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Route Awakening: Packers WR Room Breakdown ft. Dan Kotnik
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📝 Episode Description (Spotify SEO optimized)
Are the Green Bay Packers set at wide receiver… or is this group still a gamble?
In this episode of Ohana Packers Edition (OPE), we break down the entire Packers WR room — from WR1 debates to breakout candidates and potential draft targets. Is there a true alpha in Green Bay, or is this offense built on depth and development?
We’re joined by @PackADayPodcast cohost Dan Kotnik to bring the heat on:
- Who should be WR1 in 2026
- Which receivers are ready to take the next leap
- Whether the Packers should target a WR in the draft
- Bold predictions for the season ahead
Plus, we answer YOUR listener questions as we gear up for another massive year.
If you love Packers football, wide receiver debates, and bold takes… this one’s for you.
#GoPackGo #PackersNation #NFLDraft #Cheeseheads #OPE
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:01
Speaker
Aloha and welcome back to another episode of the Ohana Packers Edition podcast, getting the vowels all mixed up already. Today, so we're going over, we're going, continuing to go through our positional previews for the 2026 drafts.
00:00:17
Speaker
Thank you. And we haven alreadyparted yeah just ski we have Dan Kotnick on to go over receivers. Dan, thank you for joining us. Always love to have you on, whether we're talking actual football or we're talking top five rankings of whatever we feel like talking five rankings of. But
Sports Fandom Dynamics
00:00:36
Speaker
we appreciate you coming on and joining us again.
00:00:39
Speaker
Yeah, it's always ah it's always a pleasure to to come on, and especially especially Mike, because i he's my he's my one he's my one niche of Packers fan, Celtics fan.
00:00:54
Speaker
like in the entire like We might be the only two that that exist. so I think so.
00:01:04
Speaker
And yes, we are those two. And you too, Joe. It's great to see you too, Joe. You are those kind of fans who blame who blame Wisconsin sports fans for wasting their cheering on other Wisconsin sports teams that should be allocated to the Packers. You know, like, honestly, when Michigan lost to Wisconsin early this season, I texted, I messaged Westendorff and was like, you know we're going to lose the playoff game tonight, right? Because of all the Badger Packers fans wasted all their pixie dust. And Jacob was like, don't say that. Don't say that. And he was like...
00:01:37
Speaker
damn it, Kiwano, you had to say it. I was like, you know
Diversifying Sports Interests
00:01:40
Speaker
I'm right. He goes, I know I didn't want to say it, though, but... This this trio right here knows about diversifying. We're all across the Big Ten. We've got Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan. like you can't Mike's right. like You have to diversify your sports interests. You can't silo yourself.
00:02:00
Speaker
Well, don't say that because we'll get canceled for DEI or whatever they they call it anymore. but When you were talking about how it's good to see Mike because of that niche, I was like, where the hell is he going with this? So, yeah, okay. But, yes, it is baseball season, not basketball season. Opening day was just two days ago. The Braves are 2-1, so I'm sitting pretty good right now.
Focus on Packers' Receivers
00:02:30
Speaker
Tigers are looking good. Kevin McGonigal, AL Rookie of the Year. You can book that right now.
00:02:38
Speaker
That's alright, Ronald Acuna is going to get the comeback player again and the MVP. Very nice, very nice. All right, before we go too far off the rails and this becomes an OBOT episode, let's get us back on track. So as I said, we're going into receivers today. We're going to stick to our usual programming method where we're going to talk about the current state of the Packers.
00:03:01
Speaker
I believe Joe has an interesting fan question. do you want to go into that when we do the current state of the roster? Just because it kind of goes ahead and jump right into it if you want. Yeah. Yeah, and then we'll recap draft prospects afterward, but um as it stands right now...
Fan Question: Receiver Trade Prospects
00:03:18
Speaker
yeah Well, let's go ahead and just go into the question because we've already kind of brought it up a little bit. um before we started recording it will lead into the current state of of what the Packers have so um and and it's a big question everybody seems to have this on their mind but Goose our buddy Goose over on the old tweet machine asked which wide receiver gets traded this offseason Reed or Wicks can't keep both if you want to draft and build for the future
00:03:52
Speaker
So, Dan, who wants to pick it first?
00:03:56
Speaker
You got any feeling on this one first, or you want me to go? You know, i'm I'll let you go, because I think I know going in where who's the most likely candidate. um But, like, I'm also starting to, I'm like, as as you brought that up, I like started to, like, read through again, like, the current roster wide receivers, i'm like,
00:04:20
Speaker
crap, like, yeah, like, they really can't keep both of them on the roster if they want to, if they want to kind of maintain, you know, do anything in the draft. So I'll let you start. Okay. And so there there's a, it's from a draft angle and from just a contract angle. So from the contract angle,
00:04:36
Speaker
You know, all expectations are unless sure tragedy happens again, they're going to extend Tucker Craft and they have made every indication that they want to extend ah Watson. And...
00:04:51
Speaker
and and you know watson has a lot of questions to answer but what i will say is the acl does look like it was a one-off and more for you know more due to lambo's turf and he really does seem have solved the soft tissue injuries that plagued him over his first two season first two and a half seasons in the nfl you know i and I know that it's tough to make that, you know, supposition, but it's not my money. I'm not the one who has to make that call. I'm not good in rust ball. But I do think that with how this past season played out, how his return from the ACL repair went and just um how he played off of it and how the team looked off of it, I do think they are going to make...
Analysis of Packers' Receivers
00:05:36
Speaker
the effort to extend him especially before any other receivers signed extensions or new contracts because the you know i look at like the pierce deal and some of these other ones that have happened and i'm like oh it's 2021 and christian kirk signing a stupid ass deal that priced davante out of green bay kind of you know that whole that whole ptsd is popping up again but like dan kind of mentioned like they are in this spot where they are not going to be able to keep so and this is the thing is you know some people rfc are trying to argue like they can pay two receivers but i'm like yes you can but not if you're paying a tucker craft the money that tucker craft is gonna get that's your second receiver you're paying you know for all intents and purposes they made a high investment and then you look at the investment they made in golden what golden did show in the limited snaps he got last season and
00:06:28
Speaker
i know that he needs to like iron down his playbook you know dusty has gone into jt o'sullivan on the qb school has made a lot of comments about like there's a lot of high-end stuff that golden does on film but there's also a lot of like what's he doing here on this play kind of thing so you But, like, the touchdown he scored against Chicago, that should have been an icer in the playoff game and stuff. And so you see the investment. You see the upside there. And then Savion.
00:06:53
Speaker
the The thing with Savion is I don't know if his future is at wide receiver. I don't don't know if they're going to tie Montgomery slash Corderell Patterson him in the next year or two. But, you know, they're going to give him an opportunity. you know, like, I know it's one play, but his fourth down conversion against the Giants this past season – It's one of those, they don't have another one of those type of guys because Watson's tall and really athletic, but he doesn't leverage his athleticism that same way that Savion can just because he's more of a speed downfield deep threat kind of guy. And, you know, he's at least so far, he's shown to be better at running under passes than, you know,
00:07:34
Speaker
the him and love just have this weird lack of uh chemistry timing you know part of it's due to the time he's missed and all that kind of stuff so i say all those things to get back to the state of the roster is you have six guys that you're like if no trades happen these six guys are pretty much locked to make the regular season roster and that's christian um golden um And I'm naming these in a certain order for particular reasons. So Watson, Golden, Williams, Moore, and then the two that are going to be the object of discussion, in um Jaden
Strategic Trade Impacts
00:08:10
Speaker
Reed and Dontavian Wicks.
00:08:12
Speaker
And now I know that um Joe and um Dan kind of hinted at like, okay, you know, they're in this odd spot because you're trying to contend. So I kind of go to what I said about Dobbs last offseason where I'm like, I wouldn't do it.
00:08:28
Speaker
But if you got a starting corner. This, you know, it's the same thing as last offseason with the Dodgers. was like, you have to get a starting player of Dobbs caliber back. And in this instance, that's why I say, i think the guy is Reed, because I think Reed can get you a better player in return.
00:08:48
Speaker
And this is my belief, but also it's backed by how they've deployed Reed. He doesn't play on the perimeter. He almost predominantly plays slot snaps. And I think he's gonna earn him based on his top tier big playmaking ability.
00:09:05
Speaker
But the down-to-down consistency is still very concerning to me. You know, like, everyone outs Wicks, outs Dobbs, but I'm like, Reed is as bad as those guys, or worse, in some degrees, as a dropsy guy.
00:09:19
Speaker
And he just makes enough big plays that the average Packers fan is like, it's fine, like, he he he offsets kind of thing. But I'm like... You look at the playoff game, that drop in the, you know, late in the fourth quarter that would have gotten them into much, you know they would have gotten into scoring range and the ball would have been out of bounds. Like, just it's those kind of plays where it's like, it's the down-to-down Can I count on this guy to make the six-yard catch that's going to set us up for second and short? Can I count on him to make the simple third down catch to convert to a first down? It's those kind of plays. Like, yes, the big plays are awesome. They're great to see. But that's also, like I said, why I think he'd have the higher return on investment in a trade because other teams are like, this is the big play guy
00:10:04
Speaker
And if we're going to get big plays, you know, Wicks is more of an in-theory guy than he is a proven commodity in that sense where it's like, Yeah, he was really dependable last season, but we haven't seen consistent big plays out of him.
00:10:17
Speaker
And um that's where I just think if you had to and you were going to get a starting corner... or some sort of starter in return, Reid is the guy that makes more sense. Just because I do think there's an opportunity you could bring Wicks back on a cheaper deal next year. But I think Reid, just because of his track record as a big play guy, i
Debate on Receiver Retention
00:10:40
Speaker
think he's just going to earn a contract that's worth like 20-plus million a season. And Green Bay, if the...
00:10:46
Speaker
do like i said the two moves i'm expecting tucker and watson they're just not going to be able to pay a guy who's really a third option that kind of money you just it's it's just not it's not um financially um but it's not a financially fiscally responsible method of running your roster to invest what is going to be like 70 million dollars in three guys and one of them who doesn't even play like 80 of your snaps on offense in reed Yeah, I definitely second pretty much everything you said there. if it's If it comes down to it and you have to say one of these guys is the odds-on favorite to get traded, it has to be Jaden Reed.
00:11:27
Speaker
Because they're not going to trade Christian Watson. that that's That's a definite. They're not going to trade Matthew Golden. those Those two right there off the board, they are untouchable wide receivers. Then you start to get into, you know, the everyone else is, it's you know, it's Wicks, Reeds, Williams, Skymore. Okay.
