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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Green Bay Packers · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:25
Speaker 1: Welcome to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
0:28
Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
0:31
Speaker 1: in the world, over thirteen years strong. Got a great
0:34
Speaker 1: opposition Territory pod coming your way this week as we
0:37
Speaker 1: focus on the Green Bay Packers. What this team is
0:40
Speaker 1: not only doing throughout training camp right now various position battles,
0:44
Speaker 1: but how this upcoming season may look for the Packers
0:48
Speaker 1: as a potential contender in the NFC. It's gonna be
0:53
Speaker 1: an interesting football season, for sure.
0:55
Speaker 2: We're all getting psyched for it.
0:57
Speaker 1: Coming to us from Acme Packing Company, We've got our
1:01
Speaker 1: good friend Evan TeX's Western text buddy, Thanks so much
1:04
Speaker 1: for taking the time to jump on here.
1:05
Speaker 2: Good to see you.
1:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, good to see you too, Jeff. Always a pleasure,
1:08
Speaker 3: and yeah, we're we're right in the thick.
1:11
Speaker 4: Of it here.
1:11
Speaker 3: Packers are good enough for their annual family night on
1:13
Speaker 3: Friday nights, so they'll take to take to the lights
1:16
Speaker 3: at Lambeau and get get a good practice in Friday
1:20
Speaker 3: and then Jesus, it's crazy to think that we're a
1:23
Speaker 3: little over a week away from the start of the
1:24
Speaker 3: preseason already.
1:25
Speaker 2: Can't believe it, can't believe it.
1:27
Speaker 1: And our two teams that we follow, Packers Eagles, two
1:31
Speaker 1: of the I would say, top teams potentially in the NFC.
1:36
Speaker 1: And how this is all going to shape out is
1:38
Speaker 1: going to be so interesting. And I find the Packers
1:41
Speaker 1: to be fascinating because it appears as though the national
1:45
Speaker 1: narrative is that there is some skepticism about the Packers
1:48
Speaker 1: being able to contend this season because they basically jettisoned
1:51
Speaker 1: a lot of their talent during.
1:53
Speaker 2: The off seasons.
1:55
Speaker 1: It seemed like it was like half the team, you know,
1:57
Speaker 1: it was gone from last year tech And I guess
2:01
Speaker 1: from an overall perspective, how are things sitting with Packers
2:05
Speaker 1: Nation right now in terms of how competitive this team
2:07
Speaker 1: can be given the offseason moves and that there is
2:11
Speaker 1: that bit of uncertainty as part of this Packers narrative
2:15
Speaker 1: here at the moment, How are things playing out?
2:17
Speaker 2: Just from an overall vibes feel here.
2:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think Packers fans are optimistic, just like we've
2:22
Speaker 3: been the last couple of seasons. You know, Jordan Love
2:25
Speaker 3: is you know, a if not one of you know
2:29
Speaker 3: that that top three or four quarterback tier.
2:32
Speaker 4: He's in that next tier for sure.
2:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know, we've we've certainly seen him play
2:37
Speaker 3: more than well enough to win win a couple of
2:38
Speaker 3: playoff games, a lot of changes on defense, new defensive coordinator,
2:43
Speaker 3: there's a little bit of excitement coming in there with
2:46
Speaker 3: with a little bit of different scheme, and it really
2:48
Speaker 3: felt like last season they kind of fell apart down
2:50
Speaker 3: the stretch. So there's some some optimism there moving back
2:53
Speaker 3: towards the three four defense, which I think a lot
2:55
Speaker 3: of the personnel really sets up well on the defensive.
2:58
Speaker 4: Front for that.
3:00
Speaker 3: So yeah, I mean there's there's certainly a lot of
3:02
Speaker 3: players who left in the off season, There's no question
3:04
Speaker 3: about that. But I think we've we've maybe even talked
3:07
Speaker 3: about it earlier in the off season leading up to
3:09
Speaker 3: the draft or something maybe that it was very much
3:11
Speaker 3: an off season of this organization deciding who their core
3:15
Speaker 3: players were going to be and building around them. And
3:18
Speaker 3: if you're not part of that core that they've they've
3:21
Speaker 3: determined they were going to let you walk and and
3:23
Speaker 3: they weren't going to overpay you. And you know, we've
3:26
Speaker 3: seen it with some of the contract extensions that they've
3:28
Speaker 3: they've already signed, right, Christian Watson, DeVante Wyatt just got
3:32
Speaker 3: done a week or two ago. Tucker Craft's deal is
3:35
Speaker 3: going to be done before the regular season starts. I
3:38
Speaker 3: think that's that's pretty much, you know, a done deal
3:40
Speaker 3: and assumed at the point. And so you know it's
3:45
Speaker 3: and and everybody that this team had had had let
3:50
Speaker 3: go in the off season, there's somebody waiting in the
3:52
Speaker 3: wings to take over that role. You know, with Rashid
3:55
Speaker 3: Walker leaving the left tackle, Jordan Morgan's ready to step
3:58
Speaker 3: in and be the left tackle the future for this team.
