A.J. Dillon hits IR on shocking day of Green Bay Packers final cuts to get to 53-man roster

it was a genuinely shocking cut down day for the Green Bay Packers we weren't even going to do this show but things went so weirdly we had to so let's do it you are locked on Packers your daily Green Bay Packers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday [Music] you were locked on Packers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day I'm Peter Bowski and I cover the Packers for the leap a newsletter I would love for you to subscribe to follow me on Twitter Peter Bukowski follow the podcast on Twitter locked on Packers like us on Facebook subscribe to the podcast iTunes Spotify Google podcasts wherever you find podcasts you will find locked on Packers the number one Packers podcast on the internet and the show for fans who know what happened they want to know why and how today's episode brought to you by our friendss at game time download the game time app create an account use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply download game time today what time is it game time this is one of the more bizarre cutdown days I can remember and what is truly remarkable about that is we had a weird trade yesterday like to go out and go get Malik Willis when and by the way the Cleveland Browns kept four quarterbacks you have to believe Tyler Huntley or Dorian Thompson Robinson or jamus Winston could have been had in a trade now not for a seventh round pick potentially understand that but that to me seemed like the weird thing and that it was more or less fatal compete that sea Clifford and Michael Pratt were each going to be left off this final 53 man roster so that wasn't even the bizarre part we we get some reporting from from Bill Huber over Sports Illustrated that Sean Clifford is expected if he clears waivers to be back on the practice squad just a a bit of housekeeping on that remember they cannot put the practice squad together until the players who are subject to waivers AKA not vested veterans have to be um gone through that process and so we won't know who has cleared waivers there there's always some claims a handful of them there not not as many as you would think honestly and we won't know until Wednesday afternoon Wednesday evening what this practice Squad is going to look like so we're we're not even going to worry about that for the moment so this quarterback situation aside the first shocker or at least the biggest one is AJ Dylan his career in Green Bay is likely over and I can't figure out exactly why not not not about the quality of the player they didn't didn't have to put him on season ending IR he could have gone on ir and be designated to return now one of two things is true either they were going to just flat out cut him and couldn't because he's injured or he's more injured than we realize that this this Stinger which is what they've been calling it is more than that it's a more serious neck injury which would be brutal it'd be brutal for AJ Dylan and and you would worry about career threatening in a situation like that and so that's what makes this even more surprising is we had no idea that that was the situation that they were in now Marshon Lloyd made the final 53 after uh it it looked like there was some speculation that I guess was not reporting it was taken by a lot of people as reporting I took it as Rob has to know Rob dski had the report and we talked about this yesterday he he was given a list there was a list of Intel items and he said Marshall Noy is expected to go to ir and a lot of people I would say myself included took that to mean that Rob knew something about that he's a very connected beat reporter if he says expected to go to IR like that's just the kind of thing that if if you say that I I assume that that means you know he's he's going to do that or at least are pretty sure that that's what's going to happen now that's that's not a that's not a a criticism at all on on Rob like that's let's not do that that's not what this is um it's just more that we thought that that was going to happen and that's not what ended up happening it turns out he's going to be on this roster and that means that you hope he's closer to contributing than maybe we realized it's also true that you want the rookie to get the Reps the mental reps even if he can be doing only individual work that's useful for the Packers as he gets up to speed because Marshon Lloyd especially if AJ Dylan is not going to be on this team and he's not that's going to be an essential part of this offense Emanuel Wilson is going to get those carries but Marshon Lloyd is going to get some significant part of this offense at some point because Josh Jacobs is going to miss time or Emanuel Wilson is going to miss time that's just the way this works you keep three running backs for a reason now in in terms of some of the other things that people found surprising we're going to get into some of the some of the decisions why they happened later but just just from a I can't believe this happened Anthony Johnson Jr and I know he's safety4 was left off in in favor of Zayn Anderson presumably for special teams benefit and I I don't I don't quite understand that except that it seems clear that rich basa has gotten a lot of input and a lot of sway in that room we're going to talk about whether or not that's a good thing a little bit later but the leaving off of Kalin King for example that to me is it's surprising but it speaks more to the quality of a player like Javon Bullard who can play in the slot Xavier mck can play in the slot even though you're not going to move him to the slot he's someone who if you want to play some more three safety looks if let's say Kean Nixon goes down you can do that and you can even switch this is one of the reasons why and and every day are sick of me talking about this it's why I love the idea of playing a bunch of three safety looks because you never know who's going to be deep are they going to play deep half are they going to play in the Deep middle are they going to play overhang are they going to play in the slot