#588 Packers Unscripted: Draft on deck

I mean, last year was probably the most anxiety written uh time I've ever had covering a draft. This will be draft number twelve for me, believe it or not, twelve straight drafts that I've covered. But last year you were doing it out of your house. I was doing it up in my bonus room, hoping that the WiFi was going to stay connected as I was interviewing Jordan's love. Uh and it's it is a blessing to be bad Back at lambeau Field. It still won't be quite the same.

We're not going to be in the auditorium. Everything will still be over zoom and done virtually, but all things considered, I'm very happy with where we are today as opposed to last April. Yeah, and you and I will actually be able to maybe talk to each other during the draft instead of sending slack messages to one another for three days. How we're how we're supposed to, uh, how we're supposed to cover this and take care of all of the coverage on the website. But I want to

spend today previewing the draft a little bit. We'll throw some questions back and forth, just banter a little bit about some of the things that that we hear and talk about a lot at this particular time. Quickly though, a shout out to our sponsor, Sirius x M. NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news that true football fonetics need. Seven three all right, West.

The Packers enter the two thousand twenty one draft with ten selections, one in each of the seven rounds, plus an extra in the fourth, fifth, and sixth. In those three rounds the Packers will actually be taking if they stay put, we'll be taking two picks about five to seven picks apart in each each of those three rounds in that range. So my first question today, going in with ten picks, do the Packers come out of this draft with ten picks or more than that or less

than that. Well, first off, they're going to trade one of the fourth rounders. That's just a that's a given. That's just the way, that's the automatic. Take that one to the That's gonna happen at some point. I've said for a long time, I think they will take a lot of players in this draft. I could see them moving up on Day one or Day two. That has been what they've done specifically in the first round in basically each of the last three years, they made some

kind of move. But I still think they're gonna end up taking nine or ten players. So to answer your question, either it'll be a push or it'll be just under that. I just feel like, you know, they weren't able to do a lot with free agency this year. They they brought back some of their own guys. They took care of Aaron Jones, which was a must, as Brian dudicins

that in his pre draft presser on Monday. They got in their feeling the number one running back on the market, left tackle on the market, and defensive tackle on the market. When you look at the extensions they did in season with David box R and Kenny Clark, and then obviously resigning Aaron Jones, that doesn't leave a lot for you to do in free agency. But yet they still were able to get Kevin King back, they got uh, you know,

mar cities Lewis. But the question here is, I think you have to create depth, and they have ten picks to do it, and they have to be able to get some guys on the shelves here that that's been my contention. I don't know where players are going to go, but I feel like offensive line, receiver, cornerback. You need to find more bodies at these positions, and making those

picks will be a good way to do it. Yeah, I I'm inclined to say that the Packers are going to come out of this draft with ten picks, But I say that because not because I think Brian Goudacus is gonna sit and pick at all ten spots, which actually I don't remember what the number was. There was one year that Ted Thompson actually sat and picked at every spot. He didn't a single trade. I can that that might have been. That might have been what it was.

I can't remember for sure back around there was one year, but I think Goodakoots is going to make multiple trades here. There's going to be a trade up at some point. There's going to be a trade down at some point. I think eventually, as far as the number of picks, the trades are going to cancel each other out and the Packers are are going to come out of this

draft with ten picks. I think. I don't. I don't see Brian Goodakoots making some huge sacrifices and then only coming out of this draft with seven or eight picks.

