Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is no longer among the top ten players in the National Football League.
Before you ready your pitchforks and torches to throw at this writer, this is not my own opinion. Even placing bias aside, Rodgers is easily one of the top FIVE players in the league. To suggest he’s not even in the top ten is ludicrous.
Well, that’s what this year’s NFL Network list of Top 100 NFL Players did. Rodgers ranked number 11 this year versus number six last year and. number one in 2012.
Normally lists like this mean absolutely nothing, but this list is voted on by other NFL players though who those players are and how many are surveyed has not been disclosed. The fact Rodgers ranks that low amongst even some of his peers is mind blowing.
Before going off on too much of a tangent, let’s try and see what those players were looking at when they placed Rodgers where he was. This is supposed to be a listing of the top players of 2014. So if those voters are basing their numbers off of 2013, then they are taking his collarbone injury into account. That makes some sense.
Then again it is a list for 2014, so the votes should be based on what they see Rodgers doing this coming season. Are they predicting a dip in performance because of all the new talent at wide receiver or could they possibly have concerns about Rodgers’ durability thanks to last season’s injury?
Also, Rodgers’ ranking isn’t the only anomaly on this list. The player ranked directly below Rodgers at number 12? JJ Watt of the Houston Texans.
Perhaps the players who voted just hate Wisconsin? Who knows?
Rodgers ranked as the fourth best quarterback on this year’s list with Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Tom Brady presumably ahead of him. Those are the top four quarterbacks in the league but is Rodgers really the lowest ranked of those four?
That’s another debate for another day.
That isn’t all the bad news for Rodgers, either. The fan vote portion of the list (which doesn’t count towards the list broadcast on NFL Network) had Rodgers ranked 14th. It’s amazing what one injury can do to a player’s reputation.
Thankfully for Packers fans, this news will probably leave Rodgers feeling slighted. When Rodgers feels slighted, he gets a chip on his shoulder and when he gets a chip on his shoulder, look out NFL.
Not too long ago, Rodgers did some media rounds and he mentioned how happy he was and how comfortable he was with his fame and his life and he sounded content. Many fans wondered how Rodgers would do without that perennial chip on the shoulder that propelled Rodgers into the league’s elite.
Well those fans will have to wonder no more. Consider that chip firmly back on the quarterback’s shoulder and that could mean great things are ahead for Rodgers, the Packers and their fans.
In the grand scheme of things, this list will have no impact on the 2014 season. It’s basically just filler material for fans to have something to discuss while waiting for training camp to open.
Still the fact remains that the players on this list are ranked by the opinion of their peers. Plenty will find motivation to either prove the voters right for their high ranking or wrong in ranking them so low.
For Rodgers, this could be the spark that pushes him to his second MVP season. Throw in the fact he was injured last season and some are picking the Bears to win the division and Rodgers isn’t lacking motivation at all for 2014.
As for Packers fans, buckle up. You probably don’t want to miss what Rodgers has in store for the Packers opponents this season.
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Kris Burke is a sports writer covering the Green Bay Packers for AllGreenBayPackers.com and WTMJ in Milwaukee. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) and his work has been linked to by sites such as National Football Post and CBSSports.com. Follow @KrisLBurke
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Thanks to all those who voted AR to position #11, thereby ensuring an absolutely gonzo 2014 season for him.
Chip, please.
Injuries are the only thing that will keep
Rogers from playing at the highest level,chip or no chip. he’s just that good.
I would much rather fly under the radar. The fact that Rodgers is a clean cut non murdering, non drug abuser, doesn’t have diarrhea of the mouth, etc… that is the true reason he isn’t ranked higher. The media whores have nothing on him so they do not like him and try to destroy his clean cut lifestyle. Sorry media whores, Rodgers is the best man on the field period.
Lack of post-season success by the Packers the last few years is only reason I can imagine for Rodgers’ slide in the rankings. And maybe losing half of last season due to an injury. But, the good news is, AROD is as good as ever, if not better, as he enters his prime years. And he’s surrounded by a solid OL and playmakers by land and air. One big post-season run and he’s #1 again. Will that happen? Only if TT/MM/DC can get the defense to perform like an actual NFL defense. Talk now is Perry and Worthy are not locks to make final 53. That would be a huge blow to the rebuilding program as they represent R1 and R2 picks a couple of years back. Both were square pegs in round holes and both have been injury plagued. Sound familiar? Jury still out on whether can draft defense and whether MM/DC are capable of coaching them up. With contract extensions for the brass in the air, it’s time for this defense to produce or we have no choice but to cut bait w TT/MM/DC et. al. To keep these guys when after 10 years they are still sucking air on defense and despite a huge draft investment on that side of the ball would be ludicrous, to out it mildly. Murphy better make these guys prove themselves this year rather than just rubber stamping long extensions for all and guaranteeing more of the same or worse. Packer fans need to keep the pressure on Murph to hold TT/MM/DCs’ feet to the fire. One flukey SB run 5 years ago is not enough to give these days 15 years at the helm.