like where are these guys going to be it gives them so much flexibility to have guys like Xavier McKinny and Javon Bullard and there's no question that someone like Javon Bullard and someone like Evan Williams Because Evan Williams can fill in for Javon Bullard if Javon Bullard needs to play the slot that that contributed to them saying well do we really need a backup slot Corner when that's all he is and he's not really a contributor on special teams that seems to be the the distinction that they drew there now it's also interesting to me that Robert Rochelle did not make this team I thought as a special teams player he had a lot of value I really liked how he looked as a backup Corner in the preseason they they have Eric Stokes who's been hurt the last two years um they have Carrington Valentine who was a rookie last year and has been hurt all camp and they have J Alexander who has had two serious injuries in the last three seasons I would think they'd want more outside corner help than just Corey Ballentine and yet that's not the direction that they went there to me there was not really any particularly glaring omissions here like Christian Welch it's a bummer that he didn't make the team I'm not surprised he didn't make the team he did everything he could like this was this was the definition of it's not you it's me from the Green Bay Packers side like you did Christian Welch did everything they could have wanted and you hope you can get that guy back on the practice squad I wouldn't be surprised if a team said we want that guy we want that guy because we don't have two you know top 100 pick rookies in our linebacker room plus a core special teamer a former first round pick and then a guy who played in our defensive coordinator system the Packers this was just a numbers game now the last B bit that was surprising to me the offensive line to keep Kadeem telfort and Travis Glover on this team to go 10 and to keep both of those guys that tells me they don't have faith in either of them but they know Andre Dillard cannot play right tackle he's a swing tackle and he's a very good left tackle swing tackle there's value in in having him be that I think they would like to upgrade there in fact the other piece of reporting that was Source reporting no doubt it was it was Source reporting robowski said that there is an internal feeling that their veteran swing tackle that they'd like to have is not on the roster I thought that might mean Andre Dillard gets cut he he stays they end up keeping two developmental offensive linemen on the roster Caleb Jones off the roster maybe he lands on the practice squad but I I think that experiment is over I think that is that is a tacit understanding and agreement that this experiment is over that Kadeem telfor and and Glover those are your developmental offensive linemen now they're your your hopefully your future Yash nyman and you hope that one of them can become the swing tackle or or the backup right tackle that you need them to be whether or not they can actually do that week one that's a pretty big question now if you go back over the last few years you can see the fingerprints guys don't worry we are going to talk about the kicking game you can see the Fingerprints of rich bachia and so far we have very little scant evidence that this is working and yet he has huge influence over the way this team is being put together we're going to talk about it next unlocked on Packers today's episode brought to you by our friends at game time game time is the fastest and easiest way to save money on tickets they've got a new feature called Game Time picks that makes getting tickets for your favorite Live Events even easier game time picks filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets they've got big time Labor 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sorry excuse me they were 32nd they were 31st last year in dvoa in 2022 you go okay they took a step forward 17th in special teams dvoa and it wasn't for you know it's just some fluke in 2022 the reason their their special teams were so good is kesan Nixon well what happened with kesan Nixon kesan Nixon was brought in to play Gunner to cover kicks and to compete in the slot Amari Rogers was the returner Rich basa needed to be waterboarded to bench Amari Rogers and it was to the point that he had to be cut it got so bad because he could not hang on to the ball they lucked into the best part of their special teams over the last three years since Rich Basia came on board and even before so if we include this year you go back and you look at that 2022 draft they draft Tariq Carpenter I know seventh round pick Tariq Carpenter that was a special teams selection could not play Down leave it was a special team's signing could not could not stay on the roster you go back and you look at that 2023 draft draft draft I said draft because Anders Carlson you take you go back and you look Brian gin has in an effort to fix the special teams drafted long Snappers in the pass brutal don't do that don't drive kickers ever and you can tell the influence that rich basa has had not not only in the draft room but in the approach that the team is taking it is clear it is clear that someone like zann Anderson made this team solely because of their special teams when Anthony Johnson Jr is someone who is safety4 like that guy's probably going to have to play at some point for the Green Bay Packers and when he does it's going to be Zay Anderson not Anthony Johnson Jr when I have not seen anything to suggest that Zan Anderson is the second coming of Matthew Slater which is what he would have to be or something close to it to justify a materially better defensive player not making the squad for special teams reasons Anders Carlson was handpicked by Rich Basia in part because Rich coached Andre's brother it has been a nightmare Andre Carlson got cut yesterday now spending a sixth round pick on a kicker is not the end of the world but they took Rich basia's word for it and it's been a disaster class there is no reason to believe that this is getting better last year when kesan Nixon was not