A 21-year veteran, Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers knows a thing or two, including how to weaponize his pre-snap cadence. An element typically overlooked or deprioritized, he has worked for years to craft a strategy to unsettle a defense. It takes added effort for the offense to be on the same page, but he believes he has the right center in Zach Frazier to handle it.
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Rodgers explained that he picked up cadence cues from watching Brett Favre. He played behind Favre for three years, learning what he could from the Hall of Famer. He adjusted and expanded along the way to suit his needs, and now he’s brought it to the Steelers.
“We’ve been doing it for a long time”, Rodgers said of his cadence. “There’s a rhythmic nature to it and also a non-rhythmic nature to it that is an important aspect of it. I would say being with a new team and with new players, the focus and the ability to lock in with cadence is some of the best I’ve seen for a training camp, especially being with a new group like this. That we are not having pre-snap issues on the cadence, especially with long counts, has been really impressive. I got to give credit to my saddlebag partner, Zach [Frazier], upfront”.
Last week, Zach Frazier spoke about adjusting to Aaron Rodgers’ cadence. “I don’t view it as a challenge”, the second-year center said. “I view it as we can use it as a weapon. He has a lot of different cadence, and if we can get them all down, that’s an advantage for us. Harder for the defense”.
Rodgers has been full of praise for Frazier. He said that he’s never had a center who called all the signals before, but he wants to steal some of that power from him. It’s as if Frazier is doing too much for Rodgers; he’s that good.
Of course, an effective cadence needs more than just the quarterback and center to be in rhythm. The entire offense has to be on the same page, because anybody jumping offside is a busted play. A complicated cadence introduces more ways for things to go wrong, but that’s the risk you take.
And when you have a quarterback with the experience of Aaron Rodgers, you trust that he knows what he’s talking about. There is also the element of his stature at play. Nobody wants to be the reason that his cadence results in a negative play. Everybody wants to be their best and not disappoint him.
Most of his teammates are young enough to have watched Rodgers growing up. He is 41, for example, and Frazier is 23—for a few more days, anyway. One hopes they’re long past the starstruck stage now, however. Rodgers is still working on breaking Frazier out of his shell, he said. But on the field, he knows he has the right man for the job, and so will the defenses the Steelers face.
