High Praise for Aaron Rodgers

[vince]

Aaron Rodgers has been projected to be the NFL's Player of the Next Decade by Sportinhg News magazine. Others named in their respective sports are LeBron James, Joe Mauer, and Alex Ovechkin - a pretty elite group to say the least.

If he even comes close to filling that role, we're in good hands for the future.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/article/2009-12-30/players-next-decade-rodgers-james-mauer-and-ovechkin
NFL: The case for Aaron Rodgers
His age in 2019: 36
His team: The Packers. They said so-long to Brett Favre to make room for Rodgers. He is their franchise guy.
Player of the Decade credentials: He has great touch, accuracy and mobility and gets better every year. And unlike running backs, quarterbacks play at a high level well into their 30s. G.M. Ted Thompson drafts well, and coach Mike McCarthy is solid. The Packers and Rodgers should have a nice run.

[The Leaper]

I agree on the high praise...but to be honest, there really aren't many great QBs in their mid-20s currently. You have a ton of guys in the 30s (and 40s) who are tearing up the league...Favre, Manning, Brady, Brees, Warner, etc.

Of the guys in the 24-28 age group...who you would expect to potentially become the dominant QBs over the next 10 years...I'd take Rodgers over any of them.

[pbmax]

I agree on the high praise...but to be honest, there really aren't many great QBs in their mid-20s currently. You have a ton of guys in the 30s (and 40s) who are tearing up the league...Favre, Manning, Brady, Brees, Warner, etc.

Of the guys in the 24-28 age group...who you would expect to potentially become the dominant QBs over the next 10 years...I'd take Rodgers over any of them.
Are you sure you shouldn't consider Phillip Rivers at 29? Or Eli Manning at 28? Matt Ryan is younger than Rodgers.

[Jimx29]

The story lacks credit if they claim MM is "solid"

[swede]

The story lacks credit if they claim MM is "solid"

I suspect they were searching for a polite way to say "chubby".

[Bossman641]

The story lacks credit if they claim MM is "solid"

Time to update that signature Numb

[Patler]

I agree on the high praise...but to be honest, there really aren't many great QBs in their mid-20s currently. You have a ton of guys in the 30s (and 40s) who are tearing up the league...Favre, Manning, Brady, Brees, Warner, etc.

Of the guys in the 24-28 age group...who you would expect to potentially become the dominant QBs over the next 10 years...I'd take Rodgers over any of them.
Are you sure you shouldn't consider Phillip Rivers at 29? Or Eli Manning at 28? Matt Ryan is younger than Rodgers.

Roethlisberger is 27. He has accomplished quite a lot for the brief career he has had so far.

[The Leaper]

Roethlisberger is 27. He has accomplished quite a lot for the brief career he has had so far.

Yeah, but Ben isn't an elite passer in the line of Marino/Favre/Manning. They really won their first Super Bowl of the Big Ben era IN SPITE of him. They rode the Bus and a great defense. Ben has matured into a better passer...and may be the most clutch QB in the league outside of Manning currently. Yet he still runs hot and cold...which is why the Steelers can lose 5 in a row.

I like Ben...but I like Rodgers more.

[The Leaper]

Are you sure you shouldn't consider Phillip Rivers at 29? Or Eli Manning at 28? Matt Ryan is younger than Rodgers.

I think Rivers is the guy who will battle with Rodgers for best QB in the NFL once Manning/Brees start to wind down. Rivers is a very good QB...and San Diego actually is a very young and talented team. Rivers is a little older though...he probably has significantly less chance to impact the entire next decade than Rodgers.

Manning? Nah. He's one of the streakiest QBs you'll ever see. He can be really good...and he can be really bad. Far too inconsistent to be considered at that top rung of talent.

Matt Ryan has a lot to prove yet...to me, he doesn't look like an elite passer. He is a guy you can win with...but you've got to surround him with some talent. He's not going to be a 30 TD tosser year in and year out.

[CaptainKickass]

Someone typed this in a blog comment on JSO:

"Rodgers in 31 games as a Starter -- 1051 passes --- 1 TD for every 18 passes -- 1 Pick for every 52 passes"

The poster claims that there is no other QB in history with those kind of numbers - through the first 31 games as a starter.

As a result of many years of indulgence and a penchant for being a rhetahhd.....I'm not even sure where to begin to look to verify this info...but I figured someone here might be kind enough to check it out for us or at least point us in a correct direction.

thanx

[superfan]

Someone typed this in a blog comment on JSO:

"Rodgers in 31 games as a Starter -- 1051 passes --- 1 TD for every 18 passes -- 1 Pick for every 52 passes"

The poster claims that there is no other QB in history with those kind of numbers - through the first 31 games as a starter.

As a result of many years of indulgence and a penchant for being a rhetahhd.....I'm not even sure where to begin to look to verify this info...but I figured someone here might be kind enough to check it out for us or at least point us in a correct direction.

thanx

Too much work for me too, but I can tell you that the stats I've found show it to be very possible.

