#428 Packers Unscripted: The other side

cast of characters. But we haven't spent much time talking about the Packers defense, and I think we do need to spend some time on that because, quite frankly, for me, I'm almost building more anticipation for what this defense is going to look like as opposed to last year when Mike Petton was in his first year, because it was this kind of the same cast of characters last year. Yes, you had a new coordinator, you added JayR Alexandra and Josh Jackson, but otherwise it was all the same crew.

And this year you have a returning crew that learned the system the first year, and then you have this influx of guys essentially a fifteen draft class that was purchased in free agency, the Smith's and Adrian Amos, and then your twenty nineteen draft class at the top of the board and Rashaan Gary and Darnell Savage. This is really interesting now that we're finally going to see what Mike Petton's year two defense is gonna look like. Do

you like to cook, Mike? Sometimes? Sometimes? Sometimes Do you ever find yourself going to the grocery store, You come home, there's a couple of different ingredients, a couple different things you're really excited about. You find a good I don't know, spare rib that you're really excited to throw in the

oven and whatnot. That's the way I feel about the Packers defense, and I think that's what Packer fans should be excited about right now, is that you have all these new ingredients to work with with Mike pett and his defense. Now we got an idea of what he can offer, and not saying that those ingredients weren't grade too, but you kind of knew what you were dealing with at that point. Everything was sort of the same. You

can only shine a penny so many different ways. What I like about this influx is because there's so many different types of acquisitions that they made. When you look at the rookie class, like you said, when you look at the two thousand fifteen free agents that have been signed that came through that draft and then not, you also have this two thousand sixteen draft coming to the prime of their careers, throwing Jaire Alexanders throwing some of

these other people. This is to me, and I wrote this an insider inbox, this is the most intriguing a Packer defense has been, at least during my time on the beat, because there's so many new, uh different areas to work off of. Now, I'm not saying they're going to go out there and just dominate from day one. I think you have to be realistic. I think you have to understand that this is eleven players working as one and it's going to take time to bring those

materials together, bring those players together. But at the end of the day, I think, is this team, if they can stay healthy, if that unit can stay healthy, And you and I have talked about a time and time again, seeing the progression that this defense can make with Mike Petton scheme and those principles behind it, I think it's very exciting. Well, it was obvious what the targets were to revamp this defense in the off season, and it

was two positions. It was outside linebacker and safety. You brought in too free agent outside linebackers in Zadarius Smith and Preston Smith, and you spent your first round draft pick on an outside linebacker and Rashawn Gary. And then at safety you brought in a new starter in Adrian Amos and you spent your second first round draft pick

on a safety in Darnell Savage. Those are the two positions that have gotten the makeovers here heading into and when you're when you're talking about trying to make impact plays in football games, you know it's sacks and its turnovers, and outside linebackers and safeties have a lot to do with sacks, fumbles and interceptions. And I think it's going to take some time for everything to come together because

there's so many new guys in this system. But I still think the Packers are heading into Week one here in better shape defensively in terms of where they are with the system than they were last year at this time, and it's interesting to watch how this game has changed over even the last six, seven, eight years. I remember talking to Don Kaper's about this after the two thousand and thirteen season when they went and got Julius Peppers and they brought in some new people. They drafted ha

Ha Clinton Dicks. There was a time not that long ago where you needed a dominant Pro Bowl pass rusher off the edge the other outside linebacker. You didn't really have a much of urgency there. I mean, there's a reason why it was Frank Zambo lining up across from Clay Matthews right during during a part of their career together. Safety was in neglected position, not just by the Packers, but a lot of NFL teams for a lot of seasons.

They wanted their cornerbacks, they wanted their inside linebackers. They felt like that's where you win. But as the game has evolved, you've needed versatile safeties. You need multiple safeties,

you need multiple outside linebackers. And I think the build up and the makeup of this roster right now that Brian Goodakins is put together reflects that, and it reflects the idea too that unlike other years where you'd see a guy like Rashawn Gary come in and you know, as a first round pick twelfth overall, they might be pushing him into the lineup day one, wanting production from him.

