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No One Puts a Cheesehead in the Corner
36 Plays3 days ago
Nobody puts a Cheesehead in the corner… especially in the Packers secondary.
The OPE Draft Positional Breakdown series continues as we dive into the 2026 NFL Draft cornerback class with Jason Perone.
We break down:
• Why cornerback could be a major Packers draft priority
• The traits Green Bay looks for in boundary defenders
• Early-round targets who could become future CB1s
• Mid-round sleepers and Day-3 steals
• How this class fits Jeff Hafley’s defensive vision
If the Packers want to keep receivers out of the spotlight at Lambeau, this episode is for you.
🎧 Get draft ready, Cheeseheads.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of the Ohana Packers Edition podcast. We are Ope. I am Iowa Joe. The Quanos are still in the the Philippines. Mike texted me today saying he'll be back next week for recording, so you've got to put up with me and a special guest, and that special guest is good friend, good man, handsome devil Jason Perrone,
00:00:24
Speaker
Jason, i don't even know what you're doing anymore. you You tend to float around on different stuff. I know you were doing like a Monday show and a pregame show and shit like that for the longest time. What have you been up to lately?
Jason Perrone's Podcast Journey
00:00:37
Speaker
Yeah, I got fired from two of those three gigs. So I think I fired myself from the quick slants and the pregame show. It's been a while since I've done that one. So I'm still doing the Thursday edition of the Pack-A-Day podcast, and that's with my cohort, Mark Eccle, who I've been with since 2019.
00:00:55
Speaker
been a good long run for the two of us, but yeah, you can find me on the Thursday edition of the Pack of Day podcast. I kind of stopped doing quick slants when game on kind of slowed down little bit. So this was this was a nice, refreshing change. It's always good to make my annual pilgrimage here to the Ohana ohhanna Packers and OAP.
00:01:16
Speaker
here I am. oh Yep. And you know, last year was kind of a dud one because you're, you're in more of a corners room, but old Brian Moffy beat everybody to that one. So, we think we did safeties, right?
00:01:30
Speaker
Yep. Yep. So this year i was like, no, Jason always wants the corners. We're going to set the corners aside for Jason this year. So to hell with it, Moffy, you can bite me.
00:01:43
Speaker
Yeah. Well, it's no wonder he doesn't talk to me anymore. Now, the only thing I get from him are Spaceballs me seems and it's usually the asshole
Excitement for Spaceballs Sequel
00:01:49
Speaker
one. So, all right. Great. So with that being said, I do have to ask, what are your feelings on the world getting Spaceballs to next year? Oh, man. It's a national treasure.
00:02:02
Speaker
And for, I would assume, the majority of the audience or at least half of the audience has never seen the original. They've only heard about it or seen clips. I'll tell you what, do yourself a favor, watch the original before you get the remake or reboot that's coming out. Now, I don't know if they're going to use the same plot and just have different actors and change it up a little bit or if they're going go completely different. But everybody's coming back except for the obvious one.
00:02:28
Speaker
they They've all signed up for it. Even Rick Moranis is coming back as a dark helmet. Wow. And he stopped acting a while ago. So that's cool. Yeah. So ah the the stuff that I've been seeing is I think Josh Gad is going to be there, but all the main original cast will be back.
00:02:48
Speaker
You know who you throw in there for John Candy? Who's the obvious? Who would you put in there? Oh. To me, it seems very obvious. God, I wouldn't even, there's, there's a few different ones that you could, the one that I would throw in there just for the sake of it, because he's made a living off of being the fluffy guy would be Gabriel Iglesias. Cause that was just, I don't know if you could honestly replace John Candy in anything. No, no. Jack black.
00:03:21
Speaker
ah Yeah. I mean,
00:03:26
Speaker
I can see him being one of the same species, but I just i just don't know if you could honestly... i think the storyline is going to revolve that Josh Gad is Barf's son.
00:03:40
Speaker
Okay. so if anybody knows who josh gad is you know he's kind of a bigger comedian i think most people know his voice because he was uh wasn't he like olaf for in you got oh that's right yeah he was yeah he was in what's that one called frozen that's it yeah um but you know that's great it's great that they're finally getting it although it is 40 years too late because we we definitely are going to miss john candy and in the barf role but you know that i'm looking forward to it and you know mel brooks is still alive and kicking and and he's producing the thing so unbelievable and it's it i'm looking forward to it it's very rare that i look forward to these so late in line sequels
00:04:30
Speaker
But this one with them saying they're bringing everybody. Well, I guess they're not going to be able to bring Joan Rivers back either. So i'm wondering how they're going to do um dot, but they'll figure it out.
00:04:44
Speaker
oh It should be fun, but that's not what we're here to talk about tonight.
Packers' Cornerback Situation Analysis
00:04:48
Speaker
I just had to ask. Oh, I signed for the wrong show. that might be a later on show that might be when i do my offseason off season off topic anytime anytime let's do it get mafia on here and let's do it let's bring the whole band together we'll we'll allow kiwano on it too and and we'll just riff on it uh but what we're here to talk about is our draft positional breakdown weekly we go position by position i tried to schedule them out by
00:05:21
Speaker
highest need to lowest need, uh, which leads us to the cornerback room, which again, Jason always tries to, ah secure every year. So we, we try to make it work for them, but let's go ahead and take a look at what the Packers have on roster for the cornerbacks. And really, very, very short conversation. It's a very short conversation because there's not much there. There's a lot of free agents and a lot of guys that probably shouldn't be making the room next year, yeah,
00:06:01
Speaker
You know, we'll we'll we'll see. But obviously you're going to be returning oh in a good world, maybe not. But Keyshawn Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Nate Hobbs, his contract doesn't allow him to be out of it this next season. So, you know, he's going to be back. oh You got to figure Kamal Haddon is going to be back because he's going to probably be an exclusive rights free agent.
00:06:27
Speaker
And that's about it oh for the current state of the room. I mean, you've got Jalen Simpson, who they've got listed as a D back. So he could probably float either way.
00:06:40
Speaker
And, you know, Bo Melton is going to be that free agent. I think he was just a restricted free agent last year. So he won't be this year. He'll be a just a um unrestricted free agent this year. So they're,
00:06:55
Speaker
What I see on Bo is that he's still restricted. i I don't know. would have thought he would have had enough years too, but I'm looking his head. Maybe last year he was exclusive rights. Exclusive rights. Yes, correct.
00:07:07
Speaker
Okay. So if he was exclusive rights last year, then he does have his restriction this year. No. But, you know, for all the talk of the offseason last year about him making the transition to cornerback, we didn't see him play outside of the preseason as a cornerback. So who knows how that's going to be.
00:07:26
Speaker
And again, that's about it for the room. I mean, there's a couple on the ah like Tyron Herring and actually that's it on the practice squad. So they're, uh,
00:07:42
Speaker
what I'm gonna call the futures contracts are very sparse on that. They already released Diggs from his contract, but there's a possibility he could resign anyway because he's like Micah Parsons' best friend. So you know make Micah happy, bring him back on a decent contract or you know a team-friendly contract. And yeah you know at least he would provide depth. But what are your feelings in the current state of things of the Packers roster?
00:08:12
Speaker
It's Baron corners, Baron and coming into last year before we knew what Nate Hobbs was going to be. And I was actually pretty excited about him during training camp. cause He was active and flying around. He was hitting guys. I know it was problematic because the coaches had to kind of tamp him down a little bit, but You know, Andy Herman, our overlord over Packet Day podcast was like, man, you know, the all the media that were covering the team were talking about how we're going to love this player come week four, week five, when everybody's all juiced up and ready to go. They get all the rust knocked off because he's going to be a really active and and passionate player, but it just didn't come to fruition. He had injuries and never really got a chance to play on the inside too much. You know, they talked about him being better in the slot.
00:08:57
Speaker
But the problem is is that you saw a breakout, kind of a breakout year from Javon Bullard. And so that's your star right there. You're going to take him off the field in the slot. And that leaves two outside spots for three guys, Carrington Valentine, Keyshawn Nixon, and Nate Hobbs. Now, going into last year, my hope was that they would put – Hobbs and Valentine on the outside and Bullard in the slot and had have Keyshawn come off the bench. I just, I've never really bought into him as a corner.
