Quarterback: Aaron Rodgers? I made a joke last year by listing Jordan Love in this spot. A tongue-in-cheek needling to Packers fans. But now I kind of feel bad about that. Sort of like when you’re golfing with your buddies and your pal puts one 3 feet from the pin on a Par 3, and you remark, “Nice par.” Next thing you know, dude’s putt lips out and he does get a par. And while you find the whole thing hilarious, you have to feel a little bit bad that you jinxed him. That’s where we stand with Rodgers right now.
Rodgers is one of the best quarterbacks to ever do it. At age 37, he’s still playing at an MVP level, as evidenced by, you know, being the reigning MVP. But this current situation has to be unnerving to Packers fans who have lived through this with Brett Favre. Seriously, how could this have happened again? Team president Mark Murphy was kind of a newbie during the Favre thing, so any miscues on his end were understandable. And hey: Rodgers taking over worked out pretty well for the Pack. But how does Murphy allow it to get like this with No. 12, fresh off what could be considered his best individual season yet? I’m not saying that you need to let your quarterback make all of the personnel decisions, but throw him a bone. When you have an all-time QB, keep him happy. Because when you don’t have an all-time QB — remember, I’m a Bears fan — life is a bit tougher.
Rodgers, who didn’t report to the team’s mandatory minicamp last week, has openly expressed his discontent with the Packers and direction of the organization. He’s done a run as the host of Jeopardy! He’d rather spend time with Bryson DeChambeau, of all people.
So, I don’t know. The Bears fan in me would love to see Rodgers sit out the season. The Bears fan in me has also been burned by Rodgers showing up at the last minute and torching us. So I might be a bit biased here.
Projected 2021 MVP: David Bakhtiari, left tackle. I listed Bakhtiari last year in this space, and again, I apologize for how accurate I was. Bakhtiari was the most valuable player on the Packers last season — after Rodgers, of course. Bakhtiari suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice at the end of December, a development which obviously had a huge impact on the Packers’ offensive line. A lot of Green Bay fans will tell you it was the one thing keeping the Pack from the Super Bowl. His return is vital to this team. No matter who the quarterback is.