00:11:49
Speaker
all All four of those guys are, to an extent, either... role player or rotational guys, or in the case of Savion Williams, more of a gadget, like, kind of, like, very unique position kind of player.
00:12:08
Speaker
ah Personally, for me, I'm... I start to lean more that... And this this is separate from the the question itself, because I think the question answered is Reed is the most likely to get traded.
00:12:21
Speaker
I wouldn't be surprised if they more... went the route of draft a wide receiver third fourth fifth round somewhere in there that fits more of a don tavian wicks kind of mold and they either trade or release savi on williams before the end of training camp and roll into it with that because i think the way they see it is watson's your number one
00:12:53
Speaker
Golden is the heir apparent to Christian Watson slash kind of guy that they want to develop to be sort of the guy that I think they will... they will have in their back pocket when they eventually do have to move on from Christian Watson. Reed is your slot guy. Wicks is just too valuable as as a blocking wide receiver and and also more actually one of the more sure hands on on the team. um I wonder if they would decide to do that more and say, okay,
00:13:26
Speaker
it's time to, if if we're in the if we're in the championship window here, it's time to move on from these little pet projects like Savion Williams and say, we can't afford to spend two, three more off seasons seeing where we can develop him and and spending a roster spot for a guy that has like five plays specifically designed for him. So either
Long-term Planning for Receivers
00:13:50
Speaker
Savion Williams needs to develop into something more valuable or They say, we're going to move on from you and we're going to bring a guy in that fits that Wick-style, Tucker Craft-blocking, pass-catcher kind of profile a little bit more and and does and does more for their offense from a versatility standpoint.
00:14:12
Speaker
I'm going to say this in all due respect. Shut the hell up with that Savion Williams talk. We have no idea what we have in Williams right now because he spent a majority of last season injured. I know a boat's a boat, but a mystery box could be anything.
00:14:27
Speaker
Well, yeah, but the thing is, is you just said one thing that also offsets what you're talking about with with Williams is you called Dontavian Wick sure-handed. He has had exactly one season where he you could call him sure-handed.
00:14:43
Speaker
Before that, if you remember right, we were all thinking, is Dontavian Wick even going to make the team because he can't get his drops worked out? So it's kind of the same boat there that...
00:14:57
Speaker
you know Savion's been injured, has only had like a handful of plays to really show what he can do. And in those limited plays, you know he's he's been you know he he's flashed here or there. I mean, look at it this way. He got his first career touchdown before they even let Matthew Golden get his first career touchdown.
00:15:15
Speaker
So you know that's a possibility. But you know all joking aside with that, i the Last year was still only Savion's rookie year, so there's no way that they can cut bait on a third-round draft pick after one year of injury-filled unless, you know, i don't know,
00:15:39
Speaker
He fucking threatens to beat the hell out of Matt LaFleur or... and Unless there's a unless there's a like different sense of urgency in the and the front office. that that That's sort of my point. Because you're right. You're right, Joe. like It would be very off-brand.
00:15:55
Speaker
for them to move on from a decent round draft pick like Savion Williams that early. That's my thing is, you know, this is with the contract extensions and a little bit more of the added pressure here of the window. I just I wonder if they I wonder if they would decide to to change that up a little bit.
00:16:13
Speaker
I don't think so. i think it would be a lot different if he were to say in the same boat as like a Malik Heath or Will Shepherd or, you know, something like that, because He was drafted higher. They have higher ideas for him. Had he not spent most of last season with an injury, we don't know where he would be at. Again, I think the only reason they would move on from him, from Williams specifically at
Trade Prospects and Draft Picks
00:16:40
Speaker
this point, is, again, he threatens Matt LaFleur or, you know, goes 190 down, you know, what's the road coming out of Green Bay, 30...
00:16:54
Speaker
thirty Is it 35? I thought it was like 41 or something. Yeah, something like that. Or, you know, he's doing donuts in the middle of 1265's parking lot or something like that. with with a Gets catfished by an OnlyFans model and... and and and Someone impersonates him for a $4 million loan. Or goes the opposite way and gets catfished like Manti Teo did. And you know the guy goes on Dr. Phil and outs him for something. Those were the only reasons I could see them moving on from Save You on this early.
00:17:35
Speaker
Now to go with the Reed or Wix, i I lean towards what you guys said about Reed possibly getting more in value.
00:17:49
Speaker
But I also have the whole, did Dontavian fix his issues with catches or did he just have an abnormally high year last year for catches?
00:18:07
Speaker
So are you going to be able to rely on him going you know for the season, or do you sell as high as you can on him and get what you can out of his value at the moment?
00:18:19
Speaker
We know what we have in Reed. He's the gadget guy, slot guy. Yes, he's going to have some drops, but he's going to also come up with some spectacular catches like the the ah Los Angeles Rams one a couple years ago werere in between three guys, so on, so on.
00:18:39
Speaker
We know he's also going to bite us in the ass with some drops, but we don't know what's going to happen with Wix at this point. Is Wix going to revert back? Is Wix going to continue to grow? The sad realization is, is both of them are on their final years this year.
00:18:54
Speaker
yeah And you're only going to get so much out of either one of them anyway because they are on their final years of their deal. It's not like a Malik Willis type trade where he still had a couple years on his deal and you're going to go. My only thought is with them not having the first round pick this year and next year,
00:19:18
Speaker
do they use the the chance of Reed and Wicks gaining them comp picks for the following year? So do they just go ahead and hang on to them? Because maybe that's the, you know, let's say ah Jaden goes out and gets him a Christian Kirk-style contract and can pull in a fourth-round comp pick for him.
00:19:40
Speaker
Is that going to be better than what they can get in a trade for him? Yeah. so i had yeah Sorry. Sorry. Yeah. I think that's so and that's why that's why I kind of lean towards the the idea that the idea of, you know, Williams williams gets cut for somebody you know for for a rookie this year. I think it's much more likely that this team stands pat this offseason with anything with their wide receiver group and just kind of...
00:20:10
Speaker
You know, basically basically kind of you know just saying we're going to run it back this year with the pass catchers that we have. Hope everyone stays healthy. Hope the offensive line improves and Josh Jacobs you know can can have a bounce back season in the offense and say we're going to move forward with the idea that we have, you know assuming contract extensions get worked out and everything,
00:20:36
Speaker
Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, and Tucker Craft as our three primary pass catchers. And then either Josh Jacobs or the revived corpse of Marshawn Lloyd ah you know decides to come and just say that's that's our core of the offense moving forward. And then we'll fill in as needed as we as we go. And like you said, either...
00:20:59
Speaker
either bring Wicks back on a cheaper deal or let both go and and try to, you know, explore the comp pick situation. But, yeah, I think it's much more likely they probably just stand pat. I think anyone kind of asking for trades like this may be still on a little bit too much of a high of trading for Micah Parsons. I think that was...
00:21:19
Speaker
Not something to be expected. It's not something to be expected, but it is a plausible idea because of the fact that both of them in their final years. Sure. We have some giant question marks in the wide receiver room, but I still go with, I still don't think Sky Moore is a lock to make the roster.
00:21:38
Speaker
Oh, no. Yeah. And that's the other side of it. and Because he's not really proven anything outside of being a returner. And can they hold on to a guy strictly to be a returner?
00:21:55
Speaker
If I'm going to do something like that, I'd rather stick with the possibility of a Savion Williams being that kick returner and then trying to find somebody through draft or UDFA as as your, which there are a couple of guys that I can talk about, Koff Koff, Caden Weijin, Koff Koff, that you can throw back there to be your your um special teams ace.
00:22:21
Speaker
and will provide for you on offense. I just don't think Sky Moore is that. so And then you know there is the one guy that we keep forgetting that i I'm not going to say he's going to be a lock to the roster,
00:22:35
Speaker
But I know they're a little bit high on him and he could find his way to the roster. He did a little bit a couple of times last year and that's Will Shepherd who has pretty good size, pretty good speed, pretty good ability.
00:22:49
Speaker
I think he also dealt with some injuries a little bit across the year last year, but came in as a UDFA out of Colorado last year. I really liked him. He's specifically in my notes from last year.
00:23:03
Speaker
And so I think there's a lot of options, but to answer to go back and answer Moose's question, which one I think will get traded more, I would probably have to agree with you guys and lead lean Reed a little bit more just because
Offseason Strategic Considerations
00:23:20
Speaker
of he might be able to pull you in a little bit e better pick compensation or maybe a little bit maybe you can do something like the uh
00:23:35
Speaker
the the trades that the Packers are a little bit known for where they they swap players who just need change of scenery and and we can get somebody to come in and fill in ah you know maybe a defensive tackle or maybe a cornerback or or something like that that is on the last year of a deal and and it's just easier to trade a player for a player than it's a pick for a player.
00:23:56
Speaker
But I'm going to put on my Sith hood for this one and say that I would rather trade Christian Watson.
00:24:09
Speaker
Wow. And my reasoning behind that is, is similar to the Dontavian Wicks thing, was last year an abnormality or is that the Christian Watson we're going to see going forward?
00:24:28
Speaker
We, you know, he's he's had the ticky tacky injuries. We're hoping he's overcome them somewhat. He had the ACL last year. We know that guys can come back from that and play pretty good. But then we also have guys who come back, play good for one year on it, and then they seem to, like, tail off.
00:24:47
Speaker
Hint. ah you know, IE, Rashawn Gary type situations where they seem to come back and be a comeback player of the year for a season, and then they just end up not doing anything else going forward once they get that bag of money. So...
00:25:07
Speaker
Do you pay him what he's probably going to get on the open market? Do you sell high on him and get, you know, maybe a third round pick for him? Maybe, you know, maybe a second, who knows?
00:25:24
Speaker
You know, Goody and, and Russ Ball are pretty good about what they get, give and get for compensation that they don't really get taken on too much. Um,
00:25:36
Speaker
Or do they just let it ride and then have the discussion at the end the year? I was kind of looking at at Watson's hit, and he's got a void year next year.
00:25:49
Speaker
So ah it is 3.7 million dead if they don't anything with it. Yeah. don't do anything with it um you know it's ah His signing is... Pro-rated signing is $1.2 million. His regular season roster bonus is $30 million on this void year. So there's they're going to have to do something with him one way or the other.
00:26:16
Speaker
but if If you really want to rebuild things and really want to kind of save on a little bit of money, my thought is you move on from Christian Watson, hang on to the other guys, draft somebody from this draft because there are some pretty good receivers in this draft and just continue the growth there.
00:26:39
Speaker
But
Receiver Performance Analysis
00:26:40
Speaker
that's just an outside out from left field type idea. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but... so That would be where I would lean a little bit more to it.
