#386 Packers Unscripted: One to go

lambeau Field against NFC North rival Detroit. And if there's one aspect from the Packers victory against the Jets that perhaps we didn't explore enough when we were recapping that game. We've talked a lot during the course of the season about the moments that Marquess Valdes Scantling has had, those impact moments in games for a rookie receiver equity me

as st Brown has had some as well. I'm not sure if there was a game where both of those rookies in the same game had, you know, not just a statistical but also a visible on field impact in what was going on. It's potentially a really good sign here for the Packers if these two rookies can finish

the season that way. Obviously, going forward into year two, Yeah, and It's huge for them right now to be able to get that kind of production because, as you said, Mike, we saw Marcosveldo Scantlin kind of get his shot earlier this season, then Equonemius st Brown kind of got his opportunity. But you really haven't seen them work in tandem in terms of just really solid production, and it made for

an historic week. You wrote a great story on packers dot Com looking over all the different records and things that guys are chasing in different types of status marks.

But that game against the Jets, unbeknownst to me until afterwards, was that the first time in franchise history you had five different receivers catch at least sixty yards worth of passes and Equinemias st Brown I it's I feel terrible for him from a physical perspective that he ended up sustaining the concussion unfortunate, but from a professional standpoint, five catches for ninety four yards, he was on the verge of having a really big football game when he had

to exit if he was able to play that out the last quarter and a half. And then from Velde Scantling's perspective, I touched on this an inbox for Thursday. In that there's been some stuff made out of, you know, mid season lulls and those sort of things. The facts remain what they are, Mike. This guy has over five yards receiving, he's averaging over fifteen yards per catch, and

he's a rookie. I mean, you look at the conversation and your story also outlined to compare him to Christian Kirk and some of these other young receivers in the league, Veldis Scantlings up there with all of them. It's not easy to come in and be an impact player, to be putting up those kind of yards as a rookie receiver in the NFL. The statistics bear that out. But Valdez Scantling has found a way to be able to

make those impact plays right here in year one. Yeah, and it's interesting when you look back at that Jets game. You mentioned the five catches for ninety four yards for st. Brown. That was five catches on five targets that he had had the ball thrown to him five times, made the

play every time. Felda Scantling his receiving yards was at seventy eight seventy seventy five yards receiving but also had a couple of key defensive past interference penalties that he drew, where if that doesn't happen, he's potentially got a one hundred yard game. Uh when you factor that in and you mentioned it with regards to MVS, he's is it

trying to remember now? If it's fifth or sixth in the six Yeah, sixth in the league amongst rookie wide receivers in terms of yardage right now, and if you actually just go by receivers, he'd be fifth because one of those five guys in front of him is Sae Kwon Barkley, the running back for the New York Giants, who's piled up a bunch of receiving yards. But this is the other thing that's interesting. West five hundred and

thirty eight yards right now for MVS. Not only is that the most yards receiving by a rookie receiver with Aaron Rodgers, he surpassed Davante Adams total in the mid four hundreds from but I went back and looked through the entire Rodgers and Farv era only two rookie receivers, both of them in Brett Farve's final two years in Green Bay, surpassed six hundred yards receiving as rookies Greg

Jennings in two thousand six. James Jones with the record in terms of this context six hundred and seventy six in two thousand and seven. So yes, there were there was a stretch in the middle or kind of towards the back half of the season where eq st Brown kind of came on and MVS kind of fell back

in terms of the statistical impact. But over the over the whole, when you look at the whole thing, what MVS has done this year is nothing to sneeze it, you know, and you look at these all these measurables and numbers and forty times coming out of the combine and and that's all well and good, but you have to put to use. And I think the thing as impressive as that is to be able to have production,

have yards, have catches, even have a few touchdowns. It's the fact that both of them are above fifteen yards per catch that's indicating that they're making big plays in your right, I mean, route running, all the small things are important. I mean, you know, you have to be able to do that to function in this offense. But let's be honest, Mike. The reason why Brian Judicins use these draft picks on these guys, the reason they brought

them in on Day three to take a flyer. I think you would call them on some later round draft picks is because of the home run potential there, because of what they do that potentially, with some coaching, can be rounded out and make a complete receiver. These guys have things you can't coach. And st Brown specifically to touch on him, a six round draft pick, maybe came out a year early, well did come out of yearly,

but maybe year too early. Out of order, Dame, you know what what he could have potentially did with the success that they've had this season, but he has looked. The part in what impresses me is you can use him as a slot, you can use him on the boundary, and he finds ways to still make plays in his catch radius. Michael, how many times have you and I've

seen it throughout the course of this season. A finger uh tip toe type catches displays that are instinctive that you cannot coach, and that that for a sixth round draft pick. That's what's impressed me. Size, speed, everything you look for, you get them coached up here in the next two or three years, and Aaron Rodgers has some

