The NFL season is surprisingly only a few months away and one of the questions that has popped up is how Aaron Rodgers will be able to do without wide receiver Davante Adams on the roster. The back-to-back NFL MVP contemplated retirement and leaving the Green Bay Packers entirely, so it will be interesting to see how he does without his best offensive weapon.
NFL lines have begun to pop up for Week 1 of the National Football League regular season and can tell us what they expect. Make sure to understand what they are telling us and make us prepared for the upcoming season.
What to Expect Out of Back-to-Back MVP Aaron Rodgers
The Green Bay Packers have been known for having elite quarterbacks with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers leading the way for the last 20+ seasons. However, this is the year that Rodgers can be the most susceptible as he is now without his favorite target in wide receiver Davante Adams as he was traded in the offseason to the Las Vegas Raiders. Rodgers has thrown for 85 touchdowns and just a remarkable nine interceptions in his previous two regular seasons, but a lot of throws went Adams’ way.
This is a bit unfair to look at but if you completely subtract what Adams did last season from Rodgers’ statistics, he finishes with just 2,562 yards with 26 touchdowns. That is nowhere near what an MVP statline would look like and it’s not an argument that Adams helped elongate Rodgers career. It’s not to say he is a pedestrian quarterback now, but he is nowhere near a MVP quarterback at this stage in his career.
Skill Position Players Need Improvement
Some wide receivers bring up the play of their quarterback, like Justin Jefferson has been doing for Kirk Cousins in Minnesota. However, the Packers do not have those quality receivers as they have a lot of second and third-tier wide receivers and do not have one that can put fear into the opposing defensive coordinators like Adams was able to. They have some good rookies with guys like Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs on the roster after being selected during this year’s NFL Draft and even though they have the ability to be at Adams’ levels they are not going to start there.
The wide receiver options on this roster do not have the ability to beat some solid cornerbacks with a core of Sammy Watkins, Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and the rookies so far on the roster, there does not seem to be players that can dominate a game with their elite route running or things of that sort. That makes life more difficult for Aaron Rodgers as he needs to step up even more and makes his job more difficult.
Luckily for the Green Bay team, the two divisions they face off against this season happens to be the AFC and NFC East divisions, so they are not facing off against the elite defensive teams throughout the regular season.
With the retirements of Frank Gore and Ryan Fitzpatrick, only one player from the 2005 draft is under contract in the NFL for the 2022 season. He’s the reigning back to back MVP @AaronRodgers12 pic.twitter.com/jG2coNZpUT
— trey wingo (@wingoz) June 3, 2022
Conclusion for Aaron Rodgers for 2022 Season
There is no sign for concern as last season’s MVP Aaron Rodgers is not going to fall off a cliff this season in terms of production. However, this is not going to be the same stats that we have come to expect from the previous two seasons. It happens to be a partnership and having a top-10, arguably top-5, wide receiver in the National Football League and that will cause a slight dip in production. Rodgers should still be viewed as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL but his MVP case is going to be a lot tougher.
This will be a huge chance for Rodgers to continue to prove that he is one of the best quarterbacks. This team is going to do very well during the regular season in lieu of the division not being up to par and their schedule, but this is not a year that Aaron Rodgers can just RELAX.