#659 Packers Unscripted: Early observations

some of my own offensive side of the ball. Your early impressions through these first handful of practice, Well, I thought Aaron Rodgers said it perfectly from the beginning. He's like, there's gonna be good days. There's gonna be days where the defense wins, and certainly the first day in pads, by and large, it was a defensive winning kind of day.

But what impressed me was how the offense came back in the two minute period and you saw guys, you know, Josiah Deguire making a key catchdown the scene that's set up the field goal that won the drill or whatever you wanna call it. Uh and Also Sammy Watkins came in and also had to move the ball kind of you know, play to get him in territory. For that, this offense, I know a lot is gonna be on Aaron Rodgers shoulders this year, but there's so many guys

that he can rely on and count on. I think you're seeing the way they're using these running backs right now. Certainly they have to figure out what they're starting. Five

is gonna look like. Here, you gotta see what happens with David baktr But ultimately, as I've said it time and time again, for but as much as people were stressing about Davante Adams, and there's a big reason for that, Matt Lafleur mentioned in the playbook or whatever it was, ran through him last season, there are guys ready willing and able to pick up that slack. And that's what I saw in some of those adverse type of situations. Yeah, I agree with you that first practice in Pads, the

defense was definitely getting the better of things. Um, But then you saw towards the tail end of the practice, you saw Rogers and that first team offense kind of snap out of the appinis a little bit. They kind of got things going. They had they did put together a solid two minute drive. There. The biggest things that jump out at me in general with regard to the offense in these first five practices, a that rookie receiver Romeo Dobbs has carried over what looked like a very

strong spring in the practices we got to see. Now we didn't get to see all of them in the spring, but it looked like he got off to a good start in the spring and he's carried that over, I think, into a good start to training camp. But the other thing, and you just hinted at it in your last comment, is how much these running backs Aaron Jones and a J. Dillon are going to be involved in the passing game for Aaron Rodgers. You can see it in the play designs.

You can see it in you know, the way Rogers looks to them in certain situations and not just this isn't just the checkdown stuff when he needs to get rid of the ball. This is this is design stuff that Aaron Jones and a J. Dillon wherever they might line up, usually if they're both on the field together.

Dylan's the one of the backfield and Jones has lined up somewhere as more of like a slaughter or a wide receiver, but wherever they're lined up, there a threat to catch the ball in the passing game in a in a designed, purposeful type of way. That's what That's what I've seen. As much as it's been good to see what al Lazard's doing, what Romeo Dobbs is doing, and and now Sammy Watkins getting involved in eleven on

eleven now a few days into camp. What we're seeing from these running backs I think is the biggest sign of what we're going to see come September and October. And when you talked about that transition point in that practice of where things start to turn around for the offense, I personally felt like it was that the steam route that A. J. Dillon ended up running, because it wasn't just that Rogers made a nice throw to him, it's how Dylan adjusted his body to the ball. He looked

like a receiver on that play. And for a kid that so many people were questioning, you know, how he catches the ball. He didn't do it often at Boston College.

I think over the last sixteen months you've seen him make big strides in that area and and realistically, you know, one of the conversations this week with Dylan and Aaron Jones at their lockers was the idea of, you know, thirty, you know, three thousand yards between the two of them this year, you know, kind of metrics that they're putting out there that are achievable, not just about what they're gonna do and running the ball, but how they can

affect the passing game. And I feel like the more you can keep Aaron Jones healthy, the more opportunities that you give Dylan in this passing game. I feel like that is going to be the really the recipe here for Green Bay early on as you wait for some

of those young receivers to really develop. Yeah, I think I think one of the biggest adjustments schematically that I think Matt Lafleur and Adam Stanovich and this offense are going to make is in order you had your automatic stressor for a defense when Davanta Adams is on the field, right, we saw how the Baltimore Ravens would lie, you know, line up three guys in a triangle on one side of the field to make sure Davantae Adams didn't really

have anywhere to go. He was the automatic stressor. I think the stressor that they're going to try to employ in two is make the defense react to both of these running backs being on the field at the same time. How do you want to match up with an extra dB, with an extra linebacker? And you know, and then you have a guy like Aaron Rodgers at the controls who can look at how the defense is matching up and go, Okay, this is what we want to do to get ourselves

in the best possible play. I think those two running backs are the guys that the Packers are going to use to try to dictate to the defense or at least test the defense see how they react, and then you let Aaron Rodgers do his thing, because the more eyes that are ultimately going to be on those backs, the more opportunities it's also going to open up for

