Inbox: Zero doubt about that

Bob from Emmaus, PA

I heard an interesting quote in an interview with Jelly Roll: "A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from others' mistakes." For some, wisdom comes with age and experience. Can wisdom be accelerated and institutionalized in an organization?

If it could, would any business ever fail?

Mike from Geneva, IL

Over the course of the last few months I've had multiple questions appear in the Inbox. Each time the author was Spoff. Several times the question was posed when Hod was posting, but Spoff responded a day later. How do you each select submissions to post? What are your similarities and differences? I'd hate to know it's just because my name is Mike.

The first rule, my friend. The first rule.

Bruce from Jackson, WI

So you're telling me there is a chance the Packers could play the Steelers in Ireland next year. At least there won't be a problem with the green in our uniforms. Sign me up!

I'll easily do better than Heineken, too.

Benjamin from Burlington, VT

"The league wouldn't want a Packers vs. Rodgers matchup kicking off at 8:30 a.m. CT, would it? Or would it?" Look, we all know a bunch of WI will be up drinking by then regardless. May as well pair it with a football game, yeah?

Point taken. Probably in Pittsburgh, too. Somehow I think the NFL would be after a larger audience. Sorta like that hardcore vs. casual fan discussion from a week or so ago.

Hank from Centennial, CO

In 1993 mathematician Andrew Wiles proved Fermat's Last Theorem and then reflected that he had just done the biggest thing he would ever do in his field. Have you ever heard players voice similar reflections? I'm thinking of Cooper DeJean and Zack Baun. They will probably never have bigger moments in their careers than they just did.

Perhaps not, but professional athletes possess a competitive nature that's difficult for the rest of us to comprehend. They aren't thinking they might've just had their biggest moment. They're hunting for the next one.

Paul from Northglenn, CO

How much credence do you put in theorizing adding an elite player at WR and DL would raise the tide of all in those respective rooms?

Elite players help win games, so they raise the tide of the entire roster. That's not the question. The question is what is the cost of acquiring them?

Pete from Hillsborough, NC

Philly certainly looked formidable. However, fear not. They have lost their offensive coordinator and several assistant coaches. They will likely lose some players to FA, and they draft last. Each year is a new slate.

Indeed, and it's also worth tempering the usual massive overreaction to how a team wins the Super Bowl. I've been trying to figure out all week the best way to explain this, so here goes. The Eagles beat the Chiefs with their four-man pass rush, but because that won them the biggest game, it gains oversized emphasis in the offseason narrative as to how to win a championship. I'm not saying the pass rush isn't important. It absolutely is, and getting pressure with four gives any defense a leg up in any game. That's undeniable. But it's worth stepping back and understanding in this Super Bowl, the Eagles' pass rush won because that specific matchup against the Chiefs' offensive line was where Philly had its biggest advantage, and it was too big an advantage for KC to overcome. Any given game is still about matchups at the end of the day, and the Super Bowl, while clearly the biggest game, is still just one game. If the Eagles are playing the Bills or Ravens in the Super Bowl, it's a different game, with different matchups, and there's no telling how big a factor their pass rush would've been. They might've had to find another way to win. In fact, they probably would've had to. The Eagles actually ranked 28th in the league in a metric called "pressure percentage," which is the rate of QB pressures (hits, hurries, sacks) per drop-back by the opponent. They ranked 15th in sacks. They weren't a team with a dominant pass rush on a weekly basis. They won the Super Bowl with their pass rush, but they won a championship by having various matchup advantages, defensively and offensively, they could lean on at key times. That's what made them the best team. My point is how a team wins the championship game is not some blueprint for how to win a championship. Please don't misunderstand. I'm not diminishing the work the Packers must do with their pass rush, because it clearly wasn't good enough against the top teams. Again, no denying that. But the pass rush isn't the be-all, end-all to winning it all just because it was the deciding factor in this season's final game. I hope that makes sense. Apologies for the lecture, but thanks for indulging.

Terry from El Paso, TX

With the recent retirement announcement of Mason Crosby I was thinking how many kickers are in the Packers Hall of Fame? Who was the last one in? I think Mason deserves a spot.

