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Doink If You Love Kickers: Packers Drafting the Next Leg?
0 Playsin 7 hours
The Packers might need a new leg in the kicking game — so who could they target in the 2026 NFL Draft? In this episode of Ohana Packers Edition (OPE), we break down the top kicker prospects, discuss what the Green Bay Packers look for in a kicker, and debate whether drafting one is actually worth the pick.
From leg strength and accuracy to clutch kicking under pressure, we dive into the kickers who could help the Packers lock down the third phase of football. Could Green Bay finally draft the next long-term answer at kicker?
If you love kickers… doink along with us.
#GoPackGo #PackersNation #NFLDraft #Cheeseheads
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:56
Speaker
Aloha and welcome back to a new episode of the Ohana Packers podcast. Today, as in all things with life, we're all over the place a little bit because the Packers have been all over the place. We're going to have a short free agent primer because the Packers have been in a little bit on some moves and and We are switching up with special teams. We had to adjust on the fly to keep a guest in in the loop and stuff. So we're going with special teams today. But
Legacy of Bob Harlan and Impact on Packers
00:01:24
Speaker
to lead it off, Joe, you know, some sad news for the Packers.
00:01:27
Speaker
Bob Harlan. The former CEO of the Green Bay Packers passed away on Friday, March 6th at the age of 89. And you know for our generation of Packers fans, we understand the impact that Bob had on the team. He was a fine CEO for the organization, represented the team very well. But I think the basis of what his tenure as CEO stood for is the Packers remained in Green Bay.
00:01:57
Speaker
And all of the Lambeau Field renovations, you know, the the new facades, the the team shops, the...
00:02:07
Speaker
community center areas within the stadium, all of that stuff where, you know, it's like a, you know, Lambo was built in the 50s or whatever, right? And excuse me, or no, not the 50s, the 30s. And it's like, you look at it now and you're like, oh, it looks like a modern stadium.
00:02:25
Speaker
That work was stewarded by all of the legwork that Harlan had mainly at the towards the end of his tenure. But You know early on, it was helping being a leading force to rebuild the Packers after making sure they stayed in Green Bay. And then he just absolutely rejuvenated Lambeau Field and turned it into the year round. Yeah, he was the the He was the guiding star for turning it into a year round attraction as opposed to just, you know, where it stood already as one of the most beloved stadiums in the NFL.
00:02:57
Speaker
But now it's like a it's a venue that people want to visit year round. and you know i i gotta throw it out there because i always like bob because he was another iowa he was born and raised in des moines uh but also you got to remember you know his son kevin harland uh who does a lot of the sports commentary you know specifically he does packers during the pre-season and then what is it it's bob's granddaughter olivia
00:03:28
Speaker
yes yeah she because that's Kevin's kid right yep yeah I don't know a ton about her I know she's another sports analyst and she's married to I think it's a Badgers basketball alum but you know there's a long legacy there like you said you know there wouldn't be a Packers without a Bob Harlan There wouldn't be a Ron Wolfe without a Bob Harlan. There wouldn't be, you know, Ted Thompson without Bob Harlan.
00:04:00
Speaker
So, yeah. The Favre trade happens because of Harlan. Holmgren to a lesser extent. You know, he I think Harlan had to sort of sign off on Wolfe's selection of Holmgren. But, you know, Harlan was, like, signing off on a lot of decisions that were made behind the scenes after the fact. And, yeah, it just...
00:04:19
Speaker
so much of the vision of what the 90s Packers turned out to be. You know, Wolf was the guy calling a lot of the shots, but Harlan was the guy that's like, yeah, we're going to make it happen. You know, like yeah he he, you know, being the CEO, he's the de facto owner, you know, singular owner of the team. So, you know, a lot of those things, like I said, happen under his stewardship.
00:04:39
Speaker
I got to throw out my favorite and Jason Wilde tells us when you tell this one all the time. And I don't know if it's in Bob's book or not. I never really read it, but the story is so and i can't always remember the quarterback they took i think it's rich campbell but they were in the war room and they were celebrating taking rich campbell with in the first round and i think rich campbell was out of california so that would that would have been the first california quarterback the packers took in the first round and they're all celebrating and shaking hands and all that stuff and bob harland turns to the the west coast scout
00:05:20
Speaker
and the west coast scouts all pissed off and not saying anything and all that stuff and bob walks over to him and says well you know aren't you know we we took a guy that you you would know and you know this is your territory what's going on here he goes the kid can't throw shoulder shot yeah
00:05:43
Speaker
anded And in short order, Ron Wolfe was hired as GM the Packers. Yeah. I was like, there's so many good Bob Harlan stories. And yeah, I was like, oh, yes. Like, yeah, Rich. The the sheer irony that, you know, there are like two Cal first round picks in the relative recent history of the Packers. And one is Rich, I can't throw a football Campbell. And the other is Aaron Rodgers, who holds the majority of the like,
00:06:11
Speaker
meaningful, modern passing records for the team. But yeah, it just goes to show like, you know, he's a businessman, but he understood the people part of it. And I think, you know, and and Bob always was humble enough to admit, like, I'm a business guy, but my whole thing was I had to put the right people in the right positions. And that was his whole thing with the hiring of Ron Wolf. And You know, and you I'm sure towards the end he would say like, yeah, and he's I don't think he'll ever he won't get out. But I don't think he ever came out and said, like, yeah, giving both the GM and head coach job to Sherman was, you know, a mistake. you know I think he made comments kind of alluding to it, but he never outright said like, but like, I do think Wolf leaving kind of left him, you know, a little bit unprepared for that. And he was kind of like, oh,
00:07:07
Speaker
But, you know, he really did, for the most part of his tenure, just put the right guys in position and then get out of the way for the most part, you know, like, and I know it's easier when you're not like an owner owner, you're, you know, the position he is like CEO of a board kind of thing. But, you know,
00:07:27
Speaker
For all the talk about you know how a lot of people viewed how Murphy handled his time in the position, i do think that most of those conversations are extremely overblown. But Harlan really did stay out of the way and kind of in the shadows and was just there to be like a quote-unquote figurehead for the team. And it's just so unfortunate to have lost him. you know And like you just only heard the best things about him. And like you said, he's...
00:07:53
Speaker
He has lived on with one of the greatest sports play-by-play men in recent history, and Kevin Harlan, who, like you said, has hu has the Packers have inside track for him doing all the home games in the preseason. And then whenever they play on Monday night, he is the radio play-by-play man. And Decker, Sam Decker, is the you caught yeah the Wisconsin grad that Olivia, his daughter, is married to. But yeah.
00:08:20
Speaker
just need to say, you know, give Harlan his flowers. Because like I said, I know some people will say like, oh, you're being, you know over you know, you're being over the top dramatic about it. But I really do believe that if Harlan is not as dogged in his belief that the Packers belong in Green Bay, belong to Green Bay, you know, that's that's the thing is it's not just that they belong there. It's the it's the mindset that they belong to this fan base.
