Thoughts on the Packers Initial 53 Man Roster- Plus Tons of news and notes!

friends I'm not going to lie to you the Anthony Johnson Jr agenda it's taking a severe hit in the last 24 [Applause] [Music] hours what's up everybody welcome to another episode of the Marty time producer I'm your host John Del today we are now past most of the storm most of the practice squad has been decided of course the initial 53 is out there Packers have already swapped off one position we're going to be talking all about that so most of the Dust is settled I am fully anticipating that over the course of the next 24 48 hours we will still see a couple little moves on the 53 Brian gun alluded to as much saying that part of their process now is going through the guys who have been cut from the teams who made waiver claims so there's a whole another layer to this yet to come we might still see some action on the 53 in addition there are still four open spots on the practice squad as well Brian gakin again in his press conference today alluding to the fact that those would be individuals probably from outside of the organization because they're still waiting on some agreements some decisions to be made Etc but 12 of the 16 spots excluding Alex Hil have been decided so little bit more to go there so what I'm going to do today I'm going to take you through all of the transactions of today and there is a hefty amount of information here yesterday I was live with whis Fanatics for the actual reveal of the 53 today this is going to be just my thoughts going position by position on the 53 and recaping the news from what has been an incredibly eventful day for like let's say the bottom third of the Packers roster so let's get going with it right away let's start with the practice squad as I said most of the prac squad has now been decided and you're going to hear some very familiar names here like cornerback Robert relle he's been retained cornerback kayn King maybe the number one target for a bunch of people after he didn't make the 53 he is back on the practice squad Donovan Jennings leet to Smith both returning for the offensive line however I'm going to point out both of them our interior offensive lineman the Packers did not as of now add an offense tackle to their practice squad maybe that's one of the moves yet to be coming maybe it's because they kept all of them on the 53 by keeping Glover tord Etc so just keep in mind two interior offensive linemen then quarterback sea Clifford yeah we'll be talking about that then defensive end Deslin Alexander not at all surprising was one of the heroes of OTAs had an injury in Camp not shocking at all they want to give him more of a chance James Esther defensive tackle Ellis marow weather and Nate MCC the running backs now being added to the practice squad helping to make up for all the injuries we know about with AJ Dylan Maron Lloyd who's going to need some time to get up to speed Etc makes sense to have two of them there then at wide receiver Julian Hicks probably the most promising of the udfas that crop of wide receivers in today why not Grant du Bose why not Samari Tay we'll get there but Julian Hicks is the one and then a tight end Messiah Swinson of largest I believe the tallest and the heaviest tight end on the roster all throughout Camp gets his chance here now to be on the practice squad and then Alex hail who does not count towards the 16 man practice squad because he's been designated as the international pathway program player for the Packers he is basically their backup kicker to the new kicker because the Green Bay Packers indeed made a waiver claim today and they claimed Braden erson off of the Tennesseee Titans now neveron he he lost his kicking competition in Tennessee he was a udfa by the way side note totally like irrelevant to all this but the Green Bay Packers chances now of having the udfa streak reached 20 years having a udfa on your 53 for week one for 20 straight years now because their kicker was a udfa well anyway he lost the training camp battle that he was in against Nick Folk and that's really not surprising Nick Folk led the NFL in terms of field goal percentage last year I like he was one of the top kickers in the league it was assumed all along that it was going to be Nick Folk's job but still nerson came in had a fantastic preseason and as gunst and laflure said today he's going to be their kicker in week one and I thought there were some interesting things here that were brought up because in Matt lefleur's press conference he was asked you know how without you having a kicker in the building it's a very mental position a lot of psychology and kicking in big moments how do you know he can do it if you've never met the guy the FL just kind of said yeah we don't we're going to find out you're never really going to know until he's out there in Lambo field and etc etc so okay well that's interesting and we'll see right but another thing that was kind of interesting in the flor's press conference was how do you get a kicker ready like what do you expect them to do here now this isn't like quarterback where he's necessarily got to learn a Playbook and just kind of went have him kick and then he deferred all real special teams questions to one rich Basia as he called him uh just a very interesting kind of emphasis from