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You need Indeed. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Bart Winkler.
Welcome into the Winklerverse. We're going to give you a quick synopsis of everything that the Packers have done on Tuesday, August 27th, where they are announcing their official 53-man roster. Remember, the 53-man roster is not necessarily going to be the roster that we see week one. There could be some changes.
There probably will be some changes. It's going to be very exciting to see which of the guys that think they still have a job might still lose their jobs before the Packers go to Brazil. So the Packers announced their 53-man roster, and I think there's a couple of surprises, nothing too shocking, other than the big news that happened earlier this week, which was trading for Malik Willis. Now, Malik Willis was a quarterback that maybe could have gone round one a couple of years ago out of Liberty, fell to the third round before the Titans finally took him.
That is a tradition that the Titans continued with the Will Levis pick last year, where they took a guy that fell a little bit, and now they're going to try to make something out of Will Levis. They couldn't do that out of Malik Willis. Malik Willis did not see much time in 2023, really only through five passes the whole year. In 2022, he was 31-61, 50% completion percentage, did not ever have more than 100 yards. I guess his best game statistically was against the Texans, 14-23 for 99 yards, but he had two interceptions in that game.
That was his start. So, Malik, if you watched any of those games at Liberty, they were like kicking the shit out of bad teams. And so Malik Willis, I recall at the time, was a nice draft king's play, but then he got to the pros, and we haven't really seen that from him. Now, I think there's a lot of discussion to be had about the quarterback situation in terms of, are you comfortable as a Packer fan with what they have right now? I don't think that we are, because if Jordan Love something happens, you want a capable veteran backup that can step in and win you some games. If Jordan Love misses more than, I think the quarterback, the backup quarterback test to me is four games. If you're going to, if your starter is going to miss more than four games, you're done.
Don't worry about it. If you need a guy to bridge you for four games, you need a guy that can go two and two, I think, to keep the ship afloat, to keep things steady, to keep things relatively above water. I don't know that Malik Willis is necessarily going to be that guy. I think that the Packers maybe look at him as a long-term prospect, or just somebody that they like better than the guys that they had. That might be all that this is at this point as we look at the roster that the Packers did put out here on the Dan Cheney YouTube channel.
Also, we are on Audacity, my own company, Spotify, Apple, all that kind of stuff as we take a look at the roster here that the Packers have put out. So, what we have at quarterback is a surprise because they traded for Malik Willis. Now, this is all pending physical, according to the Packers, but that means Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt are going to be released. I don't have the full practice squad breakdown for you at this point, but it does seem like via reporting that Sean Clifford will be back via the practice squad. Neither him or Michael Pratt did anything to win the QB2 job, and in a crazy turn of events, they both did enough to lose the QB2 job, which again will go to Malik Willis for the time being.
That is what happens at quarterback. With running back, it's going to be Josh Jacobs, Marshawn Lloyd, and Emmanuel Wilson. Emmanuel Wilson has been somebody that, I think, in the preseason has been getting a lot of carries the last couple of years, so you start to root for him. There's been other guys like that, maybe an Eli Merriweather, Nate McCrary, both those guys have been released. A.J. Dillon is going to be on the injured reserve with no designation to return, so that would mean A.J. Dillon is out for the 2024 season. You can put the guys on the IR with the designation to return.
You can return as soon as four weeks. A.J. Dillon IR, which I think I was buying into some A.J. Dillon hype, which I have never done before, but I bought in this preseason.
Him being out is almost the best case scenario. We love A.J. Dillon.
This guy rules. He's embraced Green Bay and the surrounding area, Door County especially, unlike really any guy ever has before. He's one of these guys we like better off the field than we do on. So he's like, in WWE, they had a guy, Titus O'Neil, who couldn't really wrestle, but they kept him along to be like the ambassador. And he shows up at all these events.
He never wrestles, but he's at all these different WWE related events. That seems to be maybe the path for A.J. Dillon. When the Packers offered Brett Favre that personal services contract for 20 million all those years ago, maybe they draw that up and maybe chop a zero off, but offer that to A.J. Dillon. So Jacobs, Lloyd and Wilson are the running backs.
Dillon on IR, Merryweather, Nate McCrary have been released as we take a look and react to the Packers initial 53 man roster, which again, Kenan will change. This coverage brought to you by our friends at Happy Place Hemp. Happy Place Hemp, the promo code is BART, 25% off each and every order. They've got gummies and tinctures. They've got seltzers. Some are infused with THC. Some are infused with CBD. Some are infused with CBN, which helps you sleep.
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The promo code is BART, HappyPlaceHemp.com. The receivers, six, have been kept. Romeo Dobbs, Jaden Reed, Christian Watson, Dontavian Wicks, Malik Heath, and Bo Melton.
All good. There's an argument that the Packers, I don't know who the number one is going to be. I see a lot of people in fantasy going crazy for Wicks. Reed and Watson have been drafted higher.
Romeo Dobbs is a nice selection. One through four, I mean, who could it be? But if you do slot these guys in, the Packers probably have the best sixth receiver in the league, they have the best fifth receiver in the league, they have the best fourth receiver in the league. They may have the best third.
This is a very strong core. And again, combined, they're making about 7 million bucks, which you're mad that Jordan loves making 55. One, you shouldn't be.
Two, there's where the relief comes in. Now, Grant Dubose is off. Samari Torre is off, which I think was more of the surprising one. Julian Hicks, Demetri Stanley, and Jalen Wayne all being cut. The tight ends, not really a surprise here. Luke Musgrave, Tucker Craft make the squad, as does Ben Sims.
