Lot of trade-offs throughout the schedule

Benjamin from Lafayette, IN Look at that, season opener at home against the Bears to start the 100th season! Somebody in charge of scheduling must read the Inbox. Does this mean the Packers will be opening 2019 in Chicago? **That would seem to follow, which would put the 200th meeting at Lambeau later in the year.* Dan from Houston, TX I always agreed with Vic that division games shouldn’t be early, but now we’ve got three in the first five. What’s your take? Too many too soon. I don’t like the back-to-back division games to open, though with both the Bears and Vikings at home, it’s something the Packers must use to their advantage. Derek from Eau Claire, WI Six noon games at Lambeau Field? When is the last time that happened? *And 10 noon kickoffs overall. But I’ll be stunned if it stays that way. Week 14 vs. Atlanta is screaming flex if both teams are contending as expected.* Leonel from Merida, Mexico Week 7 bye seems akward, however, a week of rest before tough matches against Rams and Pats could be beneficial. What are your thoughts on that? The bye coming before the stretch of criss-crossing the country for a month will be helpful. Long trip to Seattle on a short week is less than ideal, but it gives the Packers extra rest before visiting Minnesota. Lot of trade-offs throughout the schedule. Jordan from Sturgeon Bay, WI Please no Brandon Marshall questions...I am begging. Whoops. Taylor from Amarillo, TX Roquan Smith looks like a difference-maker to me. Is he in play at 14? I doubt it. David from Cable, WI Spoff, you are the only one to print my questions and comments. Does that mean I am a figment of your imagination? I don’t get out much. Maybe I’m a figment of yours. Jacob from Louisville, KY Do you know the last time a team went 6-0 in their division? It seems like the Packers would have done it recently because of their dominance in the last decade. *Pittsburgh did it last year, and Kansas City the year before that. The last NFC team to do it was Green Bay in 2011.* Lyle from St. Louis, MO Hey Spoff, does the GB draft board room have any windows? Just curious. It does not. It’s an interior conference room on the third floor. Lori from Heredia, Costa Rica Hey Spoff, new GM, new rules. Maybe this is your chance to step into the draft room. Bake up some cookies and take them in to all the guys working long hours on draft night. Who could turn away a platter of warm cookies? I wouldn’t get them past Wes. Vinny from Arlington, VA Just curious, do you both watch/follow the ENTIRE draft? Ideally, you would only need to focus on when GB is picking but given the fact that they can trade up or down or at any time, I guess you're almost forced to hang in there for the full time since GB could be on the clock unexpectedly. *That’s pretty much how it works. When the draft is done, my level of exhaustion rivals that of covering a night road game and writing while flying home in the middle of the night.* Eric from Oshkosh, WI It seems like TT often drafted someone he really liked (BAP), but it still caught fans and draft prognosticators by surprise. Aside from QB, is there a player or two that would "make sense" but still surprise you if he was the first pick of the Packers this year at No. 14? If the player “makes sense” then I don’t see how it would be considered a surprise. Dan from Grand Rapids, MI With all the speculation about Aaron Rodgers’ dissatisfaction and the lack of Super Bowl titles in his career, I wonder what it was like for those 10 years between championships for Brady and Belichick? After his third title in 2005 people acknowledged Brady was good, but there is no way he gets the title of GOAT without the run he is currently on in the twilight of his career. I am looking forward to seeing what Rodgers can do on the "back nine." Me, too. With all the changes at the top of the football operation and on the coaching staff, this feels like the start of the back nine. Allen from Birmingham, AL The advantage to an every-down running back is that it permits the hurry-up that Aaron enjoys. Having to sub for third down allows the defense to sub or at least gather themselves while the official delays the snap. That’s why McCarthy preaches that he wants his running backs to be able to play all three downs, but he likes to have more than one back who can do so. Chuck from Wisconsin This question is for DeShone Spofford. The Packers will draft eight defensive players on draft night. What is your over/under on this prediction? Have there been any recent years where the Packers have made eight or more picks on that side of the ball? *I’ll take the under, unless Gutekunst turns his 12 picks into more, then I could see it. I did not find any year in the history of the seven-round draft, dating back to 1994, when the Packers took eight players on one side of the ball or the other. Unless you count kicker as offense, in which case 2007 would qualify.* LeeAnn from Corydon, IN Mike, yesterday Wes declared that if Cleveland picked two QBs that he was going to shave your head! What do you think about that? I’m not worried. Joe from Asbury, IA "…outside linebacker whose name escapes me in 2017." LOL, good one Wes, well played! That'll get Wisconsin all riled up, and poor Spoff will have to deal with it. Banter like this is why this column is the only thing I regularly read on a daily basis. Keep up the good work gents! If the draft consisted of sports stars from movies, who would be the first three picks? I'm going with Shane Falco No. 1, he had a chip on his shoulder. I’ll go with Willie Beaman, Rod Tidwell and Charles Jefferson, and the first undrafted prospect to get a call after the final round is Forrest Gump. Brandon from St. Paul, MN Mike, what effect did the Rodgers Twitter bump have on the page views for your article? *I don’t have the exact numbers, but it might have been the most clicked-on story we’ve posted this offseason until the schedule came out last night.