ESPN Ranks Aaron Rodgers in His Rightful Place -- Among Top 5 QBs
Remember last month when we up in arms that former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers was not ranked among the top 10 quarterbacks by CBSSports.com and was not among the top 50 NFL players according to Pro Football Focus?
Well, ESPN.com set things straight by basing its rankings on opinions of people who should know: 50 NFL executives, coaches, scouts and players. According to The Spun report on ESPN's rankings, Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs ranks No. 1, Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks is No. 2, but next in line, at No. 3, is Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers' 36-year-old quarterback.
To be honest, that may be a spot or two higher than where we would have placed Rodgers, but it's certainly more appropriate than what CBSSports.com and Pro Football Focus suggested.
This ESPN ranking puts Rodgers ahead of the 2019 MVP Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints and Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
We noted in the earlier stories that Rodgers led the Packers to a berth in the NFC title game last season and still has the highest career passer rating in history. That should be enough to keep him among the top half-dozen quarterbacks in the league, even though his numbers did decline a bit in 2019. His touchdown-to-interception ratio of 26-to-4 was still among the best in the league last season.
The Spun noted this about Rodgers:
Aaron Rodgers earned the No. 3 spot on the power rankings despite a slight decline in his production this past season. To be fair, though, the future Hall of Famer was in his first year under Matt LaFleur’s system.
Here are ESPN's top 10 NFL quarterbacks heading into 2020:
1. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
2. Russell Wilson, Seahawks
3. Aaron Rodgers, Packers
4. Deshaun Watson, Texans
5. Drew Brees, Saints
6. Lamar Jackson, Ravens
7. Tom Brady, Buccaneers
8. Carson Wentz, Eagles
9. Dak Prescott, Cowboys
10. Matthew Stafford, Lions
.
It bears repeating that Rodgers got virtually no interest from colleges coming out of high school and considered a career in law before going to Butte Community College for one season. Cal coach Jeff Tedford came to a Butte workout to take a look at a tight end he was interested in recruiting, Garrett Cross, but while checking out Cross the Bears coach noticed the play of Butte's quarterback, some guy named Rodgers.
Rodgers only spent two years at Cal, but was the main cog in the Bears' rise to national prominence. And Rodgers is still annoyed by the tactics used by then-Texas coach Mack Brown to take a Rose Bowl berth away from the Golden Bears in 2004.
Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport
Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.
