Inbox: It would depend on the workload

Dan from Maquoketa, IA

Just a quick question on the depth of the II writers. If one of you is on vacation and the man at the keyboard strains a metacarpophalangeal joint, will my world be torn apart with II withdrawal? Is it the same answer if you both succumb to the creeping crud on the same day?

And once again we're off, so we might as well get going.

Robert from Saginaw, MI

To expand on your answer to Alan from Mount Auburn, IL. Bill Polian once said he always wanted to get the player on the phone before the card was turned in because A: he wanted to make sure the player was alive and B: he wanted to know the player wasn't in jail.

Alrighty then.

Andy from Lancaster, PA

Hey Wes (or Spoff), here's another question about first-round grades. If the team has 25 players with a first-round grade, are they ranked 1-25? Or are they ranked 1-32, in the slots where they would be worth picking, with some blank spaces to account for the full round?

They're ranked without regard to slots. Realistically, they're probably in tiers, as in, these are the top three players, here's the next five, then the next group of eight or so, etc. The draft board is arranged both vertically and horizontally, so to speak, if you follow.

Kyle from Los Angeles, CA

Are you guys told when someone is coming in for a pre-draft visit? Do you get any time to speak with him or at the least see him in the hallway on his way to the GM's office?

No and no.

Matt from St. Paul, MN

Mike, you actually proved my point with your response about Green Bay hosting a Super Bowl. Like many others, you appealed to the "NFL's requirements" as the reason it won't happen. That's a lazy response. The NFL's requirements aren't some immutable law of physics; they can be changed, or an exception can be made, at any time. Can you honestly say, in good faith, that the Packers have made every effort possible to get the NFL to make an exception for the Super Bowl to come to Lambeau?

Bob Harlan: "Hey Paul, any chance you'll make an exception or adjustment on hotel requirements for hosting a Super Bowl?" Commissioner Tagliabue: "No." Mark Murphy: "Hey Rog, any chance you'll make an exception or adjustment on hotel requirements for hosting a Super Bowl?" Commissioner Goodell: "No." So there you go. Every effort possible? Get real, man. Who do ya think's callin' the shots here?

Matt from Fitchburg, WI

I see the Packers not hosting a Super Bowl as another example of the NFL caring more about the financials than the game. The NFL brass is choosing to prioritize having a celebrity-filled crowd, and enlarging the spectacle of the game over hosting it in the most historic franchise location. Do you think this is a fair interpretation, or is it truly logistically impossible with all the camera crews, media, and other people coming to town?

It may not be literally impossible, but it would be a logistical nightmare on such a scale the NFL would risk embarrassing itself due to how unnecessarily difficult everything would be. That's the part everybody's missing here – the MASSIVE influx of people, media and otherwise, that come to a Super Bowl city who are not attending the game. The draft brings only a tiny, tiny fraction of what a Super Bowl brings. It's not about the gameday crowd itself, wherever it comes from, and having enough hotel rooms just for those folks. It's about the whole, weeklong spectacle. Readers have brought up short-term rentals, but that would barely make a dent in what's needed. Milwaukee hotels, others have asked? Two-hour shuttle buses back and forth on a daily basis is not something the NFL, or anyone with Super Bowl-related work to do during the week, is interested in. Any troubles caused by a lack of hotel infrastructure would only discourage Super Bowl-related activity, and the last thing the NFL wants to do is discourage anything when it comes to the Super Bowl. You're right, enlarging the spectacle of the game – certainly not reducing it in any fashion – is the goal above all else.

Chad from Pottstown, PA

All this talk about GB hosting a Super Bowl … The lack of hotel rooms has to be the secondary issue I would think. Can you imagine the nightmare the league would have if GB got two feet of snow the night before? Or the temp at game time was sub-zero? For all the NFL "old-timers" out there with the "that's the way the game was meant to be played" responses, the Super Bowl stopped being "just" about the game decades ago. Am I wrong about this?

The league certainly has concerns about the weather, which is why cities like Chicago, Philly and Denver, with outdoor stadiums and plenty of infrastructure to host a Super Bowl, never have. But the league did make one weather-related exception, when it gave SB XLVIII (Seattle's rout of Denver) to MetLife Stadium in Jersey. Fortunately, a game-time temp of 49 degrees with no wind to speak of allowed everything to go off without a hitch. So while there's always a chance – cue the Jim Carrey "you're tellin' me there's a chance" memes here – the NFL would make another weather exception, it never will on hotel rooms. It just won't. I'll take it to my grave.

Gary from Sheboygan, WI

Insiders, do the Packers spend any time pre-draft, evaluating the "consensus" top five draft picks or even have them on their draft board? Wouldn't that be a waste of time?

It wasn't a waste of time 20 years ago. You just never know.

Mike from Aurora, IL

Wes mentioned Will Campbell being a great value at 23, but he will most likely be way gone by then. Having said that, there are players that fall every year. Which WR, edge and CB would you love to see fall to 23?

At receiver, Tet McMillan from Arizona. At edge, no chance Abdul Carter falls, so I'll say Mykel Williams from Georgia because he's bigger than teammate Jalon Walker, though Williams being there at 23 would not be a surprise. At corner, Jahdae Barron from Texas.

Darrel from Pueblo, CO

II, several mock drafts have the Pack taking a RB in the late rounds. They have Josh Jacobs, Emanuel Wilson, Chris Brooks and MarShawn Lloyd already. Do you think that is enough or adding another one they may like just makes the competition a little better?

