Scott from Lincoln City, OR

Hey Mike, please tell me you wouldn't be caught dead in a What Say You T-shirt? That would be like Vic sporting a World Cup tank top.

Those are two rather unsightly images.

Scott from Mt. Lebanon, PA

I remember Deacon Jones guest starring on "The Brady Bunch." Man, I am old.

Deacon Jones, Joe Namath, Don Drysdale. I remember them all.

Tommy from Washburn, WI

Just wanted to say congratulations on the new studio! It looks great – and you two looked absolutely giddy behind the mics! "Packers Unscripted" is a great listen and I'm glad it's back. Oh, and I wish you both good fortune in your cribbage games.

One of my college baseball teammates and friends was from Washburn, I think, and he played cribbage, too.

Ed from Tucson, AZ

Love the new studio! But I have to ask, what happened to the big "G" that was behind you guys in the old studio? Did it make its way to Mike's cubicle?

Ha. I wish. But I do need to find out where it went.

Doug from Lithia, FL

Mike, as a Plattevillean I'm surprised you left out the '65 Bears draft as one of the best ever.

I didn't know anything about the Bears until they started coming to my hometown in the early '80s. Getting Butkus and Sayers in the first round worked out nicely. Chicago went into that draft with three of the top six picks overall – a chance to change the franchise – and succeeded. Given that capital, had the Bears not succeeded, that might've gone down as one of the worst drafts in history.

Scott from Green Bay, WI

Since you've covered the Packers, who was the most surprising player to still be available that we've chosen after the first round? You may opine on several.

I know Wes answered this and I agree with his choice of Eddie Lacy. I wanted to add a couple others. Back in 2011, I didn't necessarily think Randall Cobb would go in the first round, but I did not think he would last all the way until the final pick of the second round. That fell very nicely. More recently, I'd say Christian Watson. I thought Gutey was going to take him with one of the two first-round picks, then he wasn't picked at all, and Gutey jumped up to the top of the second round the next night to secure him.

Pat from Kewaskum, WI

Probably too late to get it in but with Miami picking Johnson feels like they "stole" it from us.

There was no way Chris Johnson was getting to 52. No way. I figured the chances were very slim he'd even make it to the 40s.

Lee from Cleveland, OH

Surprised to see Buffalo and SF trade out of the first round entirely.

Not really. The way analysts were talking about the lack of value at the bottom of the first round, all the trades back to recoup more picks didn't surprise me at all.

Shannon from Ovilla, TX

Lots of trades at the end of the first round. Seems like more than usual. Sullivan trading around like Gutey and John Schneider. He took two premium positions. Good on him. Love the Rams taking Simpson and using the Packers' model of drafting a QB before needing one. Great place for a guy to learn. HOF QB in front of him with an offensive coach to teach him.

No. 13 overall felt really rich for Simpson, but again, that may speak to the early falloff in this draft of blue-chip, first-round guys. So the Rams just rolled with it and took their QB of the future.

Christopher from Sun Prairie, WI

Which players in the first round of the NFL Draft surprised you about where they were taken, and did you think any of them could fall to the Packers in the second round?

Five wide receivers taken in the first round surprised me a bit, but it's not as though anything floored me. I counted two players among my dozens of Day 2 Prospect Primers – the O-lineman from Georgia Tech (Rutledge) and the running back from Notre Dame (Price) – taken last night, so the vast majority of guys I pegged as potential Day 2 targets are out there.

Yotam from Israel

Let's look a bit to our neighbors, what do you think of the Day 1 NFC North picks? Any big surprises or players you think we should be especially worried about for the next four (or five) years?

Minnesota's interim GM took the big swing with DT Caleb Banks. Why not roll the dice if you're in his position? Take the chance. See what happens. Otherwise, my perspective is the division opponents were filling obvious needs. The Vikings released Allen and Javon Hargrave up front on D, drafted Banks. The Lions moved on from Taylor Decker, drafted the tackle from Clemson. The Bears lost two safeties, signed the guy from Seattle and drafted the Oregon dude. Plug-n-play.

David from Ankeny, IA

Any idea why the NFL reduced the time to pick the first-round player from 10 minutes to eight minutes? A good change for me this year.

I think the league just wanted the Thursday night broadcast to end a little sooner. But hats off to Pittsburgh. Wow, 320K. They showed up and showed out.

David from Henderson, NV

Hello hello! Watching the video of Gutey talking about the first night of the draft, he said he preferred to trade a pick this year rather than a pick next year should he decide to move. Given the number of picks we have next year, I was surprised to hear that. Did that surprise you guys at all? Gutey is playing a game a chess while I'm just playing checkers over here.

I mentioned this on "Unscripted." He may lean toward hanging onto his haul of picks next year to provide the possibility of moving up into the first round, which wasn't realistic this year. If the Willis comp pick gets upgraded to a third, the Packers will go into next year's draft with one pick in the second, two in the third, and three in the fourth (Gary trade and Doubs comp). That would give him the capital to get a first-round pick next year if he really wants one.

Paul from West Allis, WI

Best of mornings to all! With eight picks and no first-rounder, how many players from this draft can you foresee making the 53? Out of this bunch what position/group would you most like to see have an immediate Year 1 impact? Or does all of this lead more to the probability that the real impact player is already on the roster? Thank you again for the insight.