leflour there to like don't ask me kicking questions like get it to Rich so anyway naon he's going to be your week one kicker obviously the team cut Carlson the team did today as well cut Greg Joseph this is a pure one for one merson's coming in to be the kicker and he's got kind of an interesting background he spent three years collegiately at Western Kentucky then one year in Iowa State where he was not their full-time kicker and then one year at North Carolina state that would be his last year of college and he ultimately had a strong college career not the greatest we've ever seen but a strong one he was per PFF 181 for 182 extra points in college that's pretty good and then in field goal kicks this is over the span of his entire 5-year career he was one of one on kicks from 0 to 19 yards 15 of 17 20 to 29 21 of 24 30- 39 25 of 31 40 to 49 and then four of nine from 50 plus this last year alone for NC State he was 37 of 37 on extra points 16 of 20 overall on field goals he had two misses from 30 to 39 and then two misses on 50 plus but as Brian goodin said this is a kicker who had a very very strong preseason for Tennessee including nailing a game winner against Seattle as the Clock Was winding to zero ultimately this preseason he was six of seven he hit from 21 26 31 34 46 and 59 he missed from 58 that's his lone Miss he was just short on 58 then he also was two of two on extra points just an interesting note here to Brian ginst was asked about big little buddy Anders Carlson and I thought it was a very transparent moment for Brian ginst he talked about how you know he personally is probably too quick to give up on Specialists and I'm not saying he did with Anders or anything like everyone knows that I've been a fan of Hors I've holding out hope that he would get it and it's the inconsistency got him and Gran goodh could said too that it was not that final kick in Baltimore that really the straw that broke the Campbell's back it was the whole thing through throl camp still think that field goal might have had something to do with it but ultimately I found Brian gkin very transparent when speaking about this move and moves in general when it comes to special teams he's too quick to give up on these guys and he cited JK Scott who's become a very very good punter since leaving Green Bay and he talked about how when Brian goodin arrived in 2012 that was in the midst of Mason Crosby having some real struggles a few years into his career and how many in the front office were saying like let's move move on it's time and I thought that that was a very good moment for Brian goodkin to kind of open up and be honest in relation to he was speaking about Anders Carlson but now we've got a brand new rookie kicker two years in a row with rookie kickers wo let's see how it goes for Braden narvon all right so then other here just a few other things the Packers did lose a few players two waivers uh three of them one heartbreaking uh Anthony Johnson Jr was claimed on waivers by the Giants yes I'm going to be talking about him when we get to position by positions Royce Newman was claimed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers I already had someone on Facebook say that's not a loss I I understand okay but nonetheless he was claimed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then also Grant Dubose there was obviously hope that Dubose would pass through waivers it did not happen he was claimed by the Miami Dolphins and I got to say like he's going to be buried on that depth chart in Miami but at the same time if you want to go to a place that is a wide receiver friendly environment glad for Grant Duos to go to that setting since he couldn't cling on in Green Bay now the question as to why Malik Heath why not Grant Duos Brian goodkin did some speaking on that as well and he really kind of alluded to the fact that it was about placement in the hole that they really love what Malik Heath can do on special teams that they really believe that Malik Heath has this he didn't use this word but I believe it's kind of what he was getting at the clutch Factor very aggressive at the catch point that he just makes plays year after year after year going back all the way through college and that seems to be why Malik Heath over Grant doos and then uh really just a couple other notes here if you're wondering hey I didn't hear you when you said about the practice squad I didn't hear Michael Pratt well no Green Bay is not retaining him on the practice squad he instead is going to Tampa Bay you didn't hear Samari Tura either he's going to Chicago of all places and then two players that have just been said that it's not returning one would be linebacker Christian Welch be talking about him and the positions Welch is not returning interesting thing here with Welch Matt Schneiderman and based upon Matt laflure leflour said that Welch was signing with Baltimore and then one of Baltimore's bait reporters saw that in a tweet from Schneiderman and said well that's news to Baltimore doesn't seem to be what's happening right now so I don't know what's going on with Christian Welch but it's been tweeted a lot and reported a lot that not coming back to Green Bay so there you have it and then Caleb Jones has been reported as well that he is not coming back to Green Bay he may just be interested