#389 Packers Unscripted: That's a wrap

talking to? Who are the leading candidates. Rather than speculate on who may or may not be interviewing coaching candidates the Packers may or may not be interested in, We're gonna leave that whole discussion until a hire is made. So with that, this will be our wrap up show for the season, and then we will come back when a new head coach is in place at So that's the plan here going forward. Um, but some awards here we can hand out for the season. A handful of them.

Will rattle through these quickly. I'm gonna give you the advantage because I'm gonna let you pick first every time, and then I have to pick somebody different. But but here we go. First, one offensive m v P for the Green Bay Packers. You know, I was hoping we get Marvin down here with our little unscript ese that he can be like handing out to each individual person. Uh, we'll have to you know, this is I think a

first or second annual thing. So maybe we'll do that next year, have like little unscript awards that we can bestow onto people. Producer of the Year is Marvin by the absolutely unequivocally easiest decision we'd have to make, um other than Davante Adams as the Packers offensive m v P. You can make a case, Michael that Davante Adams was the top receiver in the league this year, and there was a bevy of them. Michael Thomas broke the single

season yardage record for New Orleans this past year. That says a lot considering how much that they have thrown the ball over the years. But the thing about Davante Adams, Mike, from day one, he put pen to paper on that contract extension last December, and he said he wanted to make sure that everybody knew that he was worth it. The numbers, the number being paid it well is something that goes along with playing well. But the thing that motivates him the most is to be a top notch,

top flight receiver. He did that this year a hundred and eleven catches, six yards, thirteen touchdowns. One of the most consistent performers in the entire NFL this season and for the Green Bay Packers their offensive m v P. I think the thing that impressed me the most about Adams season is what you just said about the contract, that he did it the year after he signed that contract. He not only lived up to the contract, but I think exceeded it in so many ways in terms of

the consistency, in terms of the big plays. Obviously the numbers this season, when you look at the whole combination of catches, yards, and touchdowns, that will go down as one of the best seasons in the history of the Green Bay Packers for wide receiver. So that's saying a lot. In the interest of picking somebody else for offensive m v P, I'm gonna go with left tackle David bok Try.

I think he was the UH rock on that offensive line, both box tr and Corey Linsley in my opinion, but I'll go with box Tr because of that duty at left tackle protecting Aaron Rodgers blindside, and I think we saw bok t take his game a little bit to another level this year. In terms of the run blocking, I think that the past blocking has always been there, really, I would say, starting at a super consistent level from his second season in after that that rookie year when

he got thrown in there. But he's gone to another level now with the run blocking, and I think that, um, that only bodes well here for the Packers offense moving forward. Yea. And the fact that he did it, you know, playing for his own Nixon bruises. And that's the other thing I was going to say to yeah, no question, and I just I you know, I'll be honest with you. Obviously,

I don't watch every left tackle in the league. As much as I love to grind film, I'm not you know, you know, honing in on how you know, certain guys get out of their back pedal and different techniques. But box tr for this offense and what they need with Aaron Rodgers is the perfect left tackle. He's a franchise left tackle and he's continued to elevate his game every

single season now, six seasons in the NFL. Alright, defensive m v P. Who you got, you know, I hate to keep cherry picking here, But Kenny Clark has to be that guy. When you look at a first round caliber player, a guy that when you draft him, there's high expectations. You want a guy that is going to you know, be a a lynch pin on your entire roster. Kenny Clark has been that guy. It's unfortunate the elbow injury happened. If not for that, he would have set

a new career high in tackles. He said his goal this year was to get seventy tackles official tackles and NFL UH stack column, which I mean if you know anything about a one tech or three tech nose to on this league, it's difficult to get those kind of numbers because a lot of times you're taking on double teams and you're opening up you know, blockers and for your for your defenders behind you. Clark doesn't do that.

He eats him up himself. So to have fifty five tackles, a career high six sacks, three passes, defense also forced to fumble Kenny Casey bolt that life Clark at twenty three years young. You look at his resume that he's built in three short NFL seasons, He's gonna be a good one man. Yeah, I can't argue with that choice at all. I agree with you, Kenny Clark is the defensive m v P of this team. In the interest of picking somebody different, I'm gonna go with Blake Martinez.

