Player: QB Aaron Rodgers
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: While weirdos like Pro Football Focus will downplay Aaron Rodgers’ Steelers debut, he unquestionably passed his first test. Put simply, he looked like a quarterback with whom they can win games. Maybe even games against top teams, and important games.
In his Steelers debut, Aaron Rodgers tossed four touchdown passes. That is the most touchdowns anyone has thrown in their first game with the franchise. Let’s hope things turn out better than Russell Wilson’s franchise yardage debut record, which culminated in a five-game losing streak to end the 2024 season.
Who knows exactly how the Steelers’ offseason plan at quarterback really unfolded. All we know is they waited on Aaron Rodgers, and he eventually signed. And we know that he looked pretty good—at a bare minimum, competent—in the season opener. And that was after not playing in the preseason and all that.
On the day, Rodgers went 22-of-30 for 244 yards with 4 touchdowns. While he didn’t throw an interception, a pass or two could have gone the wrong way. He also took four sacks, but he didn’t exactly look immobile. Amusingly, the various talking heads appear to be split on whether he can move in the pocket or not. The opinions tend to divide evenly based upon their overarching agenda. I’m not anticipating a bushel of Discount Doublechecks, but he can still navigate behind the line.
Anyway, the point is Aaron Rodgers answered some questions with his Week 1 play. Indeed, he played well enough that even the New York Post had to acknowledge his performance. After the Jets unceremoniously dumped him this offseason, he put up 34 points on them to their 32. And as you can imagine, the Steelers don’t win many games when the other team scores 32. They were 1-9 in such games in recent seasons prior to Sunday.
With regular season on the way and the roster in place, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of that change the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract. Oh, and they also traded some guy named George Pickens, which people found significant.
After a long offseason, we finally know what this Steelers team will look like for the 2025 season. The dust is long settled on both free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft, and now we’re into the real thing. What final moves might the team make, if any? They’ve certainly made a flurry of moves, though some question whether they make much difference. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