in a new start and then one last tiny little note here for you before we actually get to the positions number change few numbers for you Malik Willis he's coming in he's going to be wearing number two for the Green Bay Packers and then Carrington Valentine I don't know if I like this he's switching from number 37 that's what he was last year now he's going to be 24 I don't know why I I'm sure I could dive into it and find some kind of reason but I just there's something cool about a dback rank 37 and not 24 so I don't know we'll see all right let's get to it now we're going to go position by position I'm actually pulling up this is the Packers website uh so we can really kind of go through each player here we're going to start at quarterback work our way all the way through the roster just giving you my some positions longer thoughts than others but certainly going through the 53 all right let's go quarterback Jordan love obviously Malik quillis mhm yeah you trade for a guy he's going to make your 53 and the Green Bay Packers decided that they were going to give a seventh round pick for Malik quillis and look I said that I highly doubted the Packers were going to go out and get somebody and that included like Ryan tanah Hill on the free agent Market or others you know uh not that he's available anymore but like your prototypical older guy who's been a backup fraternity like col McCoy right I really didn't think that they were going to go that route they were going to develop Clifford and Pratt well they didn't decide to develop Clifford and Pratt kind of instead they went with a different very young toolsy quarterback and when asked in the press conference why Brian gunst and Matt LeFleur both talked extensively about malus's traits and I thought there was a very interesting comp made to Jordan love the fact that in college when Malik Willis went to Liberty he was going against smaller school or what you would call generally like inferior to the power five competition and he did some really great stuff and then you saw flashes in year one year two but not exactly a lot of development there's a reason he was going to get cut by Tennessee but then all of a sudden this preseason it looked like it began to click just not on the level of like a Mason Rudolph that Tennessee now employs but it began to click plus the Packers felt comfortable with Malik Willis because they're confident that over his two and a half years of professional development he's encountered offensive systems that are similar to lefur now lefur said what he's learning this offseason with a new coaching staff in Tennessee There's not as much carryover as they thought that there would be but nonetheless over his two and a half getting ready for his third season there's been a lot of crossover in terminology and scheme and they're fa and they have faith that Malik Willis will be able to pick up on it fairly quickly and become their Bonafide number two soon so actually on the 53 Jordan love Le wills and I got to say just as a personal note I love this move if you're going to have a backup get an ultra toolsy backup who looks like he's on the precipice of doing better and better okay you could do a lot worse than that right you know he's got the tools he seems like in the right phase assuming he is progressing well which we've talked about the stats before he's had a very strong preseason so a lot to really like and it cost him their seventh rounder for this coming year so all good with that in terms of Clifford and Pratt I have not been as high on Pratt as others have been I have talked about how he appears to me to have a very slow release he just the whole thing is slow just like it was in college but boy does that man have a nice play action roll out and it kind of feels like the Packers choosing him in the seventh said like we don't ultimately like love you we don't ultimately believe in you if we did we probably would have picked you earlier but the value here just makes too much sense but bring you in let's get here here okay and then I have talked about two like Sean Clifford they still Trust trust Shawn Clifford and I talked about it all through last year that Shawn Clifford why he's a backup in the NFL is because of his intangibles which are off the charts he's wildly intelligent he's a hype man he's great set of eyes for Jordan love etc etc so the Packers are faithful that they can cut him get him back on the practice squad and now supposedly the plan that he is back on the practice squad is that if Malik Willis can't grasp The Playbook can't get up to speed to be qb2 by the time that they go down to brazila PL Philadelphia that Johan Clifford will be elevated and will be the number two until Malik Willis is ready and I'm good with that plan right now in the Packers quarterback room you have your franchise player your Superstar and Jordan love then your number two is Young and relatively he was an older Prospect but still young and he's got all of the athletic traits you could want a Skyhigh ceiling it appears still and then in your practice squad number three you've got your intangibles guy probably a future coach who you want in the room that's a pretty complete complete quarterback room and I am pretty good with it I understand why others like Pratt I get it but this is the room and I'm I'm pretty