Rodgers fell because Mike McCarthy told the niners not to take Rodgers and to take Smith at #1. Rodgers actually did great in college and even gave USC a run for their money. Rodgers resume and talent in college is/was ten times better than Love.
Rodgers was not a project with potential, he was a projected first rounder and even #1 overall pick.
Originally Posted by: bboystyle
Holy revisionist history! Let's not forget that Aaron Rodgers was seen as the next "Jeff Tedford system" QB, following in the footsteps of Trent Dilfer, David Carr, Akili Smith, Joey Harrington and Kyle Boller - all of whom were busts. He had a tremendously high and awkward throwing motion, and was most definitely seen as a project in light of coming from a system and having throwing mechanics that were not sustainable for the NFL.
Then, in his first prolonged regular-season action in his second season (against the Patriots in 2006), Rodgers completed 4 of 12 passes for 32 yards, was sacked 3 times, rushed 2 times for 11 yards, and lost 1 fumble.
Put simply, you are giving way too much credit to Aaron Rodgers the prospect in hindsight.
Again, its not about him failing to come out and ball, its about the little things that he didnt do correctly(or couldnt do that ANY NFL QB should do) that im so low on him.
I honestly dont expect much from him even later down his career here....
Everyone was saying how perfect MLF system was for a QB like Love because he schemes to get players open on short routes. Love failed at that throwing behind and low and even shovel passes were a joke...
Originally Posted by: bboystyle
Love was good when given a clean pocket - completing 13 of 17 passes for 160 yards; he was atrocious when blitzed (completing 6 of 17 passes for 30 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT). If a QB has a clean pocket, I want him to complete his passes -- Love clearly did that. Also, there were instances when the running play came back towards Love's side, and Love actually ran back in to try and block someone. Those are definitely traits you want in a QB -- and many QB would shy away from contact where Love tried to initiate it to give his RBs a chance to gain more yards. I also saw Love become more poised as the game went on, something I want to see from young QBs. If you didn't see ANY things Love did well or things that showed he is a competitor with room to grow, then I'm left to wonder if you only listened to the game on radio or, for some reason, decided to watch the game with your eyes away from the tv.
If I told you before the game that the run/pass play calls would be 20 runs to 39 passes (I'm including the 5 rushing attempts as passing attempts where Love scrambled), despite a yards per carry for 5 yards and the Packers where within within a touchdown the entire game (assuming the Special Teams didn't give away 9 points), you'd have wondered WTF type of game plan LaFleur had installed.
Many times throughout the game I kept wondering if Love was being put in the best position to succeed. I'm glad LaFleur stepped up and clearly acknowledged he failed to put Jordan Love in the best position to succeed. It may not even be on LaFleur - he may have had a game plan based on Aaron's availability set prior to learning Aaron couldn't play and simply couldn't prepare and install a new game plan.
That said, one thing I'm left wondering is if Love's mechanics/fundamentals still need a lot of work. He shouldn't have been so inaccurate with many long shots and some of his deep passes floated, as if he wasn't getting his whole rhythm into the passes. I do wonder if he has an NFL arm on deep passes, but I have to assume LaFleur and Gute have seen that he does in practices. I was hoping for an epic performance from Love, and was disappointed. But I saw encouraging signs, and I will cut the kid some slack that last year's lack of pre-season and limited in-person work means this is really his freshman-type year. My super high optimism and expectations were really my own fault.
Would be really interested to see him play next week with a full week of prep and game plan more tailored to him. But if Rodgers can go, clearly you go with the generational talent at QB.
The NFL: Where Greg Jennings Happens.