Aaron Rodgers Injury Shows Packers Need Backup Plan For 2014

The Packers entered 2013 with their chips pushed into the middle of the table, going all in with Aaron Rodgers. There’s nothing wrong with that. Rodgers is one of the top five quarterbacks in the league. However, pushing your chips into the middle of the table under these circumstances also means that you literally have no backup plan, and if Rodgers gets hurt, you are in big trouble.

Well guess what Packers fans, Rodgers got hurt, and the team is in big trouble. Had this happened two years ago, the last three games might have gone much differently. Two years ago, the Packers had the best backup plan in the league, Matt Flynn. At that point in time, Flynn was in his fourth year in the Packers system, was fully developed, was a hard worker, and could execute Mike McCarthy’s game plan in a similar way to that of which Rodgers executes it, as shown by his two starts, the one in the Super Bowl season on the road in New England, and the one in the final game of 2011 at home against Detroit. In the Lions game, he set a Packers records for touchdown passes and passing yards. Had this happened two years ago, the Packers would probably have won all three of these games.

You might be saying “Flynn is back in a Packers uniform right now and knows the system well. Why shouldn’t he play?” Please take a moment to remember that this is already his third team of the 2013 regular season. He probably can’t remember which playbook belongs to which team at this point. Yes, he did have past success in Green Bay, but he would probably fail massively if he had to play right now. 

Finding A Backup For Aaron Rodgers In 2014

So who should be Rodgers backup for the long haul? For starters, let’s take Flynn off that list. Flynn has been in too many places and has developed too many bad habits at this point to be worth much of anything long term. So what about Tolzien? So far, Tolzien has played both good and bad. Let’s see how he does next week with a second straight full week of practice, and game film to learn from.

If not Tolzien, this upcoming draft is deep in quarterbacks, not just starters but developmental projects as well. One that we like is Logan Thomas of Virginia Tech. Thomas was once a top of the first round draft choice, but overall play and team play have dropped him all the way down the last three rounds of the draft. The talent is still there, and the Packers coaches may be just the people to get it out of him.

The Packers need to make sure (beginning next season,) they have a better backup plan going forward, because if Rodgers gets hurt again, they can’t do this again.