Coachspeak: Hill at Top of Mountain in No. 3 Back Battle

The Green Bay Packers' offensive assistant coaches spoke on Sunday. Here's what they had to say about Kylin Hill, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Marcedes Lewis and more.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Nothing has been settled, but rookie Kylin Hill is the king of the hill in the battle to be the Green Bay Packers’ No. 3 running back.

“He’s put himself in great position,” running backs coach Ben Sirmans said on Sunday, a day after Hill scored the only touchdown of the Packers’ 26-7 preseason loss to Houston. “Obviously, we’ve got two more preseason games left, but you’re able to see a lot of things that he’s able to do. I think the more we put him in situations going against other people and maybe even going against people’s top players to really gauge him even more, I think that’ll help him. But been very pleased with what we’ve seen in him so far. He’s put himself in good standing.”

Hill carried five times for minus-2 yards, though that was more emblematic of the line’s inability to create running room for the backs. Hill, however, showed his open-field ability with his 22-yard touchdown catch on a screen. The play was executed perfectly, and Hill helped set up receiver DeAndre Thompkins’ key block at about the 10.

Hill was a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft. The former Mississippi State star rushed for 1,350 yards as a junior, when he led the mighty in SEC in yards per game. As a senior, the running game was an afterthought for new coach Mike Leach, but he caught 23 passes in three games before opting out. He tied the school record with 15 catches vs. Kentucky and broke the school record for most receiving yards by a running back with 158 vs. LSU.

“Obviously, Kylin’s played big-time ball in the SEC, so I didn’t think it was too big for him,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Sunday. “We asked him to do some kick-return stuff, which we’re excited about. It was good to get him back there and get a couple reps under his belt. But, obviously, we didn’t do as well as we wanted to in the run game. I thought when he had opportunities, he made the most of them, and obviously that screen pass was a really nice play to kind of cap his day. We’re excited about what he’s been able to do in camp so far and I think he’s got a bright future.”

Here’s what else Green Bay’s offensive coaches had to say on Sunday.

QBs coach Luke Getsy on Kurt Benkert

While Jordan Love’s debut was the big story line on Saturday night, Kurt Benkert played the second half. He completed 8-of-12 passes for 88 yards but also had a hand in two turnovers. He threw the ball with authority, for better (his opening drive) or worse (his late interception).

“I thought Kurt did a nice job. The limited number of reps he gets on a daily (basis), I thought he handled going in there in the second half and having a big menu in front of him, I thought he handled it pretty well. He came out in that second half, that first drive, and did a really nice job on the keeper. Then we had the dropback, and then he had the play-action throw down the field, throwing the in-breaker to Malik (Taylor), he handled it really well. There’s some things he’s got to clean up. His pocket presence wasn’t the greatest as that game went on, kind of got himself hit a little bit. So, we’ve got to clean that stuff up, but I thought he did a nice job.”

RBs coach Ben Sirmans on Dexter Williams

The Packers used a sixth-round draft pick on Williams in 2019, giving him the highest credentials in the three-man derby to be the No. 3 back. Williams started training camp as the No. 3 back but has fallen behind Hill and Patrick Taylor (undrafted, 2020). Williams was the only runner to have any success against the Texans, though. Playing 10 snaps late in the game, he carried four times for 32 yards with a long run of 12.

What growth has Sirmans seen now that they’re in Year 3 together?

“I think for him, it probably just took him a little bit longer to process the offense in the beginning, and now that he has he doesn’t make the same mistakes and errors he used to. What that has done is allowed him to play a lot faster, not get out there and think about here’s what I need to do or what’s going on. Now his awareness is a lot better so now he can play at a faster speed and make good decisions. I thought he played pretty well.”

OL coach Adam Stenavich on Ben Braden

In his first four NFL seasons, Braden played four snaps from scrimmage.

All four – three runs by John Lovett and a kneel-down by Tim Boyle – came at right tackle at the end of the blowout win at San Francisco last season. With the most meager of professional resumes, it practically defies belief that Braden has spent a decent chunk of training camp running with the starters.

“You see a lot of natural ability with Ben. When we had him [on the practice squad] in 2019, the size, the athleticism, stuff like that, and you’re like OK, this guy’s got something here. When we had him last year, he hadn’t been there for camp, so we couldn’t really install the offense, teach him from the ground up what was going on. that’s why I was excited this year to get him in here with him right from the beginning of camp. he’s still competing, I think, just like all those guards. We haven’t had anyone step up and grab the job yet, so I’m just looking for them to keep improving.”

TEs coach Justin Outten on Marcedes Lewis

At age 37, Lewis is the oldest tight end in the NFL. One of the 30 players inactive for Saturday’s game, Lewis has thrived in the “different prime” to his career. He continues to outrun Father Time, be a vital cog in Matt LaFleur’s offense and serve as a mentor to everyone in the tight ends room.

“He loves being here. He loves being around the game. When you love something, it’s easy to forget you’re in Year 16. He’s growing, just like these other guys. He’s getting more involved. He’s hitting his marks in the run game way quicker than he did in the last couple years. To see him pick up where he left off against Tampa Bay last year was really exciting to see. He’s never going to be bored of being a great leader. He’s never going to be bored of being a great football player. Our connection in our room has been awesome. There’s typically not a lot of boring, lull-y days with him. He’s all-in and trying to learn and trying to bring guys along. He’s really invested in us.”

WRs coach Jason Vrable on Marquez Valdes-Scantling

Valdes-Scantling can be a maddening player. Since entering the NFL as a fifth-round pick in 2018, the speedster leads the NFL with his 17.8-yard average and is second in 40-yard touchdowns (seven) and 40-yard catches (15). In 2020, among all players with at least 32 receptions, he led the NFL with a 20.9-yard average. Of his career-high six touchdowns, four covered 40-plus yards. He added a 50-yard touchdown in the NFC Championship Game.

On the other hand, of the 70 receivers targeted at least 60 times last season, he had the second-highest drop rate.

Valdes-Scantling’s hands have been one of the understated stories of training camp. He’s caught just about everything in sight in his dozen practices.

“People were talking about that the other day. They’re like, ‘Man, I almost feel like he hasn’t dropped a ball.’ We always keep track of drops, but with him, I think it’s just confidence in our system and confidence in himself. When you have both those, sometimes you know the playbook but you’re still trying to figure out yourself. He’s just really confident right now, he’s playing at a high level. He’s in attack mode at all times. Typically when you’re confident, you trust yourself. Things just start going in the direction that you want and that’s what I see with him. He’s worked at a lot of things that he wanted to get better at as opposed to pushing those away. He’s bought into the saying, ‘Whatever my weakness was, I’m going to make it my strength,’ and he’s bought into that type of coaching. He’s done a great job. I’m really pleased with him.”