That’s how Andy over at Packer Geeks wants things done over at 1265 Lombardi Avenue.

Andy’s proposal, prompted by a Packer Geek reader named Joe, is for Ted Thompson to sign UW Whitewater running back Justin Beaver, who had a try out with the Packers during this past weekends rookie orientation camp. The reason this needs to happen?

I really do think it would be a good PR/business move. Listen, a few months ago, Green Bay fans received the devastating news that Favre was calling it quits. Die-hard Packer fans, no matter how tough, are dealing with the emotional scars of seeing perhaps the most popular Packer ever, retire. While signing Justin Beaver won’t bring Favre back or heal Favre-retirement wounds, it might help infuse some extra excitement for the team at a time we could really use it.

It’s the last part that’s patently absurd. The team doesn’t need an infusion of ‘extra excitement’ but the fan base does, so let’s sign a guy that has about a 3 percent chance of making it through the first week of training camp. Andy goes on to address this very point, saying:

When I compare his obvious skills to someone like Noah Herron, I can’t help but think there is way more upside with someone like Beaver. I could understand NOT giving Beaver a shot if the backfield had other major talent besides Grant, but it doesn’t.

First of all, “major” talent? Perhaps not. But as I’ve said before, Brandon Jackson will surprise this season, and Vernand Morency should not be counted out, simply because of how adept he is in blitz-pick up. What Andy is missing is that signing Beaver is not just about the numbers at the running back position. Signing him takes a spot away from other positions where numbers are needed, positions that traditionally need much more depth, such as defensive back or defensive line (both positions where Thompson has already signed undrafted players to contracts.)

Look, I don’t want to start another dust up with my friends over at Packer Geeks (especially after Steve’s inspired Obama-Drinking-Pabst post) but Andy’s thinking here is seriously haywire for a man who claims to want to one day run the Packer organization.

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Not that any of this will be valid on Monday morning…

I won’t bore you with who I think the Packers’ should select in the first round, or any round. You have great resources all over the net for that. (Some personal faves here, here and here) I would, however, like to engage in The Great Taking A Tight End In The First Round Debate that is raging over at PackerGeeks. (Raging, Aaron? Yes, dear reader, raging.)

While both Andy and Steve make valid arguments, I think they, along with Greg Bedard over at JSOnline, (sorry, sub required) are missing a key point when assessing if a player or position is or isn’t “worth” the Packers first round pick, and the point is tied up in that very word, “worth”. Ted Thompson, as we speak, has his board assembled and knows exactly what worth he places on each player in relation to each other, regardless of whether it’s a tight end, cornerback, offensive lineman, ect. The position the player plays is immaterial next to his perceived value in relation to all the other players on the board. (Confused? Good.) Now, of course, the position each player plays has been taken into consideration when making up the board, but the day of the draft, he doesn’t look at it like you and I, or most anyone who writes about the Packers. If the 30th pick comes up, and the next player on his board is a tight end, he’ll take him. In his mind, it’s the best football player available, and he wants the best players possible on his team. Period. As Thompson said:

I just think the draft is a long-term investment, especially the early round picks. … If you know Player A is a better player and you wind up taking Player B because he happens to play a different position, I think that’s a mistake.

Now, as to the merits of taking a tight end early in general, I think Steve and Greg discount the scheme the Packers run when evaluating whether a tight end is “worth” taking in the first round. At no point since the Packers resurgence that started with Ron Wolf’s hiring have the Packers been more potent on offense than when they had Keith Jackson and Mark Chumura playing at tight-end. (One could argue that if Jackson had stuck around one more year, that whole Denver nightmare would never have happened…) The Packers have one of the Top 15 tight ends in the game in Donald Lee. Pairing him with another end that could motion into and out of the backfield and split seems in the middle of the field, well, the avenues that opens up are worth a first round pick to me. Yes, as Steve and Greg both point out, good tight ends can be, and have in the recent past, be found in the latter rounds. But that’s why they pay Thompson and his staff all that money. They’re the professionals. So if Goodell calls out a tight end’s name for the Packers first round pick, exhale, and know that Thompson and the Packers know more about him than you do, and he must be the best football player currently available. Or you might end up looking like this.

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Brandon over at The ACME Packing Company Blog has  an astute post looking at how he sees Ted Thompson approaching the upcoming draft. He makes good points all around, especially his tabbing a couple off-the-radar quarterback prospects the Packers could take a look at on day two, though I personally see them using a pick in either rounds two or three (which, yes,  is now a second day pick) on a signal caller. They don’t need a raw, undeveloped prospect. They need someone who’s played big-time ball and can make NFL throws that they can develop over the next year or so to push Rodgers and either take his job or be traded for picks.