4:01
Speaker 3: At receiver right Don Tavian Wick's going to Philly and
4:04
Speaker 3: Roma Dab's going to New England. Well, Matthew Golden's coming
4:07
Speaker 3: into year two and really started taking a little bit
4:10
Speaker 3: of a step at the end of the end of
4:11
Speaker 3: last season. Jayden Reid was hurt for a lot of
4:13
Speaker 3: last year and is going to take up a lot
4:15
Speaker 3: more snaps too. So there are players ready to move
4:19
Speaker 3: into these roles that are being vacated with with the departures. Again,
4:23
Speaker 3: this team always preaches and practices draft and develop and
4:27
Speaker 3: develop your own talent, and they added a couple of
4:29
Speaker 3: pieces here and there on the margins. I mean Javon
4:32
Speaker 3: Hargrave coming back to reunite with Jonathan Gannon we've talked about.
4:35
Speaker 3: I mean, that's a that's a great complimentary piece right
4:39
Speaker 3: to having the rotation on the defensive line. At this point,
4:42
Speaker 3: you're not going to get you know, ninety percent of
4:44
Speaker 3: the snaps out of him, but you don't need that.
4:45
Speaker 3: They've got enough bodies to move around, So those types
4:49
Speaker 3: of They made a couple of smart, little, you know,
4:52
Speaker 3: acquisitions here and there, and they also geared up a
4:55
Speaker 3: bunch on draft picks with with compensatory picks for letting
4:58
Speaker 3: guys walk this offseason into next year for next year's
5:03
Speaker 3: draft as well, so they've got some amo and really,
5:07
Speaker 3: you know, I think this this team is like much
5:09
Speaker 3: like last year's team is. If they can stay healthy,
5:11
Speaker 3: they're going to be right in the thick of it
5:12
Speaker 3: in the NFC North. Once again. Last year they didn't
5:16
Speaker 3: and and it all kind of fell apart down the stretch.
5:18
Speaker 3: But you know, we'll see when Michael Parsons kind of
5:21
Speaker 3: gets back and how that goes. But yeah, there's there's
5:23
Speaker 3: still very much, you know, a ton of optimism that
5:27
Speaker 3: you know, this year they're going to be in contention,
5:29
Speaker 3: and you know this, this window is very much wide
5:32
Speaker 3: open for the next several years for this team, really
5:35
Speaker 3: again settling on who that core group of players is
5:38
Speaker 3: going to be here.
5:39
Speaker 2: New coordinators.
5:40
Speaker 1: It's always a fun mental exercise here in Philadelphia. You know,
5:45
Speaker 1: you have a new offensive coordinator coming in and Sean
5:48
Speaker 1: Manion and what that Eagle scheme is actually going to
5:51
Speaker 1: look like. There are new plays that are being developed
5:53
Speaker 1: from reports and just talking to the players. The it's
5:58
Speaker 1: a new experience. There's gonna be new experience for the
6:00
Speaker 1: fan base as well. And I would imagine Packers Nation
6:03
Speaker 1: is also really excited about new defensive coordinator coming in.
6:07
Speaker 1: You know, what are we going to see in terms
6:09
Speaker 1: of blitzes, in terms of those stunts, and how opposing
6:13
Speaker 1: quarterbacks are going to be pressured, just what the secondary
6:16
Speaker 1: is going to look like as well, new coordinators. It's
6:18
Speaker 1: such an underrated storyline at times, I think from a
6:22
Speaker 1: general and more macro standpoint, new coordinators so exciting.
6:26
Speaker 3: Man absolutely right, and and this is it's something that
6:30
Speaker 3: Packers fans have kind of gotten used to over the
6:32
Speaker 3: last couple of years. Right definitely was only here for
6:34
Speaker 3: two years before before he left for the Miami job
6:37
Speaker 3: in the off season. So there've been there have been changes,
6:41
Speaker 3: but again, I think you know the again, how much
6:45
Speaker 3: of the four three three four change really matters these days?
6:48
Speaker 4: Right, That's that's debatable.
6:51
Speaker 3: But it does feel like, you know, this group is
6:54
Speaker 3: set up well to work well within within gannon scheme.
6:58
Speaker 3: Probably gonna be a lot of cover for and and
7:02
Speaker 3: like you said, some some interesting blitzes and stunts and things.
7:05
Speaker 3: It seems like he's already been more aggressive in terms
7:08
Speaker 3: of sending more creative stuff even in practice. Yeah, than
7:12
Speaker 3: Halfley was last year. It seemed like, you know, Halfley
7:15
Speaker 3: was and and with again with Micah for there for
7:18
Speaker 3: most of the season last year, he was able to
7:21
Speaker 3: just sort of, you know, set back, let Micah do
7:24
Speaker 3: his thing, and and they were going to generate some pressure.
7:27
Speaker 3: I think they're anticipating already, we're gonna have to get
7:30
Speaker 3: a little more creative as he works his way back
7:32
Speaker 3: into the lineup. And even when he's back, the Packers
7:35
Speaker 3: last year didn't have a whole lot of pass rush
7:37
Speaker 3: sands Micah Parsons, especially late in games.