good with it moving on to running back you got Josh Jacobs you got Marsha Lloyd question marks about his health right and then Emanuel Wilson making the roster AJ Dylan going on yearlong injured reserve not dedicated to return or designated he's on year-long injured reserve and I got to say I know we're p 24 hours now there's a lot of reactions out there I even saw some people like well this is a blessing AJ Dylan sucks like come on he's hurt that sucks don't have that viewpoint but the thing is both Matt LeFleur and Brian goodin and I said in my roster prediction video like it just seems like here's a guy shoulder Stingers are generally like you can come back the next week from a stinger AJ Dylan missed three games with a shoulder stinger and then this year he got another stinger in the same shoulder and when asked about it Mt the Flur said that they were seeking outside opinions opinions that it was revealed today in the press conference they still don't have Clarity on that generally when you see any type of injury that a is recurring nine months apart and B takes outside medical opinions how often do you hear about that kind of thing going well how often do you hear about that player just coming back fully good without any type of operation or anything it's rare right so they're basically saying like we're shutting you down and maybe throughout the course of this year you'll get healthy and will reach an injury settlement with you and you can go play for somebody else but the rules dictate AJ Dylan cannot play for the Green Bay Packers this year now and that does kind of suck like he was having a strong camp and you could tell both Brian goodin at matf Le were quite dismayed by this they were not thrilled or and I don't mean to say that like they weren't thrilled to AJ I mean they just they felt bad about how this all went and it does make sense so that's running backs I think the three that they kept do make a lot of sense given Dylan's injury hopefully Lloyd can come back sooner rather than later Mayweather MCCC on the practice squad all sense of the world wide receivers you got six dobs Watson Reed Wicks Heath and Melton of course Melton and then release to Bose Tay Hicks Demetri Stanley and Jaylen Wayne little surprised they're not retaining Stanley on the practice squad at least as of now but Julian Hicks was the superior your udfa so it does make sense in that way T going to Chicago and Duos finding his way onto Miami and I already kind of gave the rationale as to why keeping Heath over Duos and gun said that they did entertain having seven wide receivers it just didn't make sense in the whole picture of the whole roster when you factor in special teams and everything else I genuinely hope that Grand Duos find success in Miami then tight ends you got Musgrave craft Sims uh-huh won't be shocked at all if another one of the guys coming in on the practice happens to be a tight end/ fullback Allah Henry Pearson maybe it will be Pearson we don't know Tyler Davis was put on year end injuring injured reserve I still don't fully know what his shoulder injury is but yeah that sucks he worked really hard to come back from ACL now he's got a new injury out for the year his time with greay Packers might very well be done the question that I have here is Rich bace and I know special teams is different this year but Rich bace a year in and year out almost always has a tight end excuse me as one of the top people in his special team's units that was slated to be Tyler Davis without Tyler Davis and only three tight ends what's it going to be because Matt lefur uses four tight ends in the offense they only got three sorry so how exactly are they going to work this Messiah Swinson we know back on the practice squad ultimately though it the collection that they have makes sense given the Davis injury I didn't think any of the three would wind up on the 53 okay now the o line Royce Newman being released Newman yeah I'm good with it Caleb Jones that experiment looked to be done in Camp same with kind of Luke Tuda like at to Smith one-on-one Warrior but he does have work to go in a line Donovan Jennings the injury just cost him way too much time in spite of the large signing bonus that they gave him so the alignment that they keep Elton Jenkins Josh Meers Rasheed Walker Zack Tom Jordan Morgan there's your five that's your starters Shawn Ryan your Super Sub Andre Dillard your at least backup left tackle maybe swing tackle but say some prayers on the right side then you got monk they opt to keep Kadeem telfort and I really thought they would let him go let him go to the practice squad because there's so much development to be done here but realistically this year's Caleb Jones probably going to be red shirted basically every week Travis Glover that says to me that they were afraid that Glover was going to get claimed if they let him go he was a six-round draft pick maybe there is some truth to that lots of teams need tackles even developmental ones so yeah okay maybe but still 10 offensive linemen they're probably not going to dress Glover very often it's a lot of old linemen and it might have come back to hurt them at other spots in the roster ultimately though it does fit with Brian goodin's Norm of keeping 10 then you look at the defensive line and this this is the area that I