00:09:27
Speaker
And i think he, he kind of showed us why during the post season. I mean, he had the big game ceiling catch against the bears that in the, in the last game, the Packers would end up winning this season is crazy. Joe, December seventh And they lay lost their last five games.
00:09:42
Speaker
And Keyshawn Nixon just didn't do a whole lot. So this this ah positional group, and obviously one of the reasons why I wanted this positional group again this year is because Goody's going to attack this. dave you just You just can't. i mean, looking at this roster, like you said, Shamar Bartholomew, Keyshawn Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Jalen Simpson, those are the only guys on the active roster. Kamal Haddon and Nate Hobbs are listed as injured reserve. Haddon's to be out for a while.
00:10:06
Speaker
His injury looked pretty bad, and that happened at the end of the season. Hobbs, I think, will be okay, but I don't know how much we can really count on on him to to produce. i think here I think his IR was just procedural, though. you know they They only had the one game. or you know They put him on IR where he could be brought back if they made it run into the playoffs. I think his was more just procedural, but yeah.
00:10:35
Speaker
And Trevon Diggs, I mean, keep an eye on him and see if he wants to come play in Green Bay on ah on a decent contract. I don't know. you know, he he's going to be, I think he's kind of got out, is the guy is going to be out there for a while, kind of written all over him. he I don't think he's going to all of a sudden be a day one.
00:10:53
Speaker
mean, nobody claimed him. Green Bay was the only team that claimed him. And interestingly enough, $500,000 for him to play, what? A handful of snaps against the Vikings. One snap. And one against the Bears.
00:11:04
Speaker
Yeah. In the playoffs. And that was it. So, yeah, they they need some help. Goody's definitely going to attack this. i I think you'll see his typical formula, which is sign one, draft two, right? Or so or sign two, draft one. What do you think?
00:11:23
Speaker
What's going to hurt is draft capital. And I don't, you know, we've had this, or you know, on the podcast have had this conversation for a long time. You know, we're not going to poo-poo the trading for ah Micah Parsons because with what Goody was able to do to get Parsons in here was amazing. Yeah. I think anybody in the world would have traded, made that trade every day of the week.
00:11:47
Speaker
But yeah with that being said, that limits what you can do in the draft because whereas you could have traded back with that first round and picked up more picks in the rounds or you know that one guy could be there in the first round, now you've got to fill a bunch of holes with you know limited space. And we also know how the Packers like to oh draft a year ahead of time.
00:12:14
Speaker
Yeah. And that also limits things too, because now it's okay. And and I put this up to Jacob Westendorf last week, you know, do you think, because we all know how the Packers do their first round picks. Usually it's a younger guy, high upside, freakish athlete, you know, say whatever you want, but That's usually what they do with the first round, and then you know the the later rounds are usually crapshoots on what they do.
00:12:46
Speaker
Do they you know slide everything down to second round now, where the second round pick is going to be you know, so freak athlete, high upside, young guy, or do they go with somebody that could step in day one if they're there? So what what are your feelings on how they're going to look at the draft with limited space?
00:13:09
Speaker
Well, if you look at Matthew Golden, for example, Lucas Van Ness, Rashawn Gary, Jordan in Love. Jordan Love a different situation. Aaron Rodgers was still very good.
00:13:21
Speaker
Rookies don't play. increase They don't don't throw them out there. so But Goody also has to understand here that coming into this season, and you know again, I'm coming at it from my own lens here. This is, believe it or not, for my age, this is the longest drought that that I have endured as a Packers fan without a Super Bowl appearance.
00:13:43
Speaker
so yeah and i'm starting to get to the point now where i you know i believe this team can certainly compete i mean you could argue that even if the only acquisition this team makes is everybody comes back healthy next year craft parsons you know everybody comes up you know even if they lose a bunch of guys in free agency a bit but if they get their key guys healthy they can still be very good but goody's gonna have to change it up here he's gonna have to understand like you know i i get that you can't just you know throw the dart and get it right in the second round and find a corner that can come in and play right away. That's why I think what you'll likely see is Carrington Valentine. that's we We could talk about him after this because I have an entire thought on on Carrington. and But I think between Hobbs and Keyshawn, one of those two guys will be out there on the outside.
00:14:34
Speaker
And I think Goody will sign somebody to come in and play. He's not going to want to draft that second round. If that second rounder just turns into Jair Alexander in training camp, then sure, you put him out there. But it's like you said, I think you alluded to it too. It's just, it's not really their formula. It's not very likely. And Goody could also surprise us.
00:14:54
Speaker
And I did say draft two, they have six picks, right? If not more coming in with the compensatory, we haven't figured out how many of the ah those are yet. Right. So they're, they're probably going to have seven or eight swipes in this draft, right? They just don't have a one.
00:15:10
Speaker
Those corners may not end up coming until round four, five, six, because they also need some more depth on the defensive line.
00:15:21
Speaker
And like, you know, we know they need, they need some more depth. They need offensive line depth too. So who knows, who who knows what, what going to do. But I would just say, don't count on the draft being where they find their starting corners. I think between who they have right now, which again is a very bare cupboard.
00:15:38
Speaker
and free agency, I think that's that's what will be the key. Currently they have a yeah because they've got three seventh rounders and then two, three, four, five and six. Okay. Well, hey, listen, the Packers have done well with some of their late round picks. Rashid Walker, seventh round. Donald Driver, this wasn't Brian Gutekunst, but years ago, Donald Driver, seventh round pick. I mean, you know, they've they found some some nice gems. I mean, zach Zach Tom was a fourth or fifth rounder, right?
00:16:09
Speaker
so I think he was a fifth round. Sure. think. Sure. I'd have to look, but it's... Who would found Russell Douglas on Arizona? The Arizona Cardinals scrap heap. And that's where things were kind of weird last year that you didn't see more of that stuff happening.
00:16:26
Speaker
You know, it was like they only wanted to roll with the three guys that they had until injuries started mounting. And, of course, with the changeover in defensive staff, you know, is that philosophy going to change? We we know Gannon is more of a ah corner guy, too. So...
00:16:45
Speaker
this is my hope. and all these simulators that I run, i try to see if it make it happen with as much as Jeff Halfley seemed to love Keyshawn Nixon.
Keyshawn Nixon: Trade Discussion
00:16:58
Speaker
I'm hoping they can send him, send Nixon down to Miami for a pick because he'd be, you know, he's only got one more year on his contract. He's got, and it's a, it's a decent,
00:17:11
Speaker
or it's It's a palatable contract. So it's not like it's a a digs contract or something like that where they're going to be taking on $15 million dollars or whatever. You know, it's a very low contract number.
00:17:24
Speaker
I'm like you when it comes to Nixon. i I could never understand the hype on him, even when he when Jair was healthy and was still on the team. could never see Nixon out there as more than just a... I saw him as a Jarrett Bush.
00:17:41
Speaker
You didn't want him out there more than you... you absolutely had to have him out there. Yes, he was going to make a play here or there, but he was going to be your special teams guy, whether it was a return guy or gunner or whatever it was. But then when he started talking, well, I want to be the number one corner on on a team, that that kind of was like, no, no nobody. I mean, i get it. You've got to hype yourself up. You've got to go out there and talk like that, but you're not showing it on the field. And I know he's going to have – the flashy stuff where yes he was finally picked for the pro bowl at corner this year even though it was after somebody else dropped out and you know he had what was 11 past defenses or 14 past defenses or whatever but it was more like he got lucky because he was just in the right right place at the right time for it and you know i
00:18:40
Speaker
Carrington, I love Carrington to death, and he's a great cover guy. he just can't tackle. and i don't even know if he can cover that well either. he He definitely couldn't tackle any and his coverage. I just, the awareness with Carrington is interesting to me because in 23, he looked like a guy who's like, okay, if he's playing like this as a rookie,
00:19:03
Speaker
Speaking of rookies having to be thrown in there, right? Right. He had that big play on MVS to seal the Chiefs game on Sunday Night Football, right? And if he's playing like this as a rookie, this kid's going to flash. He's going to become somebody. He could be another Tremont Williams. Tremont was an undrafted free agent, if I'm not mistaken, right back in the day.
