Guest Sores Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Looking bad early.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broncosn05 Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 "Fortunately, he won't have to come in here and play his first year," Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddy Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 my obsession - can you copy and paste the article. I'm too lazy to sign up...TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seminoles Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 (edited) "Fortunately, he won't have to come in here and play his first year," 844680[/snapback] you quote that a little out of context Edited June 17, 2005 by seminoles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 (edited) Rodgers not quite ready for primetime Rookie struggles at quarterback By ROB REISCHEL Special to Packer Plus Posted: June 16, 2005 Green Bay - When the San Francisco 49ers begin their season Sept. 11, it would be a shock if Alex Smith - the first overall pick in April's draft - wasn't their starting quarterback. When Green Bay begins its year that same day, Aaron Rodgers - the second quarterback chosen - stands virtually no chance of being the Packers' starter. Aaron Rodgers, standing in front of Brett Favre at minicamp, is way behind him on the depth chart at quarterback. Good thing. At Green Bay's recently concluded minicamp, Rodgers was erratic at best. The pinpoint accuracy and confidence he displayed at Cal were gone. Far too many of Rodgers' throws sailed high on him and he was indecisive in his reads. Even though Rodgers' struggles are par for the rookie course, the Packers seemed concerned. "Something is causing him to have his ball sail," offensive coordinator Tom Rossley said of Rodgers. "He's high on all of his throws. He's not really cutting loose, and he's not following through and finishing on the ball. I want to see him torque and throw the ball hard. I think then the ball will start coming out at a better trajectory." Rodgers, who posted impressive scores of 1,310 on his SAT's and 35 on the Wonderlic test, admits to being overwhelmed. "I did throw a lot of high balls," said Rodgers, who was taken with the 24th overall pick in the draft. "I've always said you throw from the ground up, from your feet up. And when you're not confident in your reads, you're late on stuff, you rush stuff, your feet are out of position and the ball goes high. And until I get my timing down on these plays, I will throw some high balls. "It was frustrating at times, especially early on. But like I said, my main goal this camp was to get better every day, and I really feel like I did that. I got a lot better mentally. Once I get that, the physical part will play into it." The Packers certainly hope so. But right now, Rodgers hasn't shown he'll be able to supplant Craig Nall as Brett Favre's backup in 2005. What had to concern the coaching staff more than anything was the accuracy - or lack thereof - Rodgers displayed in this camp. Rodgers, who left California after his junior season, completed 66.1% of his passes and set a Pac-10 record with a 1.95 career interception percentage. But in this camp, he consistently overshot his targets. "He knew what he was doing (at Cal)," Rossley said of Rodgers. "As he learns, his accuracy will get better. "The one thing we didn't see is the accuracy that we all saw in college. I think that that's just a part of being overloaded with the thinking. "He needs reps. When he first came here, individual drills, he was sharp and on top of his throws. As things started to run together a little bit, the motions and formations and progressions, his head was spinning a little bit." Rossley said the throws Rodgers was now being asked to make were consistently further downfield than the ones he made in college. Whether that's a factor in his struggles remains to be seen. For his part, though, Rodgers insists his problems can be directly attributed to being overloaded mentally. "There's so many words. It's just a foreign language right now," he said. "I'm translating it over from Cal. There's a lot of stuff on the quarterback in the offense and a lot of different reads. "It seems like it's a little more complex every day. But the more studying, the more time I have in this offense the better I'm going to be, the more the game's going to slow down and I'm going to start playing better." History has shown it takes most quarterbacks at least two years to master the West Coast offense. And early indications are that Rodgers won't be ahead of that curve. Rodgers says he's studying his playbook at least two hours a night. And he hopes to increase that total between now and the start of training camp. Rodgers' agent, Mike Sullivan, and the Packers have done very little with contract negotiations, to date. But assuming Rodgers is in training camp on time, he expects to be much sharper with the playbook and hopes to make a run at being Favre's backup. "My IQ's pretty high and I am picking it up pretty fast," Rodgers said. "I think the coaches would say that as well. As far as calling the plays, that's getting better and every day I'm getting better at that. "I don't feel I'm playing terrible. But obviously I want to get better and I'm excited about doing that." The Packers are excited to see that, as well. For the time being, though, they're just happy not to be in a situation like San Francisco. "Fortunately, he won't have to come in here and play his first year," Rossley said. "There's another No. 1 pick in San Francisco and he's got to play this year. (Rodgers) has the luxury of falling back, watching Brett, learn, let these things keep sinking into his head where every play he doesn't have to think about. . . . We're going to try and zero him in and get him back to where he was in college with accuracy." Edited June 17, 2005 by piratesownninjas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 I'm not worried about him. He's got at least two years to sit, watch, and learn from one of the greatest leaders ever on a football field. He'll get the playbook down, and he'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexgaddis Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 He's a bust... the next Akili Smith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Little Bit Special Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 I'm not worried about him. He's got at least two years to sit, watch, and learn from one of the greatest leaders ever on a football field. He'll get the playbook down, and he'll be fine. 844858[/snapback] I'm not worried...yet. I'm hoping he shows improvement in training camp after he's had a while to study the playbook, but I won't start worrying unless he has the same problems in next years mini\training camp. I know they say it takes 3-years to learn the WC offense...blah blah blah. If you spend a 1st round pick on a QB, by his second season he should be a guy you can rely on as a backup at least. It would be nice if he could progress to the point of supplanting Nall/O'Sullivan this year, but if he hasn't done it by next season it may be time to worry. Personally, I hope he has to wait a while to get his chance to start, but I want that to be because he's sitting behind a HoFer not because he hasn't adjusted to the NFL yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sox Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 I'm sure Kyle Boller can give him some tips on improving his accuracy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Favreforlife Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 I'm sure Kyle Boller can give him some tips on improving his accuracy... 845069[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTen Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Looking bad early.... 844677[/snapback] Now he knows why so many teams passed on him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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