#418 Packers Unscripted: Player progress

the corner here for the Green Bay Packers. I want to start the discussion today talking about young players, and what I mean is not necessarily the rookies, but the young guys. We always hear about the year to the year three jump, that kind of thing. Training camp is a time that you start to see the seeds being planted, so to speak, for maybe those jumps to happen in

the game action somewhere down the line. So is there a guy one of these younger players that do you sort of see with that arrow pointing up already here in camp. I'm glad you gave us a pre production rundown on MS because my natural tendency would have been just to say Rare Shawn Gary again. Uh, but since I've played that card a number of times. Now, Yes, let's look at the second and third year players and

how they're looking now in this next camp. One of the guys I featured in a story I wrote for Packers dot Com this week was Marquez Valdes Scantling. For a number of reasons. One, he ended up catching the thirty or four yard touchdown at the end of the two minute period the first two minute period of training camp from Aaron Rodgers. A little physicality involved on that play.

There's some joking the locker room afterwards whether or not the challenge flag would have been thrown for past interference. But be that as it may, it was a nice catch in a nice play that he made, and in something I think Vala Scantling has been looking to showcase with his skill set. The second thing was actually going back to his off season uh and he once again worked out with Randy Moss Uh, the infamous Vikings receiver

but also a Pro foot Hall of Famer. They worked out together last year down in Tampa, but it was only for a week. This year, Valdes Scantling he really enjoyed that. He felt like he got a lot from it, so he decided to go back down there, spent a whole month with Moss going over everything from route adjustments to hand placement you know when you're you're at the line of scrimmage, to just overall what it's like to be in the NFL and to to use that skill set.

The thing that's impressive to me, though, is you look at him six ft four two six pounds four three seven forty. He doesn't he's not looking to become Randy Moss. He wants to be MVS. But if you're looking at a guy that used very similar skills to the fullest, I mean, you really can't find anybody better than Randy Moss. Yeah. The thing that the thing that is interesting to me about MVS is the extra steps that he has taken

already in the young stages of his career. We talked a lot last year as a rookie about how he had this process us of writing and rewriting the plays and his routes and his assignments and everything on paper. It was the way to cement it in his memory. He would just do it over and over and over again, and a lot of diligence, a lot of effort in doing that. But he wasn't a guy who made assignment mistakes. When it came to the system out in the field

as a rookie. Now heading into his second year, he's learning a new system again. So he's doing that process, the whole writing stuff down on paper. But now he's going out as well. And as you said, taking an entire month to work with a Pro football Hall of Famer, and I can only imagine what those conversations are like because a guy like Randy Moss seen it all and

done it all. You know, when you talk about, say, just as an example, the hand fighting at the line of scrimmage when a guy is trying to jam you, well, guys tried to jam Randy Moss every which way but Sunday over the course of his Hall of Fame career. So if there's a way to get to to counter a certain move, Randy Moss knows what it is. And in terms of that similar body type, the frame, he knows exactly how a guy like Valdes Scantling can use his type of frame to make that move and make

it work. It's it's an interesting it's an interesting approach by MVS and I'm really curious to see just how it shows up here in his second season. Yeah, and then the MVS said too. I mean, it isn't just about those big home run threats. The reason why Randy Moss is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is not because he just was a great go route receiver and could you know, take the top off the defense, but which he could, but yes, but it was because he had he could run the full route trip. He

was an all round player. That's where MVS is trying to get right now, Let's face him, like, this is a wide open competition. We've seen every receiver practically on this receiving corps make a play here. For the first week of training camp and getting reps with Aaron Rodgers, there's been a lot of rotation going on, big rotation there. So as much as you know this year, you know it's about a young man trying to come in solidify

not only a spot on the roster. He wants to show that he can be an every down player in this offense. One of the first things that Aaron Rodgers said when we came back from the off season program was saying that he believes that MVS has that kind of potential and it's those type of relationships, that type of investment that he made this offseason that's gonna help him get him there. He also mentioned no vacations in that trip. He was just going down there. It was

all business, no trips to some exotic places. He just wanted to become a better receiver. Yeah. Well, I'm definitely interested to see just how that translates when we get to the real games, because I certainly think that MVS is going to be getting his share of snaps in this Matt Lafleur offense. Another guy to talk about, young player Arrow pointing up, as I prefaced before, we heard

from the Packers coordinators on Monday. If I can keep my days straight here in training camp, it's kind of groundhog Day, like all these days, you know, over the same thing over and over again. But we heard from Mike Petton, the defensive coordinator. And if there's a if there's ever been a straight shoot of an assistant coach at that podium, it's Mike Petton. Right. He doesn't doesn't throw out throw around a lot of platitudes. He uh,