00:19:23
Speaker
just didn't happen and and the thing with carrington too is like there were a couple times where it was like dude just turn your head the ball's coming right at you catch it you know then he finally catches in the playoff game he catches and makes an interception on a fourth down play where it's like if you just drop it you get you know i mean it was only like 15 or 20 yards but yeah on that one it's like that one you don't want to catch you want to drop his fourth down right caleb threw him a gift I mean, maybe he had an escalator in his contract. I have no idea. But yeah, he just he's he's disappointed. Keyshawn Nixon. i think the Packers gave him the indication last offseason that, hey, we're going you're going be at one of our corners because he kept talking in the offseason last year. You know, CB one doesn't return kicks and you know almost talking about himself in the third person. So.
00:20:07
Speaker
And it was corner was that position that Goody just could not address in a, in a major, major way. i mean, Nate Hobbs was a pretty major acquisition because of the money that they paid to him. I think they probably regret the, the, but the deal that they gave him. They paid him a lot of money.
00:20:26
Speaker
So like you said, I think it's more likely than not that, that he's back, but if he's back and he's healthy and he's played in the right way, Fine, you've got some experience in the cornerback room. One thing Mark Echol, my co-host over at Packaday, has said for a long time, and I don't know how you feel about it. you You're probably similar to me, even though we haven't talked about this before, but this youngest team in the league thing is fine.
00:20:51
Speaker
But Mark says the Packers need more grownups in the room. And I think there's certain positions where you really do you really do need that experience. like I think pass rusher, quarterback, obviously,
00:21:03
Speaker
you know, the just you know the the maturity and the leadership there. I think corner is also one of those, but I'm also maybe being prisoner of the moment, Joe, where it's like, well, we had Charles Woodson for a long time. So I mean, we're always going to be longing for that, right?
00:21:17
Speaker
I'm, you know, I have no problems with the, and and I get what you guys are saying. And Westendorf kind of said it last week when he said that they could use a Khalil Mack type player or something like that. Somebody chasing a ring or, you whatever, but I don't see it as they need more veteran types.
00:21:39
Speaker
I would like to see them get more mouthy types because I'm getting tired of the, ah sure I kind of pointed this out when, ah during the Broncos game and the bears game, and I know other people have to, when Jordan got hit, where was his line at?
00:21:57
Speaker
Oh man. Or when this is happening on defense, where were the other players at? Or, you know, stuff like that where... There's no and Mike Daniels has been on the right. You know, he had that interview with Jimmy Christensen a couple weeks ago and has said and he's even said that before the interview that there's like nobody there's no punch in the mouth mentality with this team.
00:22:22
Speaker
And is it an organizational thing? Is it a coach thing? Because he even said that he was being held down when he was in Green Bay. because that's the type of person he is. But when he moved to Detroit or when he moved to Cincinnati, you know, he wasn't even the loudest guy on the roster at that point.
00:22:41
Speaker
So I would like to see more of that. I see Micah being a little bit more like that because you can hear him in the press in his press conferences and stuff talking more.
00:22:53
Speaker
But I want to see it on the field. You know, that's where I kind of miss Jair because Jair was kind of like that. But I think that's what the Packers are missing a little bit more is that guy that is going to run his mouth but can back it up too.
00:23:07
Speaker
you want some dog i i do i want some dog and there's really nobody on the team that they're all quote-unquote silent leaders you know they're not the guys that are going to give that passionate half-time speech and you know what the hell are we doing out there let's you know get out there kick their asses and stuff like that so if that has to come with somebody who is more of a veteran guy Fine.
00:23:35
Speaker
You know, like, like I said, Wessendorf mentioned maybe Khalil Mack being somebody who's chasing a ring that can step in. Great. You know, ah maybe digs can come back on a decent deal and be that guy. Great. Even though he's still what he's like 27 or something like that. Right. 28.
00:23:53
Speaker
Yeah. um Yeah. Trust me. I was just ripping Terrence. Well, not ripping, but I was giving Terrence Parsons a hard time because he was just posted on Twitter yesterday that he was turning 31. I said, oh, shut up. I'm going to be 40 this year.
00:24:09
Speaker
um So the age thing really, it's getting to the point where I'm getting to be the same age as coaches on the team more than I am the players on the team. How do you think I feel? I mean, i i remember lyn I remember watching Lindy Infante coach this team on TV. so Yeah, I was just under that level. So that's why when I said, like, this is the longest drought for Super Bowl drought that for me as a Packers fan, know that i kind of felt like that should resonate because I've obviously watched a lot of Packers football over the Right. And fortunately, I was spared most of the 80s and the 70s, which were awful.
00:24:47
Speaker
Right. So I didn't didn't go through that whole thing. But yeah, I mean, these iterations of the Packers teams, it is it is kind of interesting. They've had a lot of success, but they do have you know, they do seem to have a type of player that they like. They try to avoid players who cause problems. And that's the one thing I'm very grateful for is that you don't hear the Packers in the news for the wrong reasons.
00:25:08
Speaker
typically because of the, the you know, the crazy stuff that goes on, but it it is football and you do need a little bit of crazy if if you're playing football to be good at it, to be confident and you got to have some arrogance out there too. Jair was really good at it because he could talk, but he played well and also yeah didn't get penalized. i mean, you look at Keyshawn, you say like, okay, Keyshawn definitely has that dog in him, right? So he's, he can be kind of that enforcer is what I think you're, you know, another word I would use for what you're looking for there in hockey. You've got the enforcer, right? But the problem with Keyshawn is that if you don't don't if you don't give him the guidelines or if you let him go too far, then there's yellow laundry all over the field. And and I'm not talking about that terrible call in the first Packers-Bears game where Luther Burden's got his hand around Keyshawn's neck and Keyshawn's kicked. Right? So, yeah, you need you definitely need that attitude. But let me ask you this. I have a question.
00:25:58
Speaker
Okay. Why? 42.
Packers' Leadership Needs
00:26:00
Speaker
Oh, that's it. That's the answer. 42. 42. ah When you have guys like X and Evan Williams now and Bullard, right?
00:26:16
Speaker
I know that Jair's gone. You have Keyshawn. They have guys that can be like that. Like, you know, is it the coaching staff that's holding them back? I mean, listen, Matt LaFleur says, I have almost said Mike. Now it's like they got two LaFleurs in the league and, you know, Mike's right here in my backyard in Phoenix. So, but...
00:26:36
Speaker
Matt doesn't seem to be the type where he's like, no, I don't tell the players like how to act or whatever. And you know, all that kind of stuff. You know, I, I don't, I don't know. I, I, I could see him being okay with that because it's, it's not so much his persona to be that way and let his players do that. But I mean, why, why aren't they, they they have guys, they're just not doing it.
00:26:57
Speaker
I'm wondering if it's organizational more than it is coaching. ah because you look at Mark Murphy and he was really kind of the laid back, you know, quiet leader type, you know, he would pop off one ah one or two things once in a while, but that that would get a chuckle or something out of people, but he was more the, you know, casual. And then you look at Ted Thompson, who was,
00:27:21
Speaker
you know straight lace to straight lace could be and uh i remember i i used to be on a forum that's now defunct and there was a guy that i trusted heavily with a lot of his evaluations because i mean this guy was amazing when it came to draft stuff and he said if you're really wanting to know what the packers are going to do in the draft or who they would have interest in look at who they talk to at interviews and then go check out their social medias because one of the first things that you're going to see in their social media is something about religion whether it's a bible verse or god is great or something like that and that'll usually be the guy who ends up in green bay and that and honestly under ted thompson that was true because if you go back and look at it a lot of those guys
00:28:08
Speaker
where they talked to him in interviews and then they had something about and this isn't a denigrate religion you know i'm not trying to say that i'm just saying that was the type of guy that ted thompson looked for sure so that makes me wonder if that was kind of an organizational thing that you know okay well we don't want these guys that are going to go out there and bark everything we want these guys to be pillar of the community you know idols not idols but role models that that the kids can look up to and and stuff like that and the one thing that makes me wonder if it's not the coaching is because when matt lefleur first signed on as a packers head coach i remember being up in green bay for training camp that year when they were doing the uh the the the
00:29:01
Speaker
oh what do they call them where the Texans came in and practice yeah joint practices. Why I couldn't think of that for some reason. I was thinking split practices. Oh, that was a rough one. Somebody got hurt in that one. Right. Yes. ah Lonnie Johnson took out Sternberger and the floor was the first one in that scrum.
