#2. Aaron Rodgers– Each team will always hit a rough patch during the season. It’s a long year and there will be some weeks when you perform well and then you won’t. The Green Bay Packers got off to a quick 4-2 start and then lost four games in a row. The questions started to come in: What’s wrong with the Packers and the biggest question of them all was have we seen the best of the quarterback? He was maybe to blame for some but not all because he can’t protect himself, he can’t run the ball and it truly was all on him. After the losing streak was snapped, he proved he still has his swagger and is still one of the very best at his position. I think you knew he was going to show up eventually and he’s been no stranger to this list at all. Last year, I received my share of criticisms for having him seventh on the list and everybody is entitled to their opinions. Aaron Rodgers returns to the top two and checks in as my second best player entering the 2017 season and my second ranked quarterback. Here’s a nice piece of advice: Don’t EVER count him out. He will make you eat your words and when everyone said he was done, he bounced back in a big way. The game in Philadelphia started the roll for the Green Bay Packers as they won their final six games and won the NFC North. This doesn’t happen without Aaron Rodgers. I’m amazed by him each and every season. We all know what he’s capable of doing. The pinpoint accuracy, the ability to buy time back in the pocket, the arm strength and his best attribute which is extending the play and making things happen with his feet. He has the best footwork of any quarterback that I’ve seen and it’s almost as if his feet don’t touch the ground when he’s on the field. He’s always elevated. He’s the “pro’s pro”. He has the confidence that when that ball leaves his hands, his receiver will catch it and it happens. He places the ball exactly to where only his receiver can get it. The pocket presence he shows is excellent. You rush him, he feels it, sees it, makes people miss and still keeps his eyes up the field, keeps the play alive and throws it. As a cornerback, you have to really watch him and stay with his receivers in coverage. When he’s in that pocket, he’s jumping up, down, side to side, around you all to avoid the pass rushers, moves back in the pocket, scrambles out once more and throws it down the field. There are two throws that really stand out to me from last season. The first one is the playoff game against the Giants. He had all day to throw the football, he heaved it up in the air and Randall Cobb came away with it. He threw perfectly to where the defender couldn’t even make a play on it. The next one is the pass he made against the Cowboys in the playoffs the following week. The Packers were facing a 3rd and 20 situations, he’s in the shotgun, he scrambles to his left, throws an absolute dart to Jared Cook. They needed 20 yards to convert, they get 36 all because of Rodgers. An honorable mention is a bomb he threw to Jordy Nelson against the Bears to get the Packers in field goal position. He’s the real deal and will continue to be featured on anybody’s ten best players list until he decides to stop playing. He’s already become his own legend and not the guy who came in after a legend retired.