killing it for a kick return group that you know didn't exactly Inspire the world he had some big returns had the big one in the playoffs but was not what he was in 2022 when he was the most dangerous Return Man he was a true weapon in the return game there's a reason they were 31st in dvoa and part of it was they were not the same return group they were still getting punts blocked kicks blocked and this kicker that rich Basia handpicked stinks terrible is no longer on the roster so why exactly why exactly what has Rich Basia shown in Green Bay I understand beloved figure Matt the Flor leans on him loves him as a confidant but like that was true of Joe Barry too the guy could not coach and Rich bachia was considered one of the good special teams coaches when he was elevated in Las Vegas they were players on that team saying we want Rich to be our head coach not exactly a vote of confidence for Antonio Pierce given the way the last few years have gone and when you look at his special teams units and wend fera is someone who has talked about this they've actually never been that great like he's not someone that creates elite special teams we're not we're not talking about Dave toab and so okay if he's not be the thing about it it was first it was well we want the starters to play more on special teams and then it was actually we're going to use more draft capital and free agent resources on special teams only or special teams mostly players Kean Nixon one of them they they fell ass backward into Nixon All Pro returner that wasn't even the plan they didn't know that that was a thing that was going to happen they had no idea and now it's actually we got to we got to give up roster spots from guys who could help the team on defense or offense but no it's got to be about the Special Teams even though the Special Teams still sucks out loud why are we listening to Rich bace at this point where's the evidence that this is working that this plan is working I see Zero I see none so when I see someone like and this is not even a shot at Zayn Anderson but when I see that happened I go that's a rich bace decision and I don't trust it why would I why should I I have no reason to like I can explain some of these other decisions I can expl like Kon oladapo making it in that safety room instead of Anthony Johnson Jr I get it Kon alapo was a more recent draft pick and a higher draft pick and so okay I get it ajj was a seventh round pick but he also the last time we saw him on a football field looked really good and I I believe in his ability now they they may feel differently they may they may not think that his defensive ability is where I think it is but I was higher on him pre-draft I think than the Packers were or they wouldn't have waited till the seventh round to draft him I thought he was a borderline top 100 type player in the pre-draft process so that's coloring my opinion on this too but I just don't see the reason to have faith that this is going to go well when it hasn't it hasn't gotten any better and the one key decision that was made was an accident or at least the best decision that was made was an accident the biggest decision was this kicker that went in gloriously it cost them a chance to go to the NFC Championship Game and potentially a Super Bowl because Anders Carlson was your kicker and not someone who would be better because Anders was the worst kicker in football last year rich bace is on the clock with this at least at least unlocked on Packers I don't know if he is internally I doubt he is internally but and and look Mal this is not the the segment that we're doing but there's a lot of pressure on Jeff Halley too M of FL does not have a great track record of hiring non-offensive assistants defensive coordinator has not been great special teams coordinators have been a nightmare let's see you get it done Matt all right where do the Packers go from here now that they have a let's call it a first draft of their final 53 man roster we'll talk about it next unlocked on Packers thanks for making locked on Packers your first listen now go listen to Locked on fantasy football podcast get daily insights to the best fantasy draft strategies so you can win your League this season you can find the link to locked on fantasy football in your description so you don't need to search part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day so where do the Packers go from here are there other moves remember last year they had they had a a final 53 quote it's really a first 53 it is Final Cuts but then there's always roster maneuvering players get released the Packers go oh I like that guy or after a couple days of practice you go um maybe we need to make a phone call about someone I I don't expect the Packers to to be doing anything quarterback wise I think if they believed Ryan tanah Hill was the best solution for them from a cost Effectiveness standpoint that they would have made that move already that if they believed giving up more draft Capital than they gave up for Malik Willis to go get Tyler Huntley or jamus Winston assuming those guys are even available and I don't think we can safely assume that given the way the brown season went last year they would have already done that so then the question becomes do you need a veteran running back Emanuel Wilson has never been a Frontline player in his NFL career not really not for any consistent period of time and he's going to be running back to this year there are guys out there speaking of the Browns DTE foran it's a nice player could he make sense in green bet I think they really like what Marsh L gives them you hope that he he's going to be healthy sooner rather than later I've said before I think he's someone who you can scheme up Touches for and not really worry about too much so if they believe in Emanuel Wilson they're fine they do need to get another running back maybe it's going to be Nate mccre someone like that on this practice squad we'll see what that looks like but that is part of the fortification of this group that they're going to need to do ditto at offensive line are they going to be able