If there's a late-round running back they feel could be an upgrade over their No. 3 or 4 at that position right now, they'll take him.

Dave from Radcliff, KY

If Gutey's phone rings during the draft, and the area code is 612, 312, or 313, is it ignored, or has it already been blocked?

When the Packers traded up in the second round three years ago to draft Christian Watson, they traded with the Vikings.

Fredrick from Okatie, SC

If you have a good team and are only missing one or two pieces, why not package your draft choices and swing for a couple home runs? I'm not saying do this every year but once in five maybe. Could a crafty GM come up with a plan? Moneyball worked up to a point. Please don't use Mandarich as an excuse for this not working.

It has nothing to do with Mandarich, and it has everything to do with injuries that can hit at any time, requiring robust depth to keep a season on track, along with the relatively short length of most NFL careers and the constant need to develop young players who can replace those nearing the end. The draft is always more about the future than the present.

Ted from Findlay, OH

I was blown away while reading Cliff's review of Ron Wolf's selections at quarterback during his tenure in Green Bay. Has any GM that you are aware of ever produced so many long-term starting quarterbacks that spent the bulk of their careers with other teams?

If anyone knows, I'm all ears.

Jerry from Fort Wayne, IN

Besides the obvious plans for improvement in consistency from our QB1 Love, what do the coaches look for from QB2 Willis? Without him, the Pack sat at home for the playoffs last year.

Just more complete command of the offense. Willis had to absorb so much, so fast given his circumstances last year, and he did remarkably well. Now he'll get this entire offseason program to build his knowledge base in the more traditional sense and then show that command on the practice field with cans, line checks and the like.

Wes from Marengo, IL

Over time what have been the top 10 schools that the Packers have drafted from?

According to the Packers media guide, Green Bay has drafted 1,428 players from 270 schools. The top 10 schools in terms of total number of picks are Minnesota (42), Wisconsin (40), USC (35), Michigan (29), Notre Dame (29), Ohio State (25), Alabama (24), Nebraska (24), Iowa (23) and Oklahoma (22).

Jesse from Menifee, CA

What does Elgton Jenkins' career have to evolve into to start a HOF conversation? I loved watching Sitton (4x Pro Bowler) and Lang (2x Pro Bowler) play, but Jenkins' seems to be, just a bit better. Going into his seventh season doesn't leave a lot of runway left to earn the accolades to get a gold jacket.

If you're talking Canton, no offense to Jenkins, who's a highly accomplished player, but his career is not on a HOF track without any All-Pro selections. Sitton was a three-time All-Pro (all second team) and David Bakhtiari was a five-timer (two first team, three second team), and there's no guarantee they'll even get any HOF traction, though I suspect Bakhtiari will receive due consideration.

Pete from Hillsborough, NC

It seems to me Travis Hunter has unrealistic expectations of being able to consistently play both sides of the ball in the NFL. He might be able to do it for a game or two, but not a 17-game season. It's not only the physical toll. How can one adequately prepare/practice for both sides of the ball each week? What's your opinion?

Handling the challenges of the physical toll and the preparation is no joke, and it would depend on the workload. Are we talking 25 snaps on each side of the ball per game? That's maybe manageable, as far as being involved in certain situations and packages. 50 snaps on each side? I have my doubts.

Dustin from Kansas City, MO

What happens if a team doesn't turn in a pick in time? The clock runs out and they are still debating and fail to call in a name. I know this would likely never happen, but just curious if they'd forfeit the pick or what.

The next team(s) up would be allowed to turn in a pick at any time, and the team whose clock ran out can turn in its pick whenever, but there's obviously the risk of losing the player it wants. This happened in 2003 with the Vikings, who had the No. 7 overall pick. It's quite the story, spelled out in full detail on the 20^th anniversary a couple years ago by ESPN Vikings reporter Kevin Seifert. The Vikings were targeting defensive tackle Kevin Williams at 7, but the morning of the draft, owner Red McCombs apparently demanded they trade back so he wouldn't have to pay such a big signing bonus to the first-round pick (this was before the 2011 CBA, which slotted rookie contracts; prior to, signing bonuses could change by millions by shifting a few spots). They had called in a trade with Baltimore at No. 10, but the league apparently never heard from the Ravens, who claimed nobody picked up when they called. The trade has to be confirmed by both sides, and it wasn't, so then the clock ran out. The teams with the No. 8 and 9 picks, the Jaguars and Panthers, immediately turned in their choices (QB Byron Leftwich and OT Jordan Gross, who officially became picks 7 and 8) and by the time the Vikings turned in Williams, they had the No. 9 pick and got nothing for moving down. Then the Ravens took Terrell Suggs at 10. Williams had a great career, five first-team All-Pro selections, and is considered one of the best players from the entire '03 draft, as is Suggs, who made the Ravens look good by not giving up anything extra to get their guy. In the moment, it was a colossal embarrassment for the Vikings, who paid a cheaper signing bonus after all.

Sherry from Washington, IL

Mike, Fred from Escanaba using the phrase "trading up or down" reminded me of a rollercoaster. So I'm imagining a fair like atmosphere at the draft. Some GMs are playing Whack-a-Mole, others are at the shooting gallery, and one or two are hoping the fish in the bag stays alive long enough to get it home. Green Bay's BG, ML & Co. sitting at the top of the Ferris wheel surveying it all, and Mike and Wes just wanting to get off the Tilt-a-Whirl after three days.

Have a great Easter weekend, everybody.