7:41
Speaker 4: I wrote a thing about that not.
7:42
Speaker 3: Too long ago, but that that Micah had like half
7:46
Speaker 3: of the team's sacks in the fourth quarter in overtime
7:48
Speaker 3: of games, and and and they just didn't have another closer,
7:53
Speaker 3: and they need to they need to find that, they
7:54
Speaker 3: need to figure out a way to get pressure with
7:56
Speaker 3: with other players. But it does feel like yeah, yeah, ye,
8:00
Speaker 3: But it does feel like there's been more of an
8:02
Speaker 3: effort to be aggressive and to manufacture pressure in different
8:06
Speaker 3: ways this year rather than just saying, Okay, Mike, go
8:09
Speaker 3: out there and do your thing.
8:10
Speaker 2: Yeah.
8:10
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Look, no NFL team is perfect out there. There
8:13
Speaker 1: are always strengths, always weaknesses. Want to get into the
8:17
Speaker 1: strength and weakness of this Packers team in an honest fashion.
8:20
Speaker 1: So let's start with the biggest strength of this team.
8:23
Speaker 1: Biggest strength that you're seeing here in camp.
8:25
Speaker 2: What is that text? Yeah?
8:28
Speaker 3: I think for now it's the passing game again. We
8:30
Speaker 3: talked about Jordan Love, the big They're going to have
8:33
Speaker 3: kind of the big three receivers in Christian Watson, Jaden Reid,
8:37
Speaker 3: and Matthew Golden, and all three of those guys have
8:39
Speaker 3: looked really crisp, really good so far in camp. You know, Watson,
8:45
Speaker 3: it feels like I'm knocking on the biggest piece of
8:47
Speaker 3: what I can find right now, But it really feels
8:49
Speaker 3: like last year, you know, him coming back from the
8:52
Speaker 3: torny ACL, he turned a corner on the injury stuff.
8:55
Speaker 3: Even really the year before, right he played basically every
8:58
Speaker 3: game up until tearing the ACL. Well, so it does
9:01
Speaker 3: feel like, you know, he's he's taken a step forward
9:04
Speaker 3: in terms of his ability to stay healthy and manage
9:07
Speaker 3: some of the soft tissue injuries that were a problem
9:09
Speaker 3: for him previously. But Golden really again took a step.
9:13
Speaker 3: He had a big game against Chicago in the wildcard game,
9:16
Speaker 3: and he looks like someone who is ready for a
9:20
Speaker 3: starting job. Jayden Reid still does so much, you know,
9:23
Speaker 3: inside and outside. And this team is fast. This this
9:27
Speaker 3: is the fastest receiving core that the Packers have ever had,
9:30
Speaker 3: just top to bottom. And I ran the numbers on
9:34
Speaker 3: I think I looked at the top six receivers on
9:36
Speaker 3: everybody's offseason roster, and only one team, by average forty
9:40
Speaker 3: yard dashtime from pro days and combine and stuff, only
9:43
Speaker 3: the Bears had a faster aggregate like average forty.
9:46
Speaker 4: Times than the Packers.
9:47
Speaker 2: Wow.
9:47
Speaker 3: And it was by like you know, point oh five
9:50
Speaker 3: seconds or something like that. So like they're right there
9:52
Speaker 3: neck and neck is number one. So it's definitely something
9:55
Speaker 3: that seems like it's a priority, and it feels like
9:58
Speaker 3: that is some thing where the way that the current
10:01
Speaker 3: NFL is going with coverage schemes and things on defense,
10:06
Speaker 3: that's that's something that especially if you can if you
10:09
Speaker 3: can stretch the field laterally too, right, you know, deep
10:11
Speaker 3: overs and and deep incutters and stuff are are ways
10:14
Speaker 3: that you can definitely win kind of in the intermediate
10:17
Speaker 3: areas of the field. And Jordan Love is not afraid
10:20
Speaker 3: to throw the ball over the middle. So I think
10:22
Speaker 3: it sets up really well to have You've got a
10:26
Speaker 3: diverse group, but also a group of guys who just
10:29
Speaker 3: have crazy speed. Yeah, and that's going to be a
10:32
Speaker 3: big plus I think for for this this offense overall
10:35
Speaker 3: question is just going to be is is bett Leffler
10:38
Speaker 3: going to let Love open it up and and you know,
10:41
Speaker 3: just let it take the reins off of him a
10:42
Speaker 3: little bit. I'll you know, talk about that in a
10:44
Speaker 3: few minutes. I think, yeah, absolutely, Yeah, that that that
10:47
Speaker 3: feels like the biggest strength to me. Weakness wise, this
10:51
Speaker 3: team is very thin at corner and they need to
10:55
Speaker 3: find they need to find some corners, and I think
10:58
Speaker 3: I'll just defensively as well. The run defense was a
11:01
Speaker 3: big question mark last year. I don't know that it's
11:03
Speaker 3: I don't know that it's a weakness this year, but
11:05
Speaker 3: it's a big question good. Yeah, yeah, they you know,
11:09
Speaker 3: they got DeVante Wyatt back. He was a big part
11:12
Speaker 3: of the run defense being solid in the early part
11:15
Speaker 3: of the season. Javon Hargrave hopefully will help out a
11:17
Speaker 3: little bit. But they don't have that big body, nose
11:22
Speaker 3: tackle in the middle that you can really count on,
11:24
Speaker 3: you know, on first and second down to just two gap,
11:27
Speaker 3: plug up the middle of the line and stuff the run.