For the exact reason that you said, the Packers don't have any glaring holes, as Goodakoon said on Monday, there are any glaring holes in the starting lineup where if the Packers had to play a game this weekend, they wouldn't be able to play because they don't have somebody that the roster is built with all the players they brought back the rosters, the roster is built to go

ahead and play a game tomorrow. Right, But you look at where things sit as far as the future with regard to the defensive line, the cornerback position, offensive tackle, uh wide receiver, you know, all all of those things. I do think there there is the need to build depth at certain spots and to plan for the future at multiple spots here because of because of some veteran guys who's whose contract situations will be in the mix here in the next you know, twelve and twenty four

months was the drafteen. They had the comp picks where they ended up getting Richard Rodgers and Jared iber Darris, and then they also had their normal seven picks that they ended up selecting, which actually, you go back and look at that was a pretty darn good draft. Was darn good draft and all pro in in Clinton Dicks that failed the need for many years, you know, arguably the best receiver in the game right now Davante Adams, and then legitimately the number one center in the game

in Corey Lindsley last season. Yeah, Richard Rogers Mr Hail mary Um picked in the third round of that draft. That I just remember that being so unusual that after all those three days, it was like Ted Thompson didn't make a trade. I think they even joked about that in the press afterward, because that was after two thousand thirteen where they had all these you know, that was the year they had like twelve picks or whatever. I mean, they they'd really been accruing quite a bit and then

they just sort of stepped pad. But that's the fun part of this process, right, I mean Brian Goodicin has talked about, I mean, this draft, you never know how the dominoes are gonna fall. You're never gonna know what kind of trades present themselves and the opportunities are there, and as you wrote in our five Things story on Monday, you know you have to be just true to yourself, not overspend, be mindful, use your process, and and trusted.

And that's what the Packers plan to do with this opportunity. Yeah. Well that brings me to my next question here in the first round, the Packers currently own the number twenty nine overall pick, so we all know that it's going to depend on how the board falls, right, but we'll throw the question out anyway. Do you predict Goodakoons will sit and pick at twenty nine? Will he trade up from twenty nine? Will he trade back from twenty nine? I think I do. I don't know how many spots.

Maybe it's like last year was only what four spots for, but they moved up to get Jordan's love. But the reason I say that is because I think there's gonna be some really talented players that fall into the early twenties but maybe aren't necessarily there at twenty nine, and

players that are basically singular at their position. Right like, unless there's a tackle that you and I don't know about that's climbing the Scouts draft boards, it basically looks like Tevin Jenkins is the guy in the twenties if you want to tackle um. Now, there are some medical things that have come up. You know Caleb Farley, you've

seen his information. Now you know a couple of questions about some lingering nerve issues, and that could he be there now in the later first rounds after I think a lot of people months ago projected him to possibly be the first cornerback off the board. Those are the questions that have to solve themselves. But I think once you get to number twenty, there's gonna be some really

intriguing players there. And I just wonder what the equity that the Packers have with having those two fourth round picks is that give you an opportunity to maybe go up and find somebody Yeah. I thought it was interesting how Gudakins talked about that on Monday, that when you're sitting there at twenty nine and you've spent months a personnel guy, you spent an entire year studying all of

these players. You know, you're you're ranking them, you're evaluating them, you're projecting all of these top players into you know, how would they how would they fit your team, and what could they do for your team and help you out? And then you have to sit there on Thursday night at twenty nine and watch all these guys fly off the board. You know that it becomes very very tempting to trade up, and it because you want to get

one of those guys that you've been thinking about. You know that that you've projected into your team, and you want to make sure you get that guy. But there are two things. The way I took Goodakoons comments, he didn't lay it out necessarily as like you know A and B. But there are two things that you you have to do in this process. One, you have you have to weigh the cost, what is the cost of trading up? And then too, how special is the player?

Is it just a player you really like or is it a player that you really think is special and is and is a difference maker. Those are the kinds of things that you know where it takes the discipline to sit back and go, Okay, this isn't just a guy that I've fallen in love with. This is this is a guy who's a special player, and the cost isn't too much to move up and get him. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to go back to my original question, I wouldn't be surprised to see the

packers trade up. But the other scenario that I could see developing here is a trade back from twenty nine to somewhere in like the mid thirties, where you pick up an extra selection, but then you use that extra selection, you know, third or fourth round, whatever it might be, to then move up from the bottom of the second round towards the middle of the second round, so instead of picking at twenty nine and sixty two, you end up taking two guys in the thirty five to fifty range.

