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Aaron Rodgers spent three seasons backing up Brett Favre. In those seasons, he rarely played. Both times he did, he was injured. There were a lot of questions about his ability and his durability when he took over the starting job last season.

Now the consensus is that he is a Pro Bowl QB, worthy of accolades, and to some, a rightful successor to the most famous Packers QB of all-time. But my question is, how important were those seasons behind #4? Would Rodgers be the QB he is today without all of that time to absorb NFL football outside of the limelight?

If you believe those seasons were important, would this have worked with other QBs who busted (like Alex Smith, JaMarcus Russell, Joey Harrington and Matt Leinert)? And how important was it that he wasn't behind a scrub QB, but behind Favre.

I remember after Rodgers was drafted, Favre said he wasn't in Green Bay to teach anyone anything, but him and Aaron always seemed to have a good relationship. Surely Rodgers picked things up just watching him, but you'd guess that Favre imparted wisdom to the young QB as well, or you'd hope at least...

Few QBs succeed in their rookie year. But what is lost in that year may be more than one bad season, bad habits or lingering injuries may develop, etc. Why don't more teams leave their rookies on the bench for 1 or 2 years so they can get a feel for the league and develop good habits?

I guess I just think this is an undercovered angle and I wondered what you, my fellow Packer fans, thought about it?

This topic actually came up with my cousin and I the other day.According to him (He's a Favre lover/converted Vikings fans) all of Rodgers success is due to the fact he learned from Favre and that if it wasn't for Favre,Rodgers would be nothing.

I snapped on him.



While I think learning from Favre and learning the NFL game on the sidelines for 3 years definalty helped and was a positive I think Rodgers would still be having similar success at this stage of his career regardless.

If Rodgers had gone to a team where he would have been the starter in his rookie year I don't think he would have thrown for 4,000+ yards 28 TDS ect but I think that by 2009/2010 he would pretty much be the same player his is now.

I think it was huge and I definitely think that it would benefit nearly every young QB to sit on the bench and learn for a year or two.

I don't think any position in any other sport is under as much scrutiny and attention as the QB in the NFL. At least I can't think of another one that compares. It is also one of the most complex positions to learn in any sport. Some positions you can just go out and excel based on your natural talent and abilities but no matter how much talent you have as a QB you need to know how to run things, be a true leader and communicate it all.

The problem is most top drafted QBs get stuck with teams that are just down right BAD so it isn't even always their fault that they don't succeed. I was never high on JaMarcus Russell for instance but giving him Heyward Bay as a top pick WR sure as hell doesn't help him, not to mention the Raiders lack of a running game.

Look at the young QBs that have had success. Matt Ryan has Roddy White and Michael Turner and this year Tony Gonzalez. Those are some superb weapons around him.

Flacco has a superb defense, Ray Rice, Derick Mason, Todd Heap.

Did Joey Harrington have anything even close to that in Detroit? Did Russell in Oakland?

So yeah I absolutely believe that sitting on the bench helped him but the other thing that helped him at least as much is the pieces around him.

I think what helps the most with being on the bench for 3 years is the familiarity of the franchise, players you gain for 3 seasons. Not much to do with Brent.

Like when you get a new job, and you've been there a few years, you can start to see yourself as the supervisor. When you first started that would have been an intimidating position for you, but now it's nothing cuz you know your co-workers well and you're a respected part of the work-place. Now you can step in and get done what you want to accomplish and everyone's on board with you cuz you know how to handle them and vice versa.

Aaron Rodgers is incredibly smart, athletically gifted and the antithesis of a me-first guy. Favre didn't instill any of that in him, it was there, so I hate that argument.

I don't want to give too much credit to Favre. Would Rodgers be the same QB today if he had watched someone like Jon Kitna the last three years. I'd say he'd be 95% the same...

Still, those years of watching the game, adjusting to the speed from the sideline had to have a huge impact, I think. I just wonder how huge...

The years were a huge benefit to Aaron. He was lost his rookie year. Start of 2nd year also. He probably would not have been anywhere near effective. Then it started to kick in.

The years helped by-
1. all the time to study playbook & mentally master the O so he doesn't have to think - automatic
2. great attitude during that time
3. all the extra coaching
4. all the reps he got
5. time to blend w/ receivers
6. watching Brett
7. get command of environment
8. build rapport w/ team
9. Brett actually advising

all helped Aaron to be as sharp as he has been as starter.

As I remember it Brett was a bit frosty at first. I doubt any help was offered. I think that thawed by 3rd year.

Maybe Brett was frosty at first but don't forget AR has admitted he was a bit of a self centered jerk himself when he arrived in GB.

eagle13 wrote:The years were a huge benefit to Aaron. He was lost his rookie year. Start of 2nd year also. He probably would not have been anywhere near effective. Then it started to kick in.

The years helped by-
1. all the time to study playbook & mentally master the O so he doesn't have to think - automatic
2. great attitude during that time
3. all the extra coaching
4. all the reps he got
5. time to blend w/ receivers
6. watching Brett
7. get command of environment
8. build rapport w/ team
9. Brett actually advising

all helped Aaron to be as sharp as he has been as starter.

