Aaron Rodgers was a massive variable coming into the 2025 season. Through two games we’ve seen some great moments and some tough ones as well. To former NFL QB Dan Orlovsky, Rodgers’ level of play is already clear. And there isn’t a middle ground for the 21-year NFL veteran.
“If he gets the ball out now, he’s gonna be a top-five player in the league,” Orlovsky said Thursday on ESPN’s Get Up. “If he has to hold the ball, for let’s say two-and-a-half seconds, and [has] those moments of, ‘I don’t see anybody open, I don’t know if anybody’s open, my eyes are gonna drop because I don’t want to get hit,’ he’s gonna be a bottom-five player in the league. That’s just where he is right now.”
Rodgers’ mobility was a big question heading into the year, as he is in the second season removed from his Achilles injury. Compared to his start to the 2024 season, the difference is night and day. Rodgers has been able to run about as well as a 41-year-old can, and he actually may be relying on it too much. There’s been a few instances where his distrust of the line causes him to scramble out of the pocket with receivers open.
Aaron Rodgers knows as well as anybody else that he needs to protect himself. He can’t recover from injuries the same way anymore. If he’s being sacked multiple times a game, it’s going to take a toll. The problem starts with the offensive line, which isn’t giving him enough time to sit in the pocket and actually read the defense. That’s why a lot of the passing game has been quick, as the Steelers don’t have much of a choice to do anything else.
Orlovsky believes that’s the way to succeed with Rodgers.
“If you think, in all those clips, he’s gonna be a shotgun drop-back quarterback…If you’re gonna ask him to do that, that’s on you,” he said.
The Steelers would love to line up under center and pound the ball throughout the game. They just haven’t been able to do it. They ran the ball a little better against the Seahawks. Still, the Steelers haven’t had even a 50-yard rusher in either of their two games. Nobody has been a threat running the ball, making life much harder on Rodgers. It would also allow him to use play-action, something in which he excels.
When he has to sit in the pocket in obvious passing situations, life gets much harder for Aaron Rodgers. Arthur Smith did well to roll him out of the pocket on designed plays against New York. But those openings weren’t there last Sunday. We’ll see if Smith and Rodgers can get back to the success they had in the quick passing game in Week 1.