That's something that I could definitely see evolving here, depending when you get into the mid twenties and you know, how strong does that board look, and if that board looks strong enough that Goodakoons feels he you get two really good players somewhere between the mid thirties to the mid to late forties, then maybe that's the strategy he you know, employs as far as his his first two picks.

So um. But again, something that's very hard to predict in advance because you don't know who those first twenty guys, those first twenty five guys are going to be that come off the board. And it's something that you know, the scouts, the personnel executives with G. M. Gouda Kunts, they play, They mock a lot of scenarios. They go through a lot of scenarios, what are we gonna do if this happens? What are we gonna do if this happens?

So that they can react in the moment. They've played out the scenario in their mind and they've already explored some potential trade partners to move either up or down. Yeah, and you obviously had to read this this week editing inbox.

But I used to be a pretty staunch believer in that moving back, you know, finding picks, finding opportunities, because sometimes those players become Jordy Nelson or although it wasn't entirely how that played out, But Casey Hayward, you know guys that you find in the second round that maybe people slept down a little bit that end up being Pro Bowl, all Pro type players. I have shifted though, and I wrote about this an Insider inbox this week.

The fifth year option has really changed me in my the way I see it because it is really a valuable tool. Now the number of years their packers went without really using the fifth year option, if memory serves correct, I want to say, well, hahak Clinton Dix would have been the first one that received it, I believe in

two thousand and fourteen. Certainly they did it again with Kenny Clark and and now, as Brian Goodkin said, in just a matter of time, it will be before Jaire Alexander gets that that's a valuable tool because it allows you that extra year. You talked about the fifth year, fine, but it gives you a bigger window to negotiate a contract with a guy, not just to work all the details of it, but it gives you something to build off of in terms of an extension, using that year

to pro rate funds. And for me, that's a very enticing option. Now, at the beginning of this process, it was a lot of quarterbacks that teams did that. With Lamar Jackson. You think about Teddy Bridgeddy Bridgewater being another one, yeah, and and that they looked at it as a quarterback thing. It really helps you. But now as you're seeing guys like gire Alexander breakout and Kenny Clark breakout, I just think it's such a valuable asset to be able to use.

So for my money, even though if you look at the draft value chart, it will tell you that moving back tense spots isn't really that big of a deal. I do wonder how much in the long run that that really affects things. Yeah. The one thing I will say though, is that we're starting to see a shift with the fifth year option where it's not quite as

team friendly as it used to be. The those fifth year salaries are getting to be a lot more player friendly for guys who play a lot, earned Pro Bowl honors, those kinds of things, they're getting salaries that are much closer to like a franchise tag type of salary, which in the earlier days of the fifth year option, those those uh, those fifth year salaries weren't quite that high, so we are seeing a little bit of shift there. But I do want to ask you also with regard

to the first pick. Okay, we talked about this a little bit on our last show, that a whole planet theory about big guy. There's only so many, you know, that that the Lord puts on the planet. So with the first pick, whether it's at twenty nine or wherever it, maybe, do you see the Packers getting a big guy offensive or defensive line, or do you think they end up selecting a different position. I'm still going with offensive line.

That's gonna be my pick until the pick is made, and then after it gets made, I'll go, why didn't I really think of that? You know? Um, here's the thing you mentioned this, and it's a good it's a salient point, offensive defensive line, getting a big guy. There's a lot of value there. Um, certainly there is a risk. Every picks a risk, you know, and nobody's given, you know, a sure thing in the first round. I've even made that remark and inbox this week, Aaron Donald maybe the

best defensive tackle who's ever played the game. He wasn't a lock, you know, back in two thousand thirteen or wherever he was drafted, he won. He won every college every major college defensive award, his senior year at Pit, his final season at Pit, and then he still lasted till the thirteenth pick of that draft because his his tangents, intangibles didn't didn't really match up for people. But if you just had him take a shirt off and stand or you'd be like, holy gosh, I mean, this is

an Adonis, you know what I mean. But people get so hung up on the measurables. And that's why Brian Goodkin said, you need to kind of have that Mendoza line. Sure, but then you've got to adjust it if there's a player. So I still am leaning towards offensive line, but you start to think about it, Mike cornerback, if there's one that's enticing there that you want to take a shot at.

