You need the luck to have a very good QB, even if they are getting up in years. THAT is what allows you the luxury of taking a 1st round QB and allowing them to sit for more than a year.

However, you also need the courage to endure many negative comments when you get their replacement early, according to the media groupthink.

The Packers 'way' is part luck, part foresight, part making good choices. When they all come together well, you get the Favre/Rodgers/Love progression that every other team would like to have copied.

I wonder how many QB’s are ruined by starting for a crappy team as a rookie and getting their brains kicked in, to say nothing of questionable coaching. I know some of them overcome a rough rookie year (Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman, Trevor Lawrence) but how many got off to a bad start on a bad team and never ascended?

If it was that easy, duh bares would have won 20 more SB simply by bringing in a blue-chipper when they still had Sid Luckman at QB.

Simplistic - after the fact - formulas are non-sense. Do they give you a chance? Sure. But there is no sure way to get the result you seek. There are waaaaaay more examples of drafting THE GUY and inserting him with success than there are examples of drafting a QB, sitting him for 3 years, then inserting him to see success. Of course there are also many examples of drafting a hopeful and having him be less than expected. Such is the conversion rate from NCAA to NFL. If it were easy there would be no need for a GM.

Yes. Keep drafting QBs, (late) other teams will trade for backups that have been taught in the in GB.

Didn't we just talk about this last week? Wash, rinse, repeat. I'll try to think of something else to say the next time this comes up during the down time. What else can we do?

I think, generally, it’s always good for a QB to get time to learn in the pros. I think the compounding issue for most rookie starters is that they were picked early, and that typically means they were picked by a team with more issues than just QB. Thus they are often making the jump to the pros amid chaos or inadequacy.

It’s long been accepted that unless you have an elite QB who is still mid career never pass on one you think can be if one comes within reach. The problem is that most teams in that position seldom get the chance to grab one.

TT felt he did and so did Gute. However, would either have fared well thrust In immediately? I doubt it. That for me is a critical consideration. By allowing time to refine and to learn, the pool of potentially elite QBs is expanded.

GB’s approach lessens the odds against finding one and those against succeeding considerably. That’s why it’s smart, because the prize is franchise changing.

"Timing is Everything When Drafting a QB". Yup.

The Packers have gotten it right twice when drafting replacements late in the career of a HOF QB. Should Kansas City draft Michael Penix or Bo Nix this year if he is the highest rated player on the Board when their first pick rolls around? Nope. Mahomes is still in his twenties and not in need of a replacement for many years. Kansas City would be wasting their first round pick when they have needs elsewhere and neither Nix nor Penix would ever see the field. Getting the timing right is almost as important as getting the player right. Which makes this the toughest decision a GM will ever have to make. Kudos to the Packers front office!

I’d love to hear some young QB’s talk about just how much more difficult the NFL is than college. Everybody is bigger, faster, stronger, the offense and defenses are 76 times more complicated, the stuff that goes on at the line of scrimmage just prior to the snap, etc, etc.
I think we fans realize, of course, there’s a lot to adjust to, but maybe we underestimate it. And then after 6 games we think the new QB sucks. (Well, not us Green Bay fans. We are always patient and realistic.) 😉

Whats the quote "its better to take a QB when you don't need one then trying to find one when you need one". Something like that.

Packers did it the smart way. Took tons of criticism for it. But they saw the future and saw that it was the right time to take the guy who they thought had a chance to be the future.

But for fun lets look at the QB's they would have been trying to get had they not taken Rodgers in 2005. They maybe would have started looking in 2007. That year they took Justin Harrell at pick 16. They would not have been able to trade up to number 1 where the first QB was taken. That was JaMarcus Russell. They could have drafted the next QB taken, which was Brady Quinn. After those 2 guys 3 were taken in the 2nd round. Kevin Kolb, John Beck, Drew Stanton.
I think its safe to say that Rodgers was better then all of those.

They maybe would have decided to wait until 2008 to take a QB. Their first pick at pick 30 they traded back to round 2. If they wanted one of the top first round QB's they likely would not have been able to get them. Matt Ryan was taken at 3 and Joe Flacco at 18. Packers actually did draft the 3rd QB with Brian Brohm. Chad Henne was taken one pick later. In that draft Josh Johnson was taken in the 5th round and has had a long NFL career. Also the Packers took Matt Flynn in the 7th round that year.

Lets take that same concept and look at what GB maybe would be looking at drafting if they didn't take Love.
Lets say they waited until last year to take a QB. Last year 3 QB's were taken in the top 4 picks. Young, Stroud, Richardson. The only QB they likely would have had a chance at taking was Will Levis who was taken in the 2nd round. Now obviously we have no idea how those QB's will turn out. But to get one of the top 3 guys we would have had to trade a ton away to get them. Based on some trade value charts, one of them the Packers would have had to trade away their entire draft last year plus a 3rd round pick this year to move up to 2.
We don't know where this draft class will shape out, but it is being projected to have 5-6 QB's taken in the frit round. But to get a guy that they feel like is a franchise QB they probably would have to try and get to the top 5. To get to pick 5, GB would most likely have to trade away their 1st, both 2nd's, their first 3rd and a 6th. To get to 3, they would have had to traded away future assets.