00:26:51
Speaker
Would you say then, let's say you get a third-round pick for Christian Watson right, like, today. um Would you then go into the draft and say you're going wide receiver in round two with your first pick at 52?
00:27:09
Speaker
I think even as of right now, it's a possibility. I know the Packers have a lot of holes that they need to um bring in players to, but we also know what the Packers tend to do with the in the draft. They tend to draft a year early than a year late.
00:27:27
Speaker
Right. And, you know, with with all the contracts coming up at the end of the season in the wide receiver room, it it would not surprise me that in round two or three that we come out with a wide receiver. Right.
00:27:41
Speaker
yeah i do I do think that's a realistic ah opportunity because, yeah, you can't do like you you can't have lag at the tail end with love at this point. like Like that's the whole thing I go back to is it's like you're you keep saying you're trying to be a contender. So you've got to both make moves for this year. and like I said, that's why I i wouldn't make this trade. I'm not saying we have to make deal one of these guys. It's more of about if you are going to you have to bring a player back. This isn't a I'm not in this for a oh get a get a draft pick this year. Like I need a
00:28:20
Speaker
Like this needs to be like the Kuwait, not that this needs to be like the wooden trade, basically like the wooden for Zaire Franklin trade. You know, I would prefer someone younger than what you got back. But in that vein where it's like, OK, I'm trading a tax. Talented, you know, high flashes, but some questions guy out the door. And I've got to get someone who's a starting caliber player coming coming back. And I know a lot of people are going to say, oh, that's like, you know, overwishing and stuff. But I'm like, I'm just saying that's what it would take for me if I was a GM to make this move. And like, yeah.
00:28:56
Speaker
You know, if they do draft a receiver like I think they should, you're going to have to figure out the roster crunch and stuff. But I do think there are quote unquote natural ways, whether it's like, you know, both of you have pointed out like how how much is more really going to do on offense or, you know, is it save you on like your time's up or is it like, you know what I pointed out, like, does he move positions at that kind of organically opens a wide receiver slot on the roster as well and stuff. So there there's options. And before we go down, go divulge down that rabbit hole too much, let's get into those guys that we could see the Packers day taking on day two of this draft. because there are One thing I want to interrupt you with on that, Mike. No, go for it. I think that if they were going to do any kind of positional change on Savion, they were going to announce it on draft night.
00:29:46
Speaker
because it doesn't make sense to have him go ahead and work with the wide receivers, play with the wide receivers in his rookie year. Then a year later, even though he didn't get a full year playing wide receiver, then a year later
Draft Picks and Strategy
00:30:00
Speaker
transition him to a running back style. I think he's going to play what what they wanted him play, which is mainly wide receiver, but be used as that gadget style guy because he's still a big body receiver.
00:30:15
Speaker
Yeah, and that's crazy it'd be crazy to take take a wide receiver and put him at, like, cornerback or something. Bell Melton. Yeah, yeah. Or or or have him be your primary running back. Sam Shields. Shields, exactly. yeah
00:30:31
Speaker
But I only point to it because of how Savion was used last year primarily, and we've seen the Packers do it. It wasn't this coaching staff, but we've seen this organization do it before. And you're right. It's not it's not ideal, Joe. And it did take extenuating circumstances for the time-Montgavri move to to happen. But it...
00:30:52
Speaker
did happen and it is like a realistic possibility kind of thing. So all that aside, the reason why they did what they did with him last year is just to try getting him integrated into the offense.
00:31:03
Speaker
Right. Because, you know, just as well as I do, we talked about him last year in the in the pre draft and he was super raw. He hadn't played with an actual quarterback in like a year and a half. And, you know, he was the primary guy in their offense forever that they just needed to get him involved in the offense.
00:31:25
Speaker
That's fair. all right so now that we've gone down like a interruptant i can make at the moment now that we've gone through 20 42 different veins of what the packers could do at this with this position group as it stands let's talk about the kind of guys they could be looking at in this draft class so um dan we've kind of laid it out like i you know i know a lot of people are like they won't draft a receiver
00:31:52
Speaker
you know the year they took davante was kind of in this situation where it it was sort of like okay jordy's under contract cobb is up after that year what are you gonna do and you know it's like was receiver really a need and i i like that's why i liken the situation this year to the 2014 draft where give it and that's the thing is like there's positions of need at defensive tackle and corner but Where those positions have value, I don't know if Green Bay is going to be able to tap into that before they get to the 52nd pick. Whereas, i feel like there's going to be a few solid wide receivers available at 52 and 84, however the numbering works in that case. So, Dan, Packers come up in either round two or round three. Who are some names you've got your eye on?
00:32:44
Speaker
Yeah, the one that I've started to really fall love with, and this is a name that I think he's kind Can I make a guess?
00:32:56
Speaker
Sure. can Can I make a guess? Because this has been a popular name that's been popping up everywhere right now. Can I guess that he comes out of Georgia State?
00:33:08
Speaker
No. Okay. Okay. No. um But second second round, um i think he I think his stock is going to kind of start to rise a little bit more as we get closer. So i um' i'm very I'm kind of worried that he wouldn't be available here. But um Elijah Surratt from Indiana, um like profile-wise, just seems to fit like what the Packers love to have in a –
00:33:40
Speaker
Just like like if you were saying wide receiver, he is a Packer wide receiver. He's not Christian Watson where it's it's speed or it's Devontae Adams you know breaking down you know ah ah at the at the line of scrimmage type thing.
00:33:57
Speaker
He's a tremendous blocker. He's got the great size. And the other thing, too, that I like that i really like about him is everywhere he's gone to play.
00:34:09
Speaker
he's produced. He produced at James Madison, came to Indiana, produced there as well, and he had... I i i forgot to write it down in my notes. the the The actual number one wide receiver out of Indiana that like took all of the... Cooper. cooper like He was able to produce at a very high level with a legitimate first-round wide receiving prospect opposite him as well. like It helped helped that Indiana's offense was like weirdly...
00:34:40
Speaker
potent this year. um But like like like i'll throw I'll throw that in the same way of like that's why I think Carnell Tate is a really good prospect. He's playing opposite jero Jeremiah Smith, a guy that's going to go in the first round um in next year. he'll be He'll probably come out next year. um He's still able to produce at that level opposite a legitimate starting wide receiver.
00:35:07
Speaker
ah and And just heat Sarat fits what I think they want to look for in a wide receiver. that That's what I'll say. is like When I looked at guys that I am profiling, i'm I'm looking at for the Packers this year, it is more in that vein of Wicks. Because let's say they roll this let's say they roll into...
00:35:28
Speaker
ah the end of next season and have Watson and golden Golden under contract as your one and two. Tucker Craft gets the extension, so you've got those three.
00:35:41
Speaker
And if we make the assumption, if we just assume Wicks and Reed both walk in free agency... I think it's more important to replace the Wicks type body style and play style than it is to do with Reed. Reed, I think you can fit Golden into that role a little bit more. um So when I'm looking at a wide receiver the Packers targeting this year, it fits more of that Dontavian Wicks style of play. And I think Elijah Surratt is a really good fit for that profile.
00:36:17
Speaker
That's a really good name. Go ahead, Mike. want to look something real Yeah, Surratt is ah he's a fun watch, and he is like the guy where um when he got a little dinged up this season, you saw a lot of Indiana fans go like, oh, God. like Is he going to be back? Is he going to be healthy? Because, like you said, Cooper was like the de facto number one, but Surratt was the guy who did a little bit of everything for that team, and by that function,
00:36:44
Speaker
was the um the, like, heartbeat of that offense. And and that's the thing, is that it's hard to, sometimes it's hard to um figure out in college players whether they're doing a little bit of everything because it's the jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none kind of thing, and... um You know, like they're kind of hiding all their cons by having them line up everywhere, do a bunch of like gadget plays, all that Whereas Surat, I agree with you, Dan, where he is that guy where it's like, oh, no, like he does all these things because he can actually do all these different things. And he is. It's sort of like.
00:37:21
Speaker
Cobb in the backfield in that sense, or like putting Devontae in the slot or, you know, like how all like the, the, you know, the past 15 years of Packers number one receivers, the thing was, um, you start as a perimeter guy. And then as you, you, you get more seasoned, you become a guy who can operate out of the slot and the perimeter at like an equal clip. And it really just helps you screw up opposing coverages because then, you know, you have, oh shit, Jordy Nelson's is the inside receiver in a trips formation. Who's covering him kind of thing. And and it's those kind of, um it's that kind of flexibility that I think they're really going to look for.
00:37:56
Speaker
And like I said, that you know not to keep beating the the same dead horse, but that's where my thing with Reid is. is i'm like It would be different if we'd seen him used as a perimeter receiver more and more as his career has gone on, but that has decreased as time has gone on. And I do think, like you said, Dan, they are moving away from guys where it's like, we need a slot receiver.
00:38:17
Speaker
And now it's like, okay, we just need to get back to, we need receivers who can do everything. And that's where Surratt does check off a lot of boxes. um And yeah, like it is just funny that we're talking about a Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver as like, that's the guy that we want. And it's not, his name is not Antoine Randall L for those of a certain age, but um it like, this is the new era of college football.
00:38:46
Speaker
And yeah, Sarat's a really good name to bring to the forefront there. i The only thing that I got to add to that is if you go by and and like I said last week, Moffy finally gave me access to his database. It says that he's got a below or a poor ah blocking grade and the Packers love them some blocking wide receivers so that that could knock him out of there but uh I was trying to look up his Raz because I wasn't sure of it off the top of my head and he didn't participate in any of the the yeah I was gonna say how I think he was pretty yeah I think he was pretty banged up by the time the season ended and did it so he just kind of said screw it I'm gonna just ice it up and stuff and
00:39:32
Speaker
And I agree, like, the blocking stuff, it's always hard because, like, you get guys like Watson, who was just, like, a blocking phenom even at NDSU, and part of that is because they ran, like, the triple option for all intents and purposes. But then you get guys like Dobbs who were, you know, was rated in college as, like, a some depending on who scouted him you got anywhere from the he sucks as a blocker to the oh blocking's not his game kind of thing but it's like i i do think surat falls more in the dobbs category where it's like well he's the number one receiving option so like ah how many times do you really want this guy blocking for you you like it is the whole like and and he's a pass he's on a passing team whereas watson
00:40:13
Speaker
Yeah, he was the number one option, but NDSU wanted to run the ball every seven days from Sunday kind of thing. So it's not an apples to oranges thing, but it is one where it makes you kind of think like, hmm, like would they heavily consider that or would they look at the versatility and all the other things he brings to the table? So it is an interesting point to bring up, but I do wonder...