00:08:47
Speaker
this team is somewhere else this team is in la or whatever kind of you know houston la whatever it's so be it so well let's face it there might not have been a team period because they can't technically leave because they are owned by so many right and and so they it would be one of those were kind of like the expos where they just shut down the team and then they restart a team elsewhere right Just, yeah. So, yeah the the team was on fumes when he really took over and he just started a rebuild that, you know, and I've seen a lot of people that are like, why isn't he in the Hall of Fame? And I said, he's just he's never going to get a fair shake on that kind of stuff because he doesn't, quote unquote, actually own the team. And it's a real shame because it really diminishes.
00:09:41
Speaker
what he means to the Green Bay Packers. And I know that Harlan is one of those people who, you know, if you asked him, he would say it's more important to him that the team recognizes his contributions. You know, he's in the like Hall of I believe he's in the Packers Hall of Fame. i i don't. If it's not, his name should go up on the facade at some point. you like He had that kind of an impact on the team. But i know that you know he would say outwardly that the main thing for him is that the Packers appreciate and recognize his efforts to, you know like I said, keeping the team in Green Bay and then really rejuvenating Lambeau Field and making it a mecca for the sport of football.
00:10:23
Speaker
And I know that you and I could spend a whole episode on Harlan, but we do have other things to discuss.
Packers' Free Agency and Contract Strategies
00:10:29
Speaker
But we we just feel like it was absolutely necessary to reflect on Harlan's life and his contributions to the franchise.
00:10:38
Speaker
In addition to that, the Packers have started to ready themselves for free agency. By the time this episode comes out, free agency will have officially, quote unquote, started. you know We're recording this on Sunday when the, the quote unquote, tampering period.
00:10:55
Speaker
is ongoing so you know teams have been meeting with players and i think i saw palisero mentioned that for the first time in nfl history teams can like make a zoom call with players ahead of the start of free you know like before it was supposed to be only agents and teams could discuss deals and like that's where you have those like oh so and so has agreed to sign with the team at the opening of free agency blah blah blah all that kind of stuff but now like players actually can truly be in on those discussions as opposed to just being solely like agent to team discussions and that kind of thing so
00:11:34
Speaker
All that said, none of that is on the Packers because they just do not have the finances to be in on the first few days of free agency. They have done is a couple moves around the fringes.
00:11:47
Speaker
They restructured Xavier McKinney's deal to open up. I think it was like $9 million dollars of cap space. So that got them cap compliant. And what that does is it gives them time on a couple of moves. One...
00:12:00
Speaker
that I argue makes sense even though it's kind of blown up in the team's face and partly due to his doing but it's the Rashawn Gary situation because they're gonna post June 1 him no matter what because the there's like you basically double the cap savings if you book post June 1 him and there was the whole situation with whether you believe his Instagram was hacked or not you know I can't defend him on that one you know I think that You know, he's frustrated in his situation, but you've got to play the game.
00:12:31
Speaker
And you're not helping anyone by doing pulling the stunt he did. And it's just an unfortunate way to end your tenure and stuff. and But to each their own. But like I said, they can slow play that situation as much as they want because they can't use that money until June 2nd. So it really doesn't matter. The other move that doesn't make sense to be stalling is Elton Jenkins.
00:12:53
Speaker
And because there's no difference between whether you post or pre-June 1 and because it's the last year of his deal. and so And so it's like there's no reason for the team to wait. And I know some people say, like, well, they can make a deal. and to But if the whole point is to free up his basically 20 million in cap savings so you could be active early in free agency, you settle on deal, that hasn't agreed to all the guys you could have been having discussion with are gone and i know some people are like oh but goot could be talking to them already that's fine and dandy but guys are gonna take money when they can get it and you know greenby could put out a great offer but once that offer is shared with another team and they're they agree to match it
00:13:42
Speaker
It doesn't matter. And like, I just don't see any value in Green Bay slow playing this one. It's like, you know exactly how much you're going to save. Teams know you're going to cut Jenkins. Like, there's no secret, especially after you resign you just re re-signed Sean Ryan to the deal you did. i just don't understand slow playing at this point in time and of course i hope that i'm reverse jinxing it like i always do when i get critical of these kind of decisions and some like deal just pops up on the news feed like literally after we get off of this episode but i i'm just a little baffled in terms of why you know huber and wilde both had story and i think silverstein too all had stories about how
00:14:23
Speaker
The expectation is that Jenkins is done as a Packer. You know, the release should be coming soon and all that kind of stuff. And so when you start to put out those reports, I just don't understand waiting on it because the league has already understood. They've seen your smoke signals at this point.
00:14:41
Speaker
And so everyone knows what's what's the writings on the wall. You're not doing Jenkins any favor, who has been a good soldier for your team the whole way through. And I just think, like, you're you're doing you're not doing the Packers a favor. You're not doing Jenkins a favor.
00:14:57
Speaker
Just move on. Get everyone a clean a clean sweep and just open the doors for everyone and for 2026.
00:15:06
Speaker
That's my thoughts on it. And then further down the line, sorry, one one more news update and then I'll get your thoughts in here, Joe. As I mentioned, Sean Ryan extended three years, 30, I believe it's 33 and then up to 39. And then Nick Neiman was also quietly brought back on a one-year deal. Oh, and Chris Brooks, two-year deal. So, yeah.
00:15:30
Speaker
a couple really savvy moves to bring back neiman who was their special teams ace before he got put on injured reserve and brooks who has just been a stalwart as a pass you know as a as a pass blocking back and you know it it gives them answers at the position but also signals that they still need to do work at the position as well so joe take the discussion any which way you want to go at this point i want to start with the elton thing just because this is why it sucks that we're in the modern technology world with sports reporting because the beat writers and that are hurting what the packers could do with elton because it's the beat writers that are reporting that he's just you know they're going to cut him there there's no doubt about it there's going to be a cut they're going to cut him
00:16:23
Speaker
Without them saying that, we don't know what the situation is with that. I mean, we can guess what's going on with it. We can guess that they're going to cut it. But, you know, with some of the trades that have been going on this offseason, it wouldn't have surprised me if they could have some kind of deal for like a sixth round pick or a fifth round pick or some shit like that just to get him off the books.
00:16:46
Speaker
But now it's a foregone conclusion that he's going to get cut because that's all these reports are coming out about him. oh a it kind of I think they're also kind of waiting because he ended the season with an injury. They could be waiting.
00:17:04
Speaker
Might have to wait for a certain situation because of the injury. i don't know. But...
00:17:15
Speaker
Sean Ryan, i've i think this is the deal that I figured was going to happen with him because it's very similar to the John Runyon one. And that's what I've been saying for the whole time, that if they can bring him back on a John Runyon-style contract, that oh you know it it wouldn't surprise me. Now, the big surprise is is they're saying that with expectations of him being the starting center,
00:17:44
Speaker
That one kind of surprises me a little bit more than b you know them just saying, hey, he's getting this contract. We're not, you know quote unquote, we're not sure where he's going to start the season at and and go from there. But it's a foregone conclusion that he's the starting center, according to the reports.
00:18:05
Speaker
So you can pretty much say they're out on Linderbaum. They're out on any of the other guys. Now, the hope is they're still going to take a guy in in the draft to play center, or they're really hoping that Monk can be their backup and maybe heir apparent or whatever. I don't know. I didn't mind the Monk pick when it happened, but there's so many people that are in our circle that poo-poo on Monk that it's hard to believe anything on about him.
