The Pittsburgh Steelers took a gamble last year on aging veteran Russell Wilson. After some fleeting success, the experiment quickly fizzled. But that disappointment didn’t stop them from doubling down—this time on an even older quarterback. Aaron Rodgers had already won a Super Bowl before Wilson even entered the league. Yet the Steelers are once again hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with a future Hall of Famer in the twilight of his career.
CBS Sports reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala is convinced that Rodgers will provide much better quarterback play than Wilson ever did for Pittsburgh.
“You will still get dozens of times better quarterback play out of Aaron Rodgers than you got last year out of Russell Wilson,” she said via 93.7 The Fan’s PM Team.
Wilson’s biggest downfall throughout his career has been his reliance on mobility. When he was at his best, he could escape what looked like certain sacks and either take off running himself or find someone downfield after the play broke down. With fading mobility, his options were limited, and his inability to utilize the middle of the field really started to show.
Mobility has also been a big part of Rodgers’ game historically, but he still has the intermediate accuracy and zip that Wilson never had. His game has aged more gracefully as a result. And he’s learned to minimize the necessity to move around with his quick release. Wilson still held onto the ball way too long despite his diminished athleticism.
In a pre-production meeting with Kinkhabwala’s crew late in the season, Rodgers detailed his recovery.
“He got better as the season went on last year, and he was further removed from that Achilles injury,” she said. “He talked about that with us when we had him later in the season. That’s always been a piece. Being able to move a little bit has been a piece of his game, and it just feels so much better for him knowing that he can.”
Over his final five games, Rodgers completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 1,270 yards, nine TDs, and three INTs, including a Week 18 win over the Miami Dolphins on the playoff bubble.
An Achilles injury can take well over a full year before a player feels 100 percent, and Rodgers dealt with various other injuries along the way last season. By the end of the year, he was moving around a lot better. ESPN analyst Louis Riddick noted this morning that Rodgers was moving around better at the Steelers’ minicamp than he did at any point with the Jets last season.
“Dozens of times better” is obviously a bit hyperbolic. Wilson was able to go 6-5 in the regular season, so any noticeable improvement should put the Steelers in a very competitive position in both the AFC North and the NFL as a whole.