to find someone we talked about some options yesterday they are few and far between this is this is ultimately why I think they doubled up at offensive line is cuz they said I don't think we're going to be able to find someone to come in here and be a veteran swing tackle so we just got to live with Andre Dillard on the left side and then figure it out with telfort and Glover and it's not the worst solution like you see the flashes with both of those guys you see in preseason especially in the Run game kicking ass getting downhill those are big powerful dudes so just just be good enough give some tight end help in the passing game can you do that on Third and eight no on an island it's going to be a problem you have to at least explore the veteran Market there but that's a tough Market kicker is a place that's going to be much easier there's just always more guys there there are like two kickers in the NFL who are awesome and then everyone else is between kicker three and 50 and there's very little difference between any of them most of them are extremely inconsistent so if you can find an upgrade over Greg Joseph go do that I said on a bleacher report stream yesterday here's what I want out of a kicker someone asked me look what are the expectations what do you want I said here's what I want from an if your offense is good the only thing you need from your kicker is to make the kicks he absolutely has to make in the first quarter you don't you don't need to go up three nothing that's not the end of the world if you miss a kick like that to you don't need 107 or it's 14 14 to S and you miss a kick in the third quarter and you're still down a touchdown not the end of the world what you need to do is you need that three points to go up Seven or to go up better to go up eight to go up nine in the fourth quarter to go up two in the fourth quarter game on the line to make the game winning kick that's the kick you have to make and that's what Mason Crosby did I think there's been a lot of geography when it comes to Mason Crosby that somehow he was like this Justin Tucker level kicker because we loved him and he was in Green Bay forever and he made these monster kicks in Dallas in the playoffs that we'll always remember the 50 plus yarders absolute Nails in that moment we're talking about a guy who had a career field goal percentage worse than Anders Carlson had last year he was not like Gary Anderson in 2001 or whenever that was when he was perfect that's that's not the player that Mason Crosby was but what did he do in the big moments you trusted him to make those kicks 49ers 2021 drive them down the field you got to kick a 40 plus yard bang down the middle that is what you need this offense is going to be really really good really really good if if your kicker is League average is about 86% on field goals if your kicker is 84% or 82% it's not the end of the world game to game drive to drive what you need is the guy who can make the clutch kicks I went back and looked over the last two years so by the way Greg Joseph set the record in 2022 for game-winning field goals set the record on a on a totally fraudulent Vikings team but time after time after time they gave him opportunities at the end of games and he delivered I went back and looked last year speaking of make the kicks you need to make in zero games over the last two seasons when Greg Joseph missed a kick zero games did it matter in terms of winning and losing in fact they won every game last year that he missed a kick that's remarkable but also it tells you he made the ones he needed to make and there wasn't a game where he like you know missed a kick and then all of a sudden you know 16 things happen or like it's not you you don't have to purse the data too deeply to see when he needed to make the kicks he made the kicks over the last two years you can go back to 2021 I believe he missed a chip shot field goal to beat the to beat the Cardinals on the road in Arizona the 30 some yard missed it right then he bounced back and had the most clutch season regular season of the last five years in the NFL from a kicker so that's what I want in a Kicker make those clutch kicks make the kicks you have to make and that was why I was excited that's why I had a lot of respect for for Joseph in Minnesota and it was why I couldn't believe that they were just like we're going to move on from him I know I knew he was not super consistent but I also know what 2022 looked like I saw him make those big kicks and to me I want that more than anything else especially for a really good offense which is what the Packers are going to be can they find a kicker that's better than Greg Joseph maybe you got to explore that opportunity but I think this is the team more or less and I think this team is really really good I think they're really really good one name I have to shout out Aaron Mosby hell yeah to Aaron Mosby terrific in the preseason he showed he's a different type of rusher I've been talking about this for years all these guys speed to power speed to power speed to power bull rushers ran Gary Lucas vanas Kings bar Preston Smith power rushers Preston can bend the edge but he's getting older Aaron Mosby he's got speed he's got dip he's got hands I really like what he can bring on this team in particular with Jeff Halley in particular and I just wanted to shout him out give a give a special shout out because it's a really cool story and again they're they're probably going to need him at some point like injuries happen so we'll see if he gets a shot I'd love to see it follow me on Twitter we'll be back tomorrow Mike Sando tomorrow tie done on Friday we push Sando because too much to talk about on on the roster front so follow me on Twitter Peter Bowski follow the podcast on Twitter locked on Packers we are still doing our giveaway go subscribe go go follow us on Instagram like the post tag a friend you're entered to win a Jordan love Jersey a lot of people are doing it many people are saying they'd like the Jordan love Jersey so go follow us on Instagram um and go subscribe on YouTube so you can stay locked on Packers