Offensive Line Analysis and Future Outlook
00:18:36
Speaker
But, you know, that is what it is. I'm not against the Sean Ryan thing. i
00:18:42
Speaker
i think I think it's almost, like you said, it was expected in some ways and almost necessary because you just can't go into the season with four question marks on the offensive line. And I know some people are going be like... still technically a question mark because he ended the season injured. right and I know that I know that situation rubbed a lot of people the wrong way but the facts are this O-line did play a lot better when he but got inserted at center he and or not he and Banks looked to have something of a rapport playing next to each other and the hope is that that interior trio of
00:19:20
Speaker
Banks, Ryan, and Belton can just gel because, you know, that was the one set that really did play a bunch together down the stretch of the season. So yeah you just hope to build momentum off of that.
00:19:34
Speaker
And, i like, I was hoping it would come in cheaper than that because it it really, you know, I was thinking, oh, like, you know, you see some of those deals that, like, kind of, unproven, you know, and he is an unproven starter because what does he have, like six starts at center in his career kind of thing?
00:19:50
Speaker
Eight, six or eight or something like that? So starts, but I think he had to go in a couple of different times for different reasons. But, yeah I was hoping he could slot in six to eight, but and I was a little like 39. So, you know, 13 a year, but, you know, and it's it's the it actually is more realistically 11 a year. I'm like, okay, like, that's kind of, you know, the six to eight I was hoping for was like a very team-friendly, wishful thinking, and the 11 is probably a market value. You know, like, Beata is just signed with the Chargers for 10 a year.
00:20:25
Speaker
And... You know, I would have loved to have Linderbaum, but I just don't think that they were in the position to get into a $20 million dollars free agent pissing match over a center when they're already paying a guy that it's a little questionable in lyn and in Banks at left guard. and I do think the team really believes in Banks. I did like how he played once he got over the like 14 different injuries he was dealing with in the first month of the season. And, you know, I think certain people that we, you know, that are in our circles have been a little harsh on Banks, you know, just because, yeah, letting, letting the first month of season prove priors and all that kind of stuff. But I really thought he did improve as the season went along, but,
00:21:07
Speaker
and And they're kind of stuck with Banks at the moment because right yeah they did the simple restructure today. so And I think, and and you know, Bukowski did point out, like, would the team really do that? with and Because I made the point that, like, I'm not sure how, you know I didn't believe, like you said, I didn't believe it was realistic to cut him after this season at all, especially because he was injured half the year.
00:21:34
Speaker
and And at the same time, cut him next year. Yeah. Yeah. And it would have been like you would have been, you know, not out of the woods, but it would have been a lot bigger savings if you cut him next year. But and then I was kind of like, so why do the restructure now? But, you know, Bukowski did point out like, well, you know, it might signal that they do.
00:21:54
Speaker
still really think highly of him and maybe they're right maybe they're not but i agree that yeah that signals that this likely means they're tying themselves to him for a you know the third year out of that contract you know Whatever you do, and that's the thing is like, you just can't keep creating question marks on the O-line if you're trying to state yourself as a contending team. And you know the Packers keep saying like, we expect to contend for the Super Bowl.
00:22:22
Speaker
And that's the thing is like, like you said, Ryan isn't a sure thing, But he has some answers to the tests that were solid to good down the stretch of the season, playing with the guys you expect to be starters on this O-line, especially his neighbors in the left guard and the right guard. And that already goes a long way towards success in the NFL. And so...
00:22:46
Speaker
you know We won't beleaguer this point too long, but like you said, like you led off with it, it's a move that made so much sense. And it's not like they broke the bank for it. They you know were able to reasonably create money for it without like really going into the room that, like I said, you haven't touched the room you need to extend Tucker Craft and maybe even part of Watson because that money is in the Rashawn Gary contract that you're still at the moment carrying on the books and you, you know, set yourself up to post one designate and when you release or trade him. So it's it's all going to work itself out. You know, they're going to, so you know, it this is where... i joke that it helps they don't have a first round pick because that really lowers the amount that they'd have to set aside for their draft class i think it lowers it by about a at least a few million dollars like a million and a half or something like that in terms of cap hit just based on where they would be picking so yeah like the you know for all the people that are like what are they gonna do
00:23:46
Speaker
the Packers always have a set of moves that they have, even for people outside the room to say they have all the answers to the test. The Packers still have moves beyond that, that they can pull or, you know, that they're willing to pull for the right players that certain people say they'll never do this.
00:24:05
Speaker
And it goes back to the whole, they've never done it before because, you know, a Jalen Carter trade has never been on the table. A Micah Parsons trade has never been on the table. So, you know, yeah I read that. I say all that to say, like, those people aren't necessarily wrong. They just don't have all the information that they, you know,
00:24:24
Speaker
pledged to sit to you know they they they put out there to tell you they have it's like they're going off their own historical set of data but you know micah parsons trades don't happen every forget decade every century so be it as it may the packers are going to be just fine they're going to have a good team in 2026.
00:24:44
Speaker
And another reason they're going to be good in 2026 is they should take a hard look at this special teams class. Well, you forgot a move. You forgot one of the big moves that came out out this weekend.
00:24:55
Speaker
And that's Colby Wooden to Colts for Zaire Franklin.
Trades and Defensive Strategies Discussion
00:25:03
Speaker
this is why Joe is around. Because if I had to lead this show, you know and I even have some notes down here, and I totally forgot to put the Wooden-Zaire Franklin trade down.
00:25:13
Speaker
That speaks volumes so to show how how great we are at this. But what are your initial impressions of this trade? Well, I said it in our group chat. you know from a From my point of view, I don't know because I don't know anything about Zaire Franklin.
00:25:34
Speaker
do know about Colby Wooden and he there's been question marks on him since the day the Packers drafted him you know was he was always going to be a tweener whether it was in the 3-4 or four three defense he did put on a little bit more weight for this season he played okay but it wasn't you know, spectacular by any means. He's still only 25 years old.
00:25:59
Speaker
I've been trying to think, is this the last year of his contract? Yes, it would have been so. from a like contractual standpoint. So it's twofold. So you trade him out, you get Franklin in who has two years on his deal.
00:26:15
Speaker
And if you want to go by like free agency projections, he's at his current salary hits for this year, it's eight next year, it's 10.
00:26:27
Speaker
It's like five to 7 million less than the low end of what Kwe is projected to get on the open market. So, you know take that with a grain of salt but you know hypothetically they're saving money on linebacker now franklin is older he is going to turn 30 before this is going to be his age 30 season like you said wooden is 25 quays like 26 or something like 27 this year yeah yeah so you are getting older at a position but
00:26:57
Speaker
Like you said, and I was probably in the group that's way higher on what Colby did this season than the majority of the fan base. Oh, I'm not going to say it was bad. I just don't think there was anything to... You know, it's not like he's deserving of top 10 money and anything like that.