You're not in that spot with za Darius Smith and Preston Smith, both twenty six years old, coming to the prime of their careers and under contract for a long time. I just I'm so intrigued, as I mentioned from the get go, just to see those pieces come together, how those free agents marry with the rookie acquisitions in the arts in between. It's to me, it's it's a reason to believe that this season could turn out differently for that unit. Yeah, there are a couple of caveats though,

and I will mention these things. One is that for all of the change and whatnot, on paper, you have only one guy on this defense with a double digit sack season in his career, and that's Kyler Facral. Now the Packers are counting on the fact that, as you just said, the two Smiths being twenty six years old, they've had eight eight and a half sacks seasons in their career, that the double digit those higher numbers are

on the way. So they're banking on that, and then also obviously adding a guy like Rashan Gary to the mix who they feel in a very short amount of time could become one of those type of players. The other thing is that we all know what shut down corners, what having to top flight cornerbacks can mean to a defense and can mean to a defensive coordinator in terms of his flexibility with his packages and with his calls.

And that's Jiar Alexander and Kevin King. And once again Kevin King spent a training camp injured, injured his hamstring on family Night, missed several weeks. He's back on the practice field. He's expected to play on Thursday. But just how much Kevin King is going to be able to play not only Thursday but throughout the course of the season I think is also going to be a big factor for Mike Petton And just how good potentially this defense Absolutely, because as you wrote in the Packers year

book this year, when you have JR. Alexander and Kevin King both healthy, that gives you, you know, too, potential one A, one B type cornerbacks that you're gonna be able to play with. But the one thing I do like about in regards to just how the cornerbacks position is structured. This year, it's as deep in terms of not just what you would consider to be relative talent, it's as deep an experience as they've had in a

number of years. When you look at Truman Williams right now is the slot nickel guy, but could push outside if you need him to. Tony Brown got a lot of reps during the preseason during the time in which Kevin King was out. Josh Jackson is back from you know, the the injury with the Achilles foot, what have you. And then you see the young guys that they kept

on this roster too. It's some It seems like for a point in time, the Packers were either going to go extremely young with their backups or they were gonna have veterans and keep you know, they're young guys on the practice squad. This year they have both, and you obviously want if you're the Packers, you're hoping and knocking on wood that Kevin King can play in all sixteen games. But if for whatever reason he can't, or GW your

Alexander can't. I just feel like this year's group they're not necessarily in that position where you're gonna have to end up putting, you know, a guy that maybe isn't ready for that moment on the field like they had to in some of these previous seasons. Yeah, I mean, there's certainly a reason. I think there are multiple reasons the Packers decided to keep seven cornerbacks on this roster. I mean, one is that those guys earned the jobs.

But we all know how roster decisions and numbers can work. But you keep seven cornerbacks because of a how the game has played these days and how many cornerbacks you're

going to use at different points in time time. Be Kevin King's injury history, and see Termon Williams and just his age um and Rmon Williams has been fighting off father time as well as anybody has for a while, but you just never you never know at what point maybe it's going to catch up to him and he's not quite going to be the player that he was. So you've got seven cornerbacks, and as you said, West, it's a mixture of some experienced guys and some younger guys.

But I think at the end of the day, and I don't not not trying to pick on anybody in particular. But this defense is at a point where you're not going to have to line up Ladarius Gunter across from Julio Jones in a big game, which is what where the Packers were three years ago. Yeah, and and that's that's ultimately what we're getting at here. You see just

some of these guys, And it wasn't just Gunter. There were a number of undrafted rookies and first year players that had to play in big key spots for this team to match and tough matchups in games that matter down late in the season. Now, that's gonna be a thing that happens, Mike. You're gonna need guys at certain positions to step up. We even saw in some regard to Curtis Bolton during the preseason before he injured his knee. But you don't want to have that as a recurring

thing that you're dealing with weekend and week out. That's where the Packers were in a lot of circumstances, and I think it probably speaks of the direction the league is going that this is the fifth consecutive year the Packers have carried either eleven or twelve defensive backs on this initial fifty three my first year in two thousand twelve, when I cover this team, you're looking at eight or

nine at that position. In the fact that it shifted like that, and you've seen sort of even Brian Goodkin has talked about it. Inside linebackers aren't as prevalent as they were before because you're seeing a guy like Raven Green playing in the box. Now. You need to have that multiplicity to be able to not only weather injuries but also be able to take on those spread offenses.

