Steelers Now
When breaking in a new quarterback, there are always going to be questions. Make that a 41-year-old passer, about two years removed from a torn Achilles and who’s gone on the record to say this season will be his last, and it feels more like an interrogation. Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers are banking on Aaron Rodgers holding up.
The Volume’s John Middlekauff would wager against it.
“If I was a betting man, are they more likely to have Rodgers play 17 games and win 10 or 11 or, like, by midseason, it’s like, ‘I don’t think Rodgers is gonna make it through this season,’” Middlekauff said Monday on “The Colin Cowherd Podcast.” “It feels like that (second one). If you just base it on the history of sports, older guys usually get banged up.”
Last season with the New York Jets, Rodgers had his lowest completion percentage (63.0%) since 2019. His 90.5 passer rating was the most lackluster of his two-decade-long career and the Jets finished a measly 5-12. Middlekauff could see it unfolding the same way with the Steelers.
“If this gets ugly, it could get really ugly,” said Middlekauff, a former NFL scout. “How many 41-year-olds don’t get hurt in NFL history? I would say it’s a pretty small list. You know, (Tom) Brady. If you’ve comparing Brady, think about some of his contemporaries. Now, they had physical ailments. Brees’ shoulder, Roethlisberger’s (elbow), Peyton Manning that last year. (John) Elway had to say, ‘We’re gonna give you a month off.’
“Remember? It was, like, November. They were like, ‘You just sit for a month.’ And (Brock) Osweiler came in the year they won the Super Bowl.”
Middlekauff said Rodgers’ arm still has life, but his mobility isn’t what it once was. He noticed Rodgers dropping to the deck on some plays last year instead of trying to escape pressure. Especially because of the Achilles tear he suffered in 2023, Middlekauff termed Rodgers “a diminishing athlete.” Rodgers initially thought the injury would end his odyssey.
“He can’t get away as fast,” Middlekauff said. “All of a sudden, you turn a corner and some dude on the Ravens breaks a bone and you’re just out. Roll an ankle, well, it used to (be), ‘I wasn’t gonna miss a game because I was 30 years old.’ Now, it’s a little harder at 40. It’s harder for older players at other positions, let alone the quarterback.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Analyst: Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers Stint ‘Could Get Really Ugly’
