster since Banjo in two thousand thirteen. Uh, and he's the first inside linebacker to make it as an undrafted rookie since Roy Manning in

two thousand five. So it just shows you that if you come in and you put it on film and you tell these guys here, this is what I can offer you, they're listening. It's never too late to come in here and make this ball team. And and that's exactly what James Crawford did. Well. Undrafted rookie from Illinois, there was one a few years ago that made this team. His name is Geronimo Alison. Now the number three wide

receiver on an offense quarterback by Aaron Rodgers. So we'll just have to see what the future holds for a guy I like Crawford. But with that, we're going to call it a wrap on this edition of Packers on Scripted. 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, See you next time, ye