#527 Packers Unscripted: Draft debrief, Part 2

the Packers picks on the first two days. So on the third day of the NFL Draft, the Packers drafted a linebacker from Minnesota, then three consecutive offensive lineman in the sixth round, followed by a safety from TCU, and then an edge rusher from Miami. What did you make of the players the Packers brought in on Day three? Yeah, that Day three. It's always kind of a handful of everything, right, I mean, it's it's it's what can you find, what traits are out there, and how do you think these

guys could potentially help you in the long run. Because as much as people sometimes can say, uh, what is the fifth rounder gonna do? What is a sixth rounder gonna do? Sometimes those players become Corey Linsley or Desmond Bishop. So, uh, starting off with Kamal Martin, if I can start there, I really like this prospect for a lot of reasons.

One um, if you know anything about covering athletics in the Midwest, Martin dealt with a plight of a lot of Midwest prep athletes and that he was really good in his area. He was appeared to be going to a max school to play quarterback, and then lo and behold, the offer comes in from Minnesota to go play linebacker there. It's very similar to the route that alec Ingold took from Bayport to almost northern Illinois to Wisconsin and now

he's a fullback for the Oakland Raiders. So those are the type of things that are gonna happen when you're not that big five star recruit, and I think Martin made the most of that during his time at Minnesota. Six ft three pounds, nice long arms, a willing tackler,

a guy that can help you on special teams. He did have the knee injury last year that sidelined him for five games, but when you're looking for a mid round inside linebacker, I think he checks a lot of the boxes and at the very least this is the guy that could potentially maybe step in there and do a role that b J. Goodson left last year when when he went to sign with Cleveland, you know, the first and second down role. Brandon Ross was quick to

mention he also could play dime linebacker. We'll all see. I mean, it seems like he's a perfectly fine coverage linebacker as well. But overall, for a fifth round pick, you're looking for traits, and Martin certainly has those. Yeah. I think for me, if there's one player from the Day three group that has a chance to maybe find a role on offens or defense aside from just special teams, but finding a role from scrimmage as a rookie, it

might be Martin from Minnesota. Because Packers have Chris and Kirksey an inside linebacker, I think Martin gets thrown right in there into what is going to be a developing competition between or In Burke's, Curtis Bolton, Ty Summers, and now Martin for maybe who's going to be that that first partner with Kirksey when Mike Petton wants to inside linebackers on the field, say in some first and second

down situations. So, um, what we heard from Brian Gudakunst does if Camal Martin gets back to be in the two thousand eighteen Martin before he was playing through and ultimately shut down by a knee injury in twenty nineteen, that the Packers potentially got really good value here in

the fifth round. It sounds like from talking to Uh, to Brandy and Ross, the Packers Midland scout who was one of the scouts involved in in um acquiring or or drafting Martin, the the toughness that he showed in twenty nineteen, you know, playing through the ry until ultimately he couldn't do it anymore. That was something that really stood out to them that it's it sounds like this

is a pretty tough customer. He also sounds like a guy who's who's a leader type on special teams that took a lot of pride in that phase of the game. And UH and I think he you know, you know p J. Fleck, the head coach at the University of Minnesota, this guy, yeah, the row of the boat, right, But Kamal Martin sounds like, you know, the type of guy that that that p J. Fleck would really like and would be a leader on a team coached by a

guy like that. So I think this is a really interesting pick to be able to get on Day three for Green Bay. Yeah, and the bigger thing is Mike the Packers with this inside linebacker position, it's gonna be brand new this year. Martin, you know, like Martinez, as I mentioned, uh, you know b J Goodson, They're both gone. So this is all gonna be the land of opportunity. Now for how these guys step up and fill that void. Certainly it starts with Christian Kirksey. He was the free

agent acquisition. He's the veteran, He's the guy that can play all three downs. And as the history with Mike Patton, that's the starting point. But we saw last year how much they needed b J. Goodson to play. I don't know his exact snaps off the top of my head, I'm guessing it was somewhere in that range. So whether that's or In Burke's or Ty Summers or court Curtis Bolton or this young man you know, Kamal Martin coming in there, all of it, they're all options, and you