And it's not even so much about the statistics. I know, improving from one sack to five sacks the way he was used in Mike Petton scheme definitely a step in the right direction from Martinez. He's still racked up a bunch of tackles, maybe not quite as many as last

year as the previous year. But the reason I will say Martinez here is because with a new scheme, a whole new system being brought in, we saw on this Packers defense in minimal communication misques, and I think that goes to Martinez and the way he commanded the huddle, the way he led things from a communication standpoint in

the middle of the defense. I think that spoke a lot to the level of improvement that the defense made overall sixteen starts thirty two consecutive over the last two seasons. For Martinez, I know he wants playoffs, and that's ultimately the goal for everyone on this roster, But I think when he sits at home after the season, cannot help but be proud of the year that he put together. There really wasn't a de facto number two. Certainly Antonio

Morrison jumped into that spot. Is that every down linebacker in the few snaps when Martinez was out with injury this year, But you need a guy like him that's going to be able to envelop Mike Petton's system and be able to disperse that to the entire defense. He's been that player and Michael the other thing is too.

I don't want to throw anybody under the bus. I'm not meaning to disrespect anybody, but there was a number of years there where dom Capers, with the way that this defense was built, they were using converted outside linebackers at inside backer. They had to do some mix and matching. They were looking for a guy that could handle the three down role. Martinez has done that. Now. Certainly, you know there's always room for improvement with his own game,

and he's the first one to tell you that. But his ability to kind of calm the seas there after a number of years where that was considered one of their primary needs, I think speaks really highly of him. Yeah, those two guys from the two thousand sixteen draft class clearly becoming part of the foundations of this Packers defense moving forward. Okay, category number three breakout player of the year, you got one. Let's stay with the two thousand sixteen

NFL draft, should we shall we? Kyler Facrol alright? Ten and a half sacks for him this season, Much like with Kenny Clark. They wrote down those goals with coordinator Mark Mike Petton at the beginning of the season, and he marked down that he wanted double digit sack totals and considering there was only three individuals who have achieved that for the Green Bay Packers defense over the last decade, a lofty goal, but he said he really embraced that.

And then here you go to three sack performances this year,

ten and a half on the season. For everything that Kyler Facral has had to kind of weather with the outside noise, with some of the doubters with him getting taken the third round back in two thousand and sixteen, to see him have the year that he had, really strong campaign for him and now going to be a building block for the Packers as they look to make that next step now with those pass rushers this offseason, all right, and I'm gonna go in the two thousand

seventeen draft and I'm going with Aaron Jones here as the breakout player. Now, we all knew what the potential was, and I think we started to see that. But I say started to see that because I think that Jones still has more to give here. He needs to continue to work on that lower body, be able to you know, build it up to withstand a full sixteen game schedule.

Obviously that didn't work out with with getting injured right towards the end of the regular season here, but he's still had over seven d yards rushing eight rushing touchdown. I think there's even more he can do in the passing game as well moving forward, depending on obviously whatever offensive system comes in here. But this is a guy when he's got the ball in his hands and a little bit of space west, he's he's a special player.

And I think potentially if that health part of it holds up, I think he can have the ball in his hands even more in Yeah, just keep him off a soldier field and he'll be fine. There's been nourability issues Okay, point taken, point taken. Alright, another category here, Comeback Player of the Year. It's like, it's really easy to pick Brian blog here, and I'm gonna leave him

on the vine for you to potentially pick. I'm gonna go with a shot Brelan though um And the reason I bring up Breland is he had one whale of the two thousand eighteen. This is a guy that had played basically every snap for Washington the last four years. Looks like he's on the verge of finally getting rewarded, signing a lucrative contract with Carolina. This freak heel injury flares up from some kind of skin graph he had

when he was a kid. They he fails the physical, the Panthers void the contract, and he ends up having to sit out until September. He comes into Green Bay without any training camp. He has to weather growing injury, a hamstring injury. But at the end of the day, Michael twenty tackles and two interceptions and seven games five starts for the Green Bay Packers this season. I just was really impressed with how this young man came in

and carried himself. We'll see exactly where Brian Goodaquints wants to do this offseason, But by no means would I be disappointed to see him come back. I think he has a lot of potential. He also gives you a lot of flexibility with his ability to either play in the slot or at boundary cornerback. Yeah. All right, Well you were supposed to make up my mind for me because I had two guys in mind, and then you didn't do that. So I'm gonna throw two comeback players

at you. Brian Bulaga is definitely one to come back as quickly as he did from the second torn a c l of his career, which happened in November. Was back on the field for Week one. As we said all season long, I tipped my hat. I give him a ton of credit. I know there were some other Nixon bruises that he dealt with along the way and wasn't able to play in every game all the way along, but um, but his his comeback from November to what he was able to do in I thought was impressive.

