Aaron Rodgers’ performance last season was an admirable bounce-back from an Achilles tear. However, it was a far cry from what he’s capable of.
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Despite earning some Comeback Player of the Year votes, anyone watching could tell Rodgers didn’t look like himself. His ball placement was off, his pocket presence felt unsteady, and his usual command of the offense seemed uncharacteristically shaky.
Now, a stat has surfaced that highlights just how wildly inaccurate he was throughout the season. For a four-time MVP, the bar is set much higher than for lesser mortals. Even so, the numbers paint an even worse picture than what was apparent on tape.
Rodgers ranked 34th out of 36 qualifying quarterbacks (per NFL journalist Greg Rosenthal) in Completion Percentage Over Expected (CPOE). That’s a staggering drop for someone known for his pinpoint accuracy.
“The most surprising part in Aaron Rodgers’ tape from last season was how consistently inaccurate he was. 34th/36th in Completion Percentage over Expected ahead of only Cooper Rush and Anthony Richardson. Sailed his targets all season and it never improved,” Rosenthal wrote.
It is quite surprising and uncharacteristic of Rodgers. He finished completing 63% of his passes, which ranks among the lowest in his career. It’s also a bit below his career 65% average. But Rodgers should maybe even be looked at as the worst on this list because of the sample size.
Cooper Rush only started eight games, completing 60% of his passes. Anthony Richardson, meanwhile, started just 11 games but posted a dreadful 47% completion rate. This is why Richardson may be the clear outlier, but this isn’t the kind of company Rodgers wants to be in.
And, expectedly, the Reddit community is having a field day with cheeky jibes. They reacted to this stat by drawing a connection to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are favored to sign Rodgers. The Steelers also have a history of bringing in inaccurate quarterbacks. Case in point: their gamble on Russell Wilson last year. While his 63.7% completion rate wasn’t terrible, it was only slightly better than Rodgers’.
“Sounds like a Steeler QB to me,” one user wrote, while someone reacted to the comment, saying, “Russell Wilson always ranks high in that stat tho, he was 6th last year.”
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Others simply trolled Rodgers for being washed: “Yeah he’s washed. He was one of the worst QBs by EPA/QBR etc etc. This should not be surprising for a QB who will turn 42 during the season.”
Another was even more blunt: “Dude is old and washed.”
The fact of the matter is that Rodgers is not as good as he used to be. But that doesn’t mean he can’t reignite some sort of flame if he gets put into the right situation. To be perfectly honest, the Vikings would’ve been that.
Kevin O’Connell has now turned four different QBs into viable options for his offense in three seasons. Last year, it was Sam Darnold. But now, the team has made it clear they want to roll with their second-year QB, JJ McCarthy, who is coming back from an injury in his rookie year.
All that said, the Steelers have little choice but to take Rodgers at this point. If they don’t, their alternatives are drafting a rookie or rolling with Mason Rudolph. And surely, Mike Tomlin isn’t about to risk his non-losing season streak on either of those options.