00:40:36
Speaker
It's one of those where there's no, like, you know, I'm not going to count a PFF or whatever grades for wide receiver blocking on a run play kind of thing. So there's no, like, stats for how well receiver blocks. this is Mocky, you're talking about. Mocky has his own grades that he gives to PFF. That's true. Because I don't think any of us really trust PFF.
00:40:58
Speaker
That's true. And like I said, it's always hard to tell how well a guy who is the team's primary receiving option should be expected to block. That's my main point about it. There's certain standards.
00:41:12
Speaker
I just know how the Packers are with their shit, and they are the type of team that it doesn't matter if you're number one or number five on the depth chart. If we put you out there to block, you better be able you better be throwing your body at somebody.
00:41:26
Speaker
And not saying that they won't take a chance on Terat. I agree. You know, he he's he's riding high. He's very productive out of college. You know, it's... I think it's to the point that anytime a team has these high caliber players and win the national title, they're obviously going to get drafted a little bit higher than, than they may have previously. Uh, so that, that's my only knock there, but I don't think that's going to be an issue with him.
00:41:58
Speaker
ah so yeah, I'd have no issues with, Like I said, i if we have it if the Packers had a first round pick this year next year, i would have no qualms saying that they're going to come out of this draft with at least two wide receivers.
00:42:14
Speaker
But with the low side of of draft capital, I'm not sure if I can comfortably say that. And this is the only caveat I'd add to it, is if they trade down. So maybe not pick at 52, they take a trade package, you know, late, late second round pick, and and a couple extra, you know, later round picks and um go from there. But it would not surprise me at all if all the wheeling and dealing Goody does on draft weekend, that the Packers do end up with at least two out of out of this draft.
00:42:54
Speaker
What do you got, mike I'm going to let you go next. okay Can I make a hint on it? Is the kid out of Georgia State? No. so I'm going to go and talk about the kid out of Georgia State. well no i'm going to The only reason I keep bringing him up is because it seems like now that the Packers have officially spoken to him as ah as one of the visits, his name is being brought up everywhere.
00:43:18
Speaker
So that's the only reason I keep joking about is that the guy from Georgia State So mine, I'm going to come at it from a different angle. I'm going to go with a guy that I can't see Green Bay taking, even if he's on the board in like round three. And that's Jordan Tyson. And okay the highlights for Tyson are great. Like he he he has moves off the line of scrimmage that are...
00:43:43
Speaker
Elite for a college receiver, you know coming into the NFL he has good separation skills good hands The injury history is just so concerning for me like you have just knee injury knee They're all lower body and then the big concern for me is like he's had like two different knee injuries and then this past year it was like all soft tissue like a long-term hamstring issue and stuff and the concern I have there is like if I can get him day three i' would be jump doing jumping jacks for an hour kind of thing if they got him in like round four or something that's like the steal of the draft but day two it's still in that range where i'm like my my ptsd is like okay like sure he didn't have issues with the knee structurally but are the soft tissue injuries a sign that like he's still not totally right and now his body is like overcompensating and can't handle the like you know that the fact that his knee is never going to be a hundred percent again anymore
00:44:44
Speaker
And, you know, that's where, like, as an organization, they have, you know, hands-in checking medical records and all that kind of stuff. But Tyson is the one where, like, I think three is where you get into the, like, okay, I could see the Packers maybe being intrigued because the upside, like I said, is so high.
00:45:03
Speaker
But... the injury history is just so multi-layered and like it's it's deep both vertically and horizontally in terms of like there's a lot of injuries and they're bad injuries too kind of thing and from that standpoint i'm like i don't know if i could if if it was me i don't know if i could pull the trigger on him in day two like i just think that's that's just a bridge too far for me but how how do you two see tyson as a prospect and where would you feel comfortable taking him
00:45:34
Speaker
Man, i I don't think I feel comfortable taking it at all. It's an alphabet soup, his injury list. It's rough, man. And there's also... the You call this call this... um what What is it? The logo bias?
00:45:59
Speaker
There's something about that Arizona State like team the last couple of years. I just don't trust any. like it all All of their success felt very inflated. and so like i know we I know we played elsewhere, but like just coming out of Arizona State now, it's like I just have this weird thing. like everyone Everything there feels kind of...
00:46:21
Speaker
over inflated and i i just worry about like he just it screams just screams a guy that is never going to be able to make like make an impact and is just a constant like it's um ah ah J'mon Moore. It feels like a J'mon Moore.
00:46:45
Speaker
Like, you're expecting, like, oh, like this was a big steel steal. like I mean, it would be it would be big for Tyson to fall down to 52, I think. um And I don't think... but like let's Let's just say for the sake of this argument...
00:46:59
Speaker
he falls somewhere in like third round and you, and you take him. It just, it feels like that kind of thing where like the Packers are betting on this upside and betting on the injury history. And it's just, I like, like you said, I have too much PTSD from like past things, ah past instances like this, where they try that out and it bites them in the ass.
00:47:21
Speaker
And again, like they are, i just, I, I just feel like, like the moves that they've made, So far this offseason, the few that they have been, they all feel very targeted to we need to bring in guys that are going to fill the very specific spots that we need.
00:47:43
Speaker
And, sorry, when they when they come in, they're going to be there for a... specific role and i just don't know how much they're willing to gamble on these very precious few draft picks that they have on someone like this and if they're they're gonna they want to go somewhere where they it's more of a a sure bet i think maybe be more so i'm just trying to speak that into existence than anything else I'll be honest, I really didn't watch him, one, because of the injury history, two, because the way people are talking about him, he's probably not even going to be at 52. So I tried to maintain a lot of guys that – or watch a lot of the guys that are either going to be at 52 or later.
00:48:28
Speaker
um Now, just looking off of Moffy's notes, ah he' he's going to be 22 this year, so he still is relatively young. But Mike, you might know a little bit better than I do on this.
00:48:41
Speaker
Moffy says his arm length is 30 inches and a quarter. Would that be considered too short in the Moffy-verse? So like you're getting into the range where there's like one guy they've drafted with arms that short who's been really successful. And yeah, it's Greg Jennings. But Greg Jennings also had that like weird frame where it's like, if you told me, like before I really got into all the draft stuff, where it's like, if you told me his arms were that short, I'd be like, no way. like You know, you just watch Greg play, and he had, like, broad shoulders, so, like, his wingspan, like, made up for the fact that his arms But you watch how, like, Jennings would range for balls kind of thing and stuff, and it... That's the thing, is, like, it just... Having a physical limitation like that, it just does make... It puts more pressure on all the other parts of your game to play up to mask that deficiency as a pro. It's part of the reason I think they they're kind of looking at Reid, and they're like, ah, he can't play on the perimeter, because he's just...
00:49:39
Speaker
Not physical enough and not like he you know his physical limitations are too much to play on the perimeter whereas Golden has shown that he both has the ability to win with his quickness and with just his like the way he you know physicals or mentally thinks out the game he can win in both those facets so like it's.
00:49:58
Speaker
It's the part of like college scouting where it's that, you know, it's the magic P word projection where it's like, yeah, this guy shows the ability to do certain things in college, but it's like when you when you put these other problem solving things in front of him, what are they going to do? And.
00:50:13
Speaker
like I said I think Tyson has a solid um release package off the line of scrimmage he the way he can move in and out of breaks he creates simple it's a lot of wicks it's a lot of uh Adams coming off the line of scrimmage my whole thing is like and and Dan and I have both gone over it it's the whole okay like everyone belly aches over Marshawn Lloyd And, you know, to an extent, Christian Watson, this is like if you played out the first two years of Watson or Lloyd's career and you're like, I'm going to draft that guy anyway kind of thing. And like without the high end production, you know, like and so it's like drafting Lloyd now, given, you know, how the first two seasons of his career like that's that's how I look at Tyson. Is it fair?
00:50:58
Speaker
You know, you can, you can, people, different people are going to like argue both ways on that one. But for me, I can't do that at 52. Like, like Dan said, not that you should expect rookies to save your roster. It's going to be on the guys who are here already taking leaps forward. But to buttress your roster where if, you know, you need to get into a next man up mentality, how can I count on a guy who hasn't even been able to stay healthy for his own team to come in and be healthy?
00:51:25
Speaker
for our team and like dan said that's one of the things that i thought they made with moving to the guys they did this offseason where it's like they're all guys who have relatively been healthy over their careers i know same juice but he's more of like a a he's like a he's like a down the roster special teamer guy kind of thing but like franklin yeah his you know his advanced stats were down but he plays every week kind of thing um and Same with Moore. It's like he's a smaller guy, but for the most part, he's been pretty healthy in his career. So it's like, yeah, like maybe they're not the cream of the crop necessarily for what the outsiders are thinking, but at least you're like, okay, this guy's going to be able to suit up for me 16 or 17 weeks out of the season. And I think that's a big part of why, like you said, Joe,
00:52:08
Speaker
I think some other team is going to be enticed by the talent. And, you know, he's still getting first round buzz. um You see a lot of the guys like, um you know, like a lot of the draft picks with some meat on their like to their name, who still are like, you know, what screw I don't care the injury history. Like um i'm I'm willing to bet on the upside and talent.
00:52:28
Speaker
But like Dan said, there's just too much recent and fanhood long PTSD on injuries where it's like, I can't, For a team like Dan, like we all three of us have said, for a team that's on the precipice of being truly in the the contender tier, the Super Bowl contending tier, it's like i can't play Russian roulette with a second-round pick, like like you said, Joe, when we have no first-round pick either.
00:52:56
Speaker
So...
00:53:00
Speaker
I... I agree with all that and I just gotta throw out there if if a team is gonna take a guy, if a team will have no issues taking guy like Caleb Farley in the first round with his extensive injury history, then I have no doubts that somebody can, will take a flyer on Tyson. But no, the arm thing, the only difference that I have to say between him and Jennings is Mafi has Tyson down here at 6'2 with those arms. Jennings was six foot, if that, and with those arms. So he was kind of more body... ah What's the word for it? He was more... Jennings was a weird... He was like a horse stocky build, too. ya Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:53:47
Speaker
Proportioned. he He was more proportioned with his body than than a six two guy. but um Now, I am going to mention the guy from Georgia State, Ted Hurst, but he's not the guy that I really want to bring up at the moment. Please, please, please actually say his name. We're going to lose whatever credibility we have if we keep referring him to as the guy from blank. From Georgia State. Well, the only reason, like I said, the only reason I say that is that I'm just teasing him at the moment because Easton Butler came out and said that the Packers did officially meet with him. So now his name is everywhere.