As I remember it Brett was a bit frosty at first. I doubt any help was offered. I think that thawed by 3rd year.

10. Change his throwing motion - that was one of the first things they had Rodgers work on.

PackBuckGophZag wrote:10. Change his throwing motion - that was one of the first things they had Rodgers work on.

I used to say I thought Rodgers could never be a good player because of this... The guy used to throw like a freaking girl.

He looked awful when he first came into the NFL. The years on the sidelines helped him a ton.

Newz wrote:
I used to say I thought Rodgers could never be a good player because of this... The guy used to throw like a freaking girl.

He looked awful when he first came into the NFL. The years on the sidelines helped him a ton.

I am trying to find videos of this on youtube, but it hasn't been easy so far...

That's one reason I wasn't real high on him. Tedford coached QB's have never fared well in the NFL. I give our coaching staff big props for changing his throwing mechanics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2FjnwY8mEs

Best I could find on youtube, highlights of his college career

A couple of the plays you can clearly see how high he holds the ball, it looks so awkward to me compared to how he is now.

I give MM a lot of credit for Rodgers development in that aspect since he has a background as a QB coach.

EDIT: even in that Dallas game when he came in for an injured Favre his ball holding was kind of a hybrid between what it is now and what it was in college so he has even continued to develop and work on it since becoming the starter. Really makes me excited after looking at some of the highlights from early last year compared to now.

chuckleslove wrote:EDIT: even in that Dallas game when he came in for an injured Favre his ball holding was kind of a hybrid between what it is now and what it was in college so he has even continued to develop and work on it since becoming the starter. Really makes me excited after looking at some of the highlights from early last year compared to now.

I think that Dallas game was the first time I really got excited about Rodgers. Up until that point I really had no idea whether he was going to make it or not, but he came in and looked good and almost got us a comeback win.

Oh yeah I was definitely excited about him after that game but they had a clip of him in that youtube video I linked. I definitely liked his demeanor coming in and almost leading a comeback but he was still holding the ball very high up by his head which was the knock on his mechanics coming out of college. It just doesn't look natural.

Yeah I wasn't really talking about this technique at all, you just reminded me of how excited I was after that game. I kind of forgot about this performance in that game. Brent looked like complete ****, classic Favre trying to do too much in a big primetime game.

PackBuckGophZag wrote:Yeah I wasn't really talking about this technique at all, you just reminded me of how excited I was after that game. I kind of forgot about this performance in that game. Brent looked like complete ****, classic Favre trying to do too much in a big primetime game.

Yeah, that was a vintage Favre Big game-choke job. Rodgers came in and I had NO expectations, I thought the game was pretty much over, but he looked very good out there. I remember thinking, WOW, a QB who moves well in the pocket, and can get outside too. It was just not something I was used to after seeing Favre for almost the entirety of my childhood.

I thinked it helped, especially his first year, but I also believe he was on the bench one year to long as far as Rodgers being ready. The way Rodgers played in relief against Dallas makes you wonder how great he could have been that whole season.

xTitan wrote:I thinked it helped, especially his first year, but I also believe he was on the bench one year to long as far as Rodgers being ready. The way Rodgers played in relief against Dallas makes you wonder how great he could have been that whole season.

True but Favre was pretty impressive for us that year too so i'm not going to complain how everything unraveled. Either way, Rodgers has the ability to be a top 5 qb for the next 5-8 years.

That Dallas game was the year that we made the NFC Championship game against the Giants. I have almost no memory of either game or day (Dallas game or NYG). I honestly think I blocked them out, kind of like I did with the Super Bowl against the Broncos.

I think Rodgers succeeding that day was more about him being an unknown commodity, than about him actually playing great football. Surely Dallas hadn't game planned for a QB that could scramble, why would they. Their plan was in tatters because they knocked Favre out.

Last year they relied heavily on the run and the D (or tried to, at least) and let Aaron kind of grow at his own rate, once he did, it was his time to shine. If memory serves me, the Charges brought Rivers along like this as well, though, no doubt, he was more highly touted than ARodg. Still, most NFL QBs that are drafted high are thrown directly into the fire, and the chance that those guys hit and become quality NFL QBs seems to be a crap shoot.

Also, it sours the fan-base and lowers their expectations. Look at Brady Quinn. If they had never played him and just went with Anderson the last couple years, he would have learned and the fans would have something to be excited about next year. I know it is hard to keep a guy like that on the bench, but honestly, sometimes that is the best thing for them...

As it is, those fans probably are clamoring for them to pick another QB because Quinn has underwhelmed...

an_also wrote:

xTitan wrote:I thinked it helped, especially his first year, but I also believe he was on the bench one year to long as far as Rodgers being ready. The way Rodgers played in relief against Dallas makes you wonder how great he could have been that whole season.

True but Favre was pretty impressive for us that year too so i'm not going to complain how everything unraveled. Either way, Rodgers has the ability to be a top 5 qb for the next 5-8 years.

5-8? More like 10 to 12 years...