need options at that position. You also need youth, and I think the Packers have a nice balance of that. Yeah, we're moving on to the sixth round. The Packers drafted three consecutive offensive lineman in the sixth round. I actually looked it up west. The last time the Packers did that three consecutive offensive linemen in a draft nineteen sixties six you have to go back to the Lombardi era for the last time that happened. They want a super

bowlt Yeah, they did. They certainly did. Um but some interesting, interesting prospects here and that every guy has a different story. Amongst these linemen, you have John Runyan Jr. From Michigan, whose father uh very accomplished pro and then went on to be a congressman in Washington, d C. You have Jake Hanson, a four year starter at center for the Oregon Ducks and a powerhouse team out there in the Pac twelve. And then Simon Stepaniak from Indiana who is

coming off of a knee injury. He injured his knee in Bowl prep for Indiana, so he did not get to play the final game of his college career, and his timeline is a little bit uncertain coming off of a pretty significant knee surgery over the winter. So a lot of different stories here with with these three guys, what stands out to you the most. Well, I want

to talk about running. But first off, you do feel for Stepanek because here's a guy that this he would have been in, you know, an earlier Day three pick, maybe even at the end of day two, but then he has this knee injury because he's trying to play in a ball game for Indiana. If you know anything about Indiana, those ball games are coveted. They didn't come around the whole heck of a lot for a long time. So so you tip your hat to him. Brian Good

conceived and mentioned it. If he is actually healthy, he probably is not going to be there in the sixth round, thirty seven bench reps. Uh. One thing all three of these guys have in common. They all played a lot. There's a ton of experience, there's a lot of starting experience.

What I really like about John Runyon though, is that his story everybody would just think, Okay, he's John Runyon Senior's kid, a fourteen year NFL pro, a former Pro bowler with the Philadelphia Eagles, a guy that was just an absolute pillar at right tackle for a decade, and it's just like Okay, here's his son. I'm sure he's just a five star recruit. He's a big, you know guy. He had to earn everything he got at Michigan. He

was a three star recruit. I believe going in there, it took him a couple of years to find a role, but eventually they pushed him in there at left tackle and he stuck. He started two seasons at left tackle in the Big Ten. I think that says a lot for him. And now he's probably gonna push inside at the next level. How how do we know that? Matt Floor even basically said you very rarely here. The coaches

talked about, well, yeah, we're gonna see No. They want to look at him as an interior alignment, and Mike, you know the history of that. The Packers have a boatload of these guys at the you know, Power five conference level, at the MAC level, um down at us r UCF with Josh Sitton, guys that played tackle, that pushed inside and became Pro Bowl guards in this league. Now, I'm not trying to set the bar too high for

John running here. He is a six round pick, but he just seems to be a guy that fits that lineage. Of a prospect that could potentially go down that road. Yeah, you have to really you have to really be intrigued by a pick like this and and we'll see. I mean, I think, uh, um, you know, he having that experience at tackle in a conference like the Big Ten, even if he is making a position switch, you have to

believe he'll be uh, he'll be ready for something like that. Um. You mentioned the thirty seven bench press reps by by Stepaniak from Indiana. The interesting thing there he did that about six or seven weeks after having knee surgery. Now, I know you're not lifting weights with your knees when you're bench pressing, but in terms of actually being able to train and get ready to do the bench at the combine, he didn't have a whole lot of prep time for it coming off of the knee surgery, and

he did thirty seven reps. I actually talked to his position coach at Indiana on the phone yesterday for a story I'm gonna be working on in the coming days, and he said, there's no question that he would have been somewhere in the forties for the bench press reps if he had actually been at you know, full strength so and thirty seven was one of the top numbers put up by any offensive lineman. So no lack of strength there. And quite frankly the same with Jake Hansen,

