Aaron Rodgers is set to make his Steelers debut this weekend, and he’s excited by what they’ve built around him. They’re not loaded with “name” players on offense, outside of tight end, but he likes the group he has. On Wednesday, he explained what has him excited about the offense he’s leading into the regular season:
There’s so many different guys that can do a lot of different things. There’s little guys who can run around and make plays inside and outside. You’ve got four very capable tight ends, you’ve got three very capable backs. You’ve got a really, really freaking smart center—who loves to correct me. And his backup loves to correct the quarterbacks even more. He usually goes after Mason [Rudolph], but Ryan [McCollum] definitely—it’s some smart players right down the middle of the offense.
Rodgers and Frazier, the Steelers’ second-year center, have already built a strong relationship. For Rodgers, it’s almost as if his center is too smart, taking over some of the responsibilities he wants for himself. But that’s a “problem” he’ll take 10 times out of 10—and twice on Sundays, as the saying goes. And he seems to have that twice if his comments about McCollum are anything to go by.
Another player Rodgers has praised multiple times now is Connor Heyward, one of the least popular players on the roster. He talked about the philosophy of the West Coast offense having intelligent football players down the middle, including a fullback. Fos his purposes, Heyward fits in that category, as does Frazier, of course. “I think we’ve got the right guys down the middle, and a lot of guys who can do a lot of unique things”.
There is hardly a player upon whom Aaron Rodgers hasn’t lavished praised this offseason, admittedly. I could cite comments about Darnell Washington and Scotty Miller, for example, or Roman Wilson, or Kenenth Gainwell. At some point, you have to question his sincerity, just based on the odds of everyone being great. But there’s no law against being a good teammate, and he has been that.
That’s easy to do in the offseason, though, and less so when you start playing—and losing—actual games. We’ll see how much Aaron Rodgers loves the offense if it’s scoring under 20 points per game heading into the bye week. One hopes it doesn’t come to that, of course, but it’s certainly a possibility. If the going gets tough, how will he and his teammates handle it?