11:30
Speaker 3: So they're gonna have to figure out different ways to
11:33
Speaker 3: stop the run with different strategies and things defensively. So
11:37
Speaker 3: that's one of my biggest concerns. But then yeah, depth
11:39
Speaker 3: of corner is also a big concern right now.
11:43
Speaker 2: All right, folks, we're going to take a break.
11:44
Speaker 1: When we get back, we're going to dive into Jordan Love,
11:47
Speaker 1: We're going to dive into this defense. What we're going
11:49
Speaker 1: to be seeing and text touched on it, cornerback room,
11:53
Speaker 1: and what the pass rush is also going to look
11:55
Speaker 1: like as well.
11:56
Speaker 2: Stick with us. We'll be back in just a bit.
12:00
Speaker 1: All right, we are back with our good buddy, Evan
12:02
Speaker 1: text Western from Acmepackingcompany dot Com. Let everybody know where
12:07
Speaker 1: they can find you out there on the interwebs if
12:09
Speaker 1: they want to connect with you and read some of
12:11
Speaker 1: your material out there.
12:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, Acting Packingcompany dot Com. We're in the midst
12:17
Speaker 3: of training camp obviously, so we've got a lot of
12:19
Speaker 3: stuff going on there if you want to hear me
12:23
Speaker 3: talk a little more too. Frozen Tunder Frequencies is our
12:26
Speaker 3: podcast network, so I usually do our game recap podcasts.
12:29
Speaker 3: Will be kind of ramping up as we get through
12:31
Speaker 3: the preseason here obviously, and then you know, Week one
12:34
Speaker 3: we'll kick off and then I'm active on Blue Sky
12:38
Speaker 3: at text Western. You can find the sites at Frozen
12:43
Speaker 3: Tundra Pod and at ACME Packing Co. On the socials
12:46
Speaker 3: as well, you.
12:47
Speaker 2: Touched on Jordan Love a bit.
12:49
Speaker 1: Now I want to dive into what we're going to
12:51
Speaker 1: see from an expectation standpoint from him in a bit
12:54
Speaker 1: more detail here text because he does have some things
12:57
Speaker 1: to prove on the fields. Definitely hop talented quarterback in
13:01
Speaker 1: this league. You know, I would arguably say a top
13:05
Speaker 1: ten talent for sure. Where do you see Jordan Love
13:08
Speaker 1: heading this coming season and what does he have to
13:11
Speaker 1: do from an offensive perspective to get the offense over
13:14
Speaker 1: the hump into that possible playoff run, perhaps to an
13:19
Speaker 1: NFC championship game. You mentioned earlier, Matt Lafleur like letting
13:23
Speaker 1: him be the Jordan Love basically that we know that
13:26
Speaker 1: he probably can be. So expectations for Jordan Love here
13:30
Speaker 1: get into it, man.
13:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think they can be and should
13:34
Speaker 3: be sky high. He's got a really again, really talented
13:38
Speaker 3: receiving corp. Tucker Craft is back off the pub list
13:40
Speaker 3: after his ACL tear. He was a massive, massive weapon
13:44
Speaker 3: in the first half of last season, and so you
13:46
Speaker 3: know that safety valve is back. He's really developed a
13:49
Speaker 3: great rapport with with Christian Watson and Jaden Reid and
13:51
Speaker 3: these guys, and I really think he gets he gets
13:55
Speaker 3: unfairly maligned for his interceptions, his turnovers, because when you
14:00
Speaker 3: look at the turnover rate, it's pretty darn low. I mean,
14:03
Speaker 3: he's a he's a top ten quarterback in terms of
14:05
Speaker 3: lowest turnover rate in the NFL. It's just that the
14:09
Speaker 3: ones that he does throw are like blooper real bad
14:14
Speaker 3: so there they get this. You know, he's got this
14:17
Speaker 3: weird reputation I guess for being this this turnover pron quarterback,
14:22
Speaker 3: But it's just he's he's just a little bit goofy
14:26
Speaker 3: physically sometimes, so when weird things happen, it just looks
14:29
Speaker 3: funny and they stick out, I think, to people a
14:32
Speaker 3: little more than they do for other quarterbacks. But you
14:34
Speaker 3: look at the numbers efficiency wise, he was off the
14:37
Speaker 3: charts last year. He had the second best EPA per
14:39
Speaker 3: play behind Drake May. You know, he's one of the
14:42
Speaker 3: best quarterbacks in terms of completion percentage over over expectation
14:47
Speaker 3: last year. And so you know, the the narrative that
14:51
Speaker 3: I see nationally on him just doesn't match up with
14:54
Speaker 3: what the stats tell us. And the frustration that the
14:57
Speaker 3: Packers fans I think have with Matt lu Is. It
15:01
Speaker 3: feels like he just is so dead set on being
15:04
Speaker 3: a power running team when that doesn't really match up
15:07
Speaker 3: with the personality has the offensive line that's that the
15:11