00:29:21
Speaker
And what made it even better was that was the same time that he had just torn his Achilles playing basketball. So he was in a walking boot. Yeah. and he was in the middle of the scrum and he was, and This my grandpa was still alive and i went back and was visiting with him at that point. He goes, well, what do you think of this new coach? and I said, Grandpa, I think this could be the closest to a Vince Lombardi type guy that you could you could currently have.
Coach LaFleur's Changing Demeanor
00:29:47
Speaker
He goes, what do you mean? I said, because he's very vocal. He's very he's not going to let anybody get away with anything. And he knows what the hell he's doing. well now we're what seven years later and things have just kind of went the opposite way with him to the point where you know he's very coach speak in his press conferences he you know you you see him get rowdy on the sideline once a while when something happens but you know you don't see that fire in him anymore so that makes me again wonder if it was a
00:30:22
Speaker
organizational thing saying hey you know we want you to temper it down and be this so with all that being said i'm wondering with ed policy now in charge if we could see a kind of a drastic change with things happening could be i i don't know i don't know how much i i think there's been a change in lefleur but he just and we're body language police right now which is fine right it's all we go off of right because he's going to coach speak and we don't know what is exactly in his head there's i listen to a lot of other podcasts and and i think this packer squad show is a good one peter burkowski and he has jeff jagodzinski former packers i don't listen to the kowski me and him got into it a few years ago so well jags coach jags so coach jags used to be with with on one of mike mccarthy's staffs and yeah i think he he was a packers coach before under mike sherman
00:31:16
Speaker
Could have been, yeah. And his his theory is is he's like, listen, Matt LaFleur, I guarantee you the things that he says to his team in the locker room when the cameras aren't rolling is different than what you see on TV. So he has that in him. He just doesn't chose choose to portray it necessarily to us.
00:31:33
Speaker
I look at at him in moments and, you know, when things don't go well, especially offensively because he's calling plays. Right. things don When things don't go well, he's just kind of, you know,
00:31:44
Speaker
He's got that disappointed look on his face, but it's like, you're the general now. Like, you're the head coach. You've got, yes, you're calling plays, but you still have the defensive side of the ball. and when And Joe Barry was kind of the same way. Joe Barry would be up in the booth.
00:31:59
Speaker
somebody would do something and he almost looked like a parent attending a, ah ah you know, like ah a Pop Warner game, you know? and And I'm just like, you know, again, we're body language police though, the whole, the whole situation. Like we, we want a Mike Holmgren. We want somebody that you know is the alpha in that locker room. yeah He's talking, people are listening, right?
00:32:19
Speaker
I have my own questions about, Matt LaFleur, but we have to assume that he is bringing Jonathan Gannon in here to be the CEO of the defense. And I do think I used to kind of not be as big of a fan of bringing in a former head coach to be a coordinator.
00:32:38
Speaker
But i do think I do think there's some value there because we all have sat here and said, man, Matt LaFleur needs somebody to do X, Y, and Z during the games. And so maybe John Gannon can be that. Now, john Jonathan Gannon is quirky and he's got a little weird to him. But if you're going to coach my defense, I almost like that.
00:32:58
Speaker
Well, and you know, he did get fined for slapping one of his own players last year. so Yeah. I mean, listen, working for the Cardinals will do that to you. But but anyway, that's not what we're here to. that like Again, that could be a whole nother podcast. that And it's something that Mike and I have been over.
00:33:18
Speaker
the last couple years with, with the floor. And Mike has been well known on record for not being a big fan of the floor of the last few years. But, um you know, it, it is definitely going to be interesting to see what Gannon does do, because again, he's another one that is more of a defensive back type coach with a speciality um,
00:33:43
Speaker
um corners so it it'll be interesting to see how he wants to mold that room with you know he's i kind of laugh because i didn't realize it but i haven't he's like been photo bombing me this whole time how gannon works with goody in um molding that that defensive back room because there is a lot of change that needs to happen So let's go ahead and look at maybe some free agents that could step in and and, you know, even if it's just like you said, bring in one that can be a quality starter while your one or two draft picks are being, you know, ah ah
00:34:27
Speaker
God, I'm forgetting my words. It's bro brought along slowly groomed yeah groomed i was thinking groomed but there's another specific word that i always forget that damn word but um so obviously the first one is bringing back trayvon dicks who could be a quality starter depending on if he wants come back on a short-term deal you know or whatever you know obviously he's not going to get that big you know, four year, 15 million a year contract with Green Bay. If they, if they were, they would have just kept him on it at his current ah contract. I'm surprised they cut him as early as they did because of, they didn't owe him anything if they cut him.
00:35:11
Speaker
So I thought they would roll all the way through the draft to see how things panned out. But, you know, that does clear 15 million off of their their already slim ah cap that, you know, it is what it is. But, Jason, is there anybody in free agency that you think the Packers could honestly bring in as, ah you know, a quality starter, maybe a veteran guy to help out with a young group?
Potential Free Agent Signings for Packers
00:35:41
Speaker
There's a, well, I mean, I would love to see what Diggs still has the tank. Yeah. he spent, you know, he spent, for whatever it's worth, I know it was only two or three weeks, but the Micah connection and you you give him a chance to resurrect his career, yeah i would love to see it I don't know what kind of interest he's garnering. you know, I think he might be the best of of all worlds where he wants to be in Green Bay with Micah and nobody else is really making him an offer, which means Green Bay can can get him on a on a pretty good value.
00:36:13
Speaker
So, but you don't have to necessarily stop there. Right. There was a lot of talk about Tariq Wollin and the reason I understand why, when players go deep into the playoffs, they get a lot of run. They're on TV. They're in front of your face.
00:36:27
Speaker
So Seattle Seahawks cornerback Tariq Wollin, is one of the top free agent corners that's going to be out there. Um, the high variance there on him. And i I don't know. And, and, and these names that I'm saying too, I'll be really honest with you. I haven't double checked their size profile because I know this woman, a free agent, or do they have to release him first?
00:36:49
Speaker
He's a, he will be a free agent. Cause I don't see him on sport track. That's why I'm asking. Okay. So, um, I've heard his name mentioned and he's listed here. Oh, let me see.
00:37:05
Speaker
Jalen Watson is another one of Jamel Dean. Do you see any any of those guys? Yeah, I see Dean. So Dean. So Dean's another one that I, that I like, but I think he's getting up there in years. I think he's probably close to, if not 30, 29. Yeah. And, and Goody typically doesn't like to, you know, he wants guys that are a little bit young, but, but again, adult in the room.
00:37:26
Speaker
He's got experience. he's He's dependable. I think there's certain guys that I think you could just put in any defense and they've played enough football in their life that even if they don't know what the play call is, they could probably still do something cause they just know how to play ball.