00:27:19
Speaker
It was serviceable. So yeah to flip him for a guy that just two years ago was a pro bowl, second team, all pro, you know, type of guy, you know, just looking at his stats, they say last year was kind of a down year for him, but he still put up five past defenses, a forced fumble, 125 total tackles was seven for a loss and six QB hits.
00:27:47
Speaker
You know, that that's that's better than what we've been. Well, I won't say better. This also dashes my hopes that they would bring back Quay. Now, I understand Quay's gonna cost a lot more money. so you know it And let's face it, the Packers are hoping for the comp picks.
00:28:06
Speaker
There's no doubt about it. They're hoping for the comp picks. And Quay's gonna get Rasheed Walker's gonna get him one. Malik's gonna get him one. and Dobbs might get him one if you believe all the hype around his free agent market.
00:28:20
Speaker
So, you know, and they can only have a max of four. So that's four right there. But, you know, from the eye test, looking at his stats, you know, I'm not going I'm not going to turn it down. And it wasn't like it was a massive loss in in trade value. If we can get him to play at the 2024 level,
00:28:43
Speaker
you know Having him next to edge Cooper is going to be amazing because 2024, he had two interceptions, six pass defenses, five forced fumbles, three and a half sacks, 173 total tackles, 11 for a loss and four QB hits. So, I mean,
00:29:03
Speaker
if you can get that next to edge and i hate saying this because it means i agree with him but a certain player's dad said that this would allow this is like a true mike linebacker that can do the stuff and let edge play the way edge needs to play without having to worry about everything. He can just play full speed and not have to make reads or anything like that. Whereas, you know, this, this means Franklin would, and the age kind of,
00:29:41
Speaker
I'm kind of surprised they went with this move because of the age, but this also adds another veteran presence into the locker room, which is meet a few more adults in the room though.
00:29:53
Speaker
On that note, Zaire, you know, we, we praise Quay for, it yeah, we praised Quay for the Zen, the Zen work he did since his rookie season. You know, he really shed the hothead label, you know, only rival teams kept talking about that because he really hadn't had incidents since his rookie season.
00:30:10
Speaker
But, Zaire is a similar player to what Quay was early in his career. And so like you know he picks up he picks up some dumb penalties in games. So you got to take the the the the bad with hopefully a lot more good. And one thing I will say, and I didn't watch a lot of Colts this season, but one of the big differences between this past season and the season before when he was in All-Pro is they had a bunch of injuries on their defensive front seven mainly deforest buckner missed like pretty much all of 2025 with a variety of injuries and that's a massive part of their defensive structure to be to be down there and so you know it it can't excuse all of the slippage but
00:30:51
Speaker
You know, it you know, it does make the reason that wasn't even really a major sip with slippage. The only thing that you know, fell was he didn't have any interceptions and he had one and a half less s sacks and fewer tackles, but not even that many fewer tackles. What is it? day Right. 48 fewer tackles.
00:31:13
Speaker
I'd have to look at what the Colts stats were to see who is the next highest tackles on there. Cause that just means maybe he had more to do and wasn't able to get the tackle on that, or somebody took the tackle out from underneath him.
00:31:28
Speaker
But the other thing that I've been hearing, that's kind of a knock and, and I don't like is it goes along with him being kind of a a trash talker is,
00:31:41
Speaker
it's what we've kind of knocked nixon on they trash talk but they can't back it up on the field and you know i don't like that so you know i'll wait and see what happens well you know i guess worst that happens is they cut him i'm i'm hoping this is kind of like the sean ryan thing where this doesn't mean they're not going to take a linebacker in the draft this just means that It's probably not as high on their list, yeah but they'll still be able to bring somebody in that they can slow roll because, and this isn't a knock,
00:32:19
Speaker
I'm not sold on Isaiah McDuffie being that third linebacker. I see him more as a rotational guy and fill in when injuries, but not a full-time starter. Yeah.
00:32:32
Speaker
The good teams have all taken advantage of him. like and And like you said, that's not a knock on McDuffie. It's not like he's it's happening because he's not trying hard. He just has... definitive physical limitations and teams are able the good teams are able to pick on it so they've got improve in that area and so yeah you know it remains to be we still don't even know exactly whether gannon is gonna you know if his base defense is gonna be more or 4-3 it
00:33:02
Speaker
that the the The steam coming out of the the the room seems to indicate it's more 3-4, but you know will so it remains to be seen. and i i i don't know. I'm still in hopes that they don't mess with the 3-4. They just stick with a base 4-3, and then he can roll out or whatever, because I think if you move back to 3-4, you're going to hurt more of your guys than you're going to help.
00:33:30
Speaker
and And you're still in the same boat that you have no true nose tackle. You have no other edge rusher to put on the opposite side because obviously you're going to to move Micah as a tweener to be, you know,
00:33:50
Speaker
the fourth linebacker slash third down lineman so i think i think it would be a lot better for him to play a four three that have them play a four three than a three four yeah so remains to be seen and all things to track as the season goes now now we shall get into our special teams rankings Okay, I'm going to be totally honest with you.
Special Teams Focus: Kicker Selection and Draft Prospects
00:34:18
Speaker
we don't have to spend any time on Punter because we have the Celtic Cannon. Long snapper, all I'm going to say is they need to look for one. I don't know how to scout college long snappers well because it's so hard to tell how much of it is a long snapper actually being good or is it because they play starters on their special teams and you're just physically dominant kind of thing. So i am forgive me for not being able to scout college long snappers.
00:34:47
Speaker
Kicker. There are a handful of options for the Packers. They've got to come out of this draft one. I'm very glad that they kept Lucas Havrasek as a futures contract, but I'm sorry.
00:35:02
Speaker
To me, and I know the team isn't going to say this, McManus is done. he Cost us at least five games last season, including the playoff game. yet He cost seven points because he missed the kick before halftime, missed the extra point on the golden touchdown, and then missed the field goal after Love had driven the team back into field goal range. Right there, the the extra point and the field goal.
00:35:28
Speaker
That's the tie game, you know, like, so just game situation wise, he screwed you there. He almost cooked you in a six game in that Pittsburgh game because he was missing kicks left and right after he saw Haversick hit the franchise record and was like, oh my God, I have to get back. And he almost screwed the Packers there.
00:35:47
Speaker
To me, this is the perfect time for the Packers to cut bait. I know that it's probably not necessarily just a Bisaccia thing, but it's like, it's it's just like, you know, when a a new GM or a new head coach comes in and they're like, okay, they have no ties to the the quarterback, i.e. the Kyler Murray situation or the Tua situation where it's like,
00:36:08
Speaker
You know, writing's already kind of on the wall for that guy, but especially, you know, this is as close as you're going get where it's like, well, they have no ties to this guy. So even more reason, just cut bait. He's not going to get better as he gets another year older and closer to 40.
00:36:25
Speaker
And no, Haversek probably isn't the answer, but it's good that they have him for training camp at least. You can just continue to get him reps. And I know they have limited picks and all that kind of stuff, but if they really believe in one of these kickers, I say you go for it because...
00:36:45
Speaker
And we don't know what's going on with the picks anyway, because, I mean, you know, once the trade and once the draft happens, trades are going to happen where they're going to trade down. I don't know. Have they come out and said if we're getting any kind of comp pick?
