When we got Aaron Rodgers we all knew that this could had the potential to be good if not great. After watching him in his first pre-season and even maybe 2nd pre-season, I as a fan of Packs was a little worried that he wasn't going to pan out and was a little worried ... until the Cowboys game (don't know if you guys remember I'm sure you guys do !!!).

Now my questions ... who do you guys think helped AR develop to who he is now?

Did watching BF and learning from a HOF QB help AR develop or was it MM QB development that made AR into a good QB or a little of both?

In both cases what advantages did AR have, having MM as coach and BF as starter?

If AR was on another team assuming San Fran, Bills or anything else would he be as good?

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What has helped Rodgers the most I think is his worth ethic and tenacity to do things to the best of his ability.

What he learned from Brett was how to be a leader for a NFL team. I don't think he learned more about QB play than leadership from Brett.

McCarthy's school helped him because it provided him with resources to study to be a better QB.

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Certainly learning from Brett Favre helped. Not to say Favre taught Rodgers. I think it's safe to say he didn't go out of his way to teach him, but Rodgers got to watch film with Favre, practice with Favre, and observe him on the sidelines. That all helped.

I would attribute Mike McCarthy's coaching to Rodgers' development more than anything else though. It's like night and day. His first year under Mike Sherman, he really looked lost. You even saw signs of struggles in his first year under McCarthy. However, since that third year, he has really taken off. I remember the 07 preseason was when the signs begun to show. I was very impressed throughout those first four games. The Cowboys game was really the icing on the cake. It proved that the 07 preseason wasn't an apparition. At that moment, I felt he'd be pretty decent player and felt that way even going into 08.

With that said, I didn't think he'd be this good. He's exceeded expectations. You have to give him some credit. I don't think he would be as good without the situation he was in, but talent is talent. I don't think he would've been a bust had he landed in San Francisco or Cleveland for example.

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Of all the things that have helped him develop into an almost-elite QB after leaving college, the main contributing factor in my eyes was Mike McCarthy (I'm not disagreeing with Zero here, since of course it's up to the QB to make the most of it, but I am talking in terms of external influences). I found it very telling that McCarthy went on record to say that he made mistakes with the way he developed Alex Smith, and subsequently changed his methodology when developing Rodgers. I think that Cowboys game had a lot of people excited about the future, me included. I definitely felt the future was brighter after Rodgers put in a heck of a performance. I remember Collinsworth doubting Rodgers and from that first drive that night, proceeded to start proving to people that he was a NFL calibre QB.

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Rodgers has worked for EVERYTHING he has as an athlete...overlooked by major programs and taking the JC route, etc. He has earned everything he has attained. That said, hanging with our former QB, whose name shall not cross my lips, certainly paid benefits...in spite of the he-bitch cold shouldering him and declaring that he was not there to help his understudy's progress.

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I was actually very happy with Rodgers' early development. In his rookie preseason, he showed unexpected mobility and he put a lot of zip on the ball. In his second preseason, he put together two very good games out of four, which were strangely ignored by almost everyone. In his third preseason, he looked about as good as Favre.

As for who helped him develop, I think Zero summed it up nicely. Whereas Favre was influenced by Mike Holmgren in a very obvious way, mostly in terms of just becoming a student of the game, Rodgers seemed more serious when he came into the league. Favre had always been the big man on campus, so it was a letdown for him to come into the NFL and have to sit the bench as a rookie. But Rodgers had to be a scrapper all through his college years, so he was better prepared to fight his way up through the NFL ranks. Getting dissed by so many people on draft day put a little extra fire in his belly. But he had plenty already, I'm sure.

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See him move around and throw at Cal. Then check the Dallas game later in the vid. It's like night and day.

[youtube]N2FjnwY8mEs[/youtube]

I think that most of this is on McCarthy and Tom Clements. They did the exact same thing with Pizzotti's motion (before letting him go).

I attribute Rodgers' success to his hard work and dedication to his craft. Rodgers takes his job very seriously, and is always looking for ways to improve. He has worked very hard to get to where he is now.

While MM is a very smart offensive mind, I think he gets too much credit for being a quarterback guru.

Brett did most of his film watching on his laptop at his house.



How the heck did I miss that interview? lol, could you link me to it or provide information on how to locate it?

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Hmm, I was certain that something in that regard was mentioned, but I can't find anything. I'll have a look later. Perhaps I mistook what someone else said about how McCarthy acted rather than McCarthy himself saying it.

Here's the closest thing I've found so far:

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