Aaron Rodgers Is Gonna Be Just Fine This Year

There’s a lot of talk about Aaron Rodgers declining without Davante Adams.

Don’t buy it.

Yes, we’ve all heard about how the Packers are undefeated under Matt LaFleur when Davante Adams has been out. Yes, you’ve also noticed that Aaron Rodgers’s numbers have dipped a bit in those games.

Don’t get caught up in all the stats and minutia. Step back and look at the big picture.

For starters, this roster isn’t suddenly hopeless now that Adams is gone.

Without Adams, the Packers receiving corps is gonna be just fine (in fact, there’s even a pretty strong case that Adams leaving may even help the Packers offense). Sure, they lost the best wide receiver in the game, but you know what? They lost in the playoffs to a team that didn’t have the best receiver in the game, just like they did last year, and the year before.

Receivers are overrated. They are a luxury. Wide receivers do not make the quarterback.

Aaron Rodgers is still Aaron Rodgers.

Pull up a highlight film from last year and watch the crazy throws he threads between multiple defenders to hit guys lie Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard, and MVS. He doesn’t need Davante Adams to be good. Having Davante Adams as a go-to receiver may have actually given him tunnel vision and made him predictable.

The last time the Packers had the best receiver in the league was when they had Sterling Sharpe in 1994.

Do you know what happened in when he left in 1995? Brett Favre had his best season in his long and illustrious career as a Packer.

Both great quarterbacks locked on to their great receivers, limiting themselves and the offense.

Favre broke out of that and Rodgers will, too.

Rodgers has, like Favre had, the benefit of maybe the best offensive mind in the game, capable of scheming players open in a variety of ways,

Just look at what Rodgers has done after getting over his first year learning curve in Matt LaFleur’s offense: he led the NFL in touchdown percentage, interception percentage, quarterback rating, QBR, and adjusted net yards per attempt in both 2020 and 2021, plus he had more passing touchdowns than anyone over that span, and led the league with a blistering 70.7 completion percentage in 2020.

Look, I’m not a big stats guy, but those numbers tell you that Aaron Rodgers is a man on fire, and if you watched any football over the last two years, you know that his game film backs that up. He isn’t a product of the system, either, he did this before LaFleur – but he is thriving in this system.

With a lot of talented young receivers to go with some respected vets and new options emerging for passing to backs and ends, Matt LaFleur will not be hurting for receiving options to scheme open.

Rodgers turns 39 this year, but (regardless of what you think of health habits) he has played 16 games in each of the last 7 of the last 8 seasons. The game is changing to prolong quarterback careers and his film from last year showed no sign of physical decline..

He’s been a staying healthy. He has talented receiving options, even with Adams gone. He plays for a great offensive coach. He’s on the hottest streak of his career.

There is absolutely no reason to worry about how good Aaron Rodgers will play this year,