And I think when you look on paper the way the Packers are structured right now, and again there's a lot of things that have to work out for that to be relevant in December, But on paper, I think

you have to like what you're seeing. Yeah. Well, Patton's big theme throughout this offseason training amp leading up to the start of the season, his big theme has been the two t s, tackling and turnovers, And quite frankly, I'm I'm not gonna put a whole lot of stock into what happened in the preseason, because yes, there were a whole bunch of mis tackles, but the starters weren't really on the field all that much and the time that they were there trying to chase down what was

his name from Baltimore, Lamar Jackson. I mean, absolutely singular talent. There's nobody else like him playing in the NFL. So that was kind of an odd circumstance to me for the starters to get their only really legitimate snaps of the preseason. We also saw the defense turn the ball over a bunch of the preseason. They did get a bunch of turnomers, but again, the starters weren't on the

field that much. So I think there's there's a lot of unknown as to just where this unit is going to be with that big theme of tackling internal and there's gonna be give and take with that whole scenario. I mean, I think you look at Kadar Holman and can't Chan and Sullivan, guys that made the roster. You know, based on big plays in the preseason that gets you on the roster. It doesn't build up much equity past

Week one, though. You need to be able to earn that that starters need to be able to earn that and build that momentum throughout the course of the season. The tackling is a situation though that I think they could really make a statement if they could come out of the gate and actually look very competent and secure and comfortable in that phase of the game. Because it is going to take time. Every NFL team is going

to go through it. We know the storyline has been beaten to death in terms of what teams are dealing with now at the CBA environment, trying to find the best way to prepare your football team with taking the contact out of a lot of those offseason practices. So

everybody's starting from square one from that regard. But if you're able to establish that early on, especially against the team like Chicago that can be as multiple as they are, I think that's something you can really propel yourself forward with by making a statement. A soldier feel that, you know what, it was a big emphasis and we're answering

that right off the bat. Yeah. Well, a couple of these guys we've talked about actually have gone into Week one here on the defensive side and they change their uniform. They did. Darnell Savage, who grabbed number twenty six when he was drafted in the first round. He has switched and is now wearing number twenty one, and Raven Green, who made the roster last year as an undrafted rookie wearing number thirty six, has now switched to number twenty four.

What do you make of that? Well, first off, I didn't get a chance to ask for Raven Green about this little bit of a spoiler alert here. I'm gonna try to do that once we're done with the unscripted today. That's one of my topics for the last locker room of the week is to figure out what exactly he did there, because he didn't wear twenty four at at James Madison. But on the other side of things, it

was really interesting listening to Savage discuss it. There is a rapper I'm sure you're well familiar out of Atlanta named twenty one Savage. He did a really nice collaboration with post Malone Psycho. You're probably familiar with that as well. Uh and I remember there was some hooting and hollering when the Packers drafted Uh Savage and he was number twenty one. That was pointed out to him yesterday where his selection was, and there were some fans are like,

got it, he has to be twenty one Savage. He wasn't. He was twenty six. He went with the number that he played with for two years at Maryland. Jamerson was a hole over from the season he was wearing number twenty one and he kept it. But Jamerson was released at final cutdown. So Sunday morning comes around and Darnell Savage goes, you know what, I'm sick. I think I want to wear twenty one now. I think whether or not he wants to admit it, I think it's a

great marketing opportunity for the young man. He's going to show up on a lot of sites. He's gonna get a lot of exposure they probably would have received otherwise. And let's be honest too, I mean, you always want to marry like you know, like whenever the popular stuff is going on outside of what but you want to have that together with NFL. I mean that's what any industry wants to do, right, You want to build those brands together. And now Darnell Savage gets a chance to

do it. I also want to point out with Raven Green how special this is for a guy like this. This is an undrafted rookie last year would have probably taken any number that they wanted to give him. He's now put himself in a position a year two to be able to say, you know what, Yeah, give me a note, give me a new uh, a new numeral there on my on my green and gold jersey. UM. Another thing I want to get to and I'm not

trying to ignore the offense here. I just feel like we've talked about the offense, ignored the defense yesterday, and I'm sure we'll talk a little bit more about the offense in our final preview show tomorrow before we hop on the plane to Chicago. But I want to touch on special teams here quickly. To West, Mason Crosby is the kicker. The Packers made the decision to go with

him and released Sam Ficken. But the other thing that I think is interesting here with new coordinator Sean Maninger, you have a couple of linebackers who were I guess you could kind of call him the bell Cows in some ways on special teams a year ago, a year that did not go well on special teams. But two guys who did perform well as rookies were or In Burk's and James Crawford, and Or and Burke now is hurt.