he tells it like it is. And to hear him say that, if he were to pick one guy that he's seen now in heading into his second year as coordinator of the Packers defense that he would label the most improved defensive player. It's Montrevius Adams, the third round

pick in ten out of Auburn. Kind of a lost rookie season due to injury, had a foot injury very early in training camp and never really got going as a rookie, but then didn't make the best impression on Mike Patton in his second year, Patton's first year in with the defense. But that's changing, isn't it. It is into Adam's credit. It started to change at the end of last season. Petton said in the spring, the first time he met him, he said, my opinion of him

wasn't that high. And he knew that. And it was funny because talking about Trevis in the locker room this week, he did know at for a fact. Mike Petton isn't just brutally honest with reporters, He's brutally honest with his players. Was very upfront with Adams about this stance. But to Adams credit, if you think about that, any walk of life, someone does that, it can be demoralizing. It can affect your confidence, but it can also affect your productivity. If

you take it the wrong way. Adams didn't do that. Adams took it the right way. He adjusted, He made the mental changes he needed to make, and this year the biggest change he's made was really with his dieting. He said he got up to about three fifteen last season. He's listed at three or four. This year. He turned back to camp under three pounds. The main reason he did that is he felt like he still had the necessary power to play that position, but he wanted to

be faster. He wanted to be quicker. He wanted to be able to, you know, beat guys off the line more. And the Packers have been really pleasantly pleased with what they've seen from him through this first week of camp. But before all these as you mentioned, these platitudes, these different statements were made. You go back to the off season. I can't tell you how many offer in defensive lineman. We're kind of muttering about how Adams had made a

big jump. And as much as Patton's words got a lot of headlines this week, it wasn't something that we haven't already heard. And when the Packers made the move to move on from Mike Daniels, you have to have some more guys ready to take that spot. They feel like Adams, after taking a full offseason, now working with Dean Lowry and Kenny Clark in the base defense, is really ready to take off. Yeah. Well, I'll be honest with you, We certainly did hear it during the spring.

But as we've talked about, and I've been around this long enough that anything I hear in the spring, I take it with a little bit of a grain of salt.

When you start to hear the same kinds of things after the pads go on in camp, when the contact ratchets up, when the intensity of practice ratchets up, and then you're still hearing the same things about those young players and the growth pattern that they're on, then you know, it really starts to mean something, at least to me as as an observer as a reporter covering the team.

So that definitely goes a long way. And let's face it, West, there is no question it's not the only factor, but Montravius adams progress and what they saw from him at the end of last season through the off season this year was a factor in them being comfortable moving on from Mike Daniels and and saying all right, number ninety. This third year pro aut Auburn that we drafted in

the third round a couple of years back. He's going to get more opportunity, more responsibility, and they're counting on to come through. Yeah, and Tyler Lancaster. That whole rotation, Kingsley, kiki uh. That defensive line is more than two or three players. You have to be deep. I think last season proved sometimes you have to be at that spot. So I think this is a move. I likened it in one of our conversations. I think on Unscripted already too.

They had to go, you know, Josh Sitton was released, Lane Taylor had to step up, and now Adams is going to be in a similar spot. The other thing I like about Adams too, and I asked him about this in the locker room. You know, he's a father of two. Now we all know that story about the night that he got drafted. You know, his fiance was in labor, and that is in the back of his mind. He doesn't want to just be a one and done

type player. He wants to play in this league for eight nine years, you know, beyond that, and instead his family and his children up for the future. That's his extra boost, he said, and it's something that's pushing on this camp. Yeah. Well, before we move on, I just have to throw out another Mike Petton quote that I thought was a classic the other day when he said he likes having a noisy defense and what he means by that is listening to the guys hollering back and

forth and talking and communicating. He says, if your defense out there is quiet, that's a problem. And uh. And his his response was in a question too, Okay, what is different about your defense now at this stage in year two compared to where you were in year one? The short answer being, the guys are talking a lot more. There's a there's a lot of communication, a lot of hollering going on, and he likes that. He likes hearing all the noise in the back end from his players. Yeah.