And honestly, I'm going against everything I've said, but you think about receivers too, and if there is a guy that makes sense for him that late, whether it is Bateman out of Minnesota or whether maybe they cover their eyes a little bit and go with the Elijah more. There are guys at all these positions that I think could be real game changers for them. It hasn't always been like this. There's been many years with the Packers have picked twenty eight beyond where I've kind of been like, well,

who's going to fall to him? Last year was sort of one of those years too. This year, I really think there's a number of guys that that meet that need and also the long term investment that the Packers look for. Yeah, I I've decided if I answered your question no, that that's okay, because I'm not sure I'm

going to answer it either. I you know, these last these last couple of years, I've kind of decided that just nothing is going to surprise me in the first round with Brian Gudukunst anymore, because I I do I think. I do think if there is if there is a top notch offensive tackle or interior defensive lineman who's there at twenty nine or maybe is there at twenty six or twenty five, and and you know, he makes the move to go up, I still think the most likely

pick is a big guy. But certainly a cornerback would not surprise me. And even even though as we talked about before the Packers haven't used a first round pick on a receiver since two thousand two. They haven't used a first round pick on an inside linebacker since two thousand and six. Those wouldn't necessarily surprise me either. I mean, you know this. You know Jamon Davis from Kentucky inside linebacker.

I know a lot of people asking about Jeremiah Osukamo from Notre Gun but um, but you know, a lot of stuff that I'm seeing says no way that that Coamoa is there at twenty nine, that he's he's going to He's going to go off the board much earlier than that. But you mentioned the wide receivers you have. You have Bateman, you have Terris Marshall from l s U, you have Elijah More, Ron Dale Moore, Ca, Darius Tony.

The smaller slot, you know, shift to your guys. Honestly, I just I don't know if I'd be surprised by I don't know if I'd be surprised by anything. At this point, we don't know what the board looks like. Brian, We're sitting here talking about big guys, right offensive defensive lineman. Maybe Brian Goudkuns feels like, you know, he's got his eye on the next you know, Mike Daniels in the fourth round that he knows he can go get this

defensive lineman there, you know he can get. He can get you know, the next Chad Clifton in the second round on the offensive line, you know, a long time left tackle for the Packers who was drafted I believe forty four overall in the middle of the second round. So um. But that leads to, uh to my next

couple of questions. No wide receivers or defensive lineman for the Packers in the draft last year, which which were surprises, I think to a lot of people, including us, where do you think, Because I don't think they're going to go through this draft and not take another wide receiver again, or not take another defensive lineman again. But where do

you think maybe those picks fall for the Packers. So let me say this, if the Packers do go with my original plan, which would be an offensive tackle in the first round, or if if Jenkins is there, then I think it makes a lot of sense to go receiver in the second round because you're gonna somebody's gonna fall there, and and maybe if you move around or you move up a little bit, maybe you can get one of those top flight guys that were seeing as

potential first rounders that slide a little bit. If you go that direction, though, then it leads to the ultimate question. Either if you get to the third round and you don't have a cornerback or defensive lineman, you're starting to fall into the same thing that happened last year, where now you have two perceived positions of need that have yet to be addressed. I just feel like I don't know how all the dominoes fall. I feel like those four positions somewhere in those first five or six picks,

the Packers have to address address those. I just feel like that's not necessarily saying that they need a guy to come in and start right away. But again, as I've repeated over and over again, if the Packers would not take a receiver in the strap, that would be the first time in franchise history that they haven't taken a wide receiver since that designation became a thing in

