We feel guilty even giving Aaron Rodgers haters a platform to spew their nonsense.
However, ESPN’s Cole Cubelic on Monday shared a stat about the Green Bay Packers quarterback that must be used in the fight against the NFL’s weirdest of fans.
No matter how great a QB is, the reality is they need great weapons around them to be successful. Yes, the Tom Bradys and Peyton Mannings of the world can make use of average wideouts and tight ends, but they still need players like Randy Moss and Reggie Wayne if they want to achieve higher levels of success. Speaking of Brady and Manning, the former has thrown 105 touchdown passes to first-round picks over the course of his career, while the latter connected with first-round picks for a staggering 293 touchdowns during his playing days.
Rodgers? He didn’t throw a TD pass to a first-round pick until 2019 when he connected with tight end Mercedes Lewis, whom the Jacksonville Jaguars selected in 2006.
Check out this wild stat from Cubelic:
This is inconceivable…
Career TD passes to 1st round picks:
Brees 104
Brady 105
P Manning 293
Favre 127
Marino 84
Rivers 35
*Rodgers 1
Roethlisberger 69*Marcedes Lewis 2019
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) April 27, 2020
Now, just because the Packers haven’t used first-round picks to develop dynamic offensive weapons doesn’t mean Rodgers has worked with trash his entire career. Players like Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams and Greg Jennings are nothing to snuff at.
Rather, Cubelic’s tweet illustrates the Packers’ incredible lack of aggression in surrounding Rodgers with top-flight talent. Many believed Green Bay would use this year’s receiver-rich draft as an opportunity to buck that trend, but instead, the franchise selected Rodgers’ possible successor.
So, before you go off and say something stupid like, “Aaron Rodgers is overrated,” perhaps consider the undeniable fact that you are wrong.