00:37:39
Speaker
Okay. I found one. It just means I have to go to the next page and I didn't go to the next page. I think did I think Dean could absolutely but but I will say this. I think Jamel Dean is also he's probably go to be one of the more sought after guys because not every team takes the same approach that the Packers do. There's got their teams that want that experience. They're willing to pay for that and say, hey, you're 29. You got at least two or three years. We'll do two years and avoid year or two void years and you know do whatever it is that that we need to do so dean would be great uh woolen i'm not a huge as as huge of a fan on i think he's about like a digs type that he's had a few down years that well here's another one eric stokes had a great season in loss i keep hearing about this great season that he that that eric stokes had in las vegas right but i think maybe he had to go to vegas
00:38:29
Speaker
to be good and get out of Green Bay and just be in a different environment. If you bring him back, he obviously would need to stay healthy. I don't know. What are your thoughts about bringing Stokes back? Stokes, Stokes. ah I never thought he should have been let go, honestly, because when when he was seeing the field, I know a lot of people were poo-pooing on him, but i did I thought he was playing better than Keyshawn.
00:38:52
Speaker
Well, and with better than carrington but but better than Carrington Valentine is really the way I see it. Right. And, you know, he's still only going to be, it has him as 26.9. So that must be close to 27. Yeah, he's twenty seven oh young. um So, I mean, I wouldn't be against it, but the whole thing is, would he want to come back?
00:39:15
Speaker
Why didn't Vegas, if he if he had such a good season, why wouldn't Vegas bring him back? because Vegas is in so shitty of a situation that who wants to be well they're going to trade Max Crosby and you know that and and all that money along with him so yeah um well I mean it's not even a money thing it's the they've been such a crap organization for so long that not many people want to stay in with the Raiders so I could see that because you got to remember, it's like everybody else has to remember that it's not a one side thing. It's not, you know, if a team wants you back, then you automatically have to go back. No, they can make a decision on whether or not they want to resign or not. And he could have just simply said, I didn't like my time here. Yeah, I had a good year, but I didn't like being in in Vegas.
00:40:03
Speaker
I just want to get out of here. So let me figure out what else is going on. I mentioned Jalen Watson. He's another one, too, and he's got Super Bowl pedigree. um So if if you're going to attack, if if Goody's going to do the sign two draft one, i would like to think that Jalen Watson, Jamel Dean, one of those two guys is on his radar.
00:40:24
Speaker
See, I've got one on my radar that the market value for him is not as high as a Jamal Dean, according to SportTrack anyway.
00:40:34
Speaker
ah But it's still a solid contract, and that's Greg Newsome. And the reason I bring him up is because the Packers were linked to him for a couple of years in in trades. So that there's there's possibly a you know connection there where they would like to bring him in. He's only 25 old.
00:40:53
Speaker
He's not had been great, but he's been quality. And, you know, again, that could be somebody who they could bring in as a quality, just, like you know, give him a three-year contract that still puts him, you know, 28 when that contract is up. So if he's redeemed himself, he can go out and get one last big money contract.
00:41:14
Speaker
And, you know, yeah. Hopefully by then, whatever draft picks that the Packers have made at that, at the position, they can, you know, hopefully take over at that point. ah You know, I keep hearing Razul Douglas. Well, he's 31.
00:41:31
Speaker
ah He played better in Miami, but when he was with Buffalo, he was pretty burnt to the crisp. uh you've got cam taylor brent who's brit who is another one that was linked to the packers and trade talks but his a aav is going to be a little bit high could you repot possibly re-look at asante samuel jr um so you already have one corner that can't tackle as my take on on samuel he he just he this one can is a little bit better when it comes to coverage
00:42:07
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. If you're not going tackle, then you better cover like Dion. Yeah. Yeah. um I mean, like I've said before with other people, there's a lot of who's who's on the list. I mean, Akilo Witherspoon, Chidobo Woozie, Jalen Mills, Fabian Moreau.
00:42:29
Speaker
You know, these were a lot of guys that I remember looking at in those drafts and being like, yeah, I want that guy on the team. But now they've got some age on them. It's like, no, I don't want them no more. Yeah. um But...
00:42:44
Speaker
And with as many of them out there, you know there's gonna be a couple that are gonna sign cheaper deals in hopes that they can get that bigger money later on. So that's why I said great ah Newsome. 25 now, you give him a three-year deal, that puts him at about 28 when that deal is up.
00:43:04
Speaker
You know, that still allows him to get one more big, bad contract before, theoretically, he he would have to be retired. ah There's Benjamin St. Juiced who is still out who's out there, had some solid years but not like over the top. Elante Taylor was another one the Packers were linked to in trade talks.
00:43:25
Speaker
um Let's see. Cordell Float is like 24 years old and' and Sport Track has his AAV at 9.5 billion.
00:43:38
Speaker
So you know that would be a decent contract for a 24-year-old kid to come in for four years. That puts him at 28 and again would give him a chance to go out and get another money big money deal before you know he hits a wall. So there are guys out there. It's just like you kind of said, what is Goody going to want to go for? Is he going to want to bring in Obviously, he's going to need a boundary guy, so he's going to need to find somebody who's going to be who wants to play on the boundary, who's going to be a solid coverage guy. And i think there has to be knowledge there that you're only going to get a one contract with Green Bay because theoretically they're also going to be drafting one or two guys this year and possibly next year.
00:44:29
Speaker
And we're going to hope those guys come along that way when your one contract is up, they'll be able to step in and take over. So that that's something they people have got to look at too.
00:44:43
Speaker
So the draft situation for you, you think is a two year quest here. It's this year, next year. and And maybe that becomes a position where it's like, Hey, let's take a guy each year. Cause the other thing you have to take into consideration is, is, is if they're going to draft and I'm assuming we're going to talk about that yeahp here up too, right? The corners in the draft.
00:45:03
Speaker
What kind of special teams contribution can you get from those players? Because some of these guys that we talked about in free agency, I don't know that you're going get any special team snaps out of them. no right so And the hope is is that you're going because like you stated earlier, when you look at the Packers track record when it comes to the draft, they don't start right away unless they have to.
00:45:28
Speaker
So theoretically, if you sign one of these guys in free agency, they're going to be the starter. And that guy you drafted is going to be special teams slash depth until he can overtake that starter.
00:45:42
Speaker
And so, but I'm on the boat that with the way corners are and kind of with as hard it as it is to get quality starters at the cornerback position, I draft one every year.
00:45:59
Speaker
Whether it was, you know, it if it kind the Packers were kind of doing that too. They took Carrington in the seventh round, you know, almost four years ago. Then they took Kalen King.
00:46:12
Speaker
And then this year it was Micah Robinson. So they were kind of doing that anyway. But when it comes to seventh sixth and seventh round picks, it's like, I'm going to throw it against the wall and see what sticks. Yeah.
00:46:25
Speaker
And so far, the only one that's really stuck has been Carrington Valentine. And that so it's it's time to reach up a little bit earlier in the draft in and you know grab somebody who could probably be more of a quality guy than a late round.
00:46:41
Speaker
Hope it happens. So we can go ahead and draft ah jump into the draft. So obviously, we've got, unless there's anything else you want to talk about on the free agent side of things. I don't think so. i think I think they're more likely to add two in the draft and maybe sign one.
00:46:55
Speaker
So the draft is probably a good place to take a look at. So... Like I said earlier, the Packers have eight picks as of right now. They still have a lot of the oh you don't comp stuff that has to come out. So we know that they're not going to get as many comp picks because they did give the two money big money contracts to Nate Hobbs and Aaron Banks.
00:47:20
Speaker
So you know whatever comp picks they're going to get, you're not going to see a third round pick. You're not going to see a fourth round pick. Most likely you'll see either a sixth or a seventh.
00:47:31
Speaker
I do have to laugh though. The Packers as of right now have the Tom Brady pick and the, the Mr. Irrelevant pick. So they have 199 in the seventh sixth round and they have the very last pick in the NFL draft, which I wish they would have done that while they had the draft in Green Bay because that guy would have made, like I said about ah Michael gore Golden being the first wide receiver taken in the first round in 23 years, the guy that was picked last in the draft would have been another, the the Green Bay fans would have made him a star.
00:48:04
Speaker
yeah Whether he would have played well or not, he he would have been a star. um But, you know, obviously first pick the Packers have is round two, number 52 overall.
Packers' Draft Strategy
00:48:17
Speaker
We're assuming they're there at that point, whether, you know, they may trade up a little bit, they may trade down, who knows what happened. But as of right now, they're number 52 overall.
