I'd Like Some Info on the Rodgers Rate

Aaron Rodgers has put the Packers into Super Bowl contention while moving himself into the Most Valuable Player conversation

by Brendan Smith, Sports O’Clock Writing Team Member

(photo credits: The Athletic)

At the end of the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, everyone agreed that the biggest loser of the night was the Green Bay Packers. They needed help in every area of the defense as well as at the skill positions on offense; instead, they traded up to draft Utah State quarterback Jordan Love. Perhaps Packers management wanted to begin to build for the future, or perhaps they were hoping to light a fire underneath their current superstar QB.

If the method of Packers’ madness was to do the latter, it worked. Aaron Rodgers is playing lights-out football and is having one of the best seasons of his long career. He is completing 67.5 percent of his passes and has thrown 24 touchdowns compared to just two interceptions. To add to his plethora of brilliant statistics, Rodgers has the highest passer rating in the NFL at 117.5.

Oh, and by the way, Rodgers is playing with only one big-name playmaker at receiver in Davante Adams (who has dealt with injuries this season) and is still producing incredible statistics. Outside of Adams, Rodgers has Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Robert Tonyan to distribute the ball to, while he has struggled to find support in the running game due to an injury to lead back Aaron Jones.

Let’s compare Rodgers’ situation in Green Bay to that of the other two major MVP candidates in Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Mahomes has arguably the best supporting cast of skill position players at his disposal, while Wilson has arguably the best wide receiver duo in the NFL in D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. But when you compare the stats of Mahomes and Wilson to the stats of Rodgers, they are incredibly similar. Wilson’s passer rating is only .4 points less than Rodgers’, while Mahomes is the only quarterback who has started every game this season to throw fewer interceptions than Rodgers.

The biggest indicator of an MVP is when that player can elevate those around him. Wilson has surely elevated Metcalf and Lockett, but they are definitely talented enough to succeed regardless of who is throwing them the ball. Rodgers has elevated nearly every receiver he has played with this season and has transformed them from no-names to players you probably research every week to see if they could make it into your fantasy football lineup. Let’s be honest: you would not be looking at Valdes-Scantling as a waiver-wire addition if anyone other than #12 was throwing him the ball in Green Bay.

Rodgers is working with a skill position group filled with late draft picks and misfits, a defense that has been criticized for its lack of physicality, and a coaching staff and front office that clearly saw a flaw in Rodgers that prompted them to draft his successor (Love) well before he was needed. Amidst all of that, the Packers are 6-2, and the majority of the credit belongs to Rodgers for getting them to this point. Time will tell if the Packers can make a serious run to the Super Bowl, but if Rodgers can keep up his extremely high level of play, he may get them there. And he might pick up an MVP award along the way.

(All photos are cited properly. No copyright infringement intended.)