the center from Oregon. He did thirty three reps on the bench and you know, at six three and around three ten, three twelve, right in that range, that's pretty big for a center. Now, again, this is a guy maybe the Packers are going to try him at guard because that that would be awfully, awfully big for a center in terms of, you know, the mobility and everything that that you need. There. So some some interesting prospects

here in terms of what direction the Packers decided to go. Yeah, and I gotta I gotta tell this story, Mike, you know, I have to a lot of people are gonna be like Jake Hansen from Oregon. Uh, you know, multi year starter for them the Ducks. That's great. I'm really excited for Jake. I hope he has a nice long career. He's from Eureka, California, Mike, That's where my family is from. So you might remember two years ago I took two

weeks of vacation. The only back to that makes a vacation I've taken since I come over to the packers. It was to drive to Eureka, California. That's a thirty two hour drive from Green Bay, Wisconsin. So for his sake, I hope you got a head start, you know, when he eventually makes his way to green Bay here, but to a blue collar area northern California. This is this is not you know, the what you would think of of, you know, the see and uh, you know guys on

surfboards and nine. It's it's a chilly kind of you know, coastal climate up there, and he and there isn't a whole lot of spotlight shining. And this is a guy that earned an opportunity at Oregon and once he got there, man, he stayed. He stayed in that starting center role. He gives you some versatility inside. We'll move on here. But all three of those offensive lineman, Mike, they all have

different traits. Running ran a really good forty, the two other guys the forties not as fast, but then put up a bunch on the bench reps. That's what you want. You want to have three guys that you're you're throwing some coins in the middle there and hoping that something

pays dividends. Yeah, alright. Well, with regard to the seventh round, Vernon Scott, a safety from TCU, and then Jonathan Garvin and edge rusher from Miami, I'm gonna turn this over to us because by the time the seventh round of the draft rolled around, I was running on fumes. I'm sure you were in some respect as well, and I was trying to put together my my thoughts for a wrap up story at the end of the whole thing. So I gave a very cursory look at the seventh

round picks, I confess. So give us your quick cliffs notes version on Vernon Scott and John Garman. You think you were running on fumes. I think I basically had one on one interviews with these guys on the conference calls. I think everybody was on fumes at that point. Yeah. Yeah, it was great though, very nice guys. Uh Okay, I want to start with with Vernon first if I can. Here's the thing about Scott that is just amazing. This is a guy that was not on the NFL radar

year ago. He was mostly a special teams player for TCU. He got a couple, he got a little bit more defensive action. Is junior year, but had never really been a starter. Well this year he finally gets that opportunity. He he's able to get that big interception against Oklahoma, the huge rival for the horn Frogs nine yard interception returned for a touchdown, one shy of the school record. He he makes the most of that chance, and then

here we go. We He doesn't get a combine invite, he doesn't get a pro day because of this whole COVID epidemic. So he's literally sitting on his aunt's coach in Dallas, Texas, wondering, all right, wins my phone gonna ring? Is my phone gonna ring? And more likely than not, I'm just gonna have to sign a uf A deal. The Green Bay Packers found this kid, and if you dig a little bit deeper, there's a lot to like

in his story. Good size for the position, really good versatility, and all the interviews he did leading up to the NFL Draft, he talked about I'm hoping that teams look at my versatility and feel like I can play in the box, I can play in the slot, I can play high safety, I can play low, can play strong. And then he also plays on the core for special teams units for TCU. That's what you need to make it as a seventh round pick. Good friends with Tye Summers.

We wish him well now that he gets his chance in Green Bay. Jonathan Garvin is a fascinating story and as I wrote in my seventh round story on Saturday Night, the polar opposite of Scott. This is a guy that played as a true freshman on defense. He he went out for the draft after his true junior year, had a big sophomore year seventeen tackles for a lost five and a half sacks. They call him the Spider because of his size. He will not turn twenty one until

later this year. He is young, he has potential. And when you think about those conversations we've had with Mike Smith and how excited he's been about Rashaun Gary, Tim Williams, and now you get a kid like this in that room, I have to imagine he obviously wasn't running down the hallway at lambeau Field this year, but wherever his house is in the Green Bay area, I'm guessing he was pretty amped. Yeah. Absolutely, and I'll be curious to see just when you talk about a guy coming off the

edge that kind of speed. Obviously, it's a position the Packers already have plenty of depth that so they'll be time for a guy like Garvin to to kind of feel his way and figure it out in the NFL, as you mentioned as a very very young guy. So I want to get to because we talked on Monday about how this draft did not go as we expected.

