Aaron Rodgers: The Next Brett Favre or in Over His Head?

The surprise retirement of Brett Favre today has handed the reigns and fortunes of the Green Bay Packers squarely into the hands of Aaron Rodgers, the three year back up drafted in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft. Now there's no competition, and with a living legend gone, Rodgers has the tall task of keeping the Packers successful.

How will he fare? This is difficult to say. Aaron Rodgers definitely benefited from three years on the bench, as his first season in Green Bay he was so terrible in the preseason that there were even whispers of him being a bust coming out of preseason, as so many college quarterbacks coming from a spread gimmick system were. He was not well liked at all as a cocky kid who could talk, but not deliver.

A lot has changed in three years. Rodgers has worked hard to become a solid quarterback and earn the respect of his teammates. In preseason this year he finally looked like a starting NFL quarterback should, and in relief for an injured Favre against the Dallas Cowboys, Rodgers looked pretty good. He should have a good stable of wide receivers returning, and a solid running game with Ryan Grant.

So what has Packers fans nervous about Aaron Rodgers? One is arm strength. He doesn't have a very strong arm, and will not be able to stretch the field nearly as much. A lot of the Packers success this year was stretching the field and throwing the deep ball. Favre consistently put up huge numbers of touchdowns that were 20+ yards or even 40+ yards. If Rodgers can't stretch the field, then this offense gets really easy to bog down if the safeties sneak up.

Another concern is that Rodgers has been injured all three seasons with the Packers despite not starting, so how is he going to hold up over a sixteen game season? This should be a huge concern.

Aaron Rodgers also tends to scramble a lot, which can be good (Favre scrambled a lot as a young quarterback, as well), but what if a LB spies on him? Rodgers has only seen basic defenses so far, and the tape does show that he does not have a good sense of a pass rush, reminding some of Rob Johnson, a guy with the tools, but without the presence to be a full time NFL starter.

Rodgers is young, and a full season will help give everyone a better sense of what Rodgers strengths and weaknesses are. He will not be a Brett Favre - no one will ever be another Brett Favre, but Rodgers does have the tools to be a solid NFL quarterback if the offense is tailored to his strengths.

Is Aaron Rodgers ready to be a full time NFL starter? Only time will tell, but Rodgers is far better than he was three years ago, when long since cut QB Ingle Martin looked better in camp. Now the Packers have a new lead man, and while it's hard not to see Favre take center stage anymore, Packers fans had better support him, because like it or not your fortunes now rest with Aaron Rodgers.