Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn’t make the top 10 in the NFL Network's presentation of the league's 100 best players for 2011, which concluded on Sunday. So, for now, consider him to be No. 11 with a bullet.
The three quarterbacks who did make the top 10 — Tom Brady (No. 1), Peyton Manning (No. 2) and Drew Brees (No. 9) — very much deserved to get such a high honor from their peers. If you're forming a Mount Rushmore of elite Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, however, Rodgers belongs right there with them.
Although it's true Rodgers doesn't yet have the extensive body of great work to match the trio, no one would question his potential for an exciting encore to a championship season in Green Bay.
What makes him special beyond the obvious assets of arm strength, accuracy and leadership are what also separate Brady, Manning and Brees from the second tier of NFL quarterbacks: relentless drive to stay ahead of all competition.
"I think it's important any time you have an opportunity to watch film on those guys (Brady, Manning, Brees), spend time with them," said Rodgers, who has worked out with Brees and is a friend of the fellow Northern California native Brady.
Even though Rodgers’ playoff performance was near flawless, like the other three, there's nothing complacent about his mindset. With a Packers offensive staff that features passing game gurus such as head coach Mike McCarthy and quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, he has an excellent support system to keep him well in check.
"I'm blessed to have a quarterbacks coach who sometimes doesn't think I'm very good," Rodgers said.
Rodgers, unlike Manning, hasn't been a wire-to-wire starter since being drafted 24th overall six years ago. Having the time to develop while Brett Favre started during Rodgers’ first three years helped make him the player he has been the past three seasons.
"I was fortunate to play behind one of the great quarterbacks," Rodgers said.
When watching Rodgers play, you see aspects of what has made Brady (33), Manning (35) and Brees (32) so successful into their 30s. Rodgers, however, has three things that Manning, Brady and Brees don't have:
Excellent mobility. In just three years as a starter, Rodgers has already easily trumped Manning, Brady and Brees in career rushing yardage. In making big plays with his feet, he has a great sense for when to take off and run and when to stay focused on delivering the ball downfield. His accuracy is pinpoint even when on the move.
That's not to say, looking at the significantly lesser rate at which Manning, Brady and Brees have been sacked in their careers, they also don't have a very good feel for extending plays in the face of a pass rush. It's just that Rodgers is a much bigger dual threat as an impactful downfield runner.
Among current quarterbacks, Rodgers’ athleticism can be compared with Ben Roethlisberger’s and Michael Vick’s. Looking at great Super Bowl winners, however, Rodgers’ athletic ability is most comparable to Steve Young’s.
Top career passer rating. When Young retired, it seemed like it would be difficult, given what goes into the passer rating formula, that someone could trump his career mark of 96.8. Rodgers has already ascended to the top of the list with his 98.4 rating, amazingly a few notches above Brady (95.2) and Manning (94.9). Although Rodgers will have to be consistent for the long haul to remain No. 1, his similar statistics in '08, '09 and '10 indicate he has the ability to push the number to the century mark.
Youth. In winning his first championship at age 27, Rodgers is three years behind Brady’s age when he won his first title. But considering Rodgers didn’t have to take his lumps his first three seasons, in terms of football years he's a little younger than Manning, Brady and Brees were at a similar age. It's scary to think just how much he could improve by the time he turns 30.
Even though he has been sacked 115 times in 47 regular-season starts, Rodgers has managed to stay durable and missed only one game because of injury. So the Packers have been wise to upgrade his long-term preservation plans through the past two drafts. Bryan Bulaga and Derek Sherrod look like bookend tackles who will keep him protected for the long term.
Rodgers realizes that the time is now to rack up championships, with both and he and his team in their prime. Looking at just how talented the current Packers are and the awesome level of play Rodgers reached during the playoffs, he has a good shot at doing what Brady did—win multiple titles over four seasons.
"I can tell you what I've seen in six years in the league: Teams have four- or five-year windows," Rodgers said. "We have a young enough team but enough experience to make a run consistently for the next four or five years."
It might just take one more Super Bowl ring—which would be one more than Manning and Brees have and one fewer than Brady has—to entrench Rodgers among the NFL's top five players for several seasons.
His ranking of No. 11 for '11 has a good ring to it—a sign that he's ready to bust down the door and into the top 10 in '12. Rodgers' past and present have been very good. His future is in line to be even more impressive.
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