How does this year’s NFL draft class stack up? Your questions, answered.

Former Liberty quarterback Malik Willis is expected to go in the first round of the NFL draft. (Darron Cummings/AP)

I’m old enough to remember when the NFL draft wasn’t one of the three or four most hyped sporting events on the calendar. Yes, that’s old.

I apologize for not getting totally absorbed in the months of run-up to what will be a three-day event that begins Thursday. But even if you avoid all the pre-draft noise, the importance of the event is both undeniable and enormous — not as a television or cultural occasion, but for the fate of teams. Draft well, and you have good, young, cheap players as a base of your franchise with the financial flexibility to pay stars more. Draft poorly, and, well ... you’re the Washington Commanders.

Luckily — for all of us — a pair of NFL experts agreed to join me to wade through this pre-draft Q&A session. Adam Kilgore writes regularly on the NFL, and his Monday morning takes on the previous day’s action are must-reads. Sam Fortier is part of our team covering the Commanders, so he joined to bring a read on what the local team is thinking in the first round at No. 11 — as well as beyond that.

Here are some of the questions we answered:

• How does this year’s talent level compare to recent years’ drafts?
• Is the talk about quarterbacks falling out of the first round misdirection?
• Who could the Commanders target with their first-round pick?

Read the full chat below.

Looking for more? Catch up on The Post’s coverage of the NFL:

• The enduring value of the NFL draft’s most famous and misunderstood chart
• HBCU players got on NFL’s radar this season. Now they will see whether it matters.
• The Commanders know a third-string QB’s value and could seek one in the draft

Thomas Floyd, an editor for The Post’s Sports section, produced this Q&A.