00:54:23
Speaker
and and and they all, I sometimes, you know, I never believed in the whole, we're in the matrix and, you know, things are like, happening you know, once you think of something, then it's everywhere.
00:54:39
Speaker
So far during this draft stuff, it's happened twice. Once is the Ted Hurst thing, and the second is another guy that I'm going to talk about later. and i I pulled him off a PFF as he was like ranked four hundred and thirty second out of the list.
00:55:00
Speaker
And i was like, and he and he goes to Youngstown State. It's like, nobody's ever gonna talk about this guy. I've found two Packer articles talking about this guy.
00:55:12
Speaker
and it's like what but anyway ted hurst georgia state good size good hands he's a good hands catcher i liked his routes but i thought he could be a little bit quicker out of them um you know that's one of those things in the nfl you need to be there before the ball gets there and you know with jordan love's quick release it's going to get there pretty quick so you need to make that a little bit better um he's got some pretty good wiggle to him definitely has breakaway speed He's got good height, but the listed weight that I saw for him, I didn't look at what they had at the Combine or if he was even at the Combine. What they had listed for him.
00:55:53
Speaker
but They had him at 206 at the Combine. Okay, then that's a lot better than what I was seeing because they had him at like 185 the last list. i was Yeah. And it's like, there's no, i think he was like 6'2", 185. It's like, the height's good. The weight is a problem. but And, but there's one thing that I've been thinking about this whole draft process is we're all going off old school thresholds. We're going to have to start making changes because like when we talked about linebackers, there were no prototypical linebackers from what we're used to.
00:56:34
Speaker
When we were talking about running backs, there's no prototypical running backs like we're used to. The same thing is with wide receivers. There's no prototypical wide receiver like we're used to. They're all either tall but lanky, short but stocky, good route runners but no speed to them.
00:56:55
Speaker
You know, lots of speed, but are they can they catch a cold? You know, there's there's no prototypical thing to them. And that was one thing that I noticed going through Easton Butler's list of guys that the Packers have met with. There's like three or four guys that they've they've met with that are like 200 pounds.
00:57:15
Speaker
yeah And it's like the packers and their like mes and know the Packers never touch those frigging type of wide receivers.
00:57:27
Speaker
Unless it's like a UDFA or something. And some of the guys that they were talking to, you know, possibly are going to get drafted in this year in this year's draft. And it's like, that's kind of interesting. And then you talk about, like we were talking about a little bit last week with running backs,
00:57:45
Speaker
o they've been linked to Devin A-chain, and he's 5'0", 100", nothing. So are the Packers looking at these different thresholds at some of these guys? So I brought up Ted Hurst, but the main guy that I wanted to bring up, and I've kind of seen some guys not talk about him or say he's had some issues, but I didn't really see it in the games that I will watch, and that's Skylar Bell out of UConn.
00:58:14
Speaker
and i thought he was another one that had pretty good size his speed looked good i thought his routes were pretty good and he can be he's pretty deceptive with his routes and the reason i say that is you see him go out on the route you see a guy covering him and the next thing you know he's wide open it's like how the hell did you just get wide open there's a guy over there there's a guy over there what it just kept surprising me every time i would watch a snap from him He's fucking wide open again. where You know, what the hell's going on here?
00:58:48
Speaker
I think in one of the draft groups that I'm, they've mentioned that he's kind of had an issue with drops. But again, I didn't look at that with the stats, so I'm not sure.
00:58:58
Speaker
But I think he could be a third or fourth round guy maybe sneak into the second round and and that. But I think he would be a pretty good pickup.
00:59:11
Speaker
So yeah, so Bell, my yeah like you said, I don't know if it's necessarily drops, but it's that he's not really a hands catcher. He likes to body catch a lot of things. And so okay that that was my big note on him is like, okay, like I know in the modern NFL, you can't like touch anybody anymore, but there is still a difference to being a hands or body catcher. That was my big note on him. um But overall, like you said, he he fits more of like what like Thompson kind of picked a while ago, where, like I said, you know um retaining driver, picking Jennings, like Jones a little bit. you know Jones was a little taller, but like these kind of stockier wide receiver options than um what Goode has kind of gone for, where Goode had the year where it was like... um
00:59:53
Speaker
i'm taking jmon I'm taking Jmon, MvS, and um EQ all in the same draft, and he's all 6'4 and hot taller kind of thing. um you know ah MvS and EQ were 9.5 RAS guys. Jmon like was faster than his time speed kind of guy and stuff. So, it is like you said, it's really interesting because...
01:00:17
Speaker
Well, it doesn't matter when you can't catch the ball. But um the the the really interesting one is one a point you brought up, Joe, where it's like, what is the modern body type like you know and like you said they're either tall and skinny or they're short and stocky kind of thing you don't see a lot of guys like javon walker where he was 6'3 215 and like tested like so he like reset the testing standards on grass like that kind of player um They which they just don't make it like that anymore. Which is the type guy the Packers 6-2, 6-3, 2-10, style of receiver.
01:00:58
Speaker
Right. And even Watson kind of stretched it because, you know, he's, think he was listed at like 205 coming out of college or something like that. He wasn't like huge coming out of college. I think now he's probably like 225, 230 or whatever kind of thing. But he wasn't that coming out of NDSU. And so that's where like Hurst has maybe an opportunity. And I've seen a lot of Packers draft picks or jack Packers people doing the like, oh, they don't do. i I don't know how to calculate it, but I understand what they're getting at where it's like if a guy is like six foot five, they don't go like.
01:01:31
Speaker
more than x a amount of percentage between like where that falls on his height versus where his weight falls kind of thing but like you said joe hearst guys built like hearst are kind of becoming the norm where it's like there are just a lot of guys who are six four and above and like way 210 sopping wet maybe kind of thing um and my thing with hearst is I can talk myself into him like I talked myself into the Savion pick in the third round last year. year There's just the whole the small school thing. It's a little worrisome for me because, as like, yeah, how much of that is a, like, man amongst boys? You know, like, and that was the thing where, like, when we had Dusty on last year and we were talking about, um, ah shucks, that the Bowling Green tight end that the Browns ended up taking. Oh, Fanon.
01:02:18
Speaker
Oh, Fanon. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and like one of the things that Dusty and I were like praising him over is like he played his best against like the best competition that he faced where it was just like, okay, Harold, no one else is going to do Jack Diddley's squad against Penn State or whatever. So you're going to get 30 targets and please make catches on half of them and maybe we'll have a chance to win the game. And...
01:02:41
Speaker
Like I said, is it it's not necessarily fair or unfair, but it is one of those, like, okay, like, can I see you make some plays against the top competition you face? And you look at the last couple years.
01:02:52
Speaker
And that's the thing with, like, Hurst is it's like he's got Georgia Tech, didn't have a good game, you know, two catches, 26 yards. UConn, seven for 91, but, you know, UConn isn't exactly a top-of-the-line, um, what's it called? Um...
01:03:09
Speaker
They weren't Vandy this year.
01:03:12
Speaker
team at this point that was two years ago he had a really good game we had this vanderbilt i don't remember how vandi was two years ago but then this past year they played year Yeah. Yeah, they got murdered. So, and then this year, though, they play Ole Miss in the opener, and he has one catch for six yards. And it's like, you know I'm not expecting you to set the world on fire or against a ah Power 4 opponent, but I need to see some production. Like, it doesn't have to be efficient production, but I need to see that... you're gonna produce whether it's like like i understand if he's getting like eight yards of reception but if he has like six catches i'm like i can live with that because the windows are tighter the quarterbacks probably not div power div one equivalent and all that kind of stuff so it that is one of those like i need to see a little more when you face the top competition that said you're right that like the movement skills the catching radius it's all it's all like ideal for like i said how gut has drafted perimeter wide receivers in the past so Like I said, I could see him round four, round five, but like I could talk myself into round three because it gets into the whole, okay, at least I can see the vision of, okay, like we're getting back to these power four bodied X and Z body type wide receivers who can maybe play in the slot eventually. But um it's a little, it would be a little rich for my blood, but you know,
01:04:32
Speaker
Take it with a grain of salt of tell me what the board looks like. Who are the edge rushers? Who are the defensive tackles? Who are the corners when they draft and stuff? So, yeah, like, like I said, how many times do people like us say, oh, yeah, he's going to be. This is why I don't put round grades on guys. Oh, yeah, he's going to be a second rounder. He's going to be a second rounder. And then he goes undrafted.
01:04:52
Speaker
yeah And that's without the bong mask, so... Dan, anyone else on day two that you would be pretty pleased if the Packers took?
01:05:05
Speaker
Yeah, um, you know, the the other two that I kind of that i threw in here at round two... um And and they're they're pretty they're pretty standard names, but I think it's, again, they' they're both sort of in that same vein. And this this is one, again, that I think a lot of that's getting some talk around the Packers a lot, and that's Jeremy Bernard from Alabama. Yeah.
01:05:31
Speaker
again, like very, it seemed like had sure hands as like one of the, one of the main things and, uh, size wise, um, shoot, I forgot to write down what, what he, what he was. Um, but Bernard, uh, six, one, two Oh four. Like it just, he's, he just feel it's again, that same, that same vibe of,
01:05:59
Speaker
Not going to set the world on fire from a pure raw athletic standpoint, but I think is able to fall in as a rotational number two, number three type wide receiver and be able to do a little bit of everything in terms of really focusing more on you are... We want you here as a as someone to support everything else around it, and when you have your opportunities, you're going to make the most out of it. um And the other one, too, was Malachi Fields out of out of Notre Dame. um
01:06:42
Speaker
Again, kind of kind of that same that same idea of the raw athleticism is not like... um Now I'm forgetting the name that you were just talking about. Ted Hurst. Ted Hurst, Joe. like He's not going to be as athletically quick or fast as Ted Hurst, but I think it's it's more of the... i was trying to pick guys that I thought much more likely going to be there in round two. don't
01:07:19
Speaker
no matter how the board kind of falls and Malachi Fields every time like I've been doing mocks it's like Malachi Fields sitting there at number two and I'm like just it it feels like it feels like a type of player that fits right into what they what they sort of want so those are the other two guys that I had kind of like listed as uh my round two so Jeremy Bernard Elijah Surratt and Malachi Fields i'm gonna I'm actually going to pull Maafi impression and tell you, Dan, Malachi Fields is not what the Packers are looking for in a wide receiver. Okay. okay this is why really this is why i'm This is why I'm me and I'm not Maafi.
