Aaron Rodgers is one of the modern era’s greatest quarterbacks, and that’s never been much of a secret. Rodgers has won two NFL MVPs in his 13-year NFL career with the Green Bay Packers (10 as a starter), a Super Bowl, and a Super Bowl MVP. He’s been to the playoffs in all but two seasons of his career and carried teams who probably wouldn’t deserve to sniff the postseason all the way to the NFC Championship. Even so, despite his consistently great statistics and numerous accolades, Rodgers is still not considered a top 10 quarterback of all-time by many. Here’s why people should start thinking otherwise.
The Case for Aaron Rodgers as a Top 10 All-Time Quarterback
From a statistical standpoint, Rodgers is by far one of the greatest to ever play the quarterback position. Rodgers is the NFL’s all-time leader in touchdown-to-interception ratio, with 4.01 touchdowns for every interception that he throws. Crazy, right? What’s even crazier is that the number two on that list, Tom Brady, trails Rodgers by nearly a full touchdown at 3.05 touchdowns for every interception. Not only that, but Rodgers is also the career leader for lowest interception percentage at 1.6 percent, meaning that only 1.6 percent of his career pass attempts have ever been intercepted. Simply put, Rodgers is statistically the best quarterback in NFL history at taking care of the ball and limiting turnovers, which is a highly valued trait for a quarterback to have.
Touchdown-to-interception ratio is not the only statistical category that Rodgers blows his competition out of the water in. Rodgers holds the NFL record for career passer rating at 103.8. The second player on the list, Russell Wilson, trails Rodgers by a full five points at 98.8. For comparison, the gap between Wilson and number 10 on that list is 5.1 points, meaning that the gap between Rodgers and number two is about as big as the gap between number two and number 10. He also holds the NFL record for passer rating in a single season, putting up a 122.5 rating in 15 games during the 2011 season that saw him pass for 4,643 yards, 45 touchdowns, and just six interceptions.
How Rodgers Stacks Up Versus All-Time Greats
Currently, Rodgers has 313 career touchdown passes, which ranks him 10th on the all-time list. Not including seasons that he has missed significant time due to injury (2013 and 2017), Rodgers has averaged about 34.8 touchdowns a season, which rounds to 35. Assuming he stays healthy and plays until he’s at least 40 while averaging around 35 touchdowns a season, as he’s stated that his ultimate goal was to be indispensable to the Green Bay organization into his 40s, he would finish his career with around 523 touchdowns. If he plays beyond 40, he could finish with even more.
523 touchdowns would put him at number two on the current all-time list, behind only Peyton Manning and ahead of his former mentor Brett Favre. If he’s able to finish out his career the way he desires, he would come very close to breaking the current all-time touchdown pass record. Of course, it’s a tall task to continue the level of production that he’s had in the past as he grows older but just look at the numbers Tom Brady has put up last year, his first since turning 40. It could happen.
Rodgers currently has 38,502 passing yards in his career, good for 20th on the all-time list. Again, not including seasons that he has missed significant time (2013 and 2017), he has averaged about 4,245 yards a season. Assuming he stays healthy through an age 40 season while averaging close to 4,245 yards a season, he would finish with nearly 64,000 yards passing, which would put him at number five on the all-time list, ahead of players such as Dan Marino, Ben Roethlisberger, and John Elway.
It’s Not Just The Statistics, Though
Rodgers currently has very impressive statistics that rank up with some of the all-time greats and will assuredly rank ahead of many when all is said and done, and he holds some of the most impressive records in NFL history to go along with it. But it’s not just the statistics that prove how great Rodgers is. Simply watching him play the game is astounding to watch. No other quarterback in NFL history has been able to combine the mobility Rodgers possesses with the arm talent, accuracy, and football IQ that he also possesses.
Rodgers’ Attributes a Winning Combination
A great example of Rodgers combining these attributes to come up big for his team would be the game-winning drive he led at Dallas in Week Five of last season. Down three points with just 1:13 to go, Rodgers started the drive with a quick out route to Davante Adams on the sideline for a first down, then another quick throw to Martellus Bennett, who broke through the defense for another first down. Facing a third and eight with 29 seconds to play on the Dallas 31, Rodgers stepped up in the pocket and high-stepped past two Cowboys defenders for the first down to keep the drive alive, showcasing his world-class mobility.
On the following 1st and 10, Rodgers floated a pass for Adams in the end zone that was broken up, only for him to go back to the exact same play on second and 10, only this time putting it right on the back shoulder of Adams for the touchdown and the 35-31 victory. It wasn’t only the impressive throw that makes the play so incredible. It’s also the fact that Rodgers knew exactly what went wrong on the previous play and decided to run the same play over again, putting the ball in the perfect spot for his receiver to make the play. That sequence proves just how great Rodgers’s football I.Q. is.
Last Word
Taking everything into account, it’s hard to imagine finding 10 quarterbacks in the history of the NFL that play the position better than Rodgers. As proven by his statistics, he is the best to ever do it when it comes to limiting turnovers, and his passer rating is reflective of that. He’s on pace to shatter many NFL records and put himself among the pantheon of greats when it comes to total passing yards and touchdowns. His otherworldly mobility, arm strength, football I.Q. and accuracy are unmatched by many current quarterbacks and many past greats. Even if you don’t consider Aaron Rodgers a top 10 all-time quarterback now, it’s safe to assume that someday, you will. And someday maybe sooner rather than later.
