http://espn.go.com/blog/green-...rodgers-10-years-ago
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Vikings Bears and Lions could have had him. Think that doesn't go through their minds at least twice a year?
In 2006, the three first-round quarterbacks were Vince Young (No. 3 overall to the Tennessee Titans), Matt Leinart (No. 10 overall to the Arizona Cardinals) and Jay Cutler (No. 11 overall to the Denver Broncos). The Packers picked fifth that year, when they took linebacker A.J. Hawk, so they would have been able to take Leinart or Cutler.
Vikings could have had him twice. So it probably goes through their heads four times every year. They really do suck. Bears selected future DJ and Packer Cedric Benson.
And the thing is. Had the Queens taken him. They would have surely started him as a rookie. Behind a schitty OL, stellar WR's like Burleson, an aging Koren Robinson and RB's in Bennett and Mo' Williams.
And in pure Vikings fashion/karma, Rodgers would have blown out his knee and never be the same QB again. See RG III
He got drafted by the perfect team. At the perfect time. With the perfect HC/GM. See Favre
I firmly believe AR would have been an All Pro regardless of where he went. Guys like Burleson and Robinson would have received big FA deals.
Theres a play last year against the Bears where AR got away from two Bears, rolled right, was grabbed and as he was being pulled down threw a 35 yard perfect strike laser across his body across the field to Adams for a TD that didn't count because Linsley held. The throw was insane.
Aaron Rodgers is so effing good.
I wouldn't call it "grabbed". More like t-boned. Maybe the greatest throw I've ever seen.
Jesus.
Why did I just think.
"Career end" right there?
Yikes...If Rodgers planted his foot instead of a quick hop at the last second....game of inches.
That throw shouldn't be possible. The point he spots Adams to release while going down is just over 1 second. Ball travels 45 yards. Beats double coverage.
BK, I thought the same thing. If he hadn't gotten his leg up out of the schitty turf at Soldier... what a close call that was. And yes, that throw was ridiculously gutsy and great.
I disagree, IMO, MM put AR in his path ... A path that may have not happen with another team.
AR is not the pure gunslinger Bert was (puke) .... He us efficient and MM helped strengthen his release. JMO.
MM was the professor and he had the perfect pupil, a gift from Vince IMO.
AR is not the pure gunslinger Bert was (puke) .... He us efficient and MM helped strengthen his release. JMO.
MM was the professor and he had the perfect pupil, a gift from Vince IMO.
Originally Posted by packerboi:
He got drafted by the perfect team. At the perfect time. With the perfect HC/GM.
Divine intervention.
I admire Mike McCarthy a great deal because he needed Aaron Rodgers to succeed at a time Aaron probably wondered if Mike McCarthy did everything he could to get SF to select him. Mike figured out a way to sell his plan. It's a plus Aaron trusted him. Not an easy sell.
And that dynamic played itself out while GB fans hated Aaron Rodgers for taking Brett Favres job. That's a lot for a 25 year old to have to process and prove his worth.
You give a QB like Aaron a road map. You coach him up. But he doesn't do what he's done unlesss he has a supreme level of self confidence and slightly higher level of ability. Aaron's ability is silly. So is his work ethic.
He is a generational talent. The greatest gift Mike McCarthy gave Aaron is that he never tried to prove to Aaron he knew better. He gave him what he knew. Taught him what to look out for. The rest was all Aaron.
Originally Posted by ChilliJon:
And that dynamic played itself out while SOME GB fans hated Aaron Rodgers
I have nothing to add to what's been said except to call out BK on his clickbait thread title.
I think Aaron would still have had some success had he not gone to GB, but I'm not sure he enjoys this same kind of HOF run. His attitude and drive would have still taken him far, but he was picked to the absolute perfect situation for a young QB. Getting the time to sit and learn to play QB in the NFL while having two good QB coaches (McCarthy/Clements) break down his mechanics and technique and give him a solid NFL foundation is absolutely perfect...that's so rare for a rookie to get that kind of experience. Plus he's been able to stay in the same offense so he has that consistency, that rarely happens also. It just so happens we have a GM who isn't a wildly impatient and we don't have a meddling owner. No other team would have given him this situation. I think he would have suffered a similar career that Alex Smith has had...no consistency from the coaching and getting pummeled behind a crap OLine with mediocre targets, but still serviceable and will win some games.
My response to click-baits with no take.
Rodgers needed to have his mechanics re-built in order to reach his potential (which is also how I view Mariota), and he wouldn't have gotten that basically anywhere else. He went from decent arm to good arm and robo-QB to improvising QB. He got to learn structure/technique from McCarthy and improvisation/film study habits from Favre in a system/program with patience. It was a perfect storm for him to become this good.
I don't know if I would compare him to Mariotta in that sense simply because Mariotta is all gimmic.
They corrected Rodgers throwing motion and the maturation into the pro game took a couple years so I completely agree he landed in the right spot. Guys like Mariotta and every other gimmic QB never seem to fully adjust to the pro game even after glorious reports of offseason training. Rodgers was mechanics, not his whole game.