* Tony from Eau Claire, WI Does Mark Murphy hang out in the war room during the draft? I have to imagine that would be at least slightly intimidating for a GM to have your boss, a former NFL star, standing over your shoulder while you phone in your pick. Murphy is usually in the draft room for the first-round pick, but I don’t think he spends a ton of time in there otherwise. He’s not involved in the scouting process, so I wouldn’t characterize his presence as intimidating when the decisions are being made. He’s a highly interested observer. Derek from Olney, IL One of my buddies actually owns two shares in the Packers. We have discussed him selling one to me since you can’t buy them outright anymore. Is that possible for him to sell a share to me? Would that be honored by the Packers? From the Packers media guide: “Shares of stock cannot be resold, except back to the team for a fraction of the original price. Limited transfer of shares (i.e., to heirs and relatives) is permissible.” Tony from River Falls, WI What outside activities are you looking forward to now that the snow is finally melting? Grilling. I can almost see the top of my grill on the patio again. Brian from Pleasant Prairie, WI So is it a whiteboard, a chalkboard, a greaseboard, a big magnetic board with players’ names on magnets, or just a figurative "board"? If you tell us it's really a napkin from Denny's with names written in order using a pen borrowed from The Gute's mother at breakfast, people will be disappointed. Not me, I'll be super impressed, but other people will be disappointed. It’s the magnetic type you describe, but the napkin is the backup if a sudden loss of polarization causes all the names to fall on the ground in a big pile at pick 13. Jeff from Winnipeg, Manitoba Not a question but a response to David from Idaho: "I think I may have found a way for us to get Bonds and Griffey, and we wouldn't have to give up that much." Another missed opportunity. Markus from Sea Ranch, CA Great idea Mike, to include some former players of the Chicago Bears in the 100-year celebration. Back in 2014, Vic wrote about Gale Sayers making an impromptu visit at a Packer rally. Let’s return the favor and invite the man to visit Lambeau Field, as a respectful acknowledgment of one of the great players and one of the great rivalries in sports. *That was the pep rally in Chicago at Will’s, whose owner was recognized in this column after he passed away recently. I thought it was an awesome addition to the event, and it’s what prompted me to float the idea in yesterday’s piece.* Don from Swaledale, IA In regards to Don from Cedar Rapids about intense feelings, please correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it 1994 when we had a playoff game against the Lions and Barry Sanders? As I recall Packer fans had some very strong felling about the Lions at that time. The Packers played the Lions in both the 1993 and 1994 postseasons, but the matchups never struck me the same way in the rivalry sense. Maybe it was just me. Rich from Grand Rapids, MI All it takes is one. One team or GM who sees a "must-have" player and is desperate to move up. TT never was that guy. Among the dozen or so GMs whose teams pick 15 and later in the first round, which GM do you think is most likely to do something like KC did with Pat Mahomes last year – a bold move way up the board to get a player not on everybody's radar? It won’t be for a player not on the radar, it’ll be for a quarterback, but I do think Arizona is going to try to move up from 15 into the 7-10 range, ahead of Buffalo at 12. Max from Carmel, IN Our opponents for 2018 had me shaking in my boots, but this schedule doesn't look too bad. It's best-case scenario in my mind given the circumstances. Which home and away game are you most looking forward to? Rodgers-Brady in Foxboro and Garoppolo-Rodgers at Lambeau. Vic from Ensign, MI Why Detroit in final game three years running? We should have Minnesota in Lambeau Dec. 30. *That’s what I thought, too.** Darren from Kingston, Ontario We've got a tough stretch after the bye week. But all games are winnable. Based on team, location and potential weather, what's the single toughest game to win this year? At Seattle on a super-short week. Greg from Ann Arbor, MI Start fast, finish strong, and survive the in-between. Yup. Steve from Waukesha, WI What is your best guess as to whether or not the Packers either trade up or down with the No. 14 pick? If they trade, I think it’s up, not down. T-minus six days and counting … Garrett from Bowling Green, KY So the poll on the home page about what the Packers will draft first, offense or defense. The poll percentages after I voted were 18 percent offense and 83 percent defense. Glad were giving 101 percent in this year’s draft! So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice. Happy Friday, everyone. HAVE A QUESTION?

Lot of trade-offs throughout the schedule

This feels like the start of the back nine