Do you ever find yourself being persuaded by someone’s opinion? The more and more you listen to someone, the more you start to believe in what they are saying? This occurred on April 23, 2005, when 23 teams listened to scouts and passed on Aaron Rodgers in the ’05 NFL Draft.
You will want to watch this video of Rodgers anxiously waiting to be picked on draft day. One impressive clip to watch for is when NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock predicted the Packers to take Rodgers with the 24th pick. It appears at 4:19.
After the San Francisco 49ers took Alex Smith with the first pick, Rodgers began to fall in the draft. Rodgers can thank the (now hilarious) draft scouting reports and the way rookie contracts worked back then. Read some of these scouting reports given to the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel and try not to laugh.
NFC Scout–
“I think he has a good chance of being a bust. Just like every other Tedford-coached quarterback. Thing I struggle with him is he gets sacked a lot. He doesn’t have great ability to change the release of the football. He’s mechanically very rigid. Brett Favre can change his release point and find different windows. There will be more growing pains with Alex Smith but in the end he has a much better chance to be much better.”
AFC Scout–
“I don’t like him. He’s a clone of Harrington and Boller. They all throw the same way. What have those guys done? Nothing. If you take him in the second round, fine. Heady guy. They do a marvelous job of coaching quarterbacks there. I don’t think he’s as good as the top quarterbacks coming out last year.”
AFC Scout —
“He’s a system quarterback. 3-, 5-, 7-step guy. Can’t create on his own. Panics under pressure. Gets flustered easy. I don’t think there’s a quarterback in the draft worthy of a first-round pick. I’m dead serious. None of them are worth it.”
A clone of Joey Harrington and Kyle Boller, huh? Let’s examine some stats.
Boller played in nine seasons in the league, last appearing in 2 games with the Oakland Raiders in ’11. He started at QB in his second season in the league with the Baltimore Ravens. His numbers that year? Subpar. He threw for 2,559 yards with 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, finishing the year with a 70.9 quarterback rating. His closing numbers were 48 touchdowns and 54 interceptions with a QBR of 69.5.
Harrington spent eight seasons in the league, starting at QB in his second season with the Detroit Lions in ’03. He threw for 2,880 yards with 17 touchdowns and 22 interceptions, finishing with a QBR of 63.9. His closing numbers were 79 TDs and 85 picks with a QBR of 69.4.
Do you guys not think of Aaron Rodgers when reading those stats?? Let’s see how the “clone” matched up in his first year as starting QB.
Rodgers spent two years under Brett Favre before taking over the Packers offense. In 2008, he threw for 4,038 yards with 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The man’s QBR was a healthy 93.8. I’m not really following the whole clone thing.
As for number one pick Alex Smith, he started for the 49ers in his second season in ’06. He threw for 2,890 yards with 16 touchdo— you get the point.
Everyone missed on Aaron Rodgers, everyone except the team with fans known as “cheeseheads”.
Rodgers is prepping for his 13th season with the Packers. He’s coming off a rollercoaster ride of a year where his team was 4-6 before going on an absurd six-game win streak to take the NFC North crown. The Packers have been NFC North champions five out of the last six seasons. They fell to an offensive powerhouse Atlanta Falcons team in the NFC Championship to end their crazy year.
We all know that Rodgers is elite in this league. Tom Brady is still the best active QB and one of the greatest QBs of all time. The guy has five Super Bowl rings and holds nearly every Super Bowl record for a quarterback. In January 2017, Brady admitted even he could not do the things Rodgers could do.
In an interview with WEEI, a sports radio station out of Boston, Brady raved about Rodgers.
“Well I think he does things that no one in the league has ever done or can do, just because of his physical ability. I always love watching his tape, admiring all the things he can do, because I can’t do many of those things. He is definitely working hard, but he’s making hard look easy and I think that’s the amazing part about what he does. It’s a very effortless style he plays with. The velocity of the ball, the placement of the ball, he’s just an incredible player.”
In 12 seasons, Rodgers has posted a +100 QBR rating eight times. His career average sits at a jaw-dropping 104.1, the highest among QBs in NFL history. Russell Wilson holds the second highest with a 99.6, with Brady behind him with a 97.2.
I can read you his stats all day long and tell you how good he is on paper (but really, check them out), but showing you this will be much better. His ability to perform under pressure along with his incredible accuracy is shown in this video (yes you have to be redirected to YouTube to watch due to NFL policy reasons but trust me, it is worth it).
Rodgers is 33 and has shown zero signs of slowing down. He’s been named to six Pro Bowls, a two-time NFL MVP, a two-time First-Team All-Pro and a Super Bowl champion and MVP. That’s impressive, I guess.
The Packers enter next season with many question marks, but one thing remains the same: with Rodgers in the pocket, the Packers will always be a dangerous team.
