{image1} The Green Bay Packers' sustained run of excellence simply does not get enough recognition. While the Green & Gold hasn't been back to the Super Bowl since losing to Denver after the 1997 season, neither has it finished worse than 8-8 since then. In fact, the Packers haven't finished with a losing record (as you know) in the entirety of the Brett Favre era. That's 13 years, in case you're not counting.

But what about after he leaves? Are the Packers resigned to starting from scratch? Ahman Green will be almost 30 years old at that point -- no longer a guy you can build a team around. Javon Walker is good, but is he good enough to act as the franchise's pivot point? And certainly no one on the defensive side of the ball seems ready for the job.

In my opinion, it's high time the Packers got serious about replacing Favre. And while Craig Nall has looked fine during preseason games and late-season mop-up duty, I'm not sold that he's the guy. And third-stringer J.T. O'Sullivan is basically a complete unknown.

Conveniently, the NFL Draft is less than two weeks away. Maybe this is the year the Packers will finally select a quarterback who they can groom behind Favre.

Let's take a look at who may be available to the Packers (forget Alex Smith or Aaron Rodgers), dividing them into "Guys You've Probably Heard About" and "Others." For all you Mel Kiper, Jr. juniors out there, I realize only the former category applies.

Guys You've Probably Heard About

Andrew Walter, Arizona State: More than a few draft boards have compared Walter to Favre, probably because he's big (6-6, 230ish), strong and can really throw. He made a splash with the Sun Devils in 2002, struggled slightly in 2003 and came back to throw 30 TDs last year. He's had a couple injuries during his career, including a severely separated throwing shoulder late in 2004. Walter is rated in the top five QBs by most analysts and should be a second- or third-round pick. (Note, after their No. 24 pick in the first round, the Packers have three more picks in the next two rounds: Nos. 51, 58 and 89 overall.)

Kyle Orton, Purdue: You remember Mr. Orton. His crucial fumble against UW began his and the Boilermakers' fall from grace in 2004. Once a hot Heisman candidate, Orton is now unlikely to be taken before the 40th pick overall. I'm not sure the downgrade is warranted. Scouts question his feet, but I seem to remember him carving up the Badgers' highly rated defense with a series of impressive scrambles. He also threw 31 TDs versus 5 picks his senior year; chew on that for a second. Yes, he's used to working from a shotgun, but I have a feeling he could adapt to placing his hands under center. Though from what I remember of my sophomore year in high school (not to brag, but I was the starting B-team QB that season), it is a tad awkward at first.

Jason Campbell, Auburn: Fairly or unfairly, the pilot of the 13-0 national title contenders in 2004 is considered more caretaker QB than would-be NFL star. Some of that comes from the fact that the Tigers don't throw the ball as often as other schools, but maybe some of it has to do with pigmentation, as well. He's big (6-4, 230), quick, accurate (69.6 percent in 2004), a winner, and acclaimed to have great intangibles. So why does he grade out as a second-round pick?

David Greene, Georgia: The lefty from Georgia is familiar to local fans who watched him beat the Badgers in the Outback Bowl. Scouts, Inc. compares him to Tom Brady for his intangibles and winning pedigree (42-10 in four years with the Dawgs, a D-1A record). He's not extremely gifted physically, which is the knock on him, and he doesn't have the big arm that scouts drool over during combine workouts. If the Packers have interest, it would probably manifest itself in the fourth or fifth round.

Others

Charlie Frye, Akron: Frye is hardly an unknown at this point. Not only did he almost lead his Zips to victory in Camp Randall Stadium back in 2003 (31-of-49, 372 yards in a 48-31 loss), but he's rated as either the third- or fourth-best QB in the draft on most boards. I must admit, I love him. First of all, what's not to love about a MAC QB (see Pennington, Chad; Leftwich, Byron; and Roethlisberger, Ben for more)? He's also a renowned tough guy who plays through injuries, including a painful hip pointer in 2004. His numbers aren't eye-popping and he takes a lot of sacks, but he seems like someone who could develop into a quality pro. Packers offensive coordinator Tom Rossley has had good things to say about him, as well. He's moving up the board, though -- will the Packers gamble the 24th pick on him? If not, he could be gone by No. 51.

Derek Anderson, Oregon State: At 6-6, 240, Anderson is another in an Amazonian quarterback class. Considered raw and mistake-prone, Anderson may be the best pure athlete among the signal-callers. In his final two seasons with the Beavers, he threw 41 picks. In other words, he's a project. His potential is similar to Walter's.

Dan Orlovsky, Connecticut: UConn's football program has experienced a recent resurgence, a fact that's benefited Orlovsky's chances for post-grad employment. Analysts like his grit and intangibles; Scouts, Inc. says he could emerge as a Jake Delhomme-type -- a winner, but not a franchise guy. Others figure he needs a ton of seasoning. But someone will take a chance on him in the latter rounds.

The Rest...

There are some other noteworthy QBs available, such as Oklahoma's Jason White, Hawaii's Timmy Chang, Louisville's Stefan Lefors and Florida State's Adrian McPherson. I don't expect Green Bay to show interest in anyone from this group, but it wouldn't be shock me to see any of them land a third-string job somewhere in 2005.