00:48:28
Speaker
With the current guys that are available in the draft and, you know, theoretically in the second round, you know, there are going to be some top guys that are taken first round. So unless there's another bong gas mask video that pops out there or – i he is still He is still playing strong, loves playing tackle in the NFL. so And probably has a whole closet full of those damn contraptions. I'm sure he does, yeah. But who would you like the Packers to take a look at at 52 the second round?
00:49:07
Speaker
Keith Abney II, call it a day. Arizona State. wrap it up head on home but honestly i you know i will say it's it's going to be a matter of who's going to be there i mean i think right uh delane is is kind of almost like your consensus first overall like he's not first overall but he'll be the first corner taken out of lsu he's a senior he's played well he's got you know years of of playing ball lot of these guys are are juniors so mccoy terrell
00:49:39
Speaker
Abney is almost right in that perfect spot where he's projected to go. He's six feet, 190. He definitely hits the threshold, I think, for the Packers.
00:49:50
Speaker
So he could he could absolutely be a great ah great pick for them, too. And then I don't know if if, if they're going to try to draft a returner or if they're going to look for a two in one, because a lot of corners end up being punt returners, right? Or kick returners.
00:50:05
Speaker
primary I've already fixed their kick return. Keisha Nixon, right? Yeah. No, no, no, no. Caden Weijin from Iowa. ah okay all right well yeah i mean listen the iowa boys they're they're they're in iowa all the time you know it seems like pretty a pretty foregone conclusion that they're gonna they're gonna bring in an iowa guy at some point but all joking aside i do think i do think abney would be a really good look in in green bay and he would be able to to get out there and play on the outside now again you're if you're gonna draft a guy in the second round you're probably gonna try to give him some opportunities and give him a chance to play and maybe grab a spot
00:50:42
Speaker
And that is corners. One of the toughest positions to transition into the NFL from college. So guys don't typically play well. In fact, I don't remember Jair lighting the world on fire in his rookie season. So, and he wasn't a starter right away. He did get out there and that was under McCarthy, but you know, that was, that was good. He's very first ever draft pick was, was a cornerback. So i think I think you could do a lot worse than an Abney. But another guy too. Now, the problem with with this guy is his his size because he's he's a smaller corner.
00:51:14
Speaker
But if you want somebody who played in a big-time game, you've got D'Angelo Ponce who played for Indiana in the championship game. Now, he's only 5'9", 175. one seventy five So i don't I don't know how well that bodes for him playing corner in the NFL or if there's anything else he can do. I mean, he might end up being a pure kick returner.
00:51:33
Speaker
if If he does end up coming into the league, maybe that's what they lean on, whoever whoever drafts him. But I don't know what your thoughts are. Who you got your eye on? um You know, Pond has been thrown around in a lot of the group chats that I'm a part of but he definitely is not...
00:51:52
Speaker
on the Packers scale, because we all know what the Packers typically go for with their corners. They have to be at least over five ten They have to at least be over 185. And, you know, right there's two negatives on Pawn to start with.
00:52:08
Speaker
But he is good in coverage. he The one thing that I was trying to look at a lot when it came to cornerbacks is can they tackle? because i'm getting tired of these corners on the packers not being able to tackle or not being willing to tackle and stuff like that and for being the size he is d'angelo pond is a guy that is willing to tackle but because he is 5'9 because he is 175 is he going to be able to hold up being able to tackle some of the guys that are in the nfl right now We all saw what happened with Jair when he tried to take on Najee Harris against Pittsburgh a few years back.
00:52:51
Speaker
It didn't go well, and that's the type of player that D'Angelo Pond is going to have to face if he's playing you know outside on the run. And so is he going to be able to hold on the hold up to that?
00:53:05
Speaker
He can obviously put on more weight. But unless you give him like miracle grow or something like that, he's not going to put on any more in the height. So sure you've got to quit. And then you've got to look at him. Is he going to be able to pack on the the pounds that he needs and still be able to be athletic as he is? Or is that going to slow him down? So I mean, I like pond as a, as a college guy, but it's just, it's it's a big question on what he's going be able to do in the NFL with his size. Um,
00:53:38
Speaker
So there's a couple of guys that were brought up to me as probably more of the pure tackler or better tacklers of the group. Chris Johnson and Julian Neal.
00:53:52
Speaker
Chris Johnson is going to be one of those guys that is fringe first round fringe second round so is he gonna make it to green bay i don't know i put this disclaimer out there out before every episode i don't try to put round grades on guys because it's so hard to do um so i just try to throw names out there that i kind of like that are mentioned in rankings uh then you've got guys that are probably going to be more your second round malik muhammad and julian neil
00:54:27
Speaker
The big question mark I had with Neil is the system he played in. It was so hard. he It looks similar to what Iowa does, and Iowa plays a lot of zone coverage, and that makes it harder to see what they can do in man coverage. And usually when you come from a zone-heavy defense, it's hard for you to adjust bat into a man coverage a defense situation.
00:54:51
Speaker
Because you're not used to it. you You've got to do a lot more a lot of different things when it comes to man coverage than you do when it's zone coverage.
Draft Prospects and NFL Transition Challenges
00:55:00
Speaker
You don't pass off a guy in man coverage. You've got to stick with your guy like like you know like your
00:55:08
Speaker
And ah some guys just can't do that. So that was my knock on Neil is I didn't get to see him in a lot of man coverage, but what I could see of him in coverage period, he looked pretty decent with it. Malik Muhammad is another one that I, I liked what I saw, but he needs to put on a little bit of weight. I think he was only listed like one 85. So, you know, he's too.
00:55:35
Speaker
is he going to be able to put on the weight and be able to hit the one 95 ish mark and still keep his ability. Uh, he looked a little bit stiff in his hip flip, which is, you know, back pedal flip to run.
00:55:48
Speaker
um my note here says he's a better tackler than what's currently on the Packers roster. um So, you know, what is that really saying? I did kind of question his speed a little bit.
00:56:05
Speaker
So I'm kind of curious what he does at the combine, you know, and it's not to say he was slow. It just, he could have been going against a guy that runs a four, three, and he's only a four, four guy, but four, four is going to be a, you know, a top notch notch guy anyway.
00:56:22
Speaker
Um, he he tracks the ball well in coverage. And I said, he, he could be out physical once in a while, you know, he that wide receiver could run up on him and throw a punch into him. And that kind of throws him off his game. But the, those are a few of the guys that I really think of as, as top of your second round, mid second round guys.
00:56:49
Speaker
um The one that I really like, according to this ranking, could be a second-round guy that could be there when Packers pick, that really fits all the marks the Packers like.
00:57:01
Speaker
But from what I'm being told by some of my my more vested draft followers, he's got an extensive...
00:57:13
Speaker
uh injury history that's devon moore out of florida um he's listed 6-3 198 the guy was was a sure tackler i mean this was a guy that was wrapping up take down you know wasn't afraid of the contact he ah Let me pull my notes here for a minute. ah Good man coverage, smooth backpedal, tall, good speed, keeps receiver in front of him.
00:57:44
Speaker
you know There's nobody going deep on him because he's always he's the way it looks with his speed, he's faster than most people on the field. So you know he can make sure that wide receiver is always in front of him. to And then he can he's got the speed and quickness to drive forward.
00:58:03
Speaker
But if he's got that extensive injury history, you know is he going to be able to stay on the field? Is that something the Packers are going to want to look at? so You know, that would be my guy right now if he was there and he could pass all the medicals and you could guarantee me at least two out of three four years with him, i would be happy with it.
00:58:26
Speaker
Sure. Sure. Yeah. I mean, there's there is a decent stable of corners. I don't, you know, i the they're going to have to attack this position earlier than not.
00:58:39
Speaker
yeah And and i you know i I don't know that that necessarily means... that They took Golden 1, Savion in round 3. So I don't know that they would do a 2 and 3. They could do 2 4.
