Path to Preseason: Can Rodgers reclaim ‘elite QB’ status?

After he played just four snaps as the Jets’ quarterback last season and was forced to miss the rest of the season recovering from an Achilles injury. Is this the season Aaron Rodgers reclaims his role as an elite QB? Dave Naylor, Davis Sanchez and Bryan Hayes discuss in Monday’s Path to Preseason.

joined by Davis Sanchez and TSN overdrive host Brian Hayes and guys Aaron Rodgers has dominated the headlines despite only playing four snaps in his debut season with the New York Jets due to an Achilles tear I remember it well I was sitting in the stadium when it happened now Rogers is only a couple of Seasons removed from winning back-to-back NFL MVPs but he’s now 40 years old coming off a major injury hasn’t played football in about a year and a half chz do you believe he can once again become an elite NFL quarterback yeah he’ll come into Camp as an elite quarterback he is an elite quarterback I guess the question that everyone’s going to want to know is how has he recover from that injury at that age you you said it Dave and achilles uh 40 years old this team looking at the Jets overall top five roster in the NFL so the ceiling for the Jets I would say top three if it if the ceiling of this Jets team that’s where they stand when you look at the overall a top three defense and offense when healthy H can be as good as anybody the question is a tackling Tyron Smith who’s 33 and has a history of injuries you have the right tackle Moses just came over he’s penil in right now who knows who starts there uh again he’s been a backup a lot of his career so if those guys are not healthy Aaron Rogers has no chance and I actually look at Aaron Rogers coming off that injury how many 40-year-olds coming off I’m not that optimistic I’m not that optimistic I think there’s a number of things going against this guy right now his age the Achilles injury I mean that’s a catastrophic injury right he also has no history on the field with this Jets team I know he’s showing up at mini camps not mandatory camps but he shows up at mini camps this guy’s Uber talented I have all the time in the world for the grind you guys know this he could have retired walked right into the Hall of Fame number retired in Lambo that’s going to happen anyway probably top 10 quarterback all time so I love the story I want to see him get back there but he played Four snaps last year and let’s not forget the second half of the year before wasn’t that great for Aaron Rogers it was not Elite he showed foret the last we seen him he was not great it was not great at Lambo field and Green Bay down the stretch they didn’t make the playoffs his ratings went down he started throwing more interceptions I think there’s way too much going against this guy for him to get back to Elite status you know and I agree with you and I you talk about a 40-year-old coming off an injury let’s just talk about 40-year-old quarterbacks in the NFL sometimes we can get you know seduced by seeing the exception becoming the rule we watch Tom Brady play till his mid-40s besides Tom Brady 40-year-old quarterbacks with any measure of respect of success yeah uh Brees yeah Warren Moon Brett Favre sorta you know and after that you’re into Vinnie test aity territory like this is not a well-worn path and let me add this as well the question of his health and his Mobility which is is something Aaron Rogers has been great that’s part of what he does is moving around and making plays we forget about that from six seven years ago but the fact that the offensive line is the biggest question and the fact that he’s coming off that injury will lack Mobility he’s a Sitting Duck in the pocket high ceiling but the floor for this team uh is as low as as as a lot as a top bottom third team if they’re not healthy he will show Elite flashes he’s so talented he’s so good he will show it but Elite status to me means we’re talking all the way through the season we’re talking a guy who’s chasing MVPs and I don’t see it happening and we’re also maybe we’re bearing the lead because of the team he plays for I don’t really trust Robert Salah I don’t really trust Nathaniel Hackett I know he has history with him but I don’t love his coordinator I don’t love his coach the team it’s all it’s filled with self-inflicted wounds that’s their history he’s going against a lot in New York to say nothing of the injury and the possible offensive line issues as well I just think it’s such an uphill battle for Aaron Rogers Well much has to happen right I agree too much has to happen right for this guy to be elite this year well and Elite means you know you’re comparable with Josh Allen with Lamar Jackson with Joe burrow I mean that’s what Elite is and Patrick Mahomes in the AFC and if you’re going to get into that conversation thing I wonder about since the Jets are a team that does have you know a top five defense certainly they’re going to play in a lot of low-scoring games so you know this may not be Aron Rogers chucking the ball over the all over the field like we saw in Green Bay and that’s one of the other questions I have is that you know if they just want him to be a bit more of a game manager because that’s what this calls for can he do that I’m not sure he can because again the great Aaron Rogers is still there he knows what he’s capable of he’s got an ego right he’s got an ego and he wants to prove all of us wrong this would be an incredible story I’m not rooting against it I would love to see this comeback I think it’d be incredibly cool but I don’t think you can ask Aaron Rogers to be a game manager I just don’t see it happening I agree the realistic path to success is Aaron Rogers being a game manager yeah we’ll see if they not he can actually pull that off and whether the jets are in position to ask him to pull it off the Jets have not made the National Football League playoffs for 13 Seasons that is the longest route in the NFL they’re hoping Aaron Rodgers can end that