Aaron Rodgers Joins the Steelers: Impact & Expectations

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00:00Aaron Rodgers is now officially a Pittsburgh Steeler.

00:03What does it mean for a Steelers franchise?

00:06That, of course, they win a lot of football games.

00:08They can get to the opening round of the playoffs,

00:11but the Steelers have not won a playoff game since 2016,

00:14which was the last season.

00:16Pittsburgh even played in the AFC Championship game.

00:19DRS just ran through the schedule of Pittsburgh to start,

00:23going over that win total of 8.5.

00:25Donnie, I would not be surprised with Aaron Rodgers

00:28as their starting quarterback if the Steelers even won 10 games,

00:32if the Steelers even reached the postseason.

00:34What I do not expect to be the case is that Aaron Rodgers makes Pittsburgh

00:38a true conference contender in a difficult AFC.

00:43Now, we have kind of joked about Aaron Rodgers taking the mantle in the Steel City.

00:47There is no doubt that even as Aaron Rodgers' abilities have faded now

00:52into year 21 of his NFL career,

00:55at the tender age of 41 years old,

00:59he is not the quarterback that he once was.

01:01And yet, is he still better than Mason Rudolph?

01:04Yeah, I would say so.

01:05But just for some context, DRS,

01:08last year with the New York Jets,

01:10his only full season, of course, with Gang Green,

01:12he threw for 3,897 yards,

01:1628 touchdowns to 11 INTs.

01:19He started all 17 games,

01:21and the Jets went just 5-2.

01:23Aaron Rodgers has played two full decades in the NFL.

01:27He has played 14 years of at least starting 15 games in Green Bay,

01:32last year with New York as well.

01:34In only four of those 14 years,

01:37he's played at least 15 games.

01:40Aaron Rodgers missed out on the Pro Bowl.

01:42His first four years has started with the Pack in 2008,

01:462010 as well,

01:47his last year in Green Bay in 2022,

01:50and then last season with the New York Jets.

01:53Those were also the only four years of his NFL career, DRS.

01:56He has thrown double-digit interceptions

01:58in his 63% completion percentage a season ago with New York,

02:03the fourth lowest in his career.

02:06Is he a good quarterback still?

02:08I'd give you that.

02:10Is he above average?

02:12Sure.

02:12But is he trending more to mediocre than elite?

02:15Absolutely in my mind.

02:17And where does he figure in in this Pittsburgh offense?

02:19That's notorious for Mike Tomlin saying like,

02:21I don't want you to throw in the football.

02:22We're going to play good defense here.

02:23If we need offense,

02:24we might be able to steal it later in the game.

02:26He's not that type of quarterback.

02:27So he's going to come in and like,

02:27I can't change the play at the line of scrimmage.

02:29I live with that.

02:30And also,

02:30I'm interested to see the Aaron Rodgers effect too,

02:33because when he comes to town and goes,

02:34hmm,

02:35I love DK Metcalf,

02:36but I'm going to bring in three other wide receivers

02:37that were my best friends in the past

02:39and throw them a lot of footballs here.

02:40Does he get that in this?

02:41Or is this the end of the road?

02:43Like Aaron,

02:43you're going to do it our way or the highway,

02:45which I don't think is the case,

02:46which I get back to that notion of,

02:48if you were getting a really good team friendly deal,

02:51Aaron's a type that would be like,

02:52you know what?

02:52Slip this out.

02:53Pat McAfee,

02:54put this out for me.

02:55You won't believe the contract Aaron's going to sign,

02:57like basically playing for free,

02:58because he wants to prove how good he is in Pittsburgh,

03:00which again,

03:00I'm so intrigued by,

03:01Hey,

03:02Aaron Rodgers signed.

03:02And we always get those big time embedded reporters

03:05immediately out with the financial details of what this looks like.

03:08It's kind of funny that almost 24 hours from him being signed,

03:11we don't have any financial details of what this deal actually looks like,

03:15which we'll play into.

03:16But to your original point,

03:17they're a better team with Aaron Rodgers,

03:18because he's a better quarterback than what we saw last year from anything

03:21that they got from Justin Fields and,

03:23or let's just say Russell Wilson.

03:25But here's the issue.

03:26This isn't 34 year at Aaron Rodgers and forget about the skillset,

03:29right?

03:29He's 41 years old.

03:31He doesn't move that well.

03:32This is going to be played in Pittsburgh,

03:34windy conditions,

03:35cold conditions,

03:36a black and blue type division.

03:37He's going to take a lot of hits.

03:38So I don't know if he survives been 17 total games in the pocket and

03:43playing at a high level.

03:44If he does,

03:45sure.

03:45You're going to get good,

03:46solid quarterback play because he still has a pretty good arm.

03:48But the fact that he can't move in a new environment with a team with

03:51expectations,

03:52that's not even supposed to get the double digit wins.

03:54This wasn't a coronation saying we have the Superbowl team.

03:58Now we just need the quarterback and it's going to be paint by numbers.

04:00Like remember when Peyton Manning went to the Superbowl with no arm.

04:03That's because that Denver Broncos team was laid out on offense and

04:06defense and absolutely spectacular where he can use his mind games and

04:09sort of will his team,

04:10the victory Aaron Rogers can't do that with the Steelers.

04:12I'm worried about him making it through the season.

04:14Cause you know,

04:14this we're going to get those reports in week five and six.

04:17He's playing through a broken finger.

04:18He's playing through a separated shoulder.

04:20He's playing through a broken left pinky.

04:23We're going to get that here.

04:24He's going to get nicked up this year.

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