00:37:00
Speaker
I imagine it's going be low one, but... What's it? No, we have nothing from this past year because we signed Banks and we signed... what's-his-face Hobbs, and we lost nobody in free agency for real. like No one really of note. So we're not getting any comp picks this year. So I believe we sit at five picks right now.
00:37:25
Speaker
and No, we got more than five. Because we've got at least three in the seventh round. do Is that this year? I'm so...
00:37:37
Speaker
I've forgotten where all those future trades gone to because I know that the Kinnard pick is – the pick they used to acquire Kinnard is from this draft, I believe. No, I think was next year's.
00:37:50
Speaker
is it really next year? See? Jesus. Great radio, Mike.
00:37:56
Speaker
Packers have 23456777. Oh, there you go. All right. So, yeah. oh there you go all right so yeah You've got three seventh round picks. And this is where like part of the fan base really irritates the shit out of me. If they take a kicker with even their sixth round pick and people are going to bemoan the, oh my God, you used one on a kicker. I'm like, most of y'all don't even remember who the sixth and seventh round picks are. So get over it. like although yeah Although if you go by certain, and i there's some of them that have it off.
00:38:31
Speaker
But I said this during the Peron episode, the Packers have the Tom Brady pick and the Mr. Irrelevant pick.
00:38:40
Speaker
If things stand the way they are, they have Mr. Irrelevant and the Tom Brady pick. So $199 and $257. And what I said with the Perrone episode is you would think they would have tried to get to Mr. Irrelevant last year with it being in Green Bay because that guy would have been mr Relevant for the next three years.
00:39:01
Speaker
Oh, yeah, absolutely. That would have been fun. but so but People might know it a little bit more just because of the hype behind 199 the Tom Brady pick and being mystery Irrelevant.
00:39:17
Speaker
So this is going to be a fun one.
00:39:23
Speaker
Depending on who you ask, but not necessarily at the top of the board, but high atop the board of kickers, it's it's Drew Stevens of Iowa and Dominic Zavada of Michigan. And...
00:39:38
Speaker
I'll let you take the floor first. Drew Stevens, sell the Packers fans on Drew Stevens now. Well, the big thing is is he's used to kicking in weather.
00:39:46
Speaker
Yes. Now, his stats for this season are a little bit down, but that's because drew or not drew Kirk Ferentz and his infinite wisdom would throw him out there kind of like McCarthy would with Mason Crosby and just say, hey, you know, we're at 76. Go solve all my problems. yeah we're at 60 some yards so you know go for it he did miss one extra point this year but if i remember right that was in a real uh weather situation i think it was high wind and if i remember it specifically i think there was a penalty so it drew the it it pushed the kick back a little bit but he was 97.6 xps this year
00:40:33
Speaker
Again, his field goal percentage for 2025 was down a little bit. it was Last year's was was they were using him he still scored one hundred and seven points for the hawkeyes in twenty twenty five so that just shows you where you know what they were using him for You know, he's not the biggest, he's not the strongest, but he's got good leg strength for what he is.
00:41:04
Speaker
i mean, enough that, like I said, Ferentz would throw him out there at like the 60 yard line and say, here, go for it, you know, try it. And he always seemed to have the leg strength. Just sometimes it was wide left, wide right, you know, whatever it is. And I know it sounds like a Hawkeyes homer, but really,
00:41:26
Speaker
I, this would be the guy that I would pick nothing against your savata, but it looks like Stevens had a hell a lot better season than savata did. But, if I had to go with a kicker in this year's draft,
00:41:43
Speaker
it would have to be Drew Stevens. I know a lot of people are throwing out, and we'll talk about these guys here in a minute, but throwing out like Trey Smack and guys like that. But Trey Smack's from Florida.
00:41:55
Speaker
Will Ferens from BYU. oh Your Hawaii guy there. You know, these guys aren't really kicking in weather. You know, so if I had to pick a guy, it would probably be Drew Stevens for this year just because I think – You give him the time, he's got the ability. Everybody knows he's got the ability. If you go from 2022 and 2024, you know right off the bat he he's got the ability with, like I said, his freshman year, he hit almost 89% accuracy. And in 2024, his junior year, he hit 87% accuracy for field goals.
00:42:38
Speaker
I don't have the breakdown on distances. So, okay, the big one for me is, like you said, bad weather kicker for his career, 63% from 50-plus. And that includes going 8 for 13 the past two seasons, which is...
00:42:57
Speaker
Yeah, 62. And like you said, that was with some of them being from like dumb distance or dumb situations where it's like the thing the the the wind and the rain is coming in sideways, Ference. Like you should punt. like Well, and like I said, he's got the leg strength. So it's just like, let's go out and see what you can do. Maybe you'll set a record or two.
00:43:17
Speaker
Yeah. Like you said, I know he's only six one but he's a stocky 205 for it. And what's it? Let's see.
00:43:26
Speaker
Like, he of of the top the the consensus, quote-unquote, top five guys, he's the heaviest at 205. So, yeah. like Kickers are have weird builds and stuff. And... Like... I don't think the height matters as much as it does for, like, a punter, where, like, you want your punter to be taller, because the leverage and all that kind of stuff, you kind of see it with what with what the Celtic cannon can do. Overall, yeah, I wouldn't at all be upset if we took Stevens because, like you said, proven track record. Yeah, a little bit down this season, but, you know,
00:44:04
Speaker
well Every time he kicks, he's being relied on to win the game for Iowa. like like That's the thing. is like You don't have to worry about whether he's pressure tested because every kick he makes, it's like, you make this kick, we're still we still have a chance. You miss this kick, we're screwed. kind of to like Every kick of his career the past two seasons has been under those circumstances. So the kid is the kid is tested.
00:44:29
Speaker
Well, and and if you go over to the NFL.com's view of them, Lance Zerline, it says it right here. Set Iowa career record with 12 field goals of 50-plus yards, including a 58-yarder in 2025. Right.
00:44:44
Speaker
And so, and, you know, one of the things that you brought up is something that I'm going to bring up with Zavada is, like, kicked in all kinds of shitty weather didn't kick at elevation for the majority of his career and i do think that's a big thing is and that's one of the knocks i have on farron is that you know byu is technically at elevation and stuff and you know that if you go back and look at crosby's if you go back and look at crosby's draft scout that was one of the concerns is it's like okay how much of his leg strength is legitimately his and how much of it is the fact that he's playing in colorado you know at at boulder and stuff so these are things that that teams really do take into consideration
00:45:26
Speaker
Like I said, i wouldn't if Stevens is our pick in the sixth or seventh round, you know with the Brady pick or one of the seventh round picks, to me, that's an excellent use of resources. Because to me, based on how Groot has treated draft pick selections, that further signals that we are done with McManus. And I think on that that alone, that is a proper use of resources in this draft. And you can still hold on to Haversick as your practice squad guy. Yeah. But I was just looking at it here.
00:45:57
Speaker
Outside of field goal percentage wise, Trace Mack was 81.8% field goal percentage. Drew Stevens was point six He was also 27 or 28 extra points made. His longest was 56. Drew Stevens, I just read to you, had a 58 for a long. Yeah.