It did not go as anybody outside of the confines of twelve sixty five necessarily expected, because the Packers did not draft a wide receiver, did not draft a defensive lineman, and did not draft a cornerback. All of those I think we were expecting the Packers to select at some point. I want to start first with the wide receiver position, because both Brian Goodakumsen Matt Lafleur made it pretty clear on Saturday night. I mean, yes, they had some wide

receivers targeted. Things did not fall fall their way in that regard the trade up for Jordan's Love in the first round, you sacrifice a fourth round pick. You know that hamstrings you a little bit in terms of being able to move around later in the draft. So all of those things factored into it, but they are they have the confidence and they are banking on the acquisition of Devin Funcius, continued growth from Alan Lazard mvs. The return of eq St Brown, Jake Kumero obviously in that

mix as well. Out of all the moments West with regard to the wide receivers, the one that stood out to me the most was when Matt Lafleur was talking briefly about Marquis Velde's scantling and he said, as a coaching staff, we are going to be all over him to maximize to get the most out of his ability, because they see the talent, they see the ability. There have been obviously the flashes of production over his first

two NFL seasons. That comment stood out to me maybe more than any other that was made about the the receivers the Packers have coming back. Yeah, every offseason there's probably about five comments that get made throughout the course of it, whether it's from the GM, the head coach, something you know on social media, and they tend to get brought up once the season begins. Once time moves on, that was a very salient point that I felt that Matt Lafleur made a very mature point because this isn't

all on Marquis about this scamp. Like sure, some of it is. He needs to be able to to be more consistent, but he has a wealth of ability. The Packers and to pull it out of him because we saw it in Spurts in two thousand eighteen. Last year, he just after those first three games, he just wasn't able to get that confidence back. They need to find it. And I think I was telling you at the end of last season, I think he just needs one big catch. I think he needs one big play now. His route

running needs to get better. You know, he needs to be able to show her up that side of this thing. But he is always one play away from being in the end zone, and that has to intrigue you. To the second point about the receivers. I get it, everybody wants a brand new toy when they go to the store. But you have to also understand the Packers found something in Alan Lazard. Al Lazar didn't matter who they took. It could have taken Tee Higgins, they could have taken

Denzel Mims. That could have taken all these guys. Alan Lazard is gonna start for this team next year. He's earned that opportunity. He and and obviously training camp will have to play out, but he's going to be at the start of that line, right behind Davante Adams when we get back into training camp next year. Secondly, Devin Funches, he's still only twenty five. He'll turn twenty s now, I think this next month. He's played a lot of football in his five years, last year being the lone

exception because of the collar bone injury. Devin Funcies is not some guy they brought off the street because hey, we need a receiver. This guy appears to be tall. Let's just throw him in there and let him compete. Devon Funcis is another guy that's gonna be at the top of the step chart because a year earlier. I'm not gonna get into the numbers, but the Indianapolis Colts paid him a nice sum of money to come in on a one year contract. This is another proven deal

for him. But this is not some Mike Spofford Wes Hogwitz walked on the football field. And while they're gonna be cut in three days, Devon Functis is very much a part of this puzzle, and yes, I get it. I appreciate it. Everybody would have loved to have a receiver from this beautiful class of receivers. Beautiful is a big word these days. I think that would have been great, But that's not the reality. The reality is the Packers felt like the value wasn't there when they were picking.