the passing game. And the Packers have all these guys that play different positions and play all those positions differently in and of themselves that I think really that's going to be a massive opportunity for them. Again, going back to that Daguara play Daguia and that f tight end role, that h back type role. That was a hallmark of

what Kyle Shanahan did. You look at what's happening now in Miami with them signing INGLED and and I see Daguires being a guy that can fit into that as well, along with Dominic Dafney, depending on all that shuffles up. There are so many different mechanisms in scheme variations that the Packers can work into this thing. It's just not

your traditional eleven personnel. Over and over again, the Packers are gonna hit you with different waves, and that's ultimately what you have to do when you lose a guy like Davante Adams. Yeah, well, shifting gears to the defensive side of the ball. I don't think we can start a conversation about early impressions on defense without mentioning the name Rashan Gary. We were there at practice every day.

We see all of the eleven on eleven reps, and the guy's just a presence on the field, play after play after play. Now, I think we're going to see potentially even more of that now that the pads are going on. We're going to see him in you know, the one on one pass rush, pass protection, drill. But Rashan Gary, the guy just shows up to play every day, whether it's a game, whether it's a practice, even in the jog through, He's going to find a way to

make his presence felt on the field. And and you can just you can just see now, you know, year number four for Rashan Gary, he's growing into that, really growing into that stand up outside linebacker, that classic edge rusher set the edge player, but also becoming you know, I know it's a cliche, but becoming a true leader by example on the defensive side in terms of how

he carries himself. It's the blueprint. It is the way in which you not only look for a first round pick to to work in to to really harness his technique. It's the way you want to see from any player to have that much, you know, kind of fire in the belly, so to speak. And until he stops playing, until he's no longer in Green Bay. That the thing I'm always going to go back to with Rashan Gary is the first thing that Mike Smith was saying during

his rookie year. When a guy is that physically gifted and he works that hard, those individuals do not fail because everything, Every bad box is checked in that way. It's just allowing your body to catch up. People forget I mean, Rashawn Garry's not going to be what four years old until December. I mean this time, he was a guy who came into the league making a position transition.

He went. He was a down lineman at Michigan, not a nose tackle, not saying he was an interior guy, but he was a down lineman, hand in the dirt, uh, down lineman at Michigan, and the Packers drafted him twelfth overall with the immediate plan to convert him into a stand up outside linebacker, slash pass rusher and UH and the transformation, yes, it did take some time, and he is there now. But yet at the same time, you can see the transformation isn't totally complete because he hasn't

he hasn't reached his peak yet. I don't think it's just watching him. We had our first opportunity to see the one on one pass rust trails and I wrote in our insider inbox, Colum, I mean, the guy is just shot out of a cannon. And I understand it's a drill that is designed for the defense. They they they're the ones jumping it. It's a one on one situation there, pinning their ears back. They don't have to worry about the run, but it's when the whistle blows

and the ball is snapped. The amount of kinetic energy that this young man develops in an instant is special. I've never seen anything quite like it. I wasn't here for Clay Matthews and like his absolute zenith and oh nine and ten in those years, maybe that's how it looked. Yeah, he was. He was pretty darn impressive right from the gift. But the speed to power of this kid is just

off the charts. And again, as long as he can stay healthy and as long as the Packers can find a way to get some snaps off of him throughout the course of the season, I mean, the sky is the absolute limit. Yeah. Well, also worth mentioning a couple other things on the defensive side. One with regard to the two minute drills that we've seen the last few

days in practice, Very very competitive. It's always my favorite eleven on eleven to watch is the two minute because you know they'll pit ones against ones and you know there's seventy seventy yards to defend. The clock is running, there's time outs, whatever, here we go. The d fence has had really really good opportunities to win those uh shama.

John Charles and Adrian Amos in the last couple of two minute drills both had great chances for interceptions to beat Aaron Rodgers to win to win that that two minute drill against the number one offense, but came up just a little short. John Charles was ruled to have bobbled the ball and was out of bounds out the back of the end zone. And then on the next play Aaron Rodger sits Alana's arn't for the touchdown. Then yesterday Adrian Amos has a great chance for an interception

at the goal line, can't quite bring it in. Still a solid pass break up, but because the offense only needed a field goal, they send out the kicker and they win the drill, whereas the defense is kicking itself because because the unit knows that it should have had