And as much as it is that Darius Smith and Preston Smith and Adrian Amos and all the guys, they added a lot of this too, is the guys like the Montrevius Adams and in the Orn Burkes and the players the Packers are expecting to step up from those drafts that they've had the last few years. On the defensive side of the ball. I think the really fun thing for Green Bay right now is they have a

lot of those personalities. They aren't afraid to speak their mind, the Jyr Alexander's of the world, and and I think he's that's why they're hitting the right decibel level that Petton has been searching for. There we go, all right, well, I'm gonna put you on the spot here quickly. Six practices in what's your play of training camp so far? You know, for me, there's so many that you can pick from here. I still really liked that past that

Deshaun Kaiser through to Econymius st. Brown. Believe it was in last Saturday's practice, um, just because he missed on it the day before. And you can have all the armed talent in the world, Mike, but if you can't put it where it needs to be, it's kind of negated. And I feel, you know, Kaiser is still young quarterbacks, still only twenty three. There's still room for growth. But I like the deep ball accuracy improvements that I've seen

from him in this camp. And I also like the fact that St. Brown got rewarded for a play that he got open on the day before was able to get above the defense on the second one and bring it in. But man, there there, I don't want to stealing from you, But I mean, there's so many catches, the Jake Cumero sideline grab. Um, there's been some really

special plays I felt so far through this camp. Yeah, well, you had mentioned a big one earlier, the the MVS play to conclude the two minute drill where he's one on one going down the sideline with Jayra Alexander deep ball from Aaron Rodgers makes a great adjustment, kind of cutting, swimming inside of Alexander to then make a diving catch in the end zone. Now, there was some controversy. The defensive players thought, maybe that's going to be offensive past interference.

So because of the controversial nature of that one, I won't pick it. But I want to go back to um. The other day there was a blitz drill and eleven on eleven where Mike Petton is showing all kinds of crazy defensive fronts. The offense has got to figure out who's coming and whatnot. Now, the offense was a little slow in that period and getting the play in, getting out of the huddle, getting up to the line, of scrimmage. They were very deliberate about some things, and that part

definitely needs to smooth out. But there were back to back plays in that sequence, one where Rogers hit a hot read to Jimmy Graham on a slant to be two blitz, and then another one where he took the the either three or five step drop and uh and through.

I guess you'd call it like a slot fade in a sense because Geronimo Allison is running down the scene from the slot, but Rogers just threw it up there as like a fifty fifty ball type of thing, and Allison just makes a great move reaching over top of the defender to pluck the ball out of the air.

Those are the kinds of things whatever you've got with new scheme, new offense and all the things these guys have to learn when it comes to a defense putting pressure and bringing the blitz on a third down and whatnot. That's where Aaron Rodgers and veteran players who have aid with them are going to make a difference here. And to see those back to back plays to Graham and Allison, I thought was a really good sign for this offense, especially since it's gonna be two guys I think the

Packers are gonna be relying on this season. They need Jim Graham to be a difference maker, and certainly Alison looks like he's the front runner to be that slot receiver in those packages where they go there. You need to be able to feed those guys. If there's one other thing I can mention, and it's not a particular play, but it's going to the one on one pass restrils. Unlike my days of the press because that I no longer just keep like a Excel spreadsheet of who I

consider one and lost. But for my money, this is the most impressive the outside linebackers have been in at least four or five years, probably going back to the year that jero and Elliott started to open some eyes. I think his rookie year, Zadarius Smith and Rashawn Gary were made for that drill. It's incredible, not that one for what they're doing off the edge, but also inside. Reggie Gilbert had a really nice move in yesterday's practice to get to what I would consider to be a win.

How the fact or led back to back wins that group right now is it stands Mike, I'm not saying they're gonna surpass how many sacks they had last year. You don't need that. It's about pressures, it's about consistency, and it's about holding up your edge and you're being accountable. But for all the investments the packers have made on that side of the ball, you could be underwhelmed going into a camp if they don't do anything. So to say, if you're overwhelmed to a certain extent, I think there's

a credit that goes to them for that. Now it has to translate. You have to be able to put it on the field during games and when the clock is actually running. But those uh, those outside backers, for the investments the packers made there, I think they're seeing some intriguing returns right now on that. Yeah, I would agree with you, family, And it's right around the corner west, the big practice under the light set lambeau Field coming

up on Friday night. Anything in particular you're looking forward to, you're gonna have your eye on, so to speak, as we head into that practice. I mean, i'd be remiss to not mention that I said pizza when I answered that inset er inbox. I've always enjoyed family night for

two reasons. One, it's cliche, but it is cool seeing that environment come back together because you gotta remember, it's been at that point eight months since we've had been involved in a crowd that that's that big, since that finale against the Lions. So it's always cool to kind of get that first little taste of it before you get into the preseason. But the second thing I always liked to is that it's not a preseason game. They

aren't scrimmaging anymore. But it is always something noteworthy to see how young guys respond to that environment because you've seen some that have completely melted under it, and you've seen some guys you know that look good early on really galvanized their position with solid performances in that in that climate, So, um, you know, Sam Ficking will probably end up kicking some field goals out. Imagine if Mason

Crosby isn't there. So there's a lot of different variables there that the first time in front of seventy thousand people, Um, it's just a different environment then when you're in front of Niche. Yeah. Well, if I were to pick out two guys that I'm definitely going to have my eye on specifically Friday Night, one on each side of the ball. The first one is Jamon Moore, the second year wide receiver. We talked a lot about mvs earlier in the show, but I said this an insider inbox the other day.