Speaker 3: Packers have historically had. You know, you you've got to
15:14
Speaker 3: trust your quarterback and you've got to let him go,
15:16
Speaker 3: and and you started to see that at times last year,
15:19
Speaker 3: and and again he's done it in the playoffs, right,
15:22
Speaker 3: he had that amazing game in Dallas a couple of
15:24
Speaker 3: years ago in his first playoff game, in the Wildcred
15:27
Speaker 3: game against the Bears. I'm looking at the stat line
15:29
Speaker 3: right now, twenty four or forty six, three hundred and
15:31
Speaker 3: twenty three yards, four touchdowns, no picks. Yeah, like that's
15:34
Speaker 3: a that's a fantastic performance. And it was a complete
15:37
Speaker 3: collapse by the defense in the second half that that
15:41
Speaker 3: let that game get away. We saw that how many
15:44
Speaker 3: years with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay exactly, the defense
15:47
Speaker 3: blowing playoff games. So that that, more so than than
15:51
Speaker 3: anything is you know, I think he's being I think
15:54
Speaker 3: he's held back a little bit by the structure of
15:56
Speaker 3: the offense and and and just again Lafleur's real insistence
16:02
Speaker 3: on balance, and that's kind of frustrating because when he's
16:07
Speaker 3: allowed to let it rip, you know, it's it's worked really,
16:11
Speaker 3: really well. And he's got explosive receivers. He's got guys
16:14
Speaker 3: can that can put pick up yards after the catch.
16:17
Speaker 3: Tucker Craft was the best yards after the catch receiver
16:20
Speaker 3: in football last year. That's regardless of position he was,
16:24
Speaker 3: he was the best yards per catch or yards after
16:27
Speaker 3: the catch receiver at any position in football last year,
16:30
Speaker 3: and that's a huge weapon that this team is going
16:33
Speaker 3: to get back.
16:34
Speaker 2: They didn't.
16:34
Speaker 3: They had him and Christian Watson together healthy for one
16:37
Speaker 3: game last year. Yeah, I think they combined for over
16:39
Speaker 3: two hundred yards in that game and a couple of touchdowns.
16:42
Speaker 3: If they're back together this entire season and healthy again,
16:46
Speaker 3: look out manse because defenses are going to have a
16:49
Speaker 3: nightmare trying to figure out which one of those guys
16:52
Speaker 3: that they want to take away on any given play.
16:53
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
16:54
Speaker 1: Look, I appreciated Tucker Craft on my fantasy football team
16:57
Speaker 1: last year was yards after.
16:58
Speaker 2: The catch man.
16:59
Speaker 1: It was so it was key, it was and even
17:02
Speaker 1: though he was injured, still won the fantasy football league
17:05
Speaker 1: last year, the one that I made anyway. But let's
17:08
Speaker 1: move over to the defense here text because you know
17:11
Speaker 1: you mentioned the cornerbacks earlier, and I think this really
17:14
Speaker 1: could be the Achilles heel of this team in the
17:16
Speaker 1: NFC North, when you have prolific offenses like the Chicago Bears,
17:21
Speaker 1: you still have a Detroit Lions team that has some
17:24
Speaker 1: weapons on it in terms of receivers as well. I think,
17:30
Speaker 1: and I don't think actually, I know the cornerback position
17:33
Speaker 1: was arguably the Packers' biggest, you know need heading into
17:36
Speaker 1: the offseason. They addressed the position I think aggressively, but
17:41
Speaker 1: I do wonder what this group and how they're actually
17:44
Speaker 1: going to perform since I don't necessarily see that elite
17:48
Speaker 1: talent at the cornerback position. This is all going to
17:51
Speaker 1: be playing out during camp here. What are your thoughts
17:53
Speaker 1: on this cornerback room and any talent that you think
17:57
Speaker 1: is actually going to really help to stabilize this corner
18:00
Speaker 1: back room here?
18:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so much of that room is going
18:04
Speaker 3: to pivot on whether Brandon cs can play well as
18:07
Speaker 3: a rookie. The Packers drafted him with this so much
18:10
Speaker 3: pressure here, Yeah, it is, especially on a second round
18:14
Speaker 3: pick and a barely twenty one year old kid coming
18:17
Speaker 3: out of coming out in after his true true junior year.
18:20
Speaker 1: Because I don't know if he's a Quinon Mitchell to
18:22
Speaker 1: be honest, like Quinjon Mitchell was one of the most
18:25
Speaker 1: extraordinary corner first round cornerback performances of a rookie that
18:30
Speaker 1: the league has almost ever seen, and I don't know
18:32
Speaker 1: if he is that Quinon Mitchell type. I'm not trying
18:34
Speaker 1: to do the Eagles Packers type thing here, But I
18:37
Speaker 1: just I don't know if he's that yet.
18:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think where Mitchell came in so much
18:43
Speaker 3: more pro ready than does right. C is one of
18:46
Speaker 3: those players who I mean, he was very much drafted
18:48
Speaker 3: on his potential, his his future projection. Mitchell was already
18:52
Speaker 3: a little more of a polished finished product than CSA
18:55
Speaker 3: is at this point. But the good news, if there
18:57
Speaker 3: is good news about having a thin group, is he's
18:59
Speaker 3: getting reps with the ones already in camp. And you know,
19:04
Speaker 3: Kishawn Nixon is still around, Carrington Valentine's still around. They
19:07
Speaker 3: added Benjamin Saint just to the group to to give
19:10
Speaker 3: a little bit of extra veteran depth, which which is
19:12
Speaker 3: always a good thing. But I mean, it's it's going
19:15
Speaker 3: to be how does say play? Does he does he
19:18
Speaker 3: take charge of a starting role right away on day
19:20
Speaker 3: one on the boundary. You know, Kishaw Nixon has has
19:24
Speaker 3: flashed good and bad in his his career as a
19:27
Speaker 3: contributor and defense. Last year, you know, he had a
19:30
Speaker 3: ton of PBUs. He had a ton of pass interference
19:32
Speaker 3: and illegal contact penalties and things too. And so you know,
19:36
Speaker 3: Kishan giveth and k Kishan taketh Away and.
19:41
Speaker 4: And I think you you just.
19:44
Speaker 3: Again, it's so much is going to come down to
19:46
Speaker 3: to how csay can can develop quickly and and how
19:51
Speaker 3: much he's going to be able to to contribute because
19:53
Speaker 3: the safety group is solid, right, Xavier McKinney still a
19:56
Speaker 3: Pro Bowl caliber player for sure, Evan Williams is turned
20:00
Speaker 3: into a really good, solid starting safety, and Javon Bullard
20:03
Speaker 3: took a big step in the slot last year and
20:06
Speaker 3: was really good in his second season, and I think
20:08
Speaker 3: they're expecting a lot from him too.
20:09
Speaker 4: So it's definitely the boundary.
20:12
Speaker 3: But you know, as as we know, coverage and pass
20:14
Speaker 3: rush are so interconnected that if they can if they
20:18
Speaker 3: can get this pass rush going, that takes a ton
20:21
Speaker 3: of pressure off those corners and that would be you know,
20:25
Speaker 3: a real big, big plus for this team as well.
20:27
Speaker 1: Absolutely, we're going to get into the pass rush in
20:29
Speaker 1: just a bit. We are going to take one more break,
20:31
Speaker 1: folks when we get back talking about that pass rush
20:34
Speaker 1: and also under the radar player who is that on
20:38
Speaker 1: this Packers team?
20:38
Speaker 2: Stick with us, We'll be right back, all right.
20:43
Speaker 1: We're back with our buddy Evan tex Western from Acme
20:45
Speaker 1: Packingcompany dot Com. And as I said before the break
20:49
Speaker 1: texts this pass rush here, man, the defense likely going
20:54
Speaker 1: to be without Michael Parsons for at least at least
20:57
Speaker 1: the first four games of the season, possibly the first
20:59
Speaker 1: six game aims such a loss, of course, and I
21:02
Speaker 1: do wonder which players are really going to have to
21:05
Speaker 1: step up opposite of Lucas van Ness. This could be
21:08
Speaker 1: a real issue I think for the Packers d And
21:10
Speaker 1: you've kind of, you know, you've hinted at that as well.
21:12
Speaker 1: The uncertainty on how this defense is going to pressure
21:16
Speaker 1: opposing quarterbacks, just how they're going to be stuffing the
21:19
Speaker 1: run as well. What are your thoughts on whether it's
21:22
Speaker 1: players like Colin Oliver or Brenton Cox that are really
21:26
Speaker 1: going to need to help fill that void in.
21:28
Speaker 2: Terms of this past rush here? What are your thoughts here?
21:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, until Micah gets back, it's going to be pass
21:34
Speaker 3: rush by committee.
21:35
Speaker 4: I mean, it really is.
21:36
Speaker 3: And again they're gonna have to manufacture stuff with these guys.
21:39
Speaker 3: You're going to have players kind of playing some different
21:41
Speaker 3: roles to try to figure out how to get to quarterbacks.
21:46
Speaker 3: And right now it seems like Baron Serell last year's
21:48
Speaker 3: fourth round pick is kind of the current pseudo starter
21:52
Speaker 3: opposite van Ness for the time being. He gives you
21:55
Speaker 3: a little more. Oliver is a little more of a
21:57
Speaker 3: pure speed rusher. Surrell is a little bit a bigger body,
22:00
Speaker 3: gives you a little more in the run games. So
22:02
Speaker 3: I think that's probably why he's looked at as more
22:04
Speaker 3: of your your base downs, you know, edge player opposite
22:09
Speaker 3: van Ness. But I think they're also counting on interior
22:13
Speaker 3: pressure from this team too. Again, Wyatt has had when
22:15
Speaker 3: he's been healthy, has been a really good pocket collapser
22:18
Speaker 3: from especially like the three tech position. He's been really good,
22:22
Speaker 3: you know, hardgrave back with Jonathan Gannon. They're expecting I
22:24
Speaker 3: think some things out of him in the past rush
22:26
Speaker 3: as well. And the player that they did bring in
22:29
Speaker 3: in the draft as a potential nose tackle contributor, Chris McClellan.