in three consecutive drafts. It hasn't happened in defensive line. Mike, you just talked about I believe it was twenty six years they went with at least one defensive linemen, um that is going to be playing, you know, in that defensive trench. Obviously Jonathan Garvin was an end that then went to outside linebacker. So for that reason, I just feel like receiver makes a lot of sense potentially in the second round, especially when you factor in the rich

history that Green Bay has there. Yeah, it's interesting. I mean a lot of people, obviously offensively for the Packers, they're asking, Okay, where are they going to get the next offensive tackle if you're gonna find the next Brian Bulaga, the next David baktr whatever in this draft, But then also what are you going to do about wide receiver? What? You know, how this thing falls, You just don't know

where where's the wrench going to be thrown into it? Because, as we talked about on our last show, Christian Barmore from Alabama, Levi on Noozoique from Washington, are the only defensive lineman really being talked about as first round selections. If one of those guys is there at twenty nine or you know, in that range, and Goudaku says, Okay, this is the move we're gonna make. We're gonna we're

gonna take one of these top defensive linemen here. Then you know, how do the rest of the dominos fall to to address these positions of need? And I do have to correct myself on one thing I believe I said in our last show, and I might have said an inbox that five years ago the Packers got Kenny Clark at twenty six. He was actually seven overall correction twenty sixteen. So sorry, I just actually I thought he was. No, it's it's I I double checked in the media guy.

It is actually twenty seven. So if I've if I've been saying that wrong, I apologize. But my point being that, like I said on our last show, the track record for getting defensive lineman late in the first round and having those guys work out is not good. I mean, Kenny Clark is as sort of the exception, not the rule in terms of drafting a guy late in the

first round. So that to me, you know where you get where you find a defensive lineman in this draft to add to the mix with Clark and Kiki and Lowry and Lancaster and those guys, where you find that guy, to me is is sort of a key domino in this whole thing, because that's being talked about as a position that is so thin overall as far as the

prospects in this draft. Yeah, and that's why it's such an interesting situation with defensive lineman because as you said, there are no real sure things at the end of the first round. But you look at the Packers Rock record there in the third round two hasn't been great. You know, it's it's been difficult to find guys there.

Now it's not impossible. Mike Daniels, Dean Lawry, fourth rounders Kingsley Kiki looks like he's gonna be a really good rotational hand here and potentially a starting type caliber player. He was a fifth rounder. There are opportunities there to find those players, but if you get out of the first round, it tends to be a little bit more of a toss up. So it's the question every GM asked this time of the years, with the exception maybe John Snyder, who I think has two draft picks this year.

But for most teams that have I love you, John, most teams that have all this you know this capital, how do you allocate it? Because no matter what, when Saturday night comes, Mike I'm promising you already there is going to be a question addressed to Brian Goodacunst. You guys did an address position X. And that's not a knock on the media. It's just that there's sometimes it's just it. You can address everything in these drafts and

it and it happens. It happens every year because and and that's you know, that's why good coons this personnel's if they don't go they don't go into a draft focused on certain positions. They build their board and you don't go like, oh, you know in the fourth round. It's not like, oh, we haven't addressed you know, inside linebacker yet, so we have to take the best linebacker

on the board in the fourth round. No, if there are other players on the board that are ranked higher, those are the players that they're going to look at more seriously. They're not going to just focus on a specific position because they didn't address it. Because if that were the approach, they would have taken a wide receiver last year, they would have taken a defensive lineman last year.

They proved how they how they go about this. So one last question I'll throw at you before we go the Packers need a third quarterback, right, So do you expect a late round draft pick to be used on a quarterback or do you think they go the undrafted free agent route? Signed somebody sign a rookie after the draft. Allah the Tim Boyle acquisition from a few years ago, and They'm gonna go one step further for you. I'm gonna say they'll use the Kyler fact Roll compensatory pick

in the sixth round to get a quarterback. Sixth round. I do think they draft one um and I'll give you a reason for that. Brian Goodkin said last year when they took Jordan's Love, that they want to be in that business like Ron Wolfe was in that business of using capital, finding good young quarterbacks and developing them in the system. Now they used a little bit higher

pick on Love than than wolf did. But if you look at the track record there Brunell, Brooks, debtmer Uh, certainly Hassle Back, there are some incredible talented players that the Packers developed and then were able to trade down the line. I think they want to get back into that business, but it has to make sense for them. You're not just gonna take a quarterback to take a quarterback if they go to the undrafted route. They have a pretty darn good recent history of that as well.