an interception there. That's been fun to watch. The other thing, though, I want to touch on, is a story that you've got on our website now with regard to the defensive line, and we talked about this leading up to training camp and the changes personnel wise that were made in the off season, but those the two biggest personnel additions to that defensive line, Jarren Reid and Davante Wyatt, both starting to show up in practice. They really are. And this is the part of it that I wrote this in

the story. I mean, every year around this time, you'll hear Jerry Montgomery talk about it. You heard Mike Petton talk about it, and obviously you know the transition to Joe Barrier's defensive coordinator finding ways to to kind of reduce the workload on Kenny Clark and by proxy, you know Dean Lowry, and it's just been so difficult to get those guys off the field. I mean, they basically both played every snap just about in that playoff game

against the forty Niners. Trying to find ways to deepen that rotation. Well, they did it this offseason, and it came from three different levels. It was draft taking t J Slaton, a guy that projects as a true nose tackle. We had really some explosiveness and twitch, a guy who

was really coming on late in his rest season. Took him a little while to get there, to kind of get his feet under him, but we saw Slaton making more of an impact later in the year than in the early part of his sure And then you know, you go and get Jarren Read, a guy that was in that NFL draft class with Clark in Laurie, a guy that's had ten and a half sacks in this league, a guy that's also been a run stuffer and has only missed I believe it was eight games in six

NFL seasons. And then lastly, it was getting Davante Why for the first time in six years since Kenny Clark actually investing a first round pick into that position, And what stood out to me in practice on Monday, it was twofold one. Just what Jaren Reid could potentially give them in a base front when you when you mix in Clark at a nose tackle position, when you have Laurie had a four or five technique. Jared Reid is a guy that's going to hold his own on his

side of the line. You're not gonna have to worry about him. I think we already knew that going in, but actually seeing him in the paths really shows you how he can really eat up some space with his body type. And Davonte Wyatt again going back to those one on one drills. That does not make a defensive lineman.

It does not make you a pro bowler. But I remember watching him on the sled in the off season program and just seeing the way his feet work, the amount of mass that he has there, and how quickly he can get from one side to another. Devonte White looked really good in a three technique in the in

the one on one spot as well. So the Packers need to find ways to to lessen the load on Clark and Lowry, to to not only just keep them fresh, but make them even more impactful when they're on the field, and for the first time in a few years, they might really have the core to do it. Yeah, the way I look at the way I look at this unit in this day and age, of the vast majority of snaps, only three or two down linemen defensively are

on the field at any given time. That when the Packers have a five s some of Clark, Lowry, Wyatt, Read and Slaton, whatever order you want to put him in, that's that's as deep a five at that position group as I can recall being around here, probably since you know the days of the old four three before Don Caper's even even walked in the door, so to speak. So um, that's that's going to be interesting and exciting to watch. I do want to get to some sponsor business. Here.

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we believe in better all right. I want to hit on a few guys that I that for right now, these early stages of camp, I consider sort of these intriguing individual stories and I'm gonna throw one name your way because you wrote about him. The story is still on our website for those who want to go find it, and I'm talking about Rico Gafford. Um interesting young man with an interesting backstory. Here tell us what you've learned. He's the hopeful right twenty six years old, was signed

as a futures signing back in January. Patricks have actually had some good luck with that the last years, finding guys on the practice squad in the end of the roster um after the seasons over guys that are just on the street. Gafford is so interesting to me, Mike. Obviously, the four to two speed, going back to his Wyoming pro dade. That's how this guy got on the map. That's why the Raiders invested three years into him and ultimately tried moving him to the receiver position. The Packers

have moved him back to cornerback. That started with a conversation with Matt Lafloor Enrico this offseason, right after they draft three receivers. You kind of look at the lay of the land, you look at the investment the Packers have made at that position. With Sammy Watkins also be added, it was gonna be up, you know, uphill sledding there for for Gafford to make the rosters. So what about cornerback,

the position he originally played to begin with. We're seeing him being used on some of these special teams units. You saw him going back for some some returns the last few days. But really it's how he's performed in these number two defensive periods that have impressed me. The most. The guy's made quite a few, you know, past deflections, broken up some stuff. He's not been an easy guy

to complete against. And when you look at speed, when you add in the technique and you maybe give a guy with those type of intangibles and you add him with a Jerry Gray, you do kind of wonder what's possible there for this young guy. Now again, this is his fifth NFL training camp. He's trying to make this thing work. I feel like the hunger is there with Gafford knowing that he isn't sure how many more of these opportunities he's gonna get, and he wants to find

his way on to the fifty three. And for the first week of training camp, I think he's done everything right. Yeah, that guy is he's lightning fast man cow. He can, really he can. You're not going to get a goal ball on him. I mean you might get him with some stuff off the line of scrimmage, but if you're trying to go downfield, he's going to catch up. It's Harry Sam Seals esque. Yeah, and he's wearing Sam Shields No.

