x
  1. Home
  2.  News

O-Line May Be Key to Whether 39 y.o. QB Aaron Rogers Can Excel for Jets This Season

TGIF: Thank God It’s Football (Season). We can forget about the desultory Yankees and the pitiful Mets and turn our attention to tour two highly promising football teams. We are offering previews of the Giants and Jets. And our resident sports columnist thinks good things are in store for both teams. After the Jets preseason victory over the Giants, in which Rogers started and tossed a TD pass, he predicts one team will finish 11-6 and the other 10-7.

| 28 Aug 2023 | 11:18
    Aaron Rogers in his years with Green Bay was a four time MVP but some experts say the key to the Jets season this year will be how well the Jets offensive line can protect a QB who will be turning 40 in December. Photo: Mike Morbeck, Wikimedia Commons
    Aaron Rogers in his years with Green Bay was a four time MVP but some experts say the key to the Jets season this year will be how well the Jets offensive line can protect a QB who will be turning 40 in December. Photo: Mike Morbeck, Wikimedia Commons
    Aaron Rogers, who is trading his Green Bay Number “12” to take number “8” in new season with Jets, has made his new team the most talked about in the offseason. In a little over a week, the Jets will have to start delivering on the preseason hype. Photo: Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons
    Aaron Rogers, who is trading his Green Bay Number “12” to take number “8” in new season with Jets, has made his new team the most talked about in the offseason. In a little over a week, the Jets will have to start delivering on the preseason hype. Photo: Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons

Will the Offensive Line Be Able to Block for Aaron Rogers?

The New York Jets are the National Football League’s “it” team this season. Trading for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the four-time Most Valuable Player and sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer, will do that.

Even if Rodgers proves to be money in the bank for this franchise, whose last Hall of Fame quarterback was Joe Namath, there are numerous worrisome question marks dogging the Jets–issues that even a glitzy spot on HBO’s series “Hard Knocks” cannot cover up.

The most important doubt involves Rodgers–that is, can the Jets offensive line protect him? There are whispers that Rodgers, who will turn 40 years of age on Dec. 2, may be feeling the effects of his advanced football age and that he is at a point now where he is especially vulnerable to injuries and slower to roar back after a game. For now, Rodgers appears to be ready for the season. The persistent thumb injury that plagued him in 2022 should not be a problem.

The Jets have a glamorous team, but will the fans’ expectations translate into a position in the post-season? The Jets last won their one and only Super Bowl on Jan. 12, 1969. How long ago was that? Consider that Lyndon Johnson was still U.S, President (granted, for only one more week). The Beatles had just released The White Album. The Woodstock Festival and man landing on the moon were months away from taking place.

As great as Rodgers is, he, too, carries some baggage. The haters shout that he Cannot Win the Big One, for Rodgers “only” won a single Super Bowl championship, for the 2010-11 season, as the leader of the Green Bay Packers, where he played since the 2005 season.

Plus, the Jets have to contend with a challenging regular-season schedule. Since the team plays in the AFC East division, it must play two games each against the Buffalo Bills, winners of the past three division championships, the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins.

The Pats’ dominance over the Jets is a big worry. The Patriots owned the Jets when Tom Brady was the quarterback. Even after Brady departed the Patriots before the start of the 2020 season, the Pats have bullied the Jets. The Jets accumulated a total of TWO yards when the teams played last November at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.

Quarterbacks are the most important players on an NFL roster. Rodgers’ backup is Zach Wilson, a prospect which terrifies most Jets fans.

Wilson was so terrible that he was often benched in his young Jets career, despite being taken as the second player in the 2021 draft. If Rodgers had to miss snaps and Wilson was called in to replace him, Jets fans feel as if they’d have to wave a white flag.

Still, the Jets have a lot to look forward to. Coach Robert Saleh has won the respect of the demanding New York media. Rookie defensive back “Sauce” Gardner was a standout in his rookie season. So was wide receiver Garrett Wilson. The pair were widely acknowledged to be the best rookies last season in the entire NFL. Plus, the Jets added Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, two of Rodgers’ favorite receivers from his Packers days. Rodgers will be able to relax a bit at the prospect of seeing familiar faces in the huddle.

Befitting the Jets’ new status as a genuine glamour team, the NFL slotted the squad in its showy Monday Night game to open the season – at home, against the Buffalo Bills.

The game will tell a lot about the Jets. Any kind of a loss will immediately dampen fans’ enthusiasm and put added pressure on Rodgers, the savior.

But if the Jets can defeat the perennially tough Bills, the team will rise to a new exalted status. I predict the Jets will improve and make the playoffs. I can envision a record of 10-7, which should put them over the top. Rodgers knows how to win–during the regular season, at least.

Now, when the Jets face the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert–all established AFC quarterbacks in their own right – the Jets won’t be at an immediate disadvantage.

As long as Aaron Rodgers can stay upright, the Jets will always have a chance.