The numerous young, returning players we've mentioned in this space over the past few months taking sizable steps forward will do more for the '26 Packers than anyone drafted in the next two days, in my opinion. I don't know how many of this year's draft picks will make the 53, and it's not worth thinking about until training camp. Let the draft picks from the last couple years who haven't established themselves yet battle it out with the new ones and see who's better.

Connor from Minnetrista, MN

Do you expect Gute to be active moving around the board this weekend?

I expect him to be looking to move around the board, but whether he'll find the right trading partners remains to be seen.

Tom from Palatine, IL

So if the Packers hadn't made the Micah Parsons trade (and thank goodness they did), any ideas whom they may have considered now that we have seen the way the board fell up to that point?

I honestly have no idea because I didn't really research first-round picks this year.

Gary from Cross Plains, WI

Hoping you can reconcile a couple of concepts that have floated through II recently. Yesterday, it was mentioned how BG may not include certain players on his board, but then there's "the rolodex." Basically how the brass still want to evaluate (and I'd think rank) everyone – even if they know they won't draft them this year. Then they have the info on hand down the road (for trades or as a FA pickup). Wouldn't they still rank them now to know how they compare to rest of the draft class?

They do the homework, but if they aren't on the draft board for whatever reason – medical or otherwise – they don't care where they're ranked. Their initial scouting reports are there for any future discussions, but by then their NFL game film matters most anyway.

William from Newburgh, IN

IMO Gute has done a very good job manipulating our lineup thru draft/undrafted players/free agents and trades. But holy cow Batman did he knock the Joker out with his 2022 draft! An absolute grand slam, huge kudos to him and his staff. Been a Packer fan since 1960 and those types of drafts are very rare. The draft has always been the foundation in which you build on. What's your thoughts on the 2022 draft?

That draft was the key to keeping the team highly competitive through the QB transition. Devonte Wyatt, Watson, Sean Rhyan and Zach Tom are still here (Jonathan Ford, too, in a roundabout way), while the Walkers, Doubs, and Enagbare all got paid elsewhere. Remarkable.

Mike from Geneva, IL

Quite a bit of talk yesterday about UDFAs. If you were draft eligible and still hadn't been selected entering the seventh round, would you prefer to be picked or become a free agent? If not mistaken, draft picks get longer contracts and generally more money. However, a UDFA can pick a better situation based on position strength, history of a team adding UDFAs to the roster, location, etc. Interested to hear your opinion.

It's an interesting question. I think it would depend on whether I'd be a somewhat in-demand UDFA, able to perhaps leverage a bigger signing bonus/guarantee with a mini-bidding war, or just one among the masses. If the latter, getting drafted late and taking the $100K-plus signing bonus would probably be preferable.

Steve from Flagstaff, AZ

At what point and how long do the Steelers play the wait game for Aaron Rodgers to make his yet so-called decision again? I love what the guy did for us in Green Bay but with his and Favre's yearly waffling I am kind of burned out on the whole situation and think of it as being selfish. How can he not realize if he wants to play or not? I would think teams should make an emphasis on telling players like this we need to know before the draft so we can possibly get your replacement. Your thought?

Teams will tolerate what they'll tolerate, and that's their business. I have no thought beyond that.

Sean from Springfield, OR

Now that we're stuck with the tush push and the running back rugby scrum for another season do you think there will be any emphasis on better officiating of these plays?

Can it get any worse?

Daniel from Appleton, WI

If the NFL added an 18th game, would it be conceivable for the Packers to play every NFC team once each year and then three AFC teams on rotation? Seems that would be a fair schedule conference-wide to establish the cream of the crop. How would you feel about this schedule compared to first- through fourth-place schedules and playing your division two times apiece?

With that formula you've eliminated the point of having divisions, and an NFC team might go six years between meetings with a particular AFC team. No thanks.

Kevin from Janesville, WI

By and large I agree with your perspectives. I believe our starting players are mostly in place and with the exception of a DL addition who could step in early, we will be drafting for depth and future development. That said, "simply" making the playoffs is no longer the measure of success for the '26 season. If that's the case, what would you consider a successful season? What's the highest level of success to consider a disappointment? Is winning the division enough? A single playoff win?

I think it's feeling, come January, like the team is a true Super Bowl contender and playing like one. There are so many variables and so many things that have to go right to get there, so making it a do-or-die proposition isn't fair. But the last two years, the Packers haven't been playing their best football during the stretch run and didn't feel like bona fide contenders, and the results followed. The playoffs are an anything-can-happen world, but the Packers weren't really giving themselves much chance to make anything happen. Back in '23, yes they were, and coming up short was agonizing, but giving yourself a legit chance felt successful.

Doug from Albert Lea, MN

Couldn't agree more with Lyle from Milwaukee about trusting BG to know what he's doing in the draft more than us fans. Time again for me to share my favorite quote from sportscaster Dick Johnson back in 1987. "I'm growing weary of being shown the light by people who can't do what I do but know I'm not doing it right." I referenced that quote numerous times in 45 years as a minister leading church people. Now very much enjoying my retirement! GPG!

Happy Friday.

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