00:46:22
Speaker
And so, and and he, and Stevens kicked six more times than Mack did. Like, you you look at, yeah. yeah it I do think that it it does matter how many times you've had to kick in a game.
00:46:37
Speaker
And that's a similar thing for Zavada. yeah, not had all kinds of issues I think part of it was just being asked to do way too much. But the concerning part for him was he started missing from inside of 40 this season. And some of them were just backbreaker ones where it was just like ball never came back kind of thing or it just all it's it stayed hooking off the foot and it stuff.
00:47:05
Speaker
Michael Michigan fired their special teams coordinator before all of their head coaching stuff. So it just kind of goes to show how much of a disaster special teams was for them. It kind of did ring similar to what the Packers were doing. But then you look at 2024 and.
00:47:18
Speaker
twenty twenty four and He probably should have won the Groza. He was 21-22. His one miss was blocked. And it was a bad block. too Like, it it was a guy came right up a B-gap kind of thing. Didn't have a chance to make the kick. And he was... Over the last two seasons, he was 9 of 10 on kicks from 50-plus.
00:47:42
Speaker
And I think this year, the 50-yarder he missed, he hit the cross... He hit he either hit the crossbar or he hit the he hit the upright kind of thing. So... Like you said, little bit different concern where Stevens' issues this past season could be written off to like just being put in dogshit situations. Zavada's were more somewhere between there being systematic issues with Michigan's special teams and himself just having...
00:48:09
Speaker
technique issues that led to some of his misses. And I do think, you know, he's not a tall, tall kicker, but he is six, three, you know, most kickers are like in the six, one to six, two range kind of thing. he's also a little skinnier. Like he, he looks like a freshman basketball player who never put on the weight kind of thing. But, the ball just does launch off his foot. Even when he, even when he shanks up, the ball just comes flying off of his foot. and,
00:48:35
Speaker
It is just like it it was one of those where the Ohio State game in 2024, Ohio State's kicker, i don't want to say he alone lost in that game, but he missed like two inside of 40. And Zavada goes out for a 56-yarder and just bangs it straight through the uprights in like 30-mile-per-hour gusts in that game.
00:48:57
Speaker
And... Even this season, like i said, when mostly it was going sideways, there was still the the belief that, okay, that was last game. You know, it's it's it's going to be better this week kind of thing. It was never a, oh, God, they're going to let him try it again. It was more of a, all right, last week was last week. You know, where it's it's a fresh coat of paint kind of thing. So, yeah.
00:49:22
Speaker
Like I said, obviously for rooting purposes, i have my reasons for picking Zavada. But if they end up with either of these two guys, like we both pointed out, the two things to...
00:49:35
Speaker
to really center on what Stevens and Zavada is they kicked in the worst of conditions that the Big Ten could put on a kicker. High winds, rain, snow, crosswind with snow, like you you name it. Like they they really did deal with the worst of situations that the Big Ten stadiums have to offer them.
00:49:58
Speaker
And that means something because Green Bay is basically Big Ten country and you're going to have to kick in those type of situations as well. And like I said, Zavada was in kind of a similar situation to Stevens where,
00:50:14
Speaker
You know, even before all the other stuff, it's like Michigan would just kind of go into a rollover and die McCarthy mode where it's like, we're in field goal range, so why bother risking the ball at this point? Like, we're we're cool taking a 48 or 50-yard kick from here kind of thing.
00:50:30
Speaker
And... It just, for the for the similar reason, it demanded the two of them to be relatively perfect on a week-in, week-out basis. Like I said, Zavada blinked more than Stevens did this past season, but the track record is there for both of them that each has been an excellent kicker over the course of their career. And like I said...
00:50:54
Speaker
Just the way Goot has handled his draft picks, spending the capital on a kicker just means that it's more likely you're done with with McManus. And they've just got to turn the page on that. like Like I said, I think for both of us, there is a clear teardrop from our two guys to the next three we're going loosely talk about. But even if they end up with one of Smack, Matsuzawa, or Farron,
00:51:22
Speaker
I'm still feeling so much better about that situation than rolling through 2026 with McManus again because that's just a fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. We're already on fool me thrice at that point. So like you just got to move on.
00:51:39
Speaker
And but like you said, the good thing about Haversek is Yes, he has the franchise record kick, but he's been inconsistent enough in his career that it shouldn't be hard for the Packers to sneak him through on waivers to the practice squad if he doesn't beat a draft pick or an undrafted free agent out for for the starting kicker spot. So anything else you had on Stevens or Zavada, or shall we move into the the second tier? Yeah.
00:52:10
Speaker
No, I think we're good on talking about them because I do want to put this disclaimer out there. We have not done a ton of research on these guys and the whole reason we're talking special teams right now.
00:52:21
Speaker
Mike kind of said it earlier because of we kind of did a switch up with guests, but also because my brain was fried from weeks of watching other positions that I was just like, I want to take a week off. Let's let's let's talk about something a little bit easier.
00:52:37
Speaker
But no, I like i said i know this is going to sound homerish but i my guy would be stevens although i'm i'm looking at matsuzawa and stat wise i mean amazing stats but you know what's the worst conditions he's kicked in i think he's kicked in a couple downpours and that's about it and he's only you know i know he's been on hawaii's squad for a you know you know he's out of eligibility kind of thing he's only been there two years according to right he's yeah he's only got two years and so you know the track record is not as long You know, the first season, it wasn't bad, but he only had 16 kicks and he was 75%.
00:53:21
Speaker
Don't like seeing that, you know, there weren't any 50-yard kicks. That's the thing. That's the biggest concern for me is I don't have a good barometer for how good his leg actually is. He only has two career kicks at 50, and he's only one for two on them. So...
00:53:36
Speaker
That said, you do like seeing the 27 for 29. Only one miss. Friggin 40 for 40 for extra points. yeah I mean, Jesus. Or 72 for 72 for his two years. So that that does mean something. 121 points total. i mean,
00:53:57
Speaker
according this it's it's a he led the conference with a hundred and twenty one points And the big west the Mountain West is a conference with a lot of teams that operate run and shoot spread offenses. So there's a lot of touchdowns and points scored and stuff. But like you said, there's something for... you know It's kind of like when they talk about like you know training camp armed quarterbacks and you know or who you want to see brought in as a quarterback on the bottom of the roster. It's like, just give me a guy who's got a lot of throws on tape, you know like who I know can put the ball on receivers kind of thing. Like...
00:54:32
Speaker
Same thing for kickers. Like if it there's any question, it's like, okay, maybe, you know, he doesn't have the biggest leg or maybe he hasn't kicked in the worst of conditions, but you showed me that he's put the ball through the uprights, you know, 60 times this season. Like that, that speaks for something. And,
00:54:49
Speaker
I don't have a good explanation for this, but it is humid out here. And he kicked half his games in Hawaii. And the humidity, the rain, there's not too much wind, but there can be at times.
00:55:03
Speaker
And the rain can be a pretty big factor on the kicking game as well. And he did show pretty well in that this past season. So like I said, not too much to go off of because... because he only has two seasons worth of kicking in him.