They weren't gonna draft receivers late just for the sake of drafting him. They're gonna trust what they have in house. And that's a lot of prospects. Yeah, and there's a couple of unknowns here in the mix. Obviously I mentioned e q st Brown coming back from the knee injury, and then Reggie Bjelton signing from the CFL put up some monster numbers in Canada. Packers are going to see what they have there. That's that's another one of these, uh,

these great unknowns. I don't want to I don't want to talk him up too much or make any promises, but but he's definitely someone to watch. UM. I want to talk also about the movie the or I should say, maybe the non moves on defense, no defensive lineman, no cornerbacks. Um I you know me, West, I like to read

between the lines. I like to read the Tea leaves a little bit in terms of the comments that we get and the more I hear Brian Goodakunsten, Matt Lafleur talk about the run defense and the fact that a defensive lineman was not selected. I think there was somewhere along the line. Maybe it was right after the NFC Championship game there was a conversation between Matt Lafleur and Mike Patton about what happened with the run defense in San Francisco and that there are some things schematically that

they can do to fix some of these issues. And the other thing I will throw in there as well. Rashawn Geary, the first round draft pick from last year, did not play a whole lot as a rookie. This is a guy that I think, depending on how you want to move around Zadarius Smith, Rashawn Gary is a guy who can move around the defensive front. Rashawn Gary could be a piece to what the Packers are going to do on run defense. In just a suspicion that

I have. Yeah, it's a good suspension to have because I think when you look at how this draft played out, they are looking you just you're right, you read between the lines, you try to understand what the motivations were. The Packers are looking at their last two draft classes to be the push that the defense needs to bring them over the top. There's something that Lafleura and Petton found with that run defense that made them believe it's

not personnel related. If it was, then you would have seen a big free agent come in, you would have seen a big draft pick. Used. They are staying in house, and you wouldn't do that if you didn't feel like you had answers. So that will be interesting to follow. But secondly, Mike, Yeah, it's Rashaun Gary, It's Kingsley, Kiki,

It's orn bergs it's Josh Jackson, it's Chandon Sullivan. It's all these young guys on the roster at these various positions that they will be counting on to be the push that this defense needs to not only you know, be in that top ten where they've kept talking about where they want to be, but just being more consistent and how they attack this thing on a weekend and

week out basis. Yeah, I mean, we heard with regards to the cornerback spot, that Nickel corner spot that some people are asking about we heard what sounds like a pretty strong vote of confidence for Channon Sullivan and for Josh Jackson. Now, maybe Brian Goudakin still has plans to go out there and signed Shrman Williams. We don't know that yet. It sounded to me like he was a

little lukewarm on that idea. But at the same time, you know, maybe he's downplaying his hand a little bit because if he's like, oh, yeah, we'll go sign Shrman Williams, will suddenly the price tag goes up right and negotiation, yeah, you know, have fun with that. So that's one of those things. We'll wait and see how that how that

shakes out. But um, the Packers, the decision makers here the Brian Goudacunsten Mattel floor at the top of the football operation in the At the end of the day, this draft was about in terms of the greatest impact on the Green Bay Packers. It's going to be about the progress from within, about the young guys who need to and I don't like to use the word potential all the time, but fulfill their promise. They have a lot, they have a lot of promise, they have a lot

of capability. It's time that that they get closer to that maximum level. And that's uh, that's what the coaching staff and and the rest of the football operation is going to try to get out of these guys moving forward. Yeah, sometimes the decision you have to make is whether or not the car runs right. I mean, if you buy a car, is it going to be able to get you where you need to get you or do you have to go get another one? You You also can't

just keep buying new cars every year. You gotta eventually stick with one. So I think there is that understanding that there's patients that's required. There's a lot of potential amongst those players. So giving them an opportunity now to maybe you take that next step up, that's gonna be the that's gonna be the direction of this thing, because when you first, you know, start addressing the defense of the fifth round, you have to look from within to

to look for your improvement the following season. Yeah, all right, well, with that, we will call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team, the draft picks, everything that's going on on Packers dot com for wes I Am Mike, thank you for tuning, and everybody, we will see you next time.