Now when you look at Taysom Hill and Tim Boyle, so a lot of chips on the table. But one way or another, I'm not saying the guy is gonna be on the fifty three. Who knows how all that will shuffle out, But they have to at another quarterback in the system. You have to have a third one, especially in the age of COVID, you have to have another guy ready, because you saw last year it really can have a detrimental effect to a football team if you're caught with you know, but for lack of a

better expression, your pants down. I I just I have a feeling it's going to be another undrafted guy. I think that I think they've got their eye on the next Tim Boil that they're going to bring in here. But that being said, if it is, if it is a draft pick, I don't think it's prior to the sixth round. I think the sixth round would be the

earliest that they would use a draft pick third quarterback. Brian, if you're listening, if you want some advice, those six round picks, you want to make some moves there, you know, toss those off, maybe throw a seventh rounder in a trade to the New England Patriots. You'll never hear complaints out of me. Always happy to, you know, make that a shorter Saturday night if possible. Yeah, I was gonna say, Saturday ends up being quite the quite the busy day

where they when they have three seventh round picks. That year, the longest night in my life, the one, the one I remember more than any other. There was two thousand and seven because I was all by myself, like and I don't remember exactly, I don't. Can't you remember exactly how many picks it was, but um here, hold on two seconds stalled for me. It was eleven picks, eleven eleven picks, and I was I was all by myself to cover every single guy on the website that year.

So unfortunately just had to with just some fanning showed up in two thousand and eight to uh to help me out a little bit, man, And then you got a kicker in the sixth round. That was a rough year for you, Yeah, there are. Yeah. Two thousand seven was the three consecutive picks in the sixth round where they drafted Mason Crosby, Desmond Bishop and Corey Hall. I believe so. Um, and then you had just enough time to regroup for Shaun Win in the seventh Yes, the

running back from Florida. Of course. Um. Alright, well, I'll tell you what weston. The first big chunk of the off season. We made it. We survived it. The draft. The draft is here, right. This is what everything from the end of the season whenever it does end. Um. This is these three days. This These are the biggest three days of the off season. These scouts, these personnel executives, they spend three d and sixty two days of their lives every year to build up to these three and

it's you know, it's an exciting time. Lots of new guys coming in the fold, and just you know, it is it's it's not like your fantasy football league, but it isn't you know. It is all that work, all that prep and it is just minute by minute life changes, you know, for everybody involved. You know, that's one thing that always hits home with me during this. You know,

the recruiting process. Guys commit to colleges, there's always time to figure out what you want to do or to decommit or recommit in a matter of fifteen minutes on Thursday night, rowned by Picked by Pick. Fortunes are going to change human being, the direction of human beings, lives going to you know, areas, teams and the franchises. There's that line that was brought up. I wish I could attribute it to the right guy. I think Rob Demovsky

might have had someone who said it. You look at that board and there's all those names up there, and inevitably, with a few exceptions, there's Hall of famers abound. There's Pro bowlers and all pros. But there's no cheat sheet to tell you which guys are which. You have to do your research, you have to prepare, and you also have to get a little lucky as well. And that's the game that will be played over three days here

and I cannot wait for it. Yeah, absolutely, And we will recap all of the picks and the happenings and everything next week when we are back with our ensuing shows. But for now, we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscript and be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team, everything going on with the NFL Draft We will have it for you. Stories, videos, reactions, insider inbox questions, you name it, it it will be there for you on packers dot com for West, I'm Mike.

Thank you for tuning in, everybody, See you next time.