Number thirty seven, So go figure um. A couple of guys I want to mention one we talked about on our last show, and that's Jake Hansen on the offensive line, and I wanted to bring him up again. He's he's in one of the two main number one line combinations that we talked about on our last show. I talked with him yesterday and he's the lead item in yesterday's five Things Learned from Training Camp for those who want

to check that out. He brought up a really interesting point, and it's the kind of thing that even as long as you and I are around this and we talked to guys and we cover you know, the team on a daily basis year after year, that we forget about. And what he talked about is how last year he pretty much spent all of the regular season practices on the scout team. He was he was scout team offense, either at center or guard, depending on you know, how

they were using him that particular day. Well what did that mean for him? That meant every single day in practice he's going up against Kenny Clark and Dean Lowry, you know. And so when we talk about how Jake Hansen is suddenly now because of you know, Elton Jenkins, David Botr being out in the line being shuffled around. Jake Hansen is one of the guys being looked at, you know, ad guard on the offensive line. How does a guy like that just come out of nowhere? Sixth

round pick? A couple of years ago practice squad, had some injury, had a had an injury as a rookie, hip injury that required surgery. All of this, then last year, you know, barely appears in some games that you know for some special team snaps. How does he get to this point? It's because he spent every day in practice last year going up against Clark and Lowry because he was a scout team offensive lineman. He's a better player now than he was, and the coaches are giving him

a chance to show that. So I wanted to just try to expound a little bit on what we talked about with Hanson last time in terms of how he's gotten to where he is right now. And the other one I'm gonna keep my eye on the rest of training camp is Randy Ramsey at outside linebacker. This is a guy he went down in the fifth training camp practice last year a really nasty ankle injury. It was a couple of torn ankle ligaments, as well as a

fractured fibula. He ended up being out almost to the day a calendar year, and he's now returned to practice. He's back out on the field. And while the Packers know that they're one and two edge rushers are Rashawn Gary and Preston Smith, number three on down the depth chart, however far it's going to go is absolutely wide open. And Randy Ramsey is a guy now that he's back on the field, and with how much this organization believes

in him. When you only spend a fifth round pick at edge rusher and you don't sign any free agents in a year that you lose the Darius Smith and you really only have those top two guys has proven it says something with Brian gudokun Sen, the personnel department in Matt Lafleur, what they think of Randy Ramsey and what he could bring to this unit when he's healthy. So he's a guy in my mind to keep an eye on these next several weeks. Yeah, keep in mind too,

I mean Randy Ramsey, this isn't his first rodeo. This is his fourth year in Green Bay now, I mean he was an undrafted free agent in two thousand nineteen that was on the practice squad and an impact player on special teams two years ago. He made that job the following year. He you know Ramsey, we talked to him a little bit before the injury, and you can tell his story and where he comes from, just just

how motivated he is to make this thing go. And if you're gonna be an undrafted guy, or you're gonna be a late round pick like Jonathan Garvin was, or even to some you know, some extent kingsley A Nabari, these guys you couldn't ask for a better opportunity because the packers are literally saying, we got a guy in Preston Smith and another guy a budding star in Rashaan Gary, and when they're off the field, we need one of

you young guys to relieve them. So that's where I feel like this competition it almost is somewhat like the receiver competition to some extent, where it's like guys need to step up and they're not gonna bring in somebody to take their place. They're asking you to give your best side of yourself to contribute to this cause. So teep A naly I, you look at a guy like Ladarius Hamilton's came in last year. I thought Hamilton's had some pretty good one on one reps. Opportunity is knocking

big time at that position. These preseason games, Mike are going to be critical because for Ramsey's case, we got to see how they integrate him into this thing. But the truck's already moving with special teams, so it's like, you know, where are you going to be able to add potentially to this defense too? So and that that's where, you know, I feel like with him being off, there's gonna be a little bit of a curve there to get back in this thing. But but certainly the Packers

believe in the kid. They wouldn't have been along on this right as long as they have if they didn't. Yeah, absolutely well with that, We're up against it, So we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of training camp all kinds of stuff for you on Packers dot com. For West, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We'll see you next time.