The Green Bay Packers begin life without Brett Favre
Aaron Rodgers has bided his time behind future Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre and the Packers hope he was paying attention. Rodgers has a strong arm and he can run the ball well. He does not have the legendary threshold of pain that Brett Favre had as he missed a lot of time due to injury even as a backup. Rodgers played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Packers last season and he completed 20 of 28 passes (71.4%) for 218 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions (106.0 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 7 times for 29 yards (4.1 ypc). No one really knows what to expect out of Rodgers but the Packers drafted two QBs this April and that speaks volumes. Rodgers has now played in 7 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 35 of 59 passes (59.3%) for 329 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception (73.3 QB Rating). He also has carried the ball 11 times for 47 yards (4.3 ypc).
With Aaron Rodgers not being the picture of health in his NFL career the Packers decided to draft Brian Brohm out of Louisville. Brohm would have been a top 10 pick if the entered the draft a year earlier and it wasn’t anything he did to cause his tumble as his numbers were still strong. Brohm has a strong arm and he can make all of the throws needed to succeed in the NFL. He will be a serious threat to Aaron Rodgers’ job in the future but he will likely be safe this season. If Rodgers goes down to injury, Brohm might steal the starting job from him.
The third string QB will likely be Matt Flynn who was selected in the 7th round out of LSU. All he did last year was lead LSU to the National Title in his first year as a starter. He doesn’t have good arm strength but he’s mobile enough to roll the pocket and get himself out of trouble. Flynn projects as a long term backup in the NFL.
PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C
How does drafting two QBs speak volumes? So many people are making a big deal out of it, that Rodgers job isn’t fully secure and that Brohm will soon be pushing him for a starting spot. No. Not at all. Drafting 2 QBs was a necessity, the route that the Packers chose to take to fill the spots behind Rodgers. The backups to Aaron before the draft were Jerry Baab and Dalton Bell. No QB in free agency attracted Thompson’s attention enough to justify signing them. They simply needed two backups for Rodgers the draft is the route they took. Rodgers has been backed by Thompson and McCarthy 100% and I don’t think the drafting of two QBs speaks “volumes” at all. It was simply a football decision that had to be made. Baab and Bell certainly weren’t NFL ready QBs. I mean, we had to have backups, didn’t we?
We will see Jeremy. It’s true that the Packers needed some backup QBs but the selection of Brohm could mean that Rodgers will have to fight for his job starting in 2009. Brohm was as highly thought of as Rodgers coming out of college so only time will tell who the better QB is in the long run for the Packers. Rodgers is far from a sure thing.
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Dear Packer Management: How about this: Brett and Rogers share games, each playing a half. They also share the money. each get 6M. Think about it a fresh QB every half. This could satisfy Brett, take the pressure off Rogers, satisy the Packer fans (both for Brett anf Rogers) AND a perfect senero for Management. jthier
Jthier, I don’t think that would ever work. Egos would get in the way especially Brett Favre’s. He’s either the starter or I think he would just retire again rather than hold a clipboard behind Aaron Rodgers.