Needed to have his mechanics rebuilt in order to reach his potential. Sweet jeezus almighty.
Those ****ty mechanics completed the first 23 passes against number 1 ranked USC in The Collseum in 2004. Those ****ty mechanics almost handed USC what would have been their second loss in two seasons. The other loss??? That was to the guy with ****ty mechanics in 2003.
I'm not disagreeing MM helped Aaron. He did a lot for Aaron. But let's stop with the "if not for GB I don't think things would have worked out for Aaron Rodgers".
Joey Harrington, David Carr, Kyle Boller and Trent Dilfer, all similar prospects, all under the same college tutor, none given the time/coaching to develop like Rodgers did.
Mariota does need a lot of work, but I think he has all the tools to be a good one if he gets that time. Of course he likely only gets that if the Saints make the move for him.
Human brains always look for patterns. But the larger more advanced ones have developed the cognitive skills to see past this evolutionary shortcut.
Stated another way: only a small- brained individual would put Rodgers in the same category as the rest of the Tedford wives.
Aaron Rodgers stats at Cal are virtually identical to his stats in GB. Completion percent right around 65%. TD / Int ratio. The only noticeable improvement being he reduced his int% at Cal from 1.9% to 1.6% in GB. Both those numbers are off the charts good by the way.
To recap, he flourished under Tedford using Tedford's mechanics. He flourished under Mike using Mike's Mechanics. His numbers didn't change between Cal and GB. There is a reasonable argument to be made that Aaron Rodgers is simply a really gifted QB and would have done well in the NFL. Just glad he happens to be in GB.
LoL, I didn't lump him in with the likes of Akili Smith (though I probably should have left Boller off also) but the other guys weren't just Tedford guys but similarly rated prospects (and Alex Smith has already been mentioned) . I would have liked to mention Tim Couch as well, but I don't think his arm strength was good enough to be in the conversation.
Final paragraph,
"It’s the rest of the teams that had a shot at Rodgers—and ultimately deferred for the likes of Erasmus James, Troy Williamson and Travis Johnson—who must be kicking themselves"
Beautiful.
And a lot of Queens fans were upset at the Willaimson pick, but only because they wanted Mike Williams who was also a stiff.
Mayock, in the lead-up to the 2005 draft: I think what Aaron Rodgers is, is he's a highly proficient, technical quarterback who can manage a game. [He] has an above-average arm and can be a good player in the right system. I don't think he is an All-Pro type quarterback, though.
Record:
Rodgers, after all, gets the last laugh; he has a 61-30 career record against the teams that passed on him.
Originally Posted by Herschel:
Joey Harrington, David Carr, Kyle Boller and Trent Dilfer, all similar prospects, all under the same college tutor, none given the time/coaching to develop like Rodgers did.
Mariota does need a lot of work, but I think he has all the tools to be a good one if he gets that time. Of course he likely only gets that if the Saints make the move for him.
Not disputing the time for Rodgers to learn the game. Mariotta isn't Harrington, Carr, Boller or Difler either. He's a product of the new monkey gimmic show that is NCAA football. NFL needs a real minor league.
It's not just about his mechanics, a pass is a pass, McCarthy just taught him to hold the ball to protect it and have a more efficient delivery. He was able to mature mentally and physically while sitting, I'm not sure if mentally he would have ended up so confident if he was getting buried like Alex Smith was early in his career. Alex Smith was scared until he got to Kansas City, I'm not sure even Rodgers mental toughness could have survived that and still become an All-Pro. He struggled with injuries early in his career in GB and he wasn't playing regularly so I don't know he would have faired playing right away.
So. Times four is the bulwark holding back the 'dumbing down' of humanity and BK is the barbarian assaulting the gate.
Sounds about right.
There have always been college systems that weren't pro-style and forced the QB to make a tough transition. For guys like Mariotta we don't need a minor league, we need patient owners and GMs who will give a coach more than 2 or 3 years to develop a guy slowly. Teams won't do that, it's win now or you're fired. Some guys like the guys in Indy got lucky and found a QB who was ready to play immediately...if they didn't suck-for-Luck then they end up with RG3 and they continue to be cellar dwellers because that team sucks outside of Luck.
Originally Posted by Satori:
Mayock, in the lead-up to the 2005 draft: I think what Aaron Rodgers is, is he's a highly proficient, technical quarterback who can manage a game. [He] has an above-average arm and can be a good player in the right system. I don't think he is an All-Pro type quarterback, though.
Above average arm? I am surprised it was not realized he has a cannon for an arm.
And appreciating the comparison with Alex Smith (thrown to the wolves immediately, but even while his circumstances were decent with KC, his arm doesn't compare.
Hard to believe now, but another knock on him coming out was his athleticism. You obviously need the physical tools, but so much of being a successful NFL QB is between the ears. That's why Jay Cutler is Jay Cutler and Aaron Rodgers is Aaron Rodgers.