00:58:51
Speaker
because they probably want somebody up front. They need some beef up front. They do, but I think there's some guys in the later rounds that they could fill. They could get their fill in. there There are. There are. I mean, Trayden Stooks, the only issue, the only the only downside to him is he chose to get play his college ball at Arizona, but I can forgive him for that. you know i mean he's He's a senior, so he's probably a little bit older, but 6'2", 200 pounds. He already has that weight.
00:59:17
Speaker
you know It's not like he has would have to put on a ton of weight. You know, he could he could come in and play right away. i i just, you know, get me football players in Green Bay. Get me football players.
00:59:28
Speaker
I don't care so much anymore if if they're old or younger or whatever. And what I mean by that for your audience, because I know that, you know I only come on once in a while. But I think that's, like you said, the attitude and this just being able to go out there and play. Sometimes these guys are so rigid that, I mean, I'll use Quay Walker as as an example.
00:59:49
Speaker
You know, when he has to think too much, you can tell. Yeah. Because he's not playing as well. If you turn him loose and just let him do the thing or, or hey, just chase the ball carrier. Your only job is to stop the ball carrier.
01:00:00
Speaker
Ball carrier is dead to rights because he's, you know, he's goingnna he's going to get to the corner. He's going to stop him. But the Packers just need more. They need more guys. Like, okay, we get it. You're good at finding these upstanding high character. Like you said, praise God.
01:00:14
Speaker
you know, choir boys that are smart. And you do need to smart if you want to play in the NFL. You've got to have some intelligence. But it's also a very gritty sport. And if you look at just on the defensive side of the ball, the last five Super Bowl winners, most of those defenses had a swagger and an attitude to them.
01:00:35
Speaker
So I think it's time to find some guys that can come in and and like you said, get a little chirpy. yeah jim You know, jump in and and pick up the vibe that I think is already going to be in the locker room. I mean, the nice thing about Micah is one of the first things he said after the season was, we got to get in shape. if you're if you know If you're in shape, run more. If you know if you do this, do more. and Just being a good influence in there and making sure these guys understand as soon as they get into the league, like, okay, this is your job now.
01:01:04
Speaker
right uh one good point that was made on i was listening to it you know a show is the other thing too is these guys come in here and your first year in the nfl it it gets kind of hard because they're used to being done playing football by december yeah and you've got a whole other month of football at that point they talk about the rookie wall that some of these guys hit too so you know it's hard to project those things and say hey let's go after like a will lee you know he looks like something but are they, you know, it's, there's always some risk that goes, that goes in with it
Importance of Successful Draft Picks
01:01:38
Speaker
too. And it doesn't necessarily have to be, you know, the, the, the second round, it could be a fourth and fifth rounder, but you know, this, this is an interesting draft. Cause I think Goody does need to, does need to get some of these things, right.
01:01:49
Speaker
Uh, more so than not. And, and, and more so this year than in past years to keep that competitiveness for the championship and the super bowl contention alive. Right. And you know,
01:02:03
Speaker
the the about the age stuff we are in the last year or two of the covid eligibilities and and stuff like that so we are still going to be dealing with a lot of older guys and then you've got to remember with the nil some of these guys are wanting to stay in college because they're making guaranteed money with the nil whereas the nfl you know if i'm 52 out of 53 on the roster am i making the same if i as if i was the number one on the roster for this college team so there there's going to be some of those issues too and the packers have went off course a little bit i mean they did take davante wyatt in the first round and he was 24 when they drafted him they took elton jenkins in the second round and he was 24 when they drafted to him so they they do kind of go after that once in a while but
01:02:54
Speaker
like Mike is known to say that as long as you tick off the boxes for four out of five things...
01:03:06
Speaker
then the Packers are okay with not hitting five out of four, you know, five out of five. Right. So as long as you're hitting 90% on it, then then they can be all right with it. But are there any other guys that you really, maybe day, eat well, I can't say day two, because we are in day two, because that's when the Packers start drafting. So anybody, maybe day three-ish that you kind of looked at that you think could be interesting?
01:03:31
Speaker
So this is where I lean on our draft nerds, right? Our boy, Moffy, Brian, who does this all the time and looks for these guys. I'm going to give some more pub to my good friend. You've mentioned him already. Jake Westendorf with SI. He did his seven round mock.
01:03:49
Speaker
And one of the one of the corners that he had mocked to Green Bay was a seventh rounder out of Texas Tech, Dante Belfort. Okay. And that's with pick 254. I mean, when I look at at these names and these these guys doing the work and putting in the work, Justice Muscata is another great one. You listen to him talk and, and the you know, I mean, most of his guys are, he's going to want Oregon guys, right? Right. but But I do think that those diamonds in the rough and – the later round defensive backs, you know one thing, if they're going to make the roster, they're going to play on special teams. So there's, yeah I'd like to think that one of the additional qualifications this year for you being a draftee to the Green Bay Packers, especially given how their special teams have performed over the past, in certain number of years, is you're going to have to play special teams and you're going have to be kind of good at it.
01:04:47
Speaker
for sure and you know i know all of us were kind of hoping there would be a changeover in special teams coaching but that hasn't happened as of yet well kind of they did lose their top assistant for special teams but that doesn't matter when when your head guy isn't doing good things for special teams but yeah they're they're gonna have to be more known for special teams and That's the one thing that's hard about college is because in college, you've got 100 guys on your roster.
01:05:20
Speaker
So you can throw anybody in the world out there on special teams and then just concentrate. You know you basically got 11 on your starter, your offense, 11 on your defense, and then you got another 11 that'll play your your special team. So a lot of these guys, when they come in to the league, have no special teams experience. So it's a wake up call for them. but you know I've got a few other guys like TJ Hall from Iowa.
01:05:45
Speaker
Again, you've got to be careful with the Iowa guys just because of how their zone you know they're more zoned and they they struggle with with going to man. But I think he may have more of a more athletic traits that that would help him out a little bit more.
01:05:59
Speaker
um i was just asking one in another draft draft chat, and of course Mafi had to pipe in on it. um There's... ah Jalen and I'm not even gonna be able pronounce this guy's last name.
01:06:16
Speaker
Gala boo Gala bow out of Texas. It's a
01:06:24
Speaker
uh where's the g-u-i-l-b-e-a-u um you know i thought he was when i watched him i thought he real was really good he sat low on his back pedal he tracked well speed looks pretty good he was a little bit stiff in his in his uh transition and that but i thought he was pretty good but then moffy uh chimed in day three nickel it's like shut up moffy
01:06:52
Speaker
and But, um you know, there's Domani Jackson out of Alabama looked pretty good. Devontae Smith out of Notre Dame, I think, could be a late round steal.
01:07:04
Speaker
Then you got the two Ohio State guys, Jermaine Matthews and um Davidson. been no soon. you know another name that i'm not going to be here yeah you know i'm going to butcher that guy right yeah ah um you know i know shivank and leahy both call him igb so we'll just stick with igb for now they they kind of both love him as pro possible second round third round guy maybe followed fourth uh davante smith
01:07:42
Speaker
out of Notre Dame. Notre Dame does pretty good with producing ah secondary guys in the NFL. And I think he could be pretty solid. And then we could on it we could say Devontae Smith is on the Packers, and it's spelled the same way as the guy from the Eagles. Yeah, Devontae Smith on Devontae Smith.
01:08:00
Speaker
that That would work for me. Or chance to go to the Super Bowl. Fourth down, game on the line, Smith on Smith. And you know Smith is going to come down with the ball one way or the other. so That's right. um DJ McKinney out of Colorado could be another guy of the could be another to late round guy that would be pretty, you know, I kind of like the Colorado ones and I like the idea of them just because you have Dion out there and you know how Dion can, Dion is going to know how to handle defensive backs. So I think there's three of them that are draft eligible this year. So there's a chance that one of them could make it big, but
01:08:39
Speaker
You know, i'm kind of I'm kind of on the opposite boats on as you are. You said sign two, draft one. I think it's sign one, draft two, and I would be good with it, depending on what other moves are made. You know, if they do trade Keyshawn or cut Keyshawn, then obviously they're going bring somebody else, you know, one or two ah guys in free agency to replace that. um You know, if they cut Carrington, they're going have to bring in another guy because at that point, you're looking at two, possibly three people on the roster for that position, even going into free agency. So there could be a world where they have to sign two and draft two.