If I were to pick who Deshaun Kayser's favorite target is when he's been running the number two offense and practice in the eleven on eleven, I think it's been Jamon More Number eighty two has made his share of plays with Deshaun Kaiser, and he did make one the other day also when he got a rep with the ones and made a play and made a catch for

Aaron Rodgers as well. This is a young guy. We all know his rookie season did not go as hoped, but he's showing some signs of the improvement that he's putting that behind him, that that there's progress there and he just has to keep climbing. He just has to keep climbing that hill and uh and keep that arrow pointed in the right direction. Another guy that I'm definitely gonna be watching for, and this is one of the rookies.

Sixth round draft pick out of Toledo, the cornerback Kadar Holman, and I bring him up because I wrote about him on the website the other day when they went to the two minute drill in practice for the first time in training camp. They went to two minute. Kevin King, who has been obviously taking all the snaps at cornerback with the number one defense, they sat him out and rested him. They're monitoring his reps a little bit, given

his health history and everything like that. Kadar Holman, the rookie sixth round pick, was the guy they put in at cornerback with the number one defense. Now Josh Jackson has not practiced yet, still dealing with a foot injury, so that was certainly a factor there as well. But number twenty nine, this uh, this young man from Toledo West, he's uh, he's catching some eyeballs, he is, and it's not worthy. Even though as you mentioned, you had the

injuries there. There's about forty eight defensive backs on this offseason roster. It almost seems like to be able to sort of stay above the pack in front of the fray a little bit. I think speaks well to Holman, especially as sort of I don't want to call him a flyer would be disrespectful to say that, but he didn't come from a Power five conference school. He he was, you know, a guy that kind of came on late. We've that's well documented at Toledo, didn't have the most

interceptions of the world. But the thing that impressed me, going even back to the off season program is how it just seemed like assignment sound. He is being able to stay on his receiver, not a grabby type cornerback. It seems like he's able to rely on his natural athleticism. He ran a great forty time and it seems like it translates in that regard. And let's be honest, Mike, the Packers at some point in time this season are going to have to rely on the number five, number

six cornerback. So for Holman to get those reps now very valuable. I also want to mention just getting back to Jamon more very quickly. He's making the plays he needs to make. I haven't had a chance to interview Jamon yet at this point, but for my money and what I'm seeing on the field, he just looks like he's playing football again. One of the things last summer was just he was double you know, double clutching balls and you know, just has you know there'll be something

that would go off his hands. There was one fumble on an end around that he had early in camp, but beyond that, he's been pretty consistent. So if he as you mentioned, he needs to continue to build. But there's a reason why he was the first of those three receivers taken. There's a lot of ability there. There was a lot of production at Miszoo, so that these next couple of weeks you are gonna be huge for him to show really in these game settings how far

he's come. Yeah, and I'd be remiss heading into family Night if I didn't mention the first round draft picked Darnell Savage. He returned to practice on Tuesday, been out with having a wisdom tooth extracted, kind of a surprise emergency type procedure right before training camp. He's going to

be getting his workload increased little by little here. So we'll see come Friday night under the lights at lambeau Field if he's going to be thrown into either some seven on seven or perhaps some eleven on eleven and see what happens there. Because he was working as the number one or I should say with the number one defense alongside Adrian nam Us at safety all throughout the

offseason program since he arrived. Yeah, and if there's one spot, not to say, you know, you don't need to be on the field for every single play, but safety is the one that seems to be as long as you're in the classroom, as long as you're out there taking the mental reps, he's gonna get what he needs out of that. And I'll also point out if he needs

any tips on how to work through wisdom teeth. You know, our our intern over here, Ali Pinter, she was very diligent and and staying accountable and pushed through her own recent surgery there, so credit to Ali al right, hats off to her. Well, with that, we gotta go because practice coming up here pretty soon. We've got to get out in the field. So with that, we will sign off on Packers on Scripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team and everything going on

at training camp on Packers dot com. On Twitter, He's at west Hot, I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account, follow us, like us on iTunes and other podcast services if you prefer to just listen to us rather than to look at our faces. But either way, thanks for tuning in everybody. We will see you next time.