James Crawford has been released so I'm kind of wondering just who are going to there's an opportunity here for guys to emerge as leaders on special teams. I think Raven Green, who we talked about, is one of those potential guys. But who are some of the other guys you see that maybe on these coverage units, return units are are potentially going to rise to the topic. That's a great question, first off, because you need those guys there.

I'm not saying you need to always have a Matthew Slater on your roster who for ten years is going to be a multiple time Pro bowler and can play on all four core units. But you need to have guys that you're comfortable with and you know, and they've talked about that time and time again during this offseason. When I look at it again outside looking in, I mean,

Kyler Facral is one of the core guys already. He did have ten and a half sacks last year, but he also did it while basically playing on every special teams unit for the Packers. They reintroduced the fullback position this year on this roster. Danny Vitally, people don't really really lies this. During his rookie year with Sean Monega at Cleveland. He was actually on the Pro Bowl ballot that year as Cleveland special teamer. Had I think a

half or maybe a dozen tackles that season. As much as he made the roster for his exploits as a fullback, he was used on special teams as well that season, So he has a certain capability there. Raven Green. But let's be honest here, Mike, the the m v P, if you can say it like that to me, is Trevor Davis. And it's not just because of the return certainly, he's a very capable kickoff and punt returner. He's also

their number one gunner. Uh. Their number two gunner, Econemius st Brown is now out for the year after suffering that ankle injury in Canada, so they need a big performance out of Trevor Davis. I'm guessing you're gonna see Will Redmond's take a step there and be one of those core guys as a gunner, and on some of those units, you can't replace a guy like Crawford. I just think he brings so much in terms of energy

to that position. But I do feel like there are guys that excel enough on that phase that they're going to be able to sort of stem the tide without him. I think what you said about Trevor Davis and a gunner, that's a really good point because when we talk about combinations that we haven't seen, j K. Scott as a punter and Trevor Davis as the top gunner is not

a combination that we've seen. And a couple of years ago, Jeff Janis as a number one gunner with quite frankly, a less talented punter in Jacob Chum, the Packers had a really, really good net punting average and they really limited opponent's punt returns. Now you combine j K. Scott going into his second year, he had a fantastic preseason.

All the arrows are pointing up for him. And then if Trevor Davis can stay healthy and be that gunner like Jeff Janis was a couple of years ago, that's an interesting combination here for the Packers special teams and and could be just as important as whoever else is

on those coverage units. And you're also going to have Jake Kumerou as a guy that has established himself that he's more than just a one particular phase guy that he can play in coverage to you, and it's you know, Robert Tanian has going to have a bigger role in the offense this year, but he you know, turned into one of the core guys last season. So there is

a lot of returning experience in that way. But what I'm gonna have my eye on is the gunners spot because it's so intricate to what you do on punts. And you may probably don't even remember this, but we got to see Trevor Davis basically do it in one game last year and he had a great tackle after

a pretty nice punt from J. K. Scott. Don't ask me which team it was against, but it remade me kind of perk up and go, yeah, that's what you can do when you have a guy with that type of speed that puts on that pressure with that hang time. Then unfortunately end up having another hamstring injury and that wipe that out. But I think you're gonna see him. I think you're gonna see uh. You know, I think

Channon Sullivan's probably involved with it. There's gonna be a lot of those guys are gonna be mixing in with those returning guys and hopefully putting their best foot forward in two thousand nineteen. Alright, well, with that, we're going to sign off on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on packers dot com, subscribe to us, like us on

iTunes and other podcast services if you're so inclined. On Twitter, he's at West hot I met Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time. M