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Sports Illustrated Places Jets' Aaron Rodgers among 'Top 10 Quarterbacks in the NFL Right Now'
Aaron Rodgers' new jersey number matches his ranking in Sports Illustrated's new Top 10 quarterbacks list.
SI scribe Matthew Verderame unveiled "The Top 10 Quarterbacks in the NFL Right Now, Ranked" on May 30. He tabbed the New York Jets' starter at No. 8 overall.
Meanwhile, Rodgers, who wore No. 12 during his 18-year Green Bay tenure, has switched to jersey No. 8, his college number at Cal, upon landing with the Jets, who have retired 12 in honor of Hall-of-Famer Joe Willie Namath.
In terms of his current standing in the NFL's quarterback hierarchy, the 39-year old Rodgers remains in the top quarter of the league. Remember, it was only two years ago that the future Hall-of-Famer secured back-to-back NFL MVP awards.
Now, reunited with former Packers' offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett in Green & White, Rodgers looks to make a Super Bowl run in a stacked AFC. Seven of the top-eight quarterbacks in the SI rankings, including Rodgers, compete for AFC teams.
Two-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes earned the No. 1 spot on Verderame's list. The Bengals' Joe Burrow was second followed by the Bills' Josh Allen at No. 3 overall.
Rodgers landed in between Baltimore's Lamar Jackson (No. 7) and the Rams' Matthew Stafford (No. 9).
From SI's "The Top 10 Quarterbacks...":
— 8 —
Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets
Rodgers is 39 years old but has won the MVP award in two of the past three seasons. The Jets are hoping to see Rodgers revert to his aforementioned form and not become an extension of last year, when he failed to throw for 300 yards in any game.
Still, Rodgers has elite talent and the résumé of a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The Jets also have ample talent around him, led by receivers Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard, along with second-year running back Breece Hall.
— Matthew Verderame
During three years in a Hackett offense (2019-21), Rodgers accounted for 111 TD passes and only 13 interceptions.
In 2022, the grizzled veteran, who totaled 3,695 yards through the air, connected on 26 scoring strikes and was picked off 12 times. Both numbers are better than the 1:1 TD-to-INT ratio that four Jets' quarterbacks combined for last season.
READ SI Fantasy's Fabiano Tabs Jets' Rookie RB as 'Deep Sleeper
When it comes to all-time NFL annals, Rodgers sits ninth overall in pass yards (59,055) and fifth in touchdown passes (475). He has a chance to surpass former Packer-turned-Jet Brett Favre (508) for fourth place on the TD list this fall.
Rodgers’ player prop season totals opened at 3,950.5 for pass yards and at 29.5 for TD passes, per FanDuel. The four-time NFL MVP has ten 4,000—yard seasons under his belt and connected on at least 30 TD passes eight times. The Jets have only one of each during their history. Namath threw for 4,007 yards in 14 games during the 1967 campaign while Ryan Fitzpatrick accounted for 31 TD passes in 2015.
In the MVP race, SI Sportsbook places Rodgers as the sixth-leading favorite at +1400.
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