Tyler Davis injured reserve, the Packers cut Joel Wilson, Messiah Swinson, and Henry Pearson, who had been cut, brought back, kind of a tight end, full back roll. The offensive line, which, again, I will be frank, whatever coverage you can still get from me, do not come to me for the offensive line. I never watch these guys. I don't really care.
Sometimes people will look at a drive right away and be like, oh, this is a different offensive line than they've ever played before. I never look. I don't care. They kept Elton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Rashid Walker, Zach Tom, Jordan Morgan, Sean Ryan, Andre Diller, Jacob Monk, Kadeem Telford, Travis Glover. They cut the big guy, Caleb Jones. They cut Royce Newman.
That one I do care about. He was not very good. Tanuda Smith and Jennings also cut there. The defensive ends, Aaron Mosby's excited. I think his agent tweeted out today, Brenton Cox stays on the team.
Kingsley stays. Lucas Van Ness, Rashawn Gary, and Preston Smith. So cut was Zach Morton, along with three other guys. Zach Morton had that safety in the 27-2 game against Denver. Defensive tackles, Kenny Clark, TJ Slayton, Devontae Wyatt, Carl Brooks, Colby Wood in all caps, Jonathan Ford. Injured reserve designated to return.
And then Shad, Esther, and this sucks. I have the Packers. I have Wagey. Spencer Wagey. Spencer Wagey. Of course, the other guy.
Yeah. Tim Post. So that is the position of the defensive ends. Tackles, we went through. Linebackers, Quay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie, Eric Wilson, Edron Cooper, Tyrone Hopper, who was really impressing in the preseason. Christian Welch was another one that people liked. He was released among a few others. Cornerbacks, Jair Stokes, Nixon, Valentine, and Valentine all caps. Kalen King, the 7th round guy out of Penn State that in last year's mocks was a first round pick.
Cut. Interesting. Maybe some practice squad there.
Maybe somebody else snoops around. We'll find out. At safety, Anthony Johnson Jr. and Benny Sapp are out. Xavier McKinney, Javon Bullard, Evan Williams, Zane Anderson, and Oladapo. I did not watch that much preseason.
I'm just reacting. Yeah, so AJ Dillon, Tyler Davis, their seasons are over. We got Malik Willis. He would be the first Liberty alumnus to suit up for the Packers since Sam Congado. And then the other big one bearing the lead is Anders Karlsson, a draft pick last year has been cut. Greg Joseph will at least be the kicker.
And I don't even want to say like heading into Brazil, because that is a week and a half away. So we don't necessarily know if he will continue to be the kicker. There are other guys that might be available.
I don't know that any is going to be better than than Greg Joseph is the thing. There's a lot of guys that got cut. Are we looking at the Patriots scraps? Are we looking at me? What are we looking at? Who do we want that was cut?
I don't know. So all that I do know is that Anders Karlsson, we talk about this a lot. You can't just you can't develop a kicker. A kicker needs to perform a quarterback, a wide receiver. I mean, a lot of these guys need to perform their playing, but you can make the case that you are well to develop any of them. A kicker cannot be developed in the games. He does very little.
But what he does is the most important. And I don't know that there's a lot about kicking that if you can't do it, you can do it later. You're either good or you're not. You're shanking 32 yarders in a preseason game. Sure, it's the execution, the operation, but if you're not making 32 yarders, you don't just like get better with that with time. Not if you've already gone through college, been drafted and have had a year in the pros. So the Packers, maybe they stick with Greg Joseph. Maybe this is a situation where things bounce around a little bit, but I don't know that anything is set in stone with that position, whether it's after week one or even in the immediate future. So.
Nothing real crazy. I think people are still kind of freaking out about Malik Willis because we treat the backup quarterback position like we treat the 15th guy in an NBA roster where we put far more importance on it than it needs to be. But it is a fun talking point. I don't know that Malik Willis is that good of an NFL quarterback. I don't even know if I should say like. Good in a sentence, even not good. I don't even know that he deserves that he's not been. He's not. He's looked bad. But the Packers deem him better than the other two guys that they had up to this point, which says a lot about the other two guys. I think the kicking situation is going to be in flux a bummer for some of these guys that are going to be on the IR.
I think the AJ Dylan thing is interesting. He might be a guy that the Packers didn't did not want to cut. All right, injured reserve.
It just feels very mascot vibes, which I hate to say that, but that was my initial thought and reaction to that. So we'll find out which of your preseason darlings and your preseason favorites will continue to be a part of the team via the practice squad. We'll see if there's any other moves that the Packers make in the coming really hours or days as a lot of things can change.
Nine hundred and fifty people. Nine hundred and fifty people lost their job in the NFL today. Do the Packers pick up on one of those guys if they can get them?
So very interesting to see how it will play out. Looking for some of the practice squad additions. I think I'm a little surprised about Kalen King. Anthony Johnson Jr. also is turning some heads to not make the team.
Royce Newman, I think people poured one out for. And then to have the kicker and quarterback situation are the most newsworthy. Packers will have some practice time before they take an eight hour flight, which Matt Lafleur has never been on, lol, before they head to Brazil on Friday, September six to take on the Eagles. Thank you for stopping into the Winkler verse. More shows this week will include Mm hmm. And we will bring back our picks with Ryan Horvat.
We will talk to you again soon. Drinking and driving is a decision that could change your whole world. Things will never be the same if you ever get a DUI, because legal fees and time in court are just the beginning. Getting into a crash is another way that your world can be turned upside down. Your vehicle may not be the only thing that gets damaged in that crash.
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