Oh, he'll be going in. Zero doubt about that. The other kickers in the Packers HOF as specialists only are (in order of induction) Don Chandler, Chester Marcol, Jan Stenerud, Chris Jacke and Ryan Longwell.

Brian from Dunkirk, WI

According to a chart I found on Reddit (WCBW), going back to 1978, the fewest number of head coaching changes was in 1987, when there were two.

That jibes with a chart sent in by another reader as well. There were as few as three in '79, '81, 04 and '09, and as many as 11 in '96 and '08.

Kent from Whitehall, MT

Hi Mike. How does one compare or contrast Hafley knowing the defense's capability in Year 2 vs. how the league has figured out what scheme he will throw their way?

That's all part of the cat-and-mouse game played every year and every offseason. Opponents will be studying everything Hafley did in Year 1 while he works to make adjustments in Year 2 to try to stay a step ahead. Nothing remains stagnant in this league. When it does, you fall behind.

Jim from Dawsonville, GA

Have there been any QBs during the Super Bowl era inducted into the HOF that did not win a Super Bowl?

Plenty. Fran Tarkenton, Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino and Warren Moon are among that group. Fouts and Moon never played in a Super Bowl, though Moon won multiple Grey Cup titles in the CFL. Including QBs whose careers began in the pre-Super Bowl era and concluded during, George Blanda and Sonny Jurgensen would be two more.

Dustin from Kansas City, MO

I know he's probably not done playing even though the Jets are moving on, but when he does finally decide to hang up his cleats I wonder if Aaron Rodgers will ever get into coaching? At the very least maybe just being a QB coach somewhere. It's well documented just how smart the guy is. Between all his years playing the game and learning under Tom Clements, I bet he would be great at it if he ever felt like giving it a shot.

I'll be head-sewn-to-the-carpet shocked if Rodgers becomes an NFL QB coach. He has so many interests beyond football I don't see him sticking around the game, at least not at the pro level where it's all-consuming of any coach's time and energy.

Bill from Bloomfield Hills, MI

Not that I don't appreciate Gary and Clark, and in the past Mike Daniels, Kampman and Kabeer. But short of Clay, our pass-rushing/DL draft results pale compared to almost any other position group. Not that we don't end up with multi-year decent starters, but there are a lot of quickly forgotten highly drafted names … Khyri, Datone, Worthy, Neal, Harrell and more. Even the "better" ones aren't around long or truly game-changers, i.e. Raji or Perry. Do we have a blind spot on this?

I think with all the positives and negatives listed, you just described the crapshoot that is the draft, and provided a reminder of another mantra from an old friend: "It's a game of replacement."

Jeffery from Brooklyn, WI

Does Josh Jacobs' talk about recruiting other players hold weight with Brian Gutekunst or does he let it slide as offseason clatter?

I wouldn't say it influences him, but if he's interested in a player and has a current player who knows that player well, he'll certainly reach out to chat and try to learn more.

Craig from Williamstown, Victoria, Australia

Hi Mike, when does Gutey pass you the paperwork to sign off on the free agents he will pursue?

The same day he lets me take pictures of the draft board.

Dan from Madison, WI

Which young Brewers player not named Jackson Chourio are you most excited to watch in 2025?

Joey Ortiz.

Luke from Holcombe, WI

Now that the Super Bowl is over we can again address the league's REAL bias: How many years are the Packers going to open on the road? I believe the last one they had to ask the league so they could honor their 100-year anniversary. Anyone else have their "Packers schedule nonsense" bingo card made?

We're about three months away from the schedule release. That's a really long game of bingo.

Dan from Oklahoma City, OK

Been stated already, but our playoff loss to Philly looks more promising/frustrating after the Super Bowl. Hold them to 22 total points with little complementary help from a wounded offense that gave up four turnovers including a bogus one to start. Throw in a rare missed FG from our new reliable kicker and that game was very doable. Proud of our team/org but as Gutekunst said its time for a sense of urgency.

Indubitably.

Markus from Aurora, CO

Insiders, besides the draft in GB, what are you looking forward to with joy in the coming months of offseason?

My first week off since last July. Wes will be with you all of next week. Be nice. Happy Friday.