New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers first learned about life in the NFL serving as Brett Favre's backup with the Green Bay Packers, and Rodgers later mentored current Green Bay starter Jordan Love for several seasons. Thus, Rodgers knows plenty about how much a young signal-caller can learn while sitting through at least a rookie campaign.
During a Tuesday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," Rodgers discussed whether or not teams should rush first-year quarterbacks into regular-season lineups.
"These guys are going to have to learn how to call a cadence," Rodgers said, as shared by Ryan Canfield of Fox News Digital. "They have to learn how to play under center. Reading a defense under center is different. Can’t just be in the (shot)gun all the time."
Stories about teams starting and/or sitting rookie quarterbacks generate headlines every summer. Future Hall of Famer Tom Brady sparked numerous sports-talk conversations when he somewhat controversially said before the season that he thought it was "just a tragedy that we’re forcing these rookies to play early" instead of letting young players first develop "at a higher level" as backups.
Shortly after the Carolina Panthers benched second-year quarterback Bryce Young, former NFL signal-caller Matt Leinart suggested that Carolina making Young a Week 1 rookie starter last September was "an organizational failure." It seems likely the Panthers will move on from Young next offseason.
"There is a transition," Rodgers continued, "and that’s why I think it’s important a lot of these guys sit if they are not NFL-ready just yet. And I’ve said this before. Top picks going to teams picking high are not one player away, usually."
Jayden Daniels enjoyed a breakout performance en route to guiding the Washington Commanders to an impressive 38-33 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night. As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Daniels as the betting favorite at +130 odds to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award for the season.
Assuming Daniels goes on to claim that honor as other rookie quarterbacks struggle, the ongoing campaign could offer reminders that there's no one right way to develop a first-year signal-caller. With that said, the trend of teams lacking patience and wanting to see rookie quarterbacks face live defenses in meaningful games probably isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