01:07:59
Speaker
But I watched him. I struggled watching him because it just, yeah, he's a big-bodied receiver. He's not the fastest on the field. He he was pretty physical.
01:08:12
Speaker
I have wrote down here he wasn't much of a blocker because I just there wasn't much there in the blocking but his routes looked okay I did say he had a nice stop and go when he would do a stop and go route that was an amazing but looking off his testing which that's the only thing we can go off of right now 46 140 four six one forty ah His shuttle was a 4.35 and his cone was 6.98. And I think those all fall outside of Packer parameters per se So I would struggle seeing Malachi be a Packer. Yeah.
01:08:53
Speaker
Bernard, I didn't watch Bernard this year because every year I've watched an Alabama guy said, I would love to see that Alabama guy on the Green Bay Packers, and that Alabama guy never ends up on the Packers. So I'm hoping there's reverse. Except for Jenkins,
01:09:09
Speaker
Well, yeah, J.K. Scott, but I never watch J.K. Scott because I don't watch punters unless they're Australian and they go to the University of Iowa. Hashtag punting is winning.
01:09:23
Speaker
um So it just... I'm hoping for a reverse jinx here that at some point the Packers will take a a high...
01:09:37
Speaker
Raz, Alabama guy. The only thing I wouldn't want Bernard to do is go for jump ball because his vertical was really shitty at a 32 and a half. um So, you know, I don't know how much ups he has, but everything else tested out well. So I'd be all for it. Like I said, Alabama seems to produce a lot of good receivers.
01:09:59
Speaker
As long as they can keep their head on their shoulders and not get into like high speed crashes or or some stupid shit like that. But Mike, what you got? I've been rambling a lot here.
01:10:13
Speaker
So what's it called? I'm going to have to hop off. so So one guy that also falls into my like. I could see them taking him... Okay, I can't see them taking him day two because he tore his ACL late in the season is Chris Bell, the wide receiver out of Louisville. And he's one of those, like...
01:10:32
Speaker
kind of a throwback for the Packers where he's like 6'2", 220, and he is explosive as all hell as an athlete. Gonna have to see how he looks after the ACL repair. But one of those guys where you're kind of like, can he run more than three routes? And it's just that Louisville doesn't ask him to? Or, oh, he only does run a dig, a slant, and like a route kind of thing. I've heard a lot of that with the guys I watch. It's like, are they do they not run routes? Yeah.
01:11:03
Speaker
Right. And that was one of the things with Golden is it was like, there was a lot of people who were like, he doesn't run all the rounds. that's because Texas only asked him to do like four things. And was like, if you go back in his Houston film, he runs a lot of different funky routes. And it's just a matter of Texas is just like, no one can cover you from the slot if you run that deep over route. No one on the perimeter can match you on like a deep comeback or anything. So yeah, it's like, it gets into that. And top of that, both of quarterbacks had noodle arms, so they couldn't throw him Oh yeah. BB gun arm quarterbacks. But, um... Like, Bell is a different case where it's, like said, on one... It's sort of Savion-like, where it's like...
01:11:44
Speaker
There's a little bit of the man amongst boys thing with him because it's like he he's physical. The thing with him is I like that he understood he's physical and knew how to like box guys out within a route. And you saw it when Louisville played Miami because he scored like two long touchdowns because off of slant routes basically. Because he kind of like James Jones, the slant route where he like showed his back to the corner. The corner tried to play through him, kind of just fell off him at the catch point. And then he just takes off because he runs like a...
01:12:14
Speaker
I think Mafi said he was unofficially timed at a sub 4-4 in camp or something like that. And you saw it in that Miami game where it was like, he just erased all the angles after the catch in that game. It like was the big reason Louisville was up a lot of that game on Miami.
01:12:30
Speaker
And like I said, he's one that I can't see Green Bay taking him round three or two because while the talent and upside is there... five Yeah, like I said, there's questions about how... um Like, how expansive is his route running? And then also the whole... You know, like, Dan and I were going on earlier.
01:12:50
Speaker
How much is he going to play for you this year? Because he got hurt kind of late in the season. And it's... You know... it's one thing for Tucker to blow his knee out or Micah to blow his knee out in November. And you're like, okay, like they're in the, they're in the pro rehab system. They're in like an NFL medical system.
01:13:11
Speaker
Bell or anyone in that situation where you get hurt your last year, it's like half your rehab time is in a college program. And it's like, I know that a lot of them have good programs, but you're not going to get the dedicated care that an NFL or any other professional athlete is going to get, you know, rehabbing from a major surgery and injury. So...
01:13:32
Speaker
He's another one that like I don't see Green Bay doing it, but like Hurst, for different reasons, I wouldn't have to talk myself into it for very long to like get behind the pick.
01:13:44
Speaker
Granted, like I said, it is the biggest grain of salt with any of these receivers yeah on day two. i gotta I don't know what the board's going to look like. If you tell me that the board sucks, like I said, at tackle, maybe center, cornerback definitely, defensive tackle definitely, and edge probably. If it sucks at those five positions, take a tight end, take a receiver, I don't care kind of thing. But if it's like, oh, like Chris Johnson slipped to 52 and you took a receiver, I'm kind of like, all right, like what are we doing here, Packer? like you know then it gets into the like okay like i i might love the receiver they took and at the same time i'm gonna be like but i loved chris johnson kind of thing it's like you know it was it's sort of the whole like you have to get a guy that i'm like i'm in love with that guy that was my whole thing with the jair situation in 2018 because derwin james was my guy like we traded back with new orleans we're still in position to draft jordan james and then we traded back again and i was like
01:14:44
Speaker
ah like damn it and then and then i was like okay i still really like jair and i like jair at the 18th pick way more than i did at like 13th or wherever we would have been picking but yeah it gets into that territory of i'm like okay you still have to get a guy that i really like but there can't be guys at positions that i think are needs that i love you know available or i'm gonna looking at that pick with like side eye all the time and stuff like that that that becomes a it's one of those no no no yes like Brett Favre throws where it's like this better be a touchdown and not a pick six kind of thing so I love that the two people that Mike brought up are injury prone and not Packer type wide receivers
01:15:31
Speaker
um Yeah, for sure. Mike, I know you say you got to hop off real quick. I know there's a couple more guys that I want to talk about, so I'll probably have to end the episode for us. Are there any other, are there any of your your your school's guys that are coming out this year that you really want to talk about? I just looked at the one guy's Raz, and if the Packers take him, then you got to wonder if that was like a little kid got in the room and was like, I like the name.
01:16:02
Speaker
There's not a Michigan receiver worth taking any time. McCulley, like, and that's the thing is, like, McCulley is one of those, he should be a good, like, size, you know, height, strength guy, but he just doesn't play to it enough. Like, you you watch him, and Westendorf said it all the time, he's like, does he know he's six five Like,
01:16:23
Speaker
There were so many times, and like, the times that he does get a jump ball, like he times the jump ball up well and stuff, it looks great. It looks textbook to how you'd want it to look. And then the other times you're kind of like, B6-5. Like, go B6-5 and bail out your true freshman quarterback kind of thing. So, um, like...
01:16:42
Speaker
He's a priority u f UDFA maybe in the seventh round kind of thing. But if he goes any earlier than that, good luck to you. I wish you the best. But I can't see Green Bay taking... Because, like I said, he would have had to put up a green RAS card for me to even think like... Oh, yeah. There's lot of red. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, that's the thing is, like, he'd have to be like a, you know, like, MVS had wards, EQ had some wards, like, but they were like nine and a half RAS guys at 6'5 plus kind of thing.
01:17:14
Speaker
McCulley's the 6'5 part, but he's not the the athlete, and like I said, the production doesn't match. and And this was on a roster where you go into the season thinking, who else is going to deserve targets other than, you know, like, they had Marsh step up as a true freshman, but it's like,
01:17:29
Speaker
it's just He just didn't live up to the billing as much as they needed him to this season. so Yeah, the only green part of his Raz report card is his height. The rest of it is all red.
01:17:43
Speaker
Yep, so... We're not pumping them out yet at at wide receiver. There's a lot of other positions we're doing well at, but wide receiver's not one of them. That's what happens when you only throw the ball 15 times a game. You can't get the recruits that, like, an Ohio State who's throwing the ball 35 times a game can.
01:18:00
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I got to say about the Iowa guys. I will talk about – there's three of them I'll talk about here in a minute. But, Mike, is there anybody else you want to mention before you hop off here real quick? Um – Oh, I think, like, because Hurst was the one that I wanted to get into just because I know, like you said, he was going to be, like, the darling, um and stuff.
01:18:19
Speaker
Um...
01:18:23
Speaker
Yeah, I just feel like it's one of those weird classes where there's the chance they swing on someone like round two, round three, or they're not going to take one till like six or seven kind of thing. So it just unless they do some kind of deal where they get a player and an early mid early pick, like even if they get like a player and a round four back, then like, oh, and the like Reed is the one going out, let's say.
01:18:50
Speaker
Then maybe it's like, okay, like whatever on three receiver they pick, okay, I can get on board with it. But like I just don't see a lot of guys where without another move, you're kind of like, oh, that guy's going to make an instant impact and have a key role on the team. Because it's like, that's the thing. is it' like for ah And that's the other part we didn't even talk about. is like For them to draft a guy early on day two, that guy's going to have to leapfrog Wicks, Reid, even more. i know people are going to roll their eyes at that, but it's like that guy's going to have to somehow be wide receiver three or four early in the season to like justify the pick. Like Dan said, on a roster that's looking to be contenders, it's a it's a really narrow street to navigate for like that pick to quote unquote be where...
01:19:39
Speaker
All the angst over Golden not being able to get consistent snaps as a round one pick in a season where Watson was out half the season. Reed was out for, like, the middle third of the season. You know, like... And and then in a year where, you know, the the the payoff for the Parsons trade, you know, no first-round pick, and it's like, oh, that's our first pick, and he can't... You know, that's the thing. It's like, will he even be active on game days? And, like, oh, like, no one's going to love the day two pick who can't even be active on game days. And that's a year after, like...
01:20:09
Speaker
Gutekun or LaFleur is finding excuses to make Gutekun's round three pick active on game days kind of thing. So, you know, I just can't see it unless there's just a no brainer, no duh. You got to just take that guy because, um and i'm not doing this because he's from ohio state but like because carnell tate gets seen with two different bong mask photos and he somehow slips to 52 um like that's the only scenario where i'm like screw it i don't care what else is on the board like just take like you can't let him slide any further kind of thing like that would literally be the only one where it's like gpt give me images of carnell tate smoking bongs so he can fall to have like a
01:20:53
Speaker
ah Like a museum curated video of gas mask bongs in his closet to drop that fart. MTV style, like welcome to my bong mask room. my like i only of them And I only go there because weed is like, i like I said, I think that's one of the few where the Packers will say like, weed, whatever, kind of thing. Like, you know, all the other things that could get you to fall a rap more than a round down the board.