The other one Rmon Williams. He came back right, come back to come back player. He came back to Green Bay and was a really, really important and valuable part of this defense and making this transition, I think to the new scheme. His versatility could play the boundary, play the slot. He moved to safety for the back half of the season. All these things communication issues were certainly something that we're um a forte of his as well, So so I tipped my cap also to Trmon Williams

in the comeback category. The other thing I love about it too, he said from day one of the offseason program, Mike, he wasn't coming back just to be a veteran old guy in the room that was just going to lead these guys emotionally. He wanted to be out there and he wanted to play. But at the same time, if I was Joe W. JR. If I'm Jason Simmons, I am pointing to that man right there, twelve years into his NFL career, a former undrafted free agent, had to

earn everything the hard way. The fact that he's still doing what he's doing and how he's doing it should be a lesson to Kevin King and JayR Alexander Josh Jackson showing these guys about, okay, if you want to be a player that lasts a decade in this league, take note of what this guy is doing in the fact that he's still doing it at a high level. Yeah, no question about it. All right, Rookie of the Year,

I'm gonna go with JOYR Alexander. That one, I think is pretty obvious when you look at the season he put together. I was talking to him during the final locker room session and sort of revisiting this year. Much like Kevin King as his rookie year, Alexander had to end up getting a lot of the tough assignments he was, you know, the shutdown corner. Really the last six weeks

of the season. He said it got to the point that he would go into the Wednesday meeting room knowing just already feeling that they were going to have him match up against certain receivers. He just was brace for it. And he was doing that at twenty one years old. You know, he meant he wants to have more interceptions. He should have more interceptions. One of those got taken

away from an egregious call early this season. Um, but the fact is is that he doesn't back down if he can get some of these soft tissue things figured out. I just I think you're looking at a big playmaker here, and Joe Wild Jr. Said it himself. I mean, if you can get him and Kevin King on the field together, what a tandem that's gonna be for this Packers defense in secondary. Couldn't agree more with that comment from Wit and couldn't agree more with your selection as Rookie of

the Year. I will pick a another player on the offensive side of the ball, though, and that's Marquez Valdes Scantling. Now, I really liked what I saw out of both Valdes Scantling and e q st Brown as rookie wide receivers. They both had their moments throughout the course of the year, but just based on overall production in the numbers thirty eight catches over five hundred yards receiving, I'll go with

Valda's Scantling here. The biggest thing that I like about him just from a raw physical skill standpoint, is the one thing he can't coach in that speed He's He's got it. I think I think it's something that could be a huge asset for this offense moving forward. He's the kind of receiver that the Packers haven't had around here in a while. In the for the bulk I would say of the Aaron Rodgers era, a guy with that kind of just open field, flat out speed, I'm

excited to see what he can do going forward. Legitimate home run threat every time he touches the ball. I think one thing the Packers did better during the second half of the season is getting him the ball in open space doesn't always have to be a go route. You can do things underneath the potentially get let him get separation and let him break away from guys. I really wish that the one thing that is gonna I

wanted to see that defensive line together. I wanted to see Mohammed Wolkerson and Kenny Clark and Mike Daniels operate. I've really wanted to see what this offense could do with MVS being sort of a change of pace player you had. That's a really good point. If if you have Allison and Cobb the bulk of the year with Adams and as you say, then then Valdes Scantling is uh is that changeup you can throw in there as

a perime her option? Yeah? That that unfortunately was the thing offensively that just never was able to materialize because of the injury issues. Yeah, if you have that. That's something that if you're a secondary coach or defensive coordinator, eighty three comes on the field, you gotta change what you're planning to do out there, because he can just go one on one, beat your cornerback and are you keeping another safety over there? If you do that? How

does that open up the rest of the field. He's gonna be a great player in this offense, though, I think him and st Brown, you know, Jamon Moore has a lot of potential as well. Seeing how those young guys develop is gonna be really exciting to watch going into two thousand nineteen. All Right, our last category here before we get to a little bit of NFL Playoffs preview Play of the Year. What do you like? Yeah, so I basically came down to two. You had a

couple too, so I'm gonna go with the two. Uh. Defensively, to me, it's still that Kevin King interception. I just loved it. I loved the grittiness of that defense. San Francisco Monday Night Football. Yes, it was a tough game. They had to rally to beat San Francisco team that I think a lot of people on papers thought they should have just Wallow and been done with it. That didn't happen, so they had to work their way back.