22:33
Speaker 3: You know, there were a couple of nose tackles on
22:35
Speaker 3: the board when he was there, and they took him
22:37
Speaker 3: over a couple of these other guys Dominique Orange and
22:40
Speaker 3: some of these other big, you know, big gapping nose
22:43
Speaker 3: tackles because they thought McLellan had a lot more pass
22:46
Speaker 3: rush juice than some of those other guys did. They
22:49
Speaker 3: wanted somebody who could contribute both against the run and
22:53
Speaker 3: be able to collapse the pocket a little bit. So
22:55
Speaker 3: I do think they're going to be counting on some
22:57
Speaker 3: of their interior players to provide some rush as well.
23:00
Speaker 3: I haven't even mentioned Danny Dennis Sutton yet, who was
23:02
Speaker 3: my favorite draft pick on class, the Penn State guy. Yeah,
23:07
Speaker 3: that was that was That was the dream pick. Again,
23:10
Speaker 3: I would have been happy if they took him in
23:12
Speaker 3: the second round. I was that high on the guy.
23:14
Speaker 3: And and they get him in the fourth and he's
23:17
Speaker 3: already been playing a little bit as like a designated
23:19
Speaker 3: interior pass rusher that's, you know, sliding in on pass
23:22
Speaker 3: rushing downs. He's got the frame for it, and and
23:25
Speaker 3: I think that's a good way to ease him in
23:27
Speaker 3: a little bit into a serious role on this defense.
23:30
Speaker 3: So again, it's going to be a lot of moving parts.
23:33
Speaker 3: Gannon's going to have to cobble together some stuff until
23:36
Speaker 3: til Micah comes back. I firmly believe that he's going
23:39
Speaker 3: to be back for Week five against the Bears. He
23:42
Speaker 3: missed two He missed two Bears games last year. You
23:45
Speaker 3: know that would be if he ends up staying on
23:47
Speaker 3: the pub list, which he presumably will, that would be
23:49
Speaker 3: the first game he'd be eligible to return for. I
23:52
Speaker 3: firmly believe, based on everything I'm seeing from him that
23:56
Speaker 3: that he has that week circled as I want to
23:58
Speaker 3: be back and I want to get at these guys,
24:00
Speaker 3: because I only got one shot at him, and I
24:02
Speaker 3: wasn't on the field for the two losses against them,
24:05
Speaker 3: And again, those were the two games where the Packers
24:07
Speaker 3: needed a closer in the fourth quarter and they didn't
24:09
Speaker 3: have one. Parsons had what twelve and a half sacks
24:12
Speaker 3: last year? He had eight after the first minute the
24:14
Speaker 3: fourth quarter of games, eight in the fourth quarter time. Yep,
24:19
Speaker 3: just insane. I think that was the most in the league.
24:20
Speaker 3: And that's even with you know, with Miles Garrett doing,
24:24
Speaker 3: you know, setting records out there last year overall sacks.
24:27
Speaker 4: So it's just that's that's such a key piece to
24:32
Speaker 4: this team.
24:32
Speaker 3: And and yeah, they've got to find some guys who
24:34
Speaker 3: can who can get pressure, you know, late in games
24:37
Speaker 3: outside of him. Complimentary pieces and things, but man, when
24:42
Speaker 3: when he comes back, he is going to come back
24:44
Speaker 3: with his hair on fire, and he is just you
24:47
Speaker 3: can tell the motivation is there for him to to
24:50
Speaker 3: come back and show everybody yet this is this is
24:53
Speaker 3: I am still the same guy or you know, if anything,
24:56
Speaker 3: you know, I'm better than I was before.
24:57
Speaker 4: So it's gonna be fun.
24:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, fired up.
25:00
Speaker 1: Michael Parsons is a scary Michael Parksons for opposing offenses
25:04
Speaker 1: absolutely absolutely well. Text before I let you go. I
25:08
Speaker 1: really always loved getting into under the radar players. I
25:11
Speaker 1: know it's a general question, but who's that one under
25:14
Speaker 1: the radar player that you're really watching during camp right
25:17
Speaker 1: now for the Packers who maybe a difference maker in
25:20
Speaker 1: the future.
25:20
Speaker 3: Here, Yeah, I'll give you a one on each side
25:23
Speaker 3: of the ball. I mentioned Baron Surrell just a minute ago,
25:26
Speaker 3: the edge from Texas fourth round pick last year.
25:30
Speaker 4: He started.
25:31
Speaker 3: He was another guy who got a little more reps
25:33
Speaker 3: when Micah went out last year and he really started
25:36
Speaker 3: to come on a little bit late in the season.