00:55:18
Speaker
But, you know, Homerism, be cool to have a guy who played for the Warriors on the team. Cool to have a Japanese player on the team, like a full-on Japanese a full on japanese national on the on the Packers. I don't know. Like, I put him on this list because I do think he's draftable, but I don't know if they'd have to draft. You know, he'd he'd slot in that, like, round seven to undrafted free agent because of the questions of how big is his leg.
00:55:48
Speaker
how does he do in bad weather situation you know like teams are accounting for those kind of things as well so it'll be interesting to see how he props up against the other four guys we're going to talk about who have like more div one competition and have kicked in more more venues more weather situations that kind of stuff so Yeah, for sure. I mean, like I said, just going off stats, he he looks like it. But again, you know, I sound like a broken record. What's his...
00:56:18
Speaker
you know in any kind of has he seen any kind of weather or is he gonna be like a cory bahorkes that does amazing when the weather's fine but the minute the weather changes is he gonna go for whatever yeah and he is the oldest one i believe by far at 27 so yeah yeah but kickers go for a long ass time yeah yeah who do you want to do next farron or smack I've been actually looking at other guys.
00:56:48
Speaker
Go for it. Go for it. Well, I'm trying to figure out which one I want to talk about first. Just looking at these guys. If I had to draft a guy just based name, would be Atticus Sappington out of Oregon. was 100% on XPs, but he was only at 79.2 for field goals with a long of 51, but he had 108 points. was called lot.
00:57:07
Speaker
for field goals with a long of fifty one but he had a hundred and eight points so he was called on a lot I know he was the reason that the Hawkeyes got beat by Oregon.
00:57:22
Speaker
oh So there's that one. But just looking stat-wise, Reese Verhoff from North Carolina could be an interesting one. 190.
00:57:32
Speaker
five eleven hundred and ninety He went 82.6% on field goals, 100% on XPs, and had a long of 57.
00:57:44
Speaker
so And he's going to be dealing with a little bit of weather, not like amazing-wise, but you know played Syracuse, Stanford, Wake Forest, Duke, teams like that. so And he played at some of those teams, so they are going to have a little bit of weather to him.
00:58:05
Speaker
but you know just going off stats and really that's all you can go off of i mean you can sit here and watch technical stuff and how well they kick the ball and what kind of lift they have on the ball and are they driving the ball and all that but really when it comes to kickers you you've got to look more at the stats because that that tells you a little bit more of a story you know if Let's say we'll just use Drew Stevens as an example, goes into Penn State in the middle of November with the wind swirling and, and you know, snow drifts up to your ass and all that stuff.
00:58:48
Speaker
And he misses, he goes 0 for 4. That tells you he can't kick in weather. Yeah.
00:58:55
Speaker
Yep. So, you know, it's one of those things that it isn't it is better to look at some of the stats when it comes to kickers. So seeing Reese Verhoff's stats and some of the teams he's played against, you know, he could be an interesting one. and the reason that joe and i can speak more to stevens and zavada respectively is that we saw them we can yeah and like like you said we're not experts on kicking but we can tell you the ball comes off their foot very nicely they have the power you need to succeed Like we said, they're... And that's the thing with, like, college kickers is if you're a good kicker in college, you should be a good one in the pros because the hashes are wider, so you have to deal with that factor. You know, the up rates are the same, but you're kicking from these dumb, weird-ass angles where you're, like, a full two yards outside of the field goalpost. And...
00:59:48
Speaker
and So like your your point of view reference is all off and stuff. And then, you know, like the like you said, the stats speak one thing, but just from the fan perspective, it's how we felt about like, you know, we might not have have agreed with all the situations they were put in, you know, like we might have been like, you guys can try to score a touchdown instead of rely on the kicker so fervently. But At no point were either of us like, oh, shit, I can't believe they're giving Stevens or Zavada a chance kind of thing. Like I said, Zavada had a down year. And it was like, that was last week.
01:00:23
Speaker
This week's a new week kind of thing. like that that was my that was my That was my feeling for most of this season. And you know he had a couple games where he missed like two kicks or whatever. and it was kind of like like, it's just a bad day at the office kind of thing. But the next one's going in. like you know it's that It's that whole like and NBA mindset kind of thing.
01:00:41
Speaker
And I know that NFL kickers don't have that luxury, but it's it's better than, you know, the like Narvison situation where it's like, oh, please, like, just just just make all your kicks today kind of thing and stuff. Or like, you know, like with McManus, it was like, when are the wheels going to fall off? Oh, look, they fell off every week for the second half of the season kind of thing. So, yeah. and And, oh, that's another one. Zavada can kick off. Stevens can kick off.
01:01:10
Speaker
Like, that's the other side of the coin from it. But in a way, i don't that doesn't matter to me because I know Dan Whelan can do it too. Right. But still, I know that they're like you know they they'd prefer to have the kicker do it and all that kind of stuff. And like it just adds to how, you know,
01:01:29
Speaker
It adds to the value at taking that player with the pick. You know, I know some people will be like, oh, do you really have to? Yeah. If that guy is good enough, use the pick on him and stuff. So that's that's just my stance on it. And i like I said...
01:01:45
Speaker
Trust me, no matter which one of these guys they pick, they could pick the consensus top guy. I don't know who it is, and I don't know if there is one because I've looked at like four different lists, and they've got, you know, one had Smack, one had Stevens, one had Zavada, and I think the other one had Smack again or something like that. So it's like... Yeah, the one I'm looking at has Smack at one, Zavada two, Farron at three, and then Stevens at four. And Farron... With Matsuzawa as five. Right, and Farron, I feel like, is getting a little bit of leeway for not kicking as much as the other. Like, I know he's kicked 30 times the past two seasons, but he's only kicked two three seasons, and he's under 80% twice. And I know it's, like, by one kick this year and stuff, but, like...
01:02:34
Speaker
like you said i i don't have a good like explanation for this but if i'm spending a pick on a kicker i've got to have a guy who's like been solid mid 80s at least or has a season or two of being in the 90s kind of thing and you know stevens for his career is like 84 or something like that zavada has two seasons in the 90s kind of thing and stuff and Steven had a rough sophomore year where he was at 67%. So that's what's knocked him down a little bit. Right. And he was sophomore, and that Iowa team wasn't very good. He was coming off of his freshman year where he hit 88.9. Yeah.
01:03:15
Speaker
Well, and then and then we can easily jokingly say that, that oh no, that that made Farron think, once I cross that midfield, we're in field go race. Yeah. but Yeah, Farron, I don't know. He's got a lower percentage this year. He's 100% on XP, long
01:03:35
Speaker
i and Like I said, the question that's going to dog him is how much of that is him and how much of it is the fact that BYU is at elevation. I do like that he's like eight of nine or something like that from 50 plus. Well, he missed two kicks at UCF.
01:03:53
Speaker
Or no, I guess that was at home. Missed one at Arizona. oh and now Let's see. Missed one at Colorado.