They get you know, the forty niners are driving a little bit, and you know you have Beth Thord sort of put up a fifty fifty ball and Kevin King makes them pay for it. You started to see the legitimate playmaking ability of King, not just the coverage, but what he could do as a pass catcher in this league. I mean, you know, again he has to work through some injury issues, but that that was such a great play. And then the first game of the year, the Randall

cop catch. You have to, you know, put that in the conversations. Completes the comeback over the Bears, the best victory the Packers had in two thousand eighteen against a team that went on to only lose four games. Unfortunately, again, injuries kind of you know, reared their ugly head and things didn't go the way that Cobb wanted it too

in two thousand and eighteen. But what a great reminder of that Aaron Rodgers, you know, battery with with Randall Cobb and how effective that was for the Packers for so many years. Yeah, and I will just throw this out there before I give you my selection, I think the uh the play that gets overlooked from the twin eighteen season that really was something was also from Week one, the touchdown past to Geronimo by Aaron Rodgers. Tremendous throw,

tremendous catch. Unfortunately that ended all too early in with Allison getting injured. But Allison too, I mean before you ended up having that, I think it ended up being a soft muscle injury or no, it was a core muscle injury. I think it was the fact that I think every I don't have the stance up in front

of me. I think all of his starts, it was five catches for at least sixty yards when you're looking at the number three heck even a number two receiver in this offense, he was That's the hallmark of it. And Allison was really on pace for that. That was a shame that he wasn't able to finish it up. Yeah,

he was off to such a great start. But my pick for play of the year, and this is a little unusual because I'm actually picking one from a game that the Packers lost, but the touchdown pass in Seattle on Thursday Night Football to Robert Tanya in the fifty four yard or not only the first catch and first touchdown for the undrafted tight end in Tanyan, but the kind of play that was, you know, quite frankly, was kind of a throwback play, a to the to the

Aaron Rodgers scrambled drilled days of old where he gets out of he gets out of the pocket and heaves it downfield and makes you pay because because he was able to extend the play and and uh, I really thought at the time, and it happened in the end zone that was kind of right in front of us, like where our press box seats were, so that was the end zone where we were kind of sitting, and

we saw that. I thought that was the play that was going to catapult the Packers to a huge Thursday night victory on the road in Seattle, and and really kind of turned the whole season around. Unfortunately that didn't happen, But it doesn't take away from, at least from, in my opinion, how amazing a play, how amazing a touchdown that was Big Bob Tanyans baby boy Bobby Bobby is Aaron liked to refer to him in discussions as the

season went along. Um. All right, hey, before I forget here, West, the powerful noise canceling technology that helps NFL coaches block out eighty tho 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 there. All 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 Sup Official Sup partner of the Green Bay Packers. All right, you want to go a little longer on this episode, Yeah, do a little do a little NFL Playoffs preview here because there's some interesting stuff

going on. I don't know if you want to start in the NFC or in the in the a f C. But when I look at the a f C, this Chargers Ravens wild card game is really interesting to me because they just played in Los Angeles, a couple of weeks ago, I think this Ray, this Ravens team is one definitely to keep an eye on. I did a couple of weeks ago. I did think the Chargers were maybe that team with Philip Rivers that was going to go to the Super Bowl. So I will stick with that.

But I'll say this about the Ravens West, doesn't it don't they kind of seem like the two thousand twelve San Francisco forty Niners. You took the words right out of my mind. They go, you know, the switch at quarterback from you know, it went from Smith to Kaepernick. This one goes from Flacco to Lamar Jackson. Defense is not really sure how in the world to do that, and then on the how in the world to defend that. And then on the other side of the ball, you

have the you have a defense that travels well. As they say, they can take that unit anywhere, line it up against anybody. Um, I think the winner of this Chargers Ravens game might be might be the team to beat in the a f C. I don't want to play them. I mean, that's certainly the case. Whoever comes out of this thing. There's two elements of this game. I really like you're absolutely spot on with the with the analogy. They even have a hardball that's coaching them.

How how but how ironic would that be? Though? The Ravens being the team that beat the two thousand and twelve forty Niners in the Super Bowl and now it's the two thousand eighteen Ravens that look like that Niners team for six years ago. Just strange. It's interesting me and that they're winning games and that was something when you look earlier in the season they just consistently couldn't do.

They were always around five hundred, but they couldn't separate themselves since moving this this decision to go with Lamar Jackson at quarterback, is it slightly unconventional? Yes, do you wonder what the you know, the half life on It's gonna be sure do but that none of that matters right now. Two playing for a championship. Right now, it's about trying to secure another Super Bowl. In l A's defense,

it's gonna be a big challenge for them offensively. This is what you want to see because Philip Rivers has had to go through some tough times. There's been some lean years there as of late inconsistent years. Offensively, they lose Keenan Allen a couple of times. Well, here you are now, and you're back in this thing, and you've got a chance. You have a chip in a chair. I agree with you. Pent whoever prevails in this I don't want to face them in round two. I just

think that terms are built to get on a run here. Yeah, and it'd be interesting because the Chargers they're going in with a lot to prove because of that offense getting shut down by the Ravens on that Saturday night game from a couple of weeks ago. And the Ravens are quite frankly a hot team that, as I said, the other teams you don't quite know how to deal with with this defense and the way it's come on strong late in the year and then Lamar Jackson and all

this unorthodox kind of stuff they're doing on offense. So interesting. They're gonna be tough for anybody, certainly to go into Arrowhead and beat the Kansas City Chiefs. But I will say this about the Ravens too, the Raves, the Ravens, the Ravens and the Chargers. What's that? Did l A already do that? Or was that game in l A. No, that was that. That was that Arrowhead. Yeah, that's what That's what I was gonna say when you talk about

