McGinn’s Grading the Packers: Another solid season for QB Aaron Rodgers, but can he perform better?

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McGinn’s Grading the Packers: Another solid season for QB Aaron Rodgers, but can he perform better?

If Rodgers has declined, it would be in the number of plays he makes on the move and his accuracy.
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WARNING~ If you can't leave the ggg( off leave this thread alone !!!

Quarterbacks (2)
Tim Boyle (1.7 percent)

The No. 2 quarterbacks in the NFC North this season were Chase Daniel of Chicago, Jeff Driskel of Detroit (after he was injured it became David Blough) and Sean Mannion of Minnesota. In late December, here’s how three NFC personnel men sized up Boyle. Said the first: “If I had to pick one of these guys I’d pick him. He didn’t even play but I like him. He looked good in the preseason, but he’s never played.” Said the second: “He has the most upside, for sure. He’s really interesting. I think he does (have a chance).” Said the third: “He does (have a chance). He’s talented. Throws it well. He gets the ball out.” It was high praise for a player that posted a 12-26 touchdown/interception ratio as a starter at Connecticut and Eastern Kentucky. His NFL passer rating in college was 60.3. Boyle caught Mike McCarthy’s eye to stick as his No. 3 in 2018 before Matt LaFleur retained him as No. 2 this season over DeShone Kizer. Boyle (6-3 ½, 232) has ideal size, solid athletic ability (35-inch vertical jump) and good speed (4.78). He scored 20 on the Wonderlic intelligence test. In 109 snaps last summer, Boyle registered a passer rating of 112.9. His completion percentage (59.6) and average gain per pass (6.25) weren’t good, but he had a 6-0 ratio of TDs to interceptions. He was best throwing inside the numbers, appeared poised in the pocket and showed a quick release. He’s not a scrambler. He’s a big pocket passer with intriguing game-manager abilities. Grade: Incomplete

Aaron Rodgers (98.3)

On the Packers’ three trips to the West Coast (Chargers, 49ers twice), he could hardly have been more ineffective. Against the Raiders, Giants and Seahawks, he was exceptional. Counting playoffs, in his 12 seasons as the starter his numbers in 2019 rank 10th in completion percentage (63.0), 10th in average yards per attempt (7.20) and 10th in passer rating (96.4). His per-game rushing average (10.9) was a career-low. He also played every meaningful snap for a team that finished with a 14-4 record and advanced to the NFC Championship Game. Rodgers was the quarterback for a team that won largely because of injury differential, turnover differential, penalty differential, a favorable schedule and overall red-zone performance. As an individual, he had another season that was slightly above average. For certain stretches, Rodgers was the ultimate game manager. He avoided interceptions and his crisp fakes and ballhandling helped make LaFleur’s play-action game go. Even at 36, his durability remains exceptional. He is a tough guy. Once or twice in almost every game, he made a great throw. It’s the same for every quarterback. Those plays help decide games. In almost every game, however, Rodgers missed some easy throws as well as some difficult throws that once separated his game from so many others. If Rodgers has declined, it would be in the number of plays he makes on the move and his accuracy. In 2016, 16 of his 49 touchdown passes (32.7 percent) came on extended plays. In the last three seasons, just 11 of his 71 TD passes (15.5 percent) came on extended plays. Maybe he can’t accelerate away from the rush as before. Maybe he has lost a step. Maybe he’d rather just stand in the pocket and throw the ball. His willingness to make contested throws has diminished over the years. Maybe he has less confidence in his arm or his receivers. Maybe he is less interested in risking an interception. By holding the ball Rodgers was responsible for 24 pressures, the same number as LG Elgton Jenkins, for example. That total included seven sacks. Brett Favre threw many more interceptions than Rodgers, but in his last three seasons for the Packers, he was responsible for merely 8 ½ sacks, or 2.7 per year. For his career, Rodgers’ career sack is 10.5 per year. Part of the problem is Rodgers is staring down Davante Adams. His progression, once world-class, has regressed. He doesn’t look off safeties as well as he once did, either. Often the result of this hesitation was another season of overthrown deep balls or throwaways. He threw the ball away 40 times in 2019, four fewer than last season. Some would say Rodgers is the best at executing the hard count or catching opponents trying to substitute resulting in a free play.

