Aaron Rodgers: 2011 Green Bay Packers Evaluation and Report Card

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Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers

1) Introduction: Aaron Rodgers is the face of this franchise, and not just for his discount doub– err . . . championship belt celebration. He received this year’s Associated Press NFL MVP Award for leading his team to a 15-1 record, breaking the single-season passer rating along the way (122.5). In his fourth season as starting quarterback for the Packers, he gives fans an enormous amount of hope for more Super Bowl titles.

2) Profile:

Aaron Charles Rodgers

Position: QB
Height: 
6-2
Weight: 
225 lbs.
AGE: 
28

Career Stats:

 

3) Expectations coming into the season: As the reigning Super Bowl MVP, Aaron Rodgers was expected to lead the Packers to a return title in 2011. He obviously couldn’t do it alone, but Green Bay wouldn’t be able to do it without him at the helm. Hopes were that he could stay healthy (i.e., avoid concussions) and build upon the three previous seasons as a starter.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Aaron Rodgers’ entire season just seemed to be one long highlight reel. His consistently superior level of play made even the smallest of errors a shock to fans. He boasted a passer rating of over 140 in four separate games; however, it was his one-minute, game-winning drive against the New York Giants that really stuck out for me this season. As for lowlights, it’s hard to avoid the lone regular season loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and gut-wrenching miscues in the postseason game.

5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: It has been said many times before, but Aaron Rodgers makes every other player around him more successful. From the offensive line to the running back, he is the ultimate game changer. Rodgers threw for a career best 45 touchdowns and 4,643 yards as a starter in 2011, as well as a career low 6 interceptions. He is hands down the best player on the team right now.

6) Player’s contributions in the playoffs: How much of the loss can you really put on the shoulders of Aaron Rodgers? No, he did not play his very best, but he played well enough to win. Shaky offensive line play and a plethora of dropped passes made him look worse than he actually was. He should certainly take at least partial credit for the fumble and misfire to Greg Jennings early in the game; still, Rodgers had more rushing yards (66) than any running back and couldn’t be expected to do it all on his own.

Season Report Card:

(A+) Level of expectations met during the season
(A+) Contributions to team’s overall success.
(B+) Contributions to team during the playoffs

Overall Grade for the year: A+

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Chad Toporski, a Wisconsin native and current Pittsburgh resident, is a writer for AllGreenBayPackers.com. You can follow Chad on twitter at @ChadToporski

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14 thoughts on “Aaron Rodgers: 2011 Green Bay Packers Evaluation and Report Card

  1. Best player in the NFL last year, but a few areas he regressed in several games. Standing at the top of a 5 to 7 step drop for far too long when he had a clean pocket to step into. I can understand looking for those crossing routes and deep 9 to clear, but he needs to step into a clean pocket (which he often had) instead of sitting at the top of his drop and then spinning to the flat to extend some plays. Tough for his offensive line. His internal clock tends to shut off on occasion. Nothing wrong with a checkdown sooner than later.
    Phenomenal year for a phenomenal talent. My only occasional gripe would be how long he sits at the top of his drop from time-to-time. Guys would come open cleaner if McCarthy (or Rodgers, don’t know the audibles) would use motion more to isolate matchups and give guys a clean release from scrimmage. Very stubborn in that respect.

    1. i agree with you 100 percent. i wish i had access to film of all 22 players. there are times when i find myself yelling “really!? there’s no one to throw to!? really!?”. the playoff loss to the giants was a perfect example. seemed like #12 had to (or at least thought he should) hold on to the ball for. ev. er.

      1. yup. i got caught reading one of your evals. i just can’t get enough packer info. i’m such a sucker.

          1. CSS, I totally agree with your analysis. A-Rod
            is a great talent, but could tweak a few things
            to be even better. Nothing wrong in taking
            checkdowns sooner. Brees does it, and it puts
            a lot of stress on the defense. And some of
            those checkdowns turn into big plays(see Grant
            vs Lions).

            Also agree with Chad about A-Rod’s playoff
            performance. It wasn’t as bad as a lot of people
            claimed. He missed a few passes sure, but his
            receivers did not help him out at all. His
            fumble was mostly on the blocking and the int.
            was in desperation time. Plus the Kuhn & Grant
            fumbles killed two drives and the Grant one set
            up NY for points. Not A-Rod’s best game, but not
            really that bad either.

            As for next year if A-Rod were to apply the things
            CSS stated, watch out the mesoshere’s the limit.

  2. sadly, have to disagree with playoff grade, if Aaron Rodgers plays well that day, Packers win, just my opinion, he’s the one guy who has to play well in a big game

    1. He overthrew 2 times (which his recievers would have dropped if the way they played all game is any indication) and fumbled once… Other than that he played like he had all year… Which is amazing.

      Disagree with your philosophy “if Aaron Rodgers plays well that day, Packers win.” If anything this game completely disproves your statement. Rodgers put the ball where it needed to be on 95% of the passes that weren’t caught. Football is a team game and the whole team needs to play well in a playoff game to win. His recievers had an extraordinarily bad drop rate. (I think close to 10 drops… and almost half at critical, game changing moments) I don’t know how you came to your conclusion that he didn’t play well and that’s why we lost but you really need to go watch that game again… actually watch the play by play don’t just look at stats and make a judgement off of that. I think you’ll come out singing a different tune.

      1. just my 2 cents worth, i really like the website and writers, even most of the comments are interesting and thought out compared to seemingly drunken crazy ranting at so many fan sites, maybe the Giants just match up well vs. Packers also. when the defense had consecutive 3 n outs in 3rd quarter, is when offense needed a couple TD’s and take the lead..future looks good , thanks for the great Packer coverage!!

        1. Thanks for the kind words, John. You’ve hit on exactly what I’m going for here – thought-provoking content and then intelligent and respectful discussion among fans.

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