Chargers Ravens. The Chargers beat the Chiefs that Arrowhead recently on that Thursday night game, the Ravens should have beaten the Chiefs at Arrowhead if not for a fourth and nine miracle throw from Mahomes to Hill that sent that game to overtime and then Kansas City ultimately prevailed. And you also look at this Ravens, this Ravens team West, even before they switched quarterbacks to Lamar Jackson, they had the New Orleans Saints down sevent seven after three quarters,

let him up off the mat. The Saints ended up pulling out that game. This Ravens team, they can play with anybody NFC side. I mentioned this as well as some of the other comments I just made in our Insider Inbox column. I think, if there's one playoff matchup that I want to see in the NFC, and there are a lot of good ones that are already on the slate this weekend, these two games Seahawks, Cowboys Eagles

Bears should be great games. But I don't you kind of want to see Chicago's defense against that New Orleans offense in the super Dome. Now, it would have to be in the NFC Championship. Based on the seating, they wouldn't meet in the second round. They could only meet in the Championship and a lot of stuff could happen between now and then. But just from a from a pure football who's who's got it better? Um, that's kind of the matchup I want to see on the NFC side.

Agree with My favorite for this playoff run is still New Orleans. I think they are the most complete team. I think it's the best defense they've had, at least over the last decade. I thought they were the best team going into the playoffs last year, and there's nothing, nothing that I've seen this year has swayed my opinion of them being the team to beat in the NFC. The Bears are a little bit more of a specialist. They need to have their defense control the tempo with

the game to win. But what a great test for them coming out of the gate against Philadelphia and Philadelphia feeling like they got, you know, a little bit of momentum behind them right now with being able to surge into the playoffs the way they did. No question, I'm with you. I think Chicago New Orleans that's the matchup. I think that's the one you put on the marquee, but you know it's and I think I say that.

I say that in part, sorry to interrupt you. I say that in part because, um, as good a matchup as Rams and Saints is with those two offenses, we did see that matchup during the year, so that I think that's why I just in my brain I'm looking for maybe to see the Bears against the Saints because we didn't get to see that one yet. And hey, the Rams might get on a run here, oh shut

me up. But I still I think the second half the season exposed some wards there, and I just I think even though the Saints had to claw and scratch their way through a couple of games as well, I just I look at them like, Okay, that that's that's the favorite. And when I see the Bears, I just think that they're the best tryptonite to that. So yeah, seeing if that potential matchup could work, it'll be fun. And then also seeing with Seattle getting back in this thing.

You know, how long ago was it that we saw Earl Thomas being carted off the field and you know in the gesture in the direction everything was going there and Pete Carroll Rallied the troop once again. And now they have a good matchup now at a T and T Stadium. It's gonna be a fun weekend of games for sure. Yeah, playoff tested quarterback in Russell Wilson and and the Rams team. Just to mention them one last time, Uh, they got some playoff experience. Last year. Didn't go the

way they wanted. They lost a home game to the Atlanta Falcons in the playoffs. But they're back now and and sometimes getting that that one year with a young quarterback Jared golf all that you get that that first taste of the playoffs under your belt, so to speak. It can it can lead to better things. I want to see that defense dominate though. I'm with you. I'm with you that the personnel on that Rams defense, you would think it would play better and it has the

potential to. Maybe they rise up in January and they and they get it going. But but right now, when you're talking defense in the NFC, you're talking Seahawks, Cowboys and Bears. Those are those are the defenses that are coming to this party. Yeah, it's just funny because I just I thought the potential was there to hit them have like a you know, Danver Broncos two fifteen type season hasn't come together yet, but hey, playoff football is

different football. We'll see if they can rally it. It should be a fun couple of weeks here in uh in the NFL. But with that, we are going to call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted and we will sign off until a new head coaches on board here at sixty Lombardi Avenue. With that, you can follow him on Twitter at west Hod I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers is still the team account. Thank you for tuning in. Happy New Year everybody. We will see you next time. Don't