This season, his cadence resulted in seven offsides penalties by opponents and 22 false starts by his teammates. Opposing defenses were penalized three times for having 12 or more players on the field, and Rodgers converted two into touchdown passes. Fumble avoidance, long a Rodgers’ trademark, was not a plus this season. His lost fumble total of five was his most in 11 seasons. Over time Rodgers has been less willing to step into throws. He’ll then miss a little swing pass or throw behind a receiver. Certainly, no one can know how he interacts with LaFleur behind closed doors. At times, the cameras on Sunday will show Rodgers looking away from the coach when he’s speaking to him. It appears to reveal a degree of condescension, but that’s open to interpretation. Perhaps a second year in this offense will enable Rodgers to rekindle past glory and return to his last great stretch (Games 10-19, 2016). Supporting casts come and go. Franchise quarterbacks make their supporting casts look better than they are. At one time, Rodgers did that. Can he do it again? Grade: C-plus
Click to expand...
 
In my humble opinion, Rodgers still has all the physical skills to be a very effective QB. What he doesn't seem to have any longer is the "Godgers" raw ability to disregard fundamentals and still make a play like we all grew so accustomed to seeing over the first decade of his career.

We've seen the decline the past couple years. If he doesn't set his feet and square himself up when delivering a pass, his accuracy wanes. It never did in years past but it certainly is now. All that means is he may no longer be capable of the jaw-dropping impromptu plays but he's still plenty capable of highly effective albeit fundamentally sound QB play.

As with anything, old habits are hard to break. It'll take some humbling introspective analysis from Rodgers as well as some reality based coaching from ML and staff but nothing too absurdly difficult, really. Get AR dialed into a scheme that focuses on fundamentals while devising routes that give him options and this offense, and Rodgers' play, will be the talk of the league once again.
 
Agreed that Aaron needs to adhere to fundamentals. However I also think he will improve in year two of the new system. Matt Ryan commented on it after his first season with Matt, (8-8) then became league MVP in year two.

Didn't Matt say they hadn't even installed the complete offense yet? From what I heard, they haven't installed "up tempo" yet (which imo may explain some things lol.)

We should also get Aaron another veteran pass catcher. A rookie will take a year or two in development. Hunter Henry? Robert Woods (Rams)? Robbie Anderson? Greg Olsen? I'm confident Gute will find the right guy.
 
I’m intrigued by the outsiders impressions of Boyle. I wonder how/if that plays into drafting a QB this year?

As for Rodgers.
Age forces nearly all elite QB’s to change their style of play to a certain extent.
IMO, these are the three biggest things that kept Rodgers from being “Rodgers” in 2019.
1) lacking more viable targets in the passing game beyond Tae Adams
2) changing his mental approach/adjusting to a new offense for the first time in 14 yrs
3) not being able to make the same throws as he did in the past because he has two metal plates and 13 screws holding his right collarbone together (and that will never change)
 
This whole talk of fundamentals and mechanics is off the mark. At some point Father Time wins. As has been mentioned the injuries have taken its toll and limits him ability to extend a play. He also does not process things around him as fast as in the past. Again age. And as we all have mentioned the lack to playmakers around him.
 
Arod is not returning to the glory years where it seemed every pass he threw hit the mark and he had an almost Jedi-like ability to avoid the rush. It's not gonna happen. Injuries take their toll more than just physically. And besides the WR his OL back then ran circles around the current one.

What GB needs to hope for is that they can focus on defense so he isn't expected to score 30+ per game, and an OL that he can trust. More importantly Arod has to admit where his abilities are right now.

That stat about causing 22 false starts with his cadence while only gaining 10 plays where they benfited from a penalty is pretty telling.
 
I don't think Boyle is future starter. Boyle might make a ok backup but I think that's it. You need to find someone with more upside
 
Bob was being kind to Rodgers here IMO.

As Pack and others have said, the guy has broken his collarbone twice, and played full seasons with serious leg injuries in 2014 and 2018. It takes juice off the fastball and out of the legs. Now that’s one thing. The other thing is, will Rodgers change his style to suit his new reality? The answer is no. Therefore, as long as he’s the Packers QB we will continue to see the same frustrating play - flashes of brilliance but disjointed lack of cohesion most of the time.

Will say this as well: the team should absolutely go all in every year to win the SB, but Murphy, Gute and ML’s Packer legacies will be determined by how they handle moving on from Rodgers, or not.
 
Rodgers gets hurt before season goes on IR Packers go 1-15 with Boyle get #1 pick take Trevor Lawerence in 2021 NFL draft. Lawerence learns from Rodgers for a year Rodgers is then traded to the Patriots for their #1 pick in 2022 afte Brady retires. hgh)
 
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