probably raised my eyebrows at the most why because they're six of them six defensive ends and a 4-3 defense what are you doing with all of these people now I will explain at least part of this Deslin Alexander from the release list he is back on the practice squad but ultimately on the roster Preston Smith ran Gary LVN Kings lean bar Brighton Cox Jr and Aaron Mosby six in a 4-3 defense now I know you need a lot of guys right especially in Halle's defense I think someone pointed this out in the comments yesterday half's defense is very aggressive there's a lot of running you need a lot of rotations right ran Gary plays about 60 to 70% of snaps right so you need someone to at least take some of those Preston Smith not exactly a spring chicken anymore you got to have someone rotating with that and then you got alvan Kings but the thing here is like Brandon Cox Jr doesn't even really play teams so if you're gonna keep Mosby because Mosby did get a big shout out from Brian gakin in his press conference about his ability on teams maybe it was Mal Flur sorry if for mixing him up but there was a shout out for Aaron Mosby and his ability on teams they liked his versatility they liked to have Hardy work to not be a tweener anymore and actually dedicate to putting his hand in the dirt and being a defensive end and his performance givs Baltimore really helped I get all that but then bran Cox Jr he doesn't really play teams the likelihood that you're ever going to have six defensive ends active on game day is essentially nil so it's a lot of roster space dedicated to one spot where a lot of these dudes don't even play special teams I'm glad Mosby is going to but still this is the area of the roster that I look at and go that that is really questionable because of what it might have cost you at some other spots defensive tackle that wound up going pretty much as planned you know you got Kenny Clark TJ Slayton Devonte W car books Kobe wooden and then they did decide to hang on to Jonathan Ford at least giving him the IR designated to return now as he gets healthy from his calf injury they could still cut Ford they can put him on the 53 cut somebody else but they at least wanted more time to hang on to Jonathan Ford then released to James Esther he's on his practice squad spenca and then keante Shad who basically just had a cup of coffee in Green Bay and now is let go no surprises here was the easiest spot on the roster project okay now linebacker off ball linebacker right Quay Walker McDuffy Eric Wilson Edan Cooper teron haa makes sense all five yeah they were locks right Ray lle fourth he's being waved injured designation and then Christian Young Chris Russell they were outright cut as was Christian Welch and here's the thing I'm not sure that Christian Welch could have done anything more than what he did to make the roster he was very good in practice he got increasingly better in each preseason game he had multiple turnovers in preseason games Brian goodkin talked about how the games are still the most important part of the valuation he also said that he absolutely deserves a spot on the 53 it just worked out that numbers but this is the same Brian good have said that he might keep more linebackers because of the switch to the 4-3 they might need more so I really thought given everything the total picture that Welch would find himself on the 53 and he really couldn't have done much more than what he did Packers obviously disagreed now we don't know where he's going to wind up maybe if that Baltimore thing isn't true at all maybe he does wind up in Green Bay somehow I also wouldn't blame him for having some sour grapes saying like I don't know what more I could have done y'all didn't employ me I'm going to go somewhere else I will I don't really blame him for that but I just think given his Evolution given his Ascension throughout the roster he was better at getting off blocks than we had ever seen from him before he was better at filling the alley than we had ever seen before in Camp wel was becoming a Bonafide run stopper it was really nice to see and this is where the questions really be was keeping Travis Glover as a red shirt offensive lineman maybe someone that you could have gotten on the practice squad we don't know was that worth costing you your sixth linebacker and special teams ath and Christen Welch was keeping Brenton Cox Jr or Aaron Mosby as a six defensive end worth your six linebacker and someone that would have helped on teams maybe these are questions that we can't know the answers to but the Packers are certainly putting their money down on one side I personally IA would have leaned the other way but it ain't my team and the reality is we just don't know yet I just would have done different then you got Corners Jerry Alexander Eric Stokes keesa Nixon kington Valentine Cory Balentine they all make the roster cut Robert relle kayin King Jam green now we know relle and King they are back on the practice squad I'm very very glad about King being on the practice squad and I know people wanted him on the 53 I know that they were afraid for kayen King but look the reality is as I've said a lot he was slot three on the roster and he doesn't really do teams and he needs to work on his tackling that's just generally not a guy that's gonna get a job but I am very very glad