legitimate weapons to work with for the foreseeable future. Yeah. Well, over the last couple of years, the Packers have needed to restock for the future at the skill positions around Aaron Rodgers. We saw two years ago in the draft they took a fourth round, fifth round in seventh round, pick three guys on the third day at running back. Unfortunately, for Davante May's, the seventh round pick, some injuries going

into his second year, things didn't work out. But the fourth rounder and the fifth rounder, Jamal Williams and Aaron Jones, we talked plenty about them. It turned out kind of using this a similar strategy in this last draft. You use a fourth round, fifth round, in sixth round pick on More and MVS and e Q, And now with Jamon More, a lot of fans are asking, well, what's the deal with him? He was the first one they

picked out of the three. You know what's going on there? Okay, so the other guys moved ahead of him on the depth chart. You know, there are a lot of fans who already just right off Jamon More and say, well, this guy is obviously not gonna make it. I'm not. I'm not going to do that right away. I mean, look, the fumble last week on the kickoff return unfortunate. But I'll remember this about Jamon Moore. He had a couple of really bad drop passes in the preseason this year

and he really had to buckle down. And then he came back the very next preseason game. He dealt with that adversity, he made some big plays for the Packers, and he showed that he can play in the NFL. Now he's got another pretty significant moment of adversity he has to deal with. These guys don't get this far West without being able to handle that kind of stuff.

And yes, some will handle it better than others. But that being said, anybody who's writing off Jamon Moore right now, just because MVS and e Q have moved ahead of him on the depth chart this rookie season, that's a potentially fatal mistake. I'm glad you set this up for me, Michael, because and we didn't plan this. Hung the curve ball over the plate here and now I'm ready to take it to opposite field. Not that you threw a bad pitch. Just you set me up. Well, here, I want to

take you back to two thousand seventeen. Do you remember that year very well? Okay? The Green Bay Packers opened the season against the Seattle Seahawks Mike Spofford. The Packers had four running backs on the roster for that game. Three man roster, Jamal Williams, Davante Mays, Aaron Ripkowski, and Aaron Jones. Which one of those three was in Which one of those four was inactive for that game? It was Aaron Jones was inactives his rookie season, first game

of his rookie season and he was inactive. He was at the bottom of the depth chart. The fifth round pick was sitting behind the seventh round pick in Week one, and there were questions when you draft that many running backs, there's questions about, Okay, how are you going to be able to make all this work? Well, here's the reality. The players have to figure it out. The coaches have

to figure it out too. You didn't know what Aaron Jones could do until injuries happened, opportunity happened, and he ends up having a big performance. That's the way this game works. Nothing is absolute as much as we love to talk about Madden and you know you you log onto your you know you get you get your franchise mode up. I know you're a big fan of it. You get your franchise mode up. You pick your team and you get your roster right, and everybody has an

overall ranking. You think they got that. In the NFL, No, that doesn't exist, And what one team might think of one player might be different than what another team thinks about them. So for getting back to original point with Jamon Moore, We've seen a time and time again. Man, there's there's young guys that come in, some guys that clicks. There's your Greg jen Things, there's your James Jones that just jump off the board and here they are, they're superstars.

But there's also Jordy Nelson's. There's also these other guys that it takes him a few years to figure out what they are and what they're going to be in this league. Antonio Freeman had eight catches for a hundred and six yards as a rookie. That was one stat I saw when I was looking back through the rookie receivers in the five Rogers era. It's easy to forget that kind of stuff, and what did Donald Driver? Donald Driver was the seventh round pick, but what did he have?

It was like three catches his first two three years, wasn't it? This? It's the way the game works, and you don't know UNTI take at opportunities. The big thing for Jamon More this offseason mini camps O t a s Training camp is making that next step and showing the packers you know, this is a fifth round pick, this is why you took me, and this is the potential that I have at this position. Yeah. And I'll

make another point along these lines too. I mentioned obviously James Jones six hundred and seventy six yards and two thousand and seven the most receiving yards by a rookie in the far Rogers era. But then even after Jones' career got going for a couple of years, he went through about with the drops. You know, he wasn't as steady with his hands and everything. But then you get into two thousand twelve when he was at fourteen touchdowns

led the league or something like that. He became one of the most sure handed guys on the entire roster. When in the Super Bowl season of two thousand and ten, there were some big drop passes that he was taking a lot of criticism for. So these guys, they're they're gonna go through their ups and downs, and yes, maybe for some guys that doesn't work out. Other guys will, you know, eventually take off and maybe never have a

dip or a lull in their career. But um, I've just learned in my time in this league never be too quick to judge. Well. The other thing is too I'm sure if you asked James Jones now, he much rather would have liked to have had those drops issues in two thousand seven than he did in two thousand ten. A contract year, right, I mean, it's it's the way the game is played. Absolutely, It's it's all about timing

and it's about a contract progression. I think that getting back to the overlying point that we're trying to make this conversation, you drafted three receivers, they're all on the roster, they're all still in play. You got Jake Kumro two into that. I mean, there is some some bright spots there for the Packers as they moved to the future with this receiving. Yeah, the future of this is going