25:39
Speaker 3: He didn't have a ton of, you know, gaudy stats
25:41
Speaker 3: or anything, but you could see that the flashes were there.
25:44
Speaker 3: He holds up well at the point of attack against
25:46
Speaker 3: the run. He's got some pass rush juice. I really
25:50
Speaker 3: think that, you know, they're looking at him to take
25:52
Speaker 3: a big step. I mean, one of the guys the
25:55
Speaker 3: Packers lost was kings Leanibari. He was a fifth round pick,
25:59
Speaker 3: you know, played four years this kind of a rotational
26:01
Speaker 3: player at defensive end and edge, and he was always
26:04
Speaker 3: just this really solid guy you could count on to
26:07
Speaker 3: to go out there execute his assignment really well. He
26:09
Speaker 3: wasn't maybe the you know, an elite athlete, but he
26:13
Speaker 3: was he was always holding up well at the point
26:15
Speaker 3: of attack. I think Baron Serell is Enigbari with a
26:18
Speaker 3: bit of a higher ceiling. He's got more athletic ability,
26:21
Speaker 3: he's got a little more flash and and I think
26:23
Speaker 3: he could be a really good, solid third edge player
26:27
Speaker 3: for a team like this. Yeah, he's going to have
26:30
Speaker 3: to play more those first couple of weeks just because
26:33
Speaker 3: of the Parsons injury. But I think he's he's that
26:36
Speaker 3: guy who can kind of be the third wheel in
26:39
Speaker 3: this pass rush and really you know, be or or
26:42
Speaker 3: kind of be a second unit guy and and really
26:45
Speaker 3: give this team a lot of extra juice, you know,
26:49
Speaker 3: coming in third downs or even kicking inside on you know,
26:52
Speaker 3: on some inside rushes on third.
26:53
Speaker 4: Downs and stuff.
26:55
Speaker 3: So he's the guy on defense I would look at offensively,
26:59
Speaker 3: keep an eye on Burton. He's a fifth round rookie
27:02
Speaker 3: offensive lineman out of Kentucky. The Packers were really excited
27:06
Speaker 3: to get this guy where they did in the fifth round.
27:08
Speaker 3: He played a lot of center and guard a Kentucky.
27:10
Speaker 3: He can kind of play all over the interior of
27:12
Speaker 3: the line, and with the injuries the Packers have had
27:16
Speaker 3: on offensive lines over the last several years, I mean,
27:18
Speaker 3: I think there's a solid chance that he could end
27:20
Speaker 3: up maybe you know, making a couple of spots starts
27:23
Speaker 3: here and there throughout throughout the season as a rookie.
27:26
Speaker 3: Packers have done great things with mid round offensive linemen
27:30
Speaker 3: over the years, right yeah, I mean so many fourth round,
27:33
Speaker 3: fifth round guys that have turned into huge players for them.
27:37
Speaker 3: You look at Zach Tom who, shoot, I forgot, he
27:41
Speaker 3: just changed his name this week, so keep.
27:44
Speaker 4: An eye out for that.
27:45
Speaker 3: But fourth round guy, right who's now the team's starting
27:48
Speaker 3: right tackle. You know, he's he's another great success story there.
27:52
Speaker 3: So Burton, I think is a guy who you look
27:54
Speaker 3: a year or two from now, could very much be
27:57
Speaker 3: a you entrenched as a starter at center, maybe at
28:00
Speaker 3: one of the guard positions.
28:02
Speaker 4: But he's you know, I think.
28:04
Speaker 3: He's he's already started a little bit of flashing here
28:07
Speaker 3: and there when he's had a chance to contribute on
28:09
Speaker 3: the offense. So he's probably not starting on day one
28:12
Speaker 3: unless there's again a major injury or two that takes place.
28:16
Speaker 3: But he's a guy that I think we're looking at
28:18
Speaker 3: that this could be a significant long term starter when
28:22
Speaker 3: he's got a year or two to really settle into
28:24
Speaker 3: the NFL.
28:25
Speaker 2: He is Evan Tech's Western Folks.
28:28
Speaker 1: Great great content over at Actmepackingcompany dot com. Search him
28:32
Speaker 1: out over on Blue Sky and again if you're into
28:35
Speaker 1: some packers content, the Frozen Tundra podcast, give it a listen.
28:41
Speaker 1: My friend, always great talking with you. Seriously, I always
28:43
Speaker 1: love our conversations. Let's do it again in the future.
28:46
Speaker 1: I'd love to have you back on the show.
28:48
Speaker 4: Jeff, you got it, man. We don't play each other
28:49
Speaker 4: this seaon, I know, for season, so we don't have
28:52
Speaker 4: a uh, we don't have an excuse to do it,
28:54
Speaker 4: but we'll have to. We'll have to do it sometimes,
28:56
Speaker 4: absolutely absolutely do it.
28:58
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for us here on Opposition
29:01
Speaker 1: Territory this week. Please share our podcast with your friends
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29:07
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29:14
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29:18
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