I would be willing to bet that Perry and Worthy make the cut. Not that they deserve to, but there is no way in hell that TT’s ego would allow that. Just think TT had a guy playing on his team that probably wouldn’t make the grade on most High School teams. He thought he had a diamond in the rough. What he had was a big fat blob of buffalo dung called Marshall Newhouse. But yeah that TT knows talent when he smells it.
Really the stuff you two write…
It is fun to read, but isn’t sort of embarrassing? Do you try to learn anything new or do you just want to spout the same old tired mantra day after day?
Super Bowls are flukes huh? Guess you feel the same way about Drew Brees?
I would not call Newhouse a pile of dung. He did what he could do, which wasn’t as good as we would’ve liked, but the demonizing namecalling is over the top and uncalled for. He was as good a Packer as he could be, andnow we’ve moved on. show some class.
Dude, Newhouse caused a lot of injuries by missing blocks and watching defenders run by. That is sick to actually say that he was good.
When you say that “Newhouse caused a lot of injuries by missing blocks and watching defenders run by,” which injuries are you referring to? Please elaborate.
I’m not arguing in favor of Newhouse. I’m arguing against talking out of your butt.
Who cares. Rodgers and the offense as a whole will be one of the best units the NFL has seen in the past 20 years this year. Those players will have other ideas next year when ARod, Nelson, Cobb, Lacy, and Sitton are all in the top 25.
This season’s success will rise and fall on health and the (supposed) ascension of Burnett, HHCD, D Jones, B Jones, Perry, Boyd, and Hyde. If half those guys go from ineffective to quality starters and 2 or 3 make the jump to pro bowler, (yes this is quite possible) then GB becomes the super bowl favorite.
Peppers is an important addition to this defense. While many have said that Peppers is over the hill and can’t carry this defense, the bottom line is that–even if he’s not his former self–opponents will still need to account for him, and that will take some of the heat off CMIII.
Peppers doesn’t need to play at a Pro Bowl level, he just needs to be good enough to be accounted for in the opponent’s game planning. If he does that, you’ll see a jump in the quality of the defense regardless of the play behind him.
Rackings are just that rankings. Perseason rankings is like kissing your grandma. Makes news. I believe first that many writers don’t like the Packers. Maybe the colors, the championships we won or because we like beer and cheese. As of lately we prove ourselfs on the field of play. And we will again this year. We can look back at the end and see then where everyone is ranked. That’s what pays the bill. Pride and Glory is the Packer story.(not a night mare as some teams)
“…., he gets a chip on his shoulder and when he gets a chip on his shoulder, look out NFL.”
uhhh… about this chip on shoulder analogy; let’s not use that one. Because the last time Rodgers had a chip on the shoulder…he missed a lot of playing time. Try another one.
This makes as much sense as saying this..
http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/c2ieFAnGfw
Ya’ll motherf—ers need jesus!
Ask the Bears where Rodgers should rank as a player. Of course, if the Bears didn’t break his collar bone then the race likely wouldn’t have come down to the last game.
this is BS Rodgers has been THE BEST QB for some time these people should be checked for blindness!!!!!!!!!!
We need as many Packers doubters as possibleoout there. Keep feedin us! I’m lookin forward to the NFC Championship game against the 9ers. Redemption.
“The fan vote portion of the list (which doesn’t count towards the list broadcast on NFL Network) had Rodgers ranked 14th. It’s amazing what one injury can do to a player’s reputation.”
BOOO HOOO you ruined my FANTASY FOOTBALL last year … I HATE YOU! You now SUCK! LMAO (sheesh ….)
GOOD! Personally, I’m GLAD they voted this way! It just gives Rodgers another chip on his shoulder and something to prove. I don’t see the fact that we have rookie receivers coming in as any reason or excuse to think his production will fall off. Still have Nelson, Cobb and Boykin along with a solid running game … duhhhh!
This is a non-issue. It’s entirely irrelevant. Move on.
I did not see anything wrong with this ranking. If anything, Aaron Rodgers might be ranked a little better than he deserves, just based on his 2013 overall performance where he no doubt missed 7 games due to injury, but giving weight to the fact that he was outplayed by Colin Kaepernick in the wild card game at home. If you look back at the last few years, and since the time the Packers won the Super Bowl, they have underperformed quite a bit. In 2011, with a 15-1 record they got blasted by the Giants at home in the Divisional round – this was with a team which was stacked, so you have to wonder about Aaron Rodgers’ mindset, and whether there has been some overconfidence and maybe even cockiness about his abilities. I thought Michael Robinson had a really good read on this in the NFL video accompanying the article.
Common Packers! It is okay to be homeboys, but you got to take off the rose tinted glasses once in a while and take a look at the real world.
Rodgers played great in that 2011 playoff game. The receivers just dropped all of his passes. Football is, in contrast to many other sports, an emotional game of the moment. These players are still human beings. You can’t go to the tragic funeral of your OC’s son on Friday and turn the switch two days later into beast mode. Many of our players just couldn’t regain their concentration immediately after that tragedy. I’m actually amazed that Rodgers played as well as he did.