01:21:22
Speaker
Packers aren't touching those kind of guys. So, yeah, that's where I'll say. But Dan, I'm going to just say it for myself. Thank you so much for joining us. If you two turn this into a Star Wars parody episode, go for it. You have my... You have my consent as co-host and I will happily listen to it. But Dan, thanks for joining. Joe, thanks for taking us to the end and I'll catch you guys later.
01:21:44
Speaker
ya, Mike. So with that being said, we're not going to be on two too much longer. I just know there's probably a few more guys that we could probably talk about. I know you got a couple Ohio State guys that you'll probably want to mention. I know there's a few Iowa guys that I want to mention, but no round specifics. Are there any guys that you were like, huh, that could be an interesting guy on the Packers roster with what they've got already?
01:22:10
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Um, One guy that that stuck out to me as I was kind of looking through it, i and i'll I'll be completely honest, I focused a lot on higher at like higher, you know, second, third, fourth round kind, you know, where, cause in my opinion, if again, like if you are going wide receiver, I feel like it has it can't be a, and I know, I know we, we've, we kind of put his name in different spots here, but it's like a Savion Williams, like, let's see what he can do. Like it it needs to be something where there's a specific role you have in mind for him.
01:22:49
Speaker
And he's going to make the team, and you have you're you're hoping that he develops into what you kind of want. um and And one guy is Malik Benson out of Oregon.
01:23:02
Speaker
um Okay. not Not a whole lot there in terms of, like, the overall product. I forget where he i where he was...
01:23:16
Speaker
um before he ended up in Oregon. ah Oh, that's where He was at Alabama and Florida State. He was also a Juco guy early. um So he's an old guy. He's an older guy, yeah. um But he he just he has the he has just kind of like an all-around skill set of everything you kind of want something to do. He just kind of has the...
01:23:46
Speaker
He's got the mental thing there. You can see like the wheels turning. He needs to polish a lot of it. I think he if he can find himself into the right type of situation that teaches him exactly how he needs to be executing it, feel like the Packers offense is a good spot for guys like that where they can they can take sort of those raw those raw things and just say, you just need to be able to do it this way.
01:24:13
Speaker
He feels like a guy that has sort of that intang the intangible side that they love to go in, like guys like a Savion Williams, and hope that he projects out.
Player Evaluation Criteria
01:24:24
Speaker
um But just kind of a higher higher upside overall. And he's sure-handed. i the 2.3 drop rate. like he's A lot of these guys like that I've looked at, like it's the drop rate isn't...
01:24:37
Speaker
Isn't crazy. Like it's, if you're going to be here, catch every ball that gets thrown to you and then do all the dirty work that we ask you to do. um And yeah, I, I think, I think there's, and I think also too, a lot of these guys that I've looked at, you know, two, three spots that they've, that they've ended up.
01:24:58
Speaker
i don't know how I don't know how... I would love to hear maybe even someone like Mafi talk about this. It feels like that kind of... It's at least right now still has teams take another step back off of you.
01:25:16
Speaker
And maybe that lets him fall to a lower spot, like a fourth or fifth round, where the the value for a pick like that becomes outweighs any of the other any of the other stuff.
01:25:31
Speaker
um You know, the the age thing is is going to be one of those things that we're going to be dealing with for a while because of NIL. we're We're done with the COVID. I think this is the last year for the COVID stuff.
01:25:43
Speaker
So we're not having to worry about it there. But NIL is going to drive age up. um A lot of teams anymore, unless...
01:25:54
Speaker
and And I got to say this just because I'm looking at his Raz card and there's a lot of red there too. um He did great with the speed stuff. It's all the agility stuff that he he kind of struggled with.
01:26:07
Speaker
But kind of like Mike was saying, if if you're an athlete, they don't really care about a lot of the other stuff. So, you know, I kind of look at Tank Dell. Tank Dell was a hell of an athlete, and that's the only reason that got him drafted at ah at the spot that he was drafted. And now we're kind of seeing it where, okay, well, now he can't stay healthy.
01:26:31
Speaker
Right. So that's kind of thing there. now i gotta preference this because i know a lot of people are going to take this and say well you can't just go by the test scores i understand that but that's all we can go off of we can go off the film and we can go off the test scores we're not in that and in that guy's head we're not in his in his um entourage and know what's going on with things he could have just been having a bad day with the testing and and just couldn't right do it so But 189 is what they've got him on his RAS card. So he's a little bit smaller. But if he's a sure-handed guy, if he can if he's a quick learner, you know that that's something teams will look into also.
01:27:20
Speaker
I don't think it's gonna they're going to take a chance. Well, I can't say that because somebody took a chance on... or there's other people other teams that have taken chances on low-Razz guys, like like the one that comes to mind is TJ Tampa. TJ Tampa was highly talked about going into the draft, but then like shit the bed when it came to Raz, and I think he still went in the second round.
01:27:43
Speaker
um Now, I don't know how that's turned out for him, but you know some guys are or some teams are willing to overlook certain things with players as long as they believe they can fit the system somewhere.
01:27:57
Speaker
and you know maybe that's something malik benson is that he he can fit the system and and they're not too worried about it but um so one of the guys that i was kind of looking at was caleb douglas out of texas tech uh the the main note that i have on him because it really popped and i know it just goes with what i've been saying
Draft Skills Analysis
01:28:19
Speaker
throughout the friggin episode is he's a willing run blocker but and he was and the reason i add that is because he was really getting into the run blocking you know it wasn't just oh well I I put a hand on him no he was getting physical with the guys that he he was told to block good speed good size shifty good hands or good hands catcher and his routes look pretty solid so you know that could be somebody that could be you know mid-round guy
01:28:50
Speaker
oh The one that I want to talk about, and this one, like I said, is the guy that makes me believe that there is some kind of Matrix thing going on, um is Max Tomczak out of youngston Youngstown State.
01:29:07
Speaker
and oh He's a small guy. i think he's five. Let me see if I can find it real quick so I don't talk at all. I think he's... Excuse me. um
01:29:25
Speaker
Oh, what is it? I i see six foot 195 on mine. I got the Raz cards here, so let me pull it up. Yeah, that's not Raz.
01:29:35
Speaker
Ah! 5'11", 194. So, you know, he is a little bit on the, he's he's right at that threshold level where he's not super small, but he's not elite height.
01:29:49
Speaker
The knocks on him is his strength kind of sucks when it comes to bench press. He only put up 12 reps. ah His vert and broad are kind of shitty, but then all the other stuff like his agility and his speed grades are pretty solid for him, but I had to ask this in our in our draft chat with with a lot of the guys that do draft podcasts.
01:30:15
Speaker
Sorry, for some reason I got a cough fit now going on. Do we trust PFF rankings or stats?
01:30:26
Speaker
And the reason I say that is PFF has him listed as dropping nothing this past season.
College to Pro Transition Challenges
01:30:32
Speaker
and He had 70 catches and no drops. now the games that i was able to watch on him there were some iffy possibilities there i could see where a couple of them could be not catches i mean could be more bad at a way than catches or maybe it was overthrown over him so it wouldn't have been a catchable ball anyway but there were a couple that and this may be some of my old school tendencies if the ball hits your hands you better make the catch
01:31:02
Speaker
And there were a couple of those that I saw, it's like, okay, well, now I consider that a drop. But obviously PFF doesn't if they're saying he had no drops for the 2025 season.
01:31:14
Speaker
So with that saying, he's a good route runner, stout run blocker. Again, question mark per PFF, zero drops. ah Maybe more quick than fast, more production out of the slot.
01:31:27
Speaker
and I say he's a bit undersized. And of course, like Mike said with Ted Hurst, Youngstown State is not like a ah world burner when it comes to college football. So you've got to wonder, you know, what the play tie, you know, if he can make the jump or if he's just going to be a practice
Ohio State Receivers Highlight
01:31:48
Speaker
squad guy. But I really liked what I saw out of him.
01:31:52
Speaker
Um, and of course, I think somebody mentioned that he is nephew of Mike Tomczak. It's his dad, isn't it? Oh, is it is his dad? Yeah, I think it's his dad.
01:32:04
Speaker
Okay. Well, I thought somebody said, told me it was his uncle. Let me, but let me see.
01:32:12
Speaker
um i mean, he is, he's a volunteer coach at Youngstown state. Um,
01:32:22
Speaker
I swear it said it was maybe, maybe, no, maybe you're right. course, the the Google AI says that it is his dad, but I'm not sure I trust all that. yeah That's AI. I don't know. Yeah, that's rough.
01:32:39
Speaker
That's whole Matrix shit going on again with that stuff too. but um So either way, if dad, uncle, whatever you want to go with it, you know Mike Tomczak played in the league for a while, both Bears, and he was a Packers quarterback at one time. So that that would be a fun connection there.
01:32:56
Speaker
um So I don't know if he'll go... Maybe he actually made 70 catches and had no drops, and that gives him you know a team that says, okay, well we like your hand, so we're going to take a flyer on you with a late-round pick. But I really did like him.
01:33:16
Speaker
And like I said earlier, I was really surprised that some of the guys that they that the Packers have been listed as talking to are like 5'7". DT Sheffield out of Rutgers is like five seven and that's not typical, but so we're about an an hour and a half. Let's go ahead and throw out like I'm going to let you have the air for a little bit to go on with your Ohio State guys, and then I'll talk a little bit about my Iowa guys, and we'll get the hell out of here.
01:33:46
Speaker
um ah You want me focus on just why like Carnell Tate? or That's up to you. If you think that there's a chance the Packers have a shot at them or you just want to talk them up,
Evaluating Draft Potentials
01:33:58
Speaker
go for it. I mean, there there's no i can only I'm only one man, and I can only ask for so many blessings in this world.
01:34:07
Speaker
ah There's no chance they're going to get Carnell Tate. In a different draft, Carnell Tate goes number one overall in this.
01:34:22
Speaker
as As an Ohio State fan, especially when you talk about wide receiver, it is a embarrassment of riches to watch Ohio State football when you get to the wider position. And he he just like it. He's been there's you know, there's been the long list of, you know, Marvin Harrison, Jr., now Jeremiah Smith. And these guys dominate the headlines in college football.
01:34:51
Speaker
But Cardinal Tate, he has, especially with the way that Marvin Harrison has fallen off in the the first couple years here at at Arizona, obviously there's a little bit more that goes into that, I think.