01:09:17
Speaker
That could. I think for me, it was if they signed Diggs. I almost think Diggs is kind of almost like a given. So he wouldn't necessarily count where they might want to get a second guy and then they draft one. It looks kind of like what they did in 2019 with Preston Smith, Z'Darrius Smith.
01:09:33
Speaker
And then they drafted Rashawn Gary. Right. And or the safety year where they they signed Xavier and then you know drafted Javon, Evan and Catan.
01:09:50
Speaker
So it could be something like that. But again, i go back to my one drawback is the lack of draft capital and higher picks. And again, I'm not poo poo in the Parsons trade. I would do the trade every day. I'm day. you know of the week and and i'd be happy with it but that does limit some of the things that you can do because we could be sitting here on first night of the draft and it comes to the pick that the packers traded to dallas and friggin the kid from lsu is sitting there sure and you're like okay well if we would had that first round pick we would have this guy that could be an instant starter for this team
01:10:32
Speaker
right so you know that could happen but not saying it is going to happen but and and again i'm not going to say well i'd rather have this rookie that we don't know than micah parsons that we do know i'm just saying that without that draft capital it's a little bit harder to settle on things because there are going to be a lot of holes for this team going into 2026 right right
Cornerback Strategy and Future Outlook
01:10:59
Speaker
Right. Yeah. Yeah, there are. And they're going to have to. And I think a lot of those can get solved with with health.
01:11:04
Speaker
Right. But at the corner position, that's that's one where they need, listen, this you're not goingnna you're not getting by. And I think we all knew that if the Packers were going go deep in the playoffs, and they were goingnna somehow survive with Nate Hobbs, Keyshawn Nixon, and Carrington Valentine at corner that the football gods were really looking out for him. Well, it turns out the football gods were not looking out for them at all. Right. it would have been different.
01:11:24
Speaker
had parsons stayed healthy and rashawn decided that he wanted to play instead of jog around on the field and shit like that but um because just looking ahead holes on the team that they're gonna have to fill tight end Offensive line, defensive line, corner, special teams. That's why we are going to be talking special teams on our draft preview because that is a big thing that needs to be looked at.
01:11:55
Speaker
McManus needs to be off this team like yesterday. ah you know, ah if anybody's listened to us long enough, Mike and I have been anti-McManus since before he signed with the Packers.
01:12:05
Speaker
And so there's going to be a need looking at theirs. but ah So there are a lot of holes and not very many picks to fill those holes. So that's right.
01:12:18
Speaker
All right. Well, is there anybody else that we didn't talk about that you' you'd like to mention or
01:12:26
Speaker
Anything that we hadn't touched on yet with the cornerback room that... Because I'm kind of interested to see what the new coaches can do because there's a lot of specialists that in the coaching staff. Again, Gannon is a corner specialist. um Let's just look at it real quick.
01:12:46
Speaker
Packers coaching roster.
01:12:53
Speaker
They have... Gannon and Ryan Downard. ah I don't think they have some of these guys official yet. Because I know there was a couple other ones that they they signed as um to fill spots because they've lost a few of them down to Miami with Halfley. But it's going to be interesting to see what they do with how much it's going to change from Halfley with him bringing a successful defense back to Green Bay to now he's gone and see what Gannon can do with it.
01:13:33
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. They're going to need a a boost. and John elevate and jump up there. I mean, obviously that's going to be a big part of, of them coming through and they just, they can't punt on the position again.
01:13:44
Speaker
Cornerback is going to have to be a very active line. It may be the loudest position group that we see this off season and justifiably. So they essentially had to let it go and ignore it.
01:13:55
Speaker
Micah Robinson didn't even last a whole season on this team. And I'm wondering if maybe they miscalculated there and thought that he would clear waivers or that he wouldn't get signed off the practice squad. And lo and behold, now he's with the Tennessee Titans. So,
01:14:07
Speaker
You know, that's it's it's a feather in their cap. They found a good talent, but then be to hang on to them. And and yeah, they're you know they're not helpful. They're not helpful if they're not playing for the Green Bay Packers. So yeah, I think corner is going to be one of those positions that will we'll see a pretty active offseason with and and however they do it.
01:14:23
Speaker
You know, i expect bigger things this season because that window is still open and you don't want to keep shooting yourself in the foot because you didn't take care of one of the most premium positions on the field. right and like i said earlier there are cap aspects that are going to be slim and tight so there are going to be some things that have to happen to make some room to get some guys in there but it's all possible there are going to be some roster movements that maybe people are going to be happy with aren't going to be happy with but we are going to be entering entering one of the interesting
01:15:01
Speaker
aspects for the Packers this year, because it's going to be, how are they going to build going forward? Yeah, for sure. All right, Jason, I think we're at a minute or an hour, a minute, an hour 15 right now. Um, so I think we're going to go ahead and wrap this up. Uh, why don't you go ahead? I know we talked about a little bit earlier, but go ahead and tell where the people, where they can find you at and what you're up to.
01:15:26
Speaker
Yeah, I'm on X slash Twitter at Jason Perrone. Same handle over at Blue Sky Social. And actually, I have Iowa Joe to thank for my moving over to Blue Sky Social because that was back when you need to have you had to have somebody i'm for you to get you onto the platform. so Yeah.
01:15:43
Speaker
i am And it is getting to be a better platform over there, too. A lot more people are making the move. so Making the move over. Yeah, I haven't been as active over there, but i I am over there. And then you can also listen to or or find my work on the Thursday edition of the Pack-A-Day podcast by myself and Mark Echol.
01:15:59
Speaker
During the season, we typically break down the Packers' defense against the opponent's offense. But this offseason, all of the... you know, all the barriers are removed. So you'll hear us talk about all kinds of different stuff. We're on the Thursday edition. So come check that out. Joe, as always, thank you for having me on. It's always a pleasure to to come back. I don't know. I mean, it was, it was kind of nice. Just the two of us here. I feel like, you know, I love me some Kiwano, but this was a, this was a nice chat. I'm glad I was able to fill in for a little bit.
01:16:29
Speaker
I love Kawano to death, but if we would have had him on here, we'd probably be here for another hour and a half. We'd only be a third of the way through their content. Correct. Yes, exactly. No, no. Kawano's great. Jason, as always, it's great to have you on here. i know we need to get you on more often, but just trying to get everything scheduled because I know you've got an active life outside of podcasting and and your kids are into all kinds of sports and stuff like that. yeah. so getting you on is awesome getting you on is always great we always have great conversations so go over give him a listen give him a follow on everything that he's on support the man maybe convince him to come over to the dark side and join us and start a show over here at some point um you know but with that being said you can find us on all the socials
01:17:24
Speaker
Ohana Packers on Twitter. Ohana Packers Edition on Insta, Facebook. Do go over to Facebook. Follow us on Facebook. We're not as active over there, but we're trying to get to the at least that 100 mark so when we do our live streams, we can stream over at Facebook because they do have that restriction. You have to have 100 followers over there. Yeah. Once we hit 100 followers, we are doing a giveaway. i keep forgetting to post the video of all the stuff that we have going on in the giveaway, but there's a lot of goodies from Hawaii in the in the gift basket. I've got a lot of good stuff in there that you can check out.
01:17:59
Speaker
um um My allergies are going nuts. Now my eyes are watering. the dog is the dogss it's It's the dogs. the dogs. Yeah.
01:18:12
Speaker
But yeah, go follow us on everything. Episodes come out every Monday. ah Next week, we are talking tight ends. And I know it's to another guy that I can't pronounce his last name. So be on the lookout for that. But Mike should be back for that one. He did confirm that today with me unless something happens. So be prepared for longer episodes when Mike comes back.
01:18:36
Speaker
But as he would say, pack go and aloha.