My quibbling aside, it’s a good post, one of many, and Packer fans would do themselves a favor by bookmarking Brandon’s blog.

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I am by no means a draftnik. I leave that to those with no life a burning passion for the annual player selection process. Oh, I am an interested observer, no doubt. And when the draft is on, it’s hard to get me away from the television (much to the wife’s chagrin…) but I have to laugh at the literally thousands of mock drafts that pop-up all over the internet and in newspapers and magazines nationwide in the months leading up to the big weekend.

Basically, there’s only one mock I try to find every year, because every year he nails the Packer pick.

And that is none other than Mike Mayock, resident draft guru for the NFL Network.

Mayock isn’t perfect. No draftnik is. But he has been uncanny in his ability to predict who the Packers will select, dating back to his first year on the air when he had Ahmad Carroll going to the Packers in the first round, which set himself up as a target for much derision from the likes of Mel Kiper Jr. (With whom he now shares a not-so-friendly rivalry.) And this year Mayock has the Packers taking Sam Baker from USC. He played tackle for the Trojans, but according to Mayock could easily play guard for McCarthy. Also of note is the fact that Ted Thompson was the only GM in attendance at USC’s pro day. (Hat tip: PackersNews)

Now take this for what it’s worth - which is not much. No doubt his mock will change more than once between now and draft weekend. But Mayock is right more often than most when it comes to the Packers (my guess is that he has connections somewhere in the organization) and he has proven himself a shrewd judge of talent overall.

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Two very different takes on offer from Michael Silver and Mike Vandermause.

I’m inclined to agree with Silver. Favre walking away at this time will help the team in the long term. Sure, it hurts like hell right now, and as Vandermause points out, Favre undoubtedly gave them their best chance at a Super Bowl in 2008. But Favre had become greater than the Packers, and as much as he’s earned his place as the Greatest Packer Ever, the Packers existed long before him and will (hopefully) long after he’s gone.

Make no mistake - As much as the heat was on Thompson going into last season, it has multiplied a thousand times over now. The security blanket the franchise had is now gone, and the team will sink or swim entirely on the merits of the team Thompson gives McCarthy to work with. Rightly or wrongly, Thompson will always be perceived as the one who gently nudged a living legend out the door, and he’ll pay a steep price, chiefly with his job, if the Packers regress in a major way.

But to be honest, I don’t see it happening.

Thompson has done the hard part, building up the depth of the team and positioning the organization well under the salary cap. With another draft, Thompson can continue to add quality players to an already extremely talented roster. Sure, some areas need more attention than others, but Thompson will continue to add talent and create competition at those positions and let starters emerge from within. Can anyone tell me honestly they were expecting players like Johnny Jolly and Donald Lee to have the years they had? Or that back in training camp you knew Atari Bigby would become a quality starter (albeit one with flaws) and a major force in the run-up to the playoffs and in the tournament itself? These things didn’t just happen. Thompson and McCarthy know these players better than you or I ever could. They know where they have emerging talent and where they may need to add a player or two in free agency. (Look no further than their interest in Wilson, the TE from Kansas City and their interest in Chillar, the linebacker from St. Louis). No doubt, they have charted and plotted each and every player from off season workouts through the playoffs. They see who is improving, who is stagnating and who is regressing.

So on this, the first day ‘A.F.’ (After Favre) on the Packers’ calendar, the team and it’s fans should be anxious and not a little bit excited to see where Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy take our favorite team. It all starts with the draft in late April, then mini-camps and training camp, to pre-season and opening weekend sometime in September, 2008. I, for one, am thrilled to see what the Packers look like, A.F.

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As anyone who reads this site with any semblance of regularity knows, I am a big fan of the work Andrew Brandt has done for the Packers organization. For both Mike Sherman and Ted Thompson, Brandt has worked magic in his capacity as the Packers’ resident cap guru.

And today, he quit.

No official word as to why, but obviously the decision of the organization to bring in an outside party to be CEO of the team, rather than promote Brandt to the position, may have played some kind of role in his decision. Or perhaps, with his contract expiring in April, he was informed the Packers would not be extending it. Either way, it’s the kind of change that won’t make many headlines outside of Wisconsin, but could signal a seismic shift in the way the Packers deal with players and their agents. And that’s always a scary proposition.

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