One of my favorite sites for stats research is http://www.pro-football-reference.com. Rodgers is #1 in career pass interception percentage at 1.9% - which would be about 1 pick for every 52 passes. He is tied for #37 in career pass TD percentage at 5.2% - about 1 TD for every 18 passes.

As I look at the career leaders in both categories, a lot of the old greats (Sid Luckman, Otto Graham, Sammy Baugh) are at the top of the list for TD%, and the active QBs dominate the top of the interception percentage list - 7 of the top 8 are active QBs. The older guys are a ways down the list. Luckman is all the way down at #218 with a 7.6% INT percentage, a high standard that Bears QBs since have done their best to match.

Again, these are career stats, so not apples to apples to what the commenter posted. There may be a way to use the calculators on the pro football reference site to get that exact info, but I haven't found it yet.

[Patler]

Roethlisberger is 27. He has accomplished quite a lot for the brief career he has had so far.

Yeah, but Ben isn't an elite passer in the line of Marino/Favre/Manning. They really won their first Super Bowl of the Big Ben era IN SPITE of him. They rode the Bus and a great defense. Ben has matured into a better passer...and may be the most clutch QB in the league outside of Manning currently. Yet he still runs hot and cold...which is why the Steelers can lose 5 in a row.

I like Ben...but I like Rodgers more.

I agree that Rodgers seems to offer more as a pure passer than Roethlisberger, but Roethlisberger hasn't been asked to run a pass oriented offense like Rodgers. Hard to say what he might do if he was. I don't think you can pin their losing streak on him, it was more defensive failures late in the game. I mentioned Roethlisberger as a still young QB who has done a lot already and who could do a lot more in the next 10 years. Kind of fits the Steeler mold, just like Bradshaw did.

As for the real young ones, who knows? I think it is hard to predict what some of the first and second year QBs will develop into. Rodgers certainly wouldn't have been identified as the star for the decade anytime in his first 3 years, maybe not even last year. I'm not sure Favre would have been either even after his second year as a starter. There were lots of questions about him then, whether he could ever get control of the game, etc. I think some of these young guys might step to the front as pretty good QBs in the next few years.

Heck, by 10 years from now, with an 18 game schedule, rules preventing contact with the QB, and DBs allowed to use just one hand, all of the passing records may be up for grabs! :lol:

[KYPack]

I'd think the list of "Young guns" would have to be Matt Ryan, Flacco, Big Ben and AR.

Is ARod at the top of that list?

Yeah. maybe.

It's Rodgers or Ben, IMHO.

Matt Ice and Joe F will b e superstars, but both of 'em had a little sophomore bump this season.

[3irty1]

For the next decade Rodgers, Ryan, and Flacco might be the only choice. Rivers and Rothesburger are young but not young enough to talk about their impact over the next decade.

[KYPack]

For the next decade Rodgers, Ryan, and Flacco might be the only choice. Rivers and Rothesburger are young but not young enough to talk about their impact over the next decade.

Are Eli, Rivers and Romo "middle-aged" QB's?

Yeah, maybe.

Ryan and ARod are the baby superstars for me. Ryan got defensed differently this season. Last year taught the DC's not to blitz him. Ryan is the rare young QB that will eat up a blitz. Yoiu have to cover Ryan and pressure him evenly. He'll read blitz cover like lightning. I really like this kid, I think it's a two horse race with hom and ARod.

[Pugger]

Rodgers didn't have sophmore slide, did he?

[gbgary]

The story lacks credit if they claim MM is "solid"

LOL

[PlantPage55]

Rodgers didn't have sophmore slide, did he?

Nope, he didn't.

Actually, if you call his "ball-holding" problems a regression, then yes (because they weren't as prominent as last year). Rather, I think he's been given more of the offense to play with and his play suffered for a bit because of it.

At the end of the day, this season was a better Aaron Rodgers than last, all things considered.

And it will all be rendered to nit-pickery anyway, when we win the Super Bowl this year and Aaron becomes a superstar.

[Smidgeon]

And it will all be rendered to nit-pickery anyway, when we win the Super Bowl this year and Aaron becomes a superstar.

Don't you mean "and Aaron shows everyone else that he's already a superstar"?

[PlantPage55]

And it will all be rendered to nit-pickery anyway, when we win the Super Bowl this year and Aaron becomes a superstar.

Don't you mean "and Aaron shows everyone else that he's already a superstar"?

Yes, thank you. :)

[Smidgeon]

And it will all be rendered to nit-pickery anyway, when we win the Super Bowl this year and Aaron becomes a superstar.

Don't you mean "and Aaron shows everyone else that he's already a superstar"?

Yes, thank you. :)

You bet. It looked like you needed a straw for your Kool-aid, so I thought I'd assist.