Cheese Curds, 6/5: Malachi Dupre impresses early, Packers need to find 3rd-down pass rush

One of the more hotly-debated players of the Green Bay Packers’ 2017 NFL Draft class was seventh-round pick Malachi Dupre. The wide receiver out of LSU entered college as one of the top recruits in the country, but failed to put up impressive production in Baton Rouge. The lack of big numbers certainly affected his stock, but early on in spring practices he appears to be working hard to show the Packers that they found a steal.

Keep in mind that we’re still just two weeks into OTAs and the pads haven’t come on yet, but the comments from Dupre’s fellow receivers are very positive about the rookie’s work ethic and early understanding of the Packers’ offense. If he can demonstrate to Aaron Rodgers that the quarterback can trust him to be in the right place, that’s probably at least half the battle right there.

On the other side of the football, the absences of two former Packers who departed in free agency continue to be felt as writers and analysts look to project the pass rush moving forward in 2017. With the depth on the edge looking to be a question mark at best, the Packers may need to rely on a couple of their stars more heavily this season when in obvious passing situations.

Check out those items and much more in today’s cheese curds, and get ready for another open OTA practice on Tuesday.

Packers' OLB depth still suspect after Clay Matthews, Nick Perry - Green Bay Packers Blog- ESPN
Mike McCarthy said last week about the OLBs that "this is probably as good a depth as we've had there in some time." Unless he didn't count Julius Peppers and Datone Jones as outside linebackers, it's tough to see where he's coming from if you're on the outside of the organization.

Should the Packers use Mike Daniels more on third down? | Packers Wire
Considering he played just under 50% of the snaps on third downs last year, I'll say yes. I also say that they'll need him to play more on third downs, since Peppers and Jones won't be around to take a few snaps as interior rushers.

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix getting it done in the classroom | Packers.com
The safety took a pair of classes at Alabama in their spring semester and passed both, and he's now on track to graduate around this time next year. He missed some of the early part of voluntary workouts (though not any of OTAs), but his coaches are proud of him for going back to school.

Packers rookie Malachi Dupre finds connection with Aaron Rodgers, impresses teammates | LSU | theadvocate.com
A couple of current Packers have been bringing along their 7th-round rookie, with both Davante Adams and Geronimo Allison praising Dupre's focus and attention to detail. The amusing bit here is that Allison is probably the player whose roster chances are most endangered by Dupre's presence.

Ty Montgomery Fits as Packers No. 1 Running Back | The MMQB with Peter King
This is interesting - apparently a scout for the Cardinals told Montgomery before the 2015 draft that he would have been graded higher as a running back than he was as a receiver.

Packers bring fun to Jordy Nelson softball game | Packersnews.com
This is always one of the highlights of the summer around the Packers organization, and this year’s game brought out over 8,000 fans. Richard Rodgers showed his flair for the dramatic, as he hit a walk-off home run to win the game. Also, Damarious Randall - a former college baseball player - won the home run derby for the second straight year.

Tyrod Taylor joins recruitment of WR Jeremy Maclin - NFL.com
Speaking of Rex Ryan, his former employer is courting a player who was released in a shocking move over the weekend - Jeremy Maclin.