that he's on the practice squad he was my player 54 on the roster so I'm happy he's back I think he's a wonderful developmental project and I think we will see him on the 53 at some point even how Corners generally get hurt a lot so it is a very very strong Corner Room I'm exced excited to see it in action with Jeff Halley and then yes LJ Davis was waved with the injured designation as Bill Huber reported he's actually going to be out several weeks and then safety this is the other one I know you all know how I feel about Anthony Johnson Jr been a big fan of his since before the man was drafted he and alapo are probably like my two that I like had circled in big red ink on my draft notes saying I want them and it actually worked two years in a row and then it's not so good anymore now he plays for the Giants but your safey is on the roster Xavier mckin Javon Buller David Williams Zayn Anderson and Keat alapo released Benny Sapp thei and Anthony Johnson Jr again same question with Welch was keeping Aaron Mosby at Bron Cox Jr worth losing Anthony Johnson Jr was keeping Travis Glover was not putting another guy on IR worth Anthony Johnson Jr right there were other options here and I would have opted different lead personally probably what I would have done as I did call for in my 53 man roster projection which is really what I thought the Packers were going to do I thought they were going to release both brenon Cox Jr and Aaron Mosby and retain Anthony Johnson Jr and Christian Welch it felt more like those two could contribute a lot more readily now I know some people are saying you kept Zane Anderson over Anthony Johnson Jr forget the defensive end thing forget Glover forget anybody else at the same position if you just would to let zann go you would have had a complete safety room at five so why and I don't I'm not really upset about Zayn Anderson making the roster I thought he was going to Rich Basia given the new kickoff rules is using more safeties through the three preseason games and what we saw in Camp he's using more safeties than we had ever seen him use before and less linebackers on the special teams covered units well you're going to want your safety Captain for that and alapo may blossom into that but right now it's Zayn plus Zayn did play better defense that we generally have seen this Camp than we normally don't he Sean Clifford and he I'd be shocked if they're friends because Zayn bullied John Clifford quite a bit this camp but it's just a question of cost right and I think that that's what it boils down to now we are very fortunate as Packers fans that the biggest concerns that we have on this roster generally are Kicker quarterback two safety five linebacker six defensive end six those are some really far down the list things to have to bicker about be worried about be upset about because your fan favorite's gone I get that but ultimately at the end of the day this is a very very strong 53 and now we can say two just to round it up out Specialists you got Dan wheelen is going to be your all World punter Matt orzac didn't really see that many long Snappers across the league cut orik's still here I do think that they could upgrade from oric although time is ticking I maybe he's one of the moves in the next few days but they seem way more comfortable with Orek than maybe they should be so we'll see about that and then of course now you get a new kicker in narson instead of Greg Joseph so I mean Lots going on here right Lots going on with the Packers 53 man roster ultimately I'm sad for Welch Anthony Johnson Jr even AJ Dylan but this is an incredibly good roster and the fact that they had three guys be claimed they haven't had a guy claimed on cutdown day since tesm hill now all of a sudden they got three this year that is a statement by the rest of the NFL that the Packers are a deep and talented roster that should do great things this year even Matt LeFleur in his press conference talked about The Vibes around the team right now and how good they are and how strong they are and how excited he is for practice tomorrow night Under The Lights of Lambo to help simulate what it's going to be like to play at night in Brazil should be an incredibly cool practice for the new Packers that's pretty exciting they keep their udfa streak alive the practice squad rounds out kind of exactly how you would expect the practice squad is rounding out to be I am excited for the four new names that we're going to have to get to know once they actually sign their practice squad deals and I'm excited to see what else in then comes in the next 24 to 48 hours one thing I can tell you we will be talking about it LTB live returns to its normal format this Friday afternoon yeah I know not super normal because normally it's on Wednesdays and it will be throughout the course of the season but like hey it's cut down day things go arai at the end of Camp so Friday is going to be LTB live Friday afternoon me and Claudia sitting here answering your questions about the Green Bay Packers as they begin to prepare for Brazil and the Philadelphia Eagles because we are now in singled digigit days until it's really go time thanks everybody thank you so much for joining me here on the part time bruise I do hope you're having a fantastic day I'll see you on Friday and as always go pack go oh [Music]