01:04:06
Speaker
also at elevation so and missed one at texas tech yeah so you know those are the things that a lot of people are splitting hairs over it like i said i'm not an expert on it but it is you know a point that i've heard me like i said going back to mason crosby like you like i i wish i had it still but that was in the athlon sports guide was kicked at colorado how much of his leg power is, you know, like yeah the had the whole ball comes off his foot explosively, all that kind of stuff. But how much of his range is because he kicked at altitude for most of his career? How much of it is because that is naturally him, you know, putting that much juice into the ball? And i think Crosby did eventually prove that like he did have the juice, you know, all that kind of stuff. And it was more the accuracy that came and went with him. But yeah.
01:05:00
Speaker
Yeah. Anything else on kickers or i think we've covered it pretty good. i'm I'm kind of looking at some of these from smaller schools, which is kind of neat.
Conclusion and Social Media Engagement
01:05:11
Speaker
of You got Paul Geelin, who is at Southern Illinois. He's from the Netherlands, so you know he had to come from a Docker background. 66205.
01:05:23
Speaker
six six two five yeah ESPN kind of screwed up because they didn't put a long for him, but it looks like his long was 53.
01:05:35
Speaker
88.2% on his field goal percentage, 100% on XP percentage, 94 total points. It doesn't look like they really had him kicking long. they so His longer ones are mainly in the 40 to 49 yard range uh and that could be a philosophical thing too it's like you know yeah but i mean he's a big dude so you know he's got a little bit of power to him uh all that natural leverage stuff yep yeah so that that could be an interesting one they don't have a picture of him so i can't really see what he looks like to
01:06:13
Speaker
to see if he could like bulk up a little bit more or if, you know, even though he's six, six, you know, Kenny handle anymore on the frame. Sloan Calder out of web Weber state.
01:06:26
Speaker
He was 85.7% on field goals, 93.5 on XP six, four, one 80 out of Utah. So he at least had some experience in weather, a long of 52, uh,
01:06:43
Speaker
this one I was looking at, trying to look at while you were talking was Lathe Marjan out of Kansas, 82.4% field goals, 100 on XP 55 for a long, uh, you know, that's pretty good.
01:06:58
Speaker
and We got a technically another Iowa guy in this draft class, uh, Harry bulky out of Drake. He kind of looks like uncle Rico.
01:07:12
Speaker
his number was 69. So any kicker that's wearing 69, you know, that's gotta be an obvious win. Six, four, two 20, 83.3% on field goals, 97.2 on XP. I think Drake has an outdoor stadium, so he would be kicking in weather.
01:07:32
Speaker
oh and And I don't know Drake. I mean, I know where Drake is and all that stuff, but I don't know football wise what what they are, you know, how good they are or anything like that. but You know, it could be a situation like Drew Stevens where it was just a really bad weather game that caused him a miss of XP's or whatever. It looks like they have one of those outdoor, like, track, multipurpose track football stadium kind of things. Well, I know they have a track because one of the big events in Iowa is the Drake Relays.
01:08:07
Speaker
And so, yeah, I do know that. But... yeah i'm just kind of looking at some of these guys just to see you know i don't want the kid out of notre dame because his stats are kind of whack uh
01:08:23
Speaker
a i don't really i know it sounds bad but i don't really want any of the warm weather kickers but i mean if that's what the packers decide is best for him hey go for it but sometimes i wonder if it's a lot better to take the small school guy because they're typically going to play they typically are used more uh this one could be interesting because he's a lefty gabriel placencia from san diego state
01:09:02
Speaker
82.6% field goal percentage, 100 XP, and a long of 53. I mean, that might throw Whelan off a little bit, being a left-footed kicker, but... I have full faith in Whelan.
01:09:15
Speaker
They call him the hefty lefty. yeah Let's have our own Jared Lorenzen equivalent. 6'230, yeah, that's pretty hefty.
01:09:28
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I think at the end of the all I can say is they've got to do something, whether they take a guy in the late, you know, with one of the seventh round pigs or they bring two or three of them in as UDFAs.
01:09:41
Speaker
I, I know we all talk about how the floor doesn't put an emphasis on special teams and all that. Now we've got a new special teams coordinator.
01:09:54
Speaker
We've got basically a whole new special team staff. So, you know, hopefully they can do something and get rid of McManus. Cause I, anybody who's listened to us long enough knows that Mike and I were not on the McManus train when he was signed, even before he was signed.
01:10:16
Speaker
just so many reasons and now like that's the thing is it's like like i said you're you're signing mason page you're assigning mason crosby with an off-field issue and like it's time to move on like he wasn't even that good this he was bad he was just undeniably bad this season and cost the packers multiple games so oh mike we might have to stay a minute because i just found a whole new page of kickers there was a second page there but but
01:10:47
Speaker
there's a michael stack from uw lacrosse so you know he's been kicking in weather uh let's see if i can pull up any kind of stats for him
01:11:00
Speaker
i know this dead air is amazing for people but
01:11:04
Speaker
Played in all 12 games. so Made three field goals. So they didn't really use
01:11:17
Speaker
no
01:11:19
Speaker
Oh, no, the he made three field goals in one game. Okay. I got it. Okay, yeah. That's a little bit. 9 of 13, so not the greatest. See, Ty Morrison out of Montana. You know he's been kicking in some kind of weather.
01:11:36
Speaker
He's another kind of hefty guy. 6'3", 220. Okay.
01:11:42
Speaker
Come on, we know he didn't make any tackles. We know he didn't make any interceptions.
01:11:49
Speaker
Long of 51.
01:11:54
Speaker
Long 55. long of 65.
01:12:00
Speaker
That's got some like strength there. I can't see what his totals were, but if he had a long of 65, we may have a new contender.
01:12:08
Speaker
then there's a bunch of other ones Kentucky Robert Morris Robert Morris towel Towson yeah i know you gotta run I'm just wasting time hu Delaware so yeah like I said basically they've got to come out with somebody yeah I agree and I wouldn't be at all upset if they took one and they signed one and like you said just whatever you gotta do They should have cut McManus already. I know they won't, but they should have cut him already. like
01:12:39
Speaker
Well, they haven't made a lot of decisions yet, so I don't know if that's going to be an all-in-one thing for Monday beings. It's technically the start of the new season. right But, yeah.
01:12:53
Speaker
Yeah, I get it. He's got to be gone. Yep.
01:12:58
Speaker
Alrighty then, but... Appreciate you joining us for this episode. Like we said, I know we spent a lot of time on not special teamers draft preview, but lot of stuff has happened the past week in the Packers universe. yeah Just thank you for joining us again on this episode. Please check us out. Please check us out on our social medias at Ohana underscore Packers on Twitter. Please continue to support us there at Ohana Packers Edition on Instagram.
01:13:23
Speaker
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01:13:40
Speaker
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01:13:52
Speaker
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01:14:10
Speaker
And we got our big one coming up pretty soon. Yep. Day two of the draft. I've already told the boss I ain't coming in that day, so I will be here for it. Please follow the podcast on your favorite podcasting apps. Give us a like and a subscribe. And, you know,
01:14:28
Speaker
Joe does a really good job about this. But next week is our linebacker episode. So if you have any comments on linebackers, questions, please send them in to us. We always try to follow through on following up with fan questions and led discussions. So please continue to support us in that venue. But until next time, go Pack Go and a load.