The point being, the Packers made the best decision both times by taking a QB when they didn't truly need one. Also by doing so it allowed each QB time to develop. In order for them make the moves to get QB's that they most likely would have wanted to target, they would have had to trade away a ton of draft resources.

I have heard it said MANY times that the best time to find a QB is when you don't need one. The Packers ability to draft a high end talent and have him sit and learn for a few years works. It isn't often that a QB comes in and is good right away.

I love the dream of going back to the 90's and drafting and developing QB's, then trading them for draft picks. Unfortunately the current economics and the distribution of quality information makes that strategy pretty obsolete. You're not going to "outsmart" the rest of the league and the new practice schedules and Practice Squad rules make it nearly impossible to use this strategy. The Packers would have to use pretty high day two picks plus carry 3 QB's on their 53 man roster and that can't be sustained. I think Gute said what he said to prepare the fans for a potential change at backup this year. They're contenders now and need an upgrade at backup no matter how much we like Sean Clifford.

This article is one of the reasons GB is going to have multiple, tough choices to make @ pick #25 in the 2024 NFL Draft. The good QBs and how many there are always complicate the first round, especially toward the end of it. It would be a really interesting decision for the Packers if there are multiple top OL and CBs available @ #25. Add in 1 or 2 QBs like Nix & Penix and GB will be hit with some very attractive offers to move back.

The beauty of the 2024 draft is not just that our biggest need OL, and that it could be filled with a TOP 10 player from #25 all the way to #50. So trading back does nothing but give us another Day 2 pick. And even if we stay put at our top 5 picks, we walk away with a Top 3 LB @ #41. Fill the Safety hole with a TOP 5 player @ #58. If we fill the CB hole @ #88, it's again with a TOP 10 player. And we get to choose a TOP 10 RB with a pick from #91 to #125.

Just having 1 Top 5 QB available @ #25 will make our phones busier with some needy team wanting to give away draft capitol so they can ruin a young QB by throwing them into the fire too soon. Let's accommodate them.

So this is now standard procedure.
I think your just jumping the gun.
That Love will be the next Hall of fame QB.
Even if you want to praise Gute, or glorifying him.
You're still trying to verify the similar situations.
It's still based on screwing the Legend.
And thats the true confirmation.

Love faces to many challenges and opportunities yet!
Pursuing greatness; regardless of how unrealistic the demand.

IMO- Gute is going to make more mistakes.
More choices on a whim. Less common sense.
Etc,Etc,Etc.
Forget the Due diligence.
The windows will keep closing.
And this is just another article on covering his ass.
All in which repetitious articles, need repetitious responses.

I don't think the Packers are lucky to be on the cusp of 40+ years with a franchise QB. They have chosen a path twice to let a young talented QB to sit and learn. And when preparation and knowledge come together with talent, then things click. It has worked twice now. Good for us.

No team in the NFL has had 30+ consecutive years of outstanding QB play - except GB. No team in the NFL is community owned - except Green Bay. Is there an association? I believe so. As a community-owned team GB has no singular owner. Instead it has a Board of Directors - who are really Stewards - of the organization's assets, history and traditions. Over the decades they have provided careful and responsible governance of the franchise. While paramount - the long-term health and success of the Team. This occasionally actualizes - on the management level - as "courageous" decisions. Ergo Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love.

If you are not improving your roster, it is getting worse.

With 11 selections there will be opportunities to draft a QB with upside to surpass McGough...maybe even Clifford.

I do agree with Gutey and ML who both espouse competition at every position. After the first 5 selections over the first 2 days with BPA at LB, OL, S & CB...day 3 can be a hunt for the BPA...regardless of position. This is my prediction, and Gutey will probably not follow it. He's not as surprising as TT was with picks...but he still throws changeups.

I do expect some QBs will be on the Packer's Board on day 3. DL, RB, WR too. See how the Board falls...

I am hoping GB has some ideas other than just drafting 2 LBs. Maybe trade a 7th for some other teams player that can't crack the starting lineup.

On another note, a FA LB that I thought could really help the Packers, got resigned by the Giants. Former #8 pick in the 2020 draft, Isaiah Simmons resigned with the Giants for the league minimum plus incentives that bring his salary to a whopping $2 million for 1 year. I can't for the life of me think for a minute that Simmons wasn't better than at least 2 of the LBs we have now, possibly all 4. His career so far hasn't been Hall of Fame worthy, but the guy has made 300 tackles in 4 years and been available to play every game.

We will soon be drafting a guy, with a premium pick, that has not had those numbers or availability in their entire college careers. That's messed up.

I think the biggest mistake of this off season will be how the Packers missed completely on filling the biggest hole on the team with a competent FA. There were multiple upgrade options, and it doesn't look like we even made an offer to any of them. Surely, as with the Aaron Jones and other FA rumors that were constantly breaking, we would have heard some info on GB offers to FA LBs.