to be really interesting. Um but wess the powerful noise canceling technology that helps NFL coaches block out eighty thou screaming fans can get you closer to the music you love. Learn more at www dot bos dot com. Slash Packers Bows the official headphones of the Green Bay Packers, and 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, another note on the receivers, the one that everybody is talking about here heading into this final game. Davante Adams, Oh, I thought you're gonna say all those are well, we'll

see if the Iowa State products. We we joke about Alan Bazard because there are a handful of Iowa State alums in the building who were very excited when the Packers signed for He's the cyclone receiver. He's the first since Wallace right, Seneca Wallace, I think on this roster just yes, from from Iowa State. I believe that's correct. Yes, but there's always some enthusiasm in the building when an Iowa State player arrives. But Davante Adams, he has a

hundred and eleven receptions this this season. The franchise record for one year is a hundred and twelve sterling sharp in so two catches. To get that, he also needs one hundred and thirty four yards two beat Jordy Nelson's single season record from of one thousand, five hundred and nineteen. Nelson the only receiver in the history of the Packers to post a fifteen hundred yards season. How do you

see this playing out now? Davantae Adams miss practice on Wednesday, but he did talk to reporters and sounded pretty optimistic that he was going to play. He just got kind of an awkward tackles early in the Jets game. Actually, he ended up getting eleven catches. He said it was the second catch of the game. Um, yeah, yeah, he had.

He had eleven catches. That he went from a hundred to a hundred and eleven but he said on the second catch, the defender tackled him a little awkwardly, landed on his knee and it got a little stiff and sore after the game. So he's being a little cautious so far in practice this week sounds like he's gonna play. I'm sure he wants to play and take a shot at those records. What do you think? How do you see this plan out? Yeah, it's a tough one to

figure out as far as projecting. I mean, I have about I don't know, somewhere between three and four thousand different things in my job description, but it happens to be that physician is not one of them right now. So I don't know what what Davant Adams is going through. Knee injuries are, so they're tricky because of the nature of the position. Not to diminish anything on the offensive line they got to get back in their back pedal or or the linebackers. It's it's it's tough, but it's

all about explosiveness now. I think the biggest thing for Davante Adams at him and Pat mackenzie. The training staff is gonna have to figure out is is there any danger long term if they feel like there isn't. I think you're going to see him out there, and I think you're gonna him make a run at this thing. Again. That's as we stand here on Thursday before the padded practice. But what impresses me the most about Adams is the fact that, as you said, he's a hundred and thirty

four yards away, he's two catches away from history. And he was talking at his locker on Wednesday and sort of, you know, mentioning how some of these things happen when you least expect it. Now, he's not saying that he didn't go into the season with high with high goals for himself. We both talked to him this offseason. He set the bar incredibly high. He threw that tweet out there in the off season about twenty touchdowns, you know,

which which generated a lot of attention. But but it's it's it's it was in the spirit of hey, why not h and and I think when you see now, as he said, the reason he said those words was he never went out this year seeing, Okay, I'm gonna beat Geordie's record. I'm gonna aim for a hundred and twenty catches he wanted to challenge himself to be better, be better than the last season, be better than the

last time he played the Lions. If he does that again nine catches for hundred forty yards, he'll have write his way into the history books. But the biggest thing for Davante Adams is he said, is he would trade it all in for a winning record, to be to be in the playoffs. And you know, for a guy that just had the Brinks truck back up for him, and you know, is considered one of the top receivers in league, being paid like one of the top receivers the league, and to perform like one of the top

receivers to league. There's no hype with this guy. He is what he is, he plays how he plays, and he's only twenty six years old. Mike, you and I have covered this league for a long time. Where was Jordy Nelson at six? Where was Greg Jennings at six? Jennings had some good seasons, but I don't know if anyone's been at his advanced Right now is where Adams is. And as Aaron Rodgers alluded to the kids only getting better. Yeah,

and and that's what Adams himself. You can almost sense when he talks to reporters he's he's very measured, very humble, yet always confident, but you can almost sense how excited he is for his own future because he knows his quarterback believes in him, but that his quarterback also thinks there's bigger and better things to come aside from these potential franchise records he's going for now, that'll be uh, that'll be fun to think about and talk about here

going forward. And honestly, Michael, the fact that he is gonna end up with at least a hundred and eleven catches, at least yards, at least twelve touchdowns, this guy is still only thinking about, Okay, how can I top that? Yeah, there's no sustainability in his mindset. It's about what can I do to get better? And honestly, that's what made him the type of receiver he was at Fresno State, having two of the most impressive college seasons I think

you're gonna see for FBS football. It's what made him a second round draft pick and it's what's making him one of the top receivers in this league. I mean, this is just the beginning to I mean, if he can stay healthy there, you know, the sky is the limit for that gay. Yeah. Well, we've got one more show to go this week. We will get two keys to victory for the Packers over the Lions on tomorrow's show, but for now, we're going 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. 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.