01:35:07
Speaker
Um... Carnal Tate just is, he's he kind of, it almost kind it almost kind of ends up being you want to take the second banana out of Ohio State because they have a little bit more of a chip on their shoulder of needing to kind of prove themselves. And i guess not so much chip on their shoulder they need to prove themselves, but they have to work a little bit harder at times.
01:35:34
Speaker
than maybe a Marvis Harrison Jr. or Jeremiah Smith needs to. Cardinal Tate has exploded in in this offense. i speak I think it speaks a lot to what Brian Hartline did as the wide receivers coach there. um I know he's gone now, but, like,
01:35:52
Speaker
ah Cardinal Tate was truly like a third, fourth option on this Ohio State team a couple of years ago. And now he's arguably a top two, top three pick in the in the draft this year. um He's going to be really fun to watch.
01:36:13
Speaker
And i think I think he overtakes marvel harris Marvin Harrison Jr.,
01:36:21
Speaker
That must be a common theme with you Pack-a-Day people because Sarah Kellher said the same thing last week when it came to running backs that it it's almost preferred to take the guy that's been a backup at the... Right. and Because we don't need a a you know a star running back we need a guy who's used to being a backup so they come in with that chip on their shoulders so it must be a pack a day theme maybe indy hermann's over there telling you you need to point this but we've got our marching orders
01:36:55
Speaker
ah You know, Ohio State is similar to Alabama in that way that they're constantly pumping out wide receivers. You could even really throw um old Miss in there because Ole Miss has a couple in this draft. They always seem to produce some kind of wide receiver out there. so Again, i always seem to get my hopes up when it comes to an Alabama or an Ohio State wide receiver, and it just never comes to fruition. so you know And it's kind of weird saying that, being as I am a Hawkeyes fan, and the you know the pat and the Hawkeyes tend to face the
Iowa's Receiver Prospects
01:37:32
Speaker
Buckeyes and now and again. and it's like, I don't want to. Even though they've they've played them relatively well over the years, it's it's still... ah
01:37:41
Speaker
because of the of the talent that Ohio State tends to bring in because of their reputation. i mean, you could say it's NIL now, but no, it's more reputation than anything at this point. It's similar to Alabama. It's reputation. You're coming from one of the big schools. There's a better chance you're going to get drafted than if you're going to
01:38:12
Speaker
Montana or or Youngstown State or something like that so it it's so easy to be able to go in and watch Ohio State because you know okay well that guy's probably gonna get drafted that guy's probably gonna get drafted that guy's probably gonna get drafted so With that being said, there are three Iowa guys coming out in the wide receiver position this year for the Hawkeyes. You've got Seth Anderson, who was a transfer in, and I just blanked on where he transferred out of.
01:38:48
Speaker
I think it was one of the Georgia schools. um Then you have Jacob Gill, who came from Northwestern. And then you've got my dude, Caden Weijin.
01:39:00
Speaker
the thing that i have to say about the three of them is you cannot watch film on them and it's not because they're horrible on film it's because there is no film on them um and yes you can watch their route running yes you can watch their blocking yes you can watch this stuff they do occasionally get some catches in there but For some reason, they the Hawkeyes cannot get a quarterback in there to throw a ball.
01:39:34
Speaker
And even if they get a quarterback in there that can throw a ball, Ferentz for some reason don't want him to throw a ball. He just wants to run the ball.
01:39:42
Speaker
With that being said, All three of them have tested well. I believe all three of their RAS cards are green. Weijin is the outlier when it comes to height.
01:39:56
Speaker
The other two are within the 6'1",
Special Teams Impact
01:39:59
Speaker
6'2 range. Weijin is, I think they said he was like five eight five nine Um, I've often wondered if he would be better off taking a positional change and just calling himself a running back because that's pretty much what, oh, I was wrong. McGill is in it in the yellow. I thought he was, had a green card, but Seth Anderson's green. Gill is, is orange and Weijin is orange orange. I'm sure Weijin's is more because his height and weight are going to be in the red.
01:40:36
Speaker
um and he kind of struggled a little bit with the agility but yeah he's 5'8 193 but but The thing about Caden Weijin is if you are going to draft him, the main reason you are drafting him is because he is a special teams ace.
01:40:55
Speaker
He's a two-time, what's the award? It's the Jet Award. Two-time Jet Award winner for returners. He's been all Big Ten the last two years when it comes to returns.
01:41:08
Speaker
He's, i think he was like second team all pro this past season because of returns. Basically, once the ball is in his hand, there's a pretty good shot he's housing it.
01:41:21
Speaker
Or at least getting you very good field position if he's not housing it. Anderson and McGill, I can't answer that. And I don't think any Hawkeye fan can give you a legit answer on them because we just can't see any of it.
01:41:36
Speaker
not Not that they're not talented, it's just they weren't used. I think when I was actually looking at the stats, the best year Seth Anderson had was his sophomore year, and that was when he was at a different school.
01:41:51
Speaker
and And it was a small school. I can't even, like I said, I can't even think of what school he started out. I think it was like Southern Georgia something or at Georgia, Atlanta or some shit like that. It was it was a smaller school.
01:42:09
Speaker
and But I do know make that Gill came from Northwestern. I think, again, he had a better year at Northwestern than he did with Iowa just because they they didn't use their wide receivers properly. But I do know, per Easton Butler, that they've met with both Seth Anderson and Jacob Gill.
01:42:29
Speaker
So maybe the Packers have see something in them that they're willing to... and I mean, the Packers tend to like Iowa guys anyway, so they it wouldn't surprise me if they take a flyer on one of them, even if it's a UDFA. But if I had to have my preference, and if you wanted to fix special teams, if you're going to draft a guy specifically for special teams, Caden Weijin.
01:42:56
Speaker
That's all I got to say, Caden Weijin. it's Joe, it's the name I'm going to start throwing around to my family to make it sound like I know what the hell I'm talking about. it's like You guys might be talking about Carnell Tate, but have you heard of Caleb Weegean? Caden. Caden Weegean. Caden Weegean.
01:43:14
Speaker
And I had the correct friend to show Jake Chavink on the last name because it's spelled wet gin, W-E-T-J-E-N, but it's pronounced
Podcast Promotions and Social Media
01:43:25
Speaker
wheat gin. So, yeah, it's it's a really funky name, but...
01:43:30
Speaker
I think there's a video of Tim Dwight and I don't know if you remember who Tim Dwight was. he he was a big time special teams guy from Iowa, but he made it into the league and he has a he was the guy of that returned the kickoff for a touchdown in the Atlanta Falcons Broncos Super Bowl. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:43:52
Speaker
He said that out of both of them, he would take Caden Weijin over Tim Dwight any day of the week.
01:44:00
Speaker
You sold me, Joe. I'm in. yeah So with that being said, we're almost 15 minutes away from being two hour conversation. I'm sure there's much, much more that we could talk about. I know there's a few more names in there, but as you can tell, I'm kind of having a coffin fit. So my throat's getting a little dry. But Dan, why don't you go ahead and plug what you're up to these days and where people can find you at?
01:44:27
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, right now, but like in the offseason here, it's a Pack-A-Day Podcast on Mondays um with Camille Davis and Monty Moore.
01:44:37
Speaker
ah We have an awesome time over there. We try to go a little bit... little bit off the wall topic-wise, especially now that we're in the offseason. We just finished up a Brian Gutekunst-era March Madness bracket to try to decide who the best player from the Brian Gutekunst-era officially is.
01:44:59
Speaker
um No surprise, we went with Jordan Law. but The discussion that led us there to the end was ah was very interesting. If you're interested, Daniel Whelan was the 15th ranked player. We had a but we had a but a bunch of fans vote on who they thought was some of the best players. And Daniel Whelan was one of the highest vote getters in the right. Exactly. um So yeah, we had a lot of fun over there ah every Monday on the Pack-a-Day podcast.
01:45:34
Speaker
So here's the big question and the people have got to know. Is Lombardi Bar coming back for another season this year? the the discussions are ongoing and so for legal reasons I cannot comment at this time.
01:45:52
Speaker
Well, you know, the the the people have got to know so we've we've got to know pretty soon and I know Pickett is probably definitely Oh, Pickett was one of the first people that was just like, I'm in.
01:46:06
Speaker
But it's always great to talk to you, Dan. i know we're probably going to do another Star Wars episode at some point in this offseason. And speaking of, we are... i keep wanting to throw this out there. Once the draft is over, my offseason, off-topics are going to be back. I've already got a good slew of guests that... A lot of names that...
01:46:32
Speaker
It's one of those things that I just started emailing randomly, like, oh, this person's never going to get back to me. And they actually give got back to me. So I've got some names coming out, some TikTokers. I got an ex-baseball player going to be coming on and all that good stuff. So, you know, be sure to tune in for that. of course, we're going to get Dan back. My buddy James, we'll get him back on for a couple episodes of talking. We'll get, we'll allow Kawano to come back on and talk Star Wars with us too. So,
01:47:02
Speaker
Look forward to that. Dan, do you want to pitch your your social real quick? Yeah. um If you want to find me, pretty much the only place the only place I'm really at um nowadays is over on Blue Sky. You can find me there at Dan of the Mano.
01:47:19
Speaker
You can find me over there at Iowa Joe. um um i do have my Twitter account. I'm not really overly active on there, just kind of pitching the show most most of the time. And I still do have some chat groups. So if you need to reach out to me, can DM me on either or. Find the show Ohana underscore Packers on the Tweet Machine.
01:47:40
Speaker
um Don't have one on Blue Sky yet because I have a hard enough time keeping my own page up to date, let alone the the show's page. ah Facebook, please go over and follow up our Facebook page. We're trying to hit that 100 follower mark so we can start doing some live streams over on Facebook.
01:47:59
Speaker
We are doing the giveaway of the good goodies from Hawaii, autograph stuff, couple things from here in Iowa. The way you enter is you just go over and subscribe to the Ohana Packers Edition over on Facebook. Once we hit 100, we are going to be doing a giveaway on that.
01:48:19
Speaker
uh be on the lookout for our our live stream for the draft we're hoping to hit the 100 followers by the draft because we are doing our day two uh live stream where mike and i bring on a bunch of different people so dan if you're available you're more than welcome to hop on with us um If we can get enough people, we can rotate them in and out. And the only two dummies that will probably be there the whole time is me and Mike. But that's going to be day two of the draft.
01:48:51
Speaker
ah Trying to think if there's anything else. plug Mike is Quantum Mike on all his socials. I think that's about it. As Mike would say, Aloha and gopa Go Pack Go.