Green Bay Packers: NFC North QB grades and rankings

1. Aaron Rodgers

The 33-year-old veteran’s impeccable instincts and exceptional physical skills once again allowed him to make plays that most other triggermen wouldn’t even dream of executing.

One can argue that the league hasn’t seen a player combine Rodgers’ arm strength, accuracy and athletic ability since the halcyon days of John Elway, who would go on to lead the Broncos to five Super Bowl appearances in the 1980s and 90s.

In fact, it wouldn’t be the most outrageous claim to vault Rodgers over the Mile-High legend, although No. 12 is way behind the Hall-of-Famer when it comes to trips to the big game.

But the one characteristic that made the 2-time MVP’s 2016 campaign one for the time capsule wasn’t his touch, field vision or running skills, nor was it his league-leading 40 touchdown passes.

Rather, it was his leadership in refusing to let his teammates wallow in their sorrows after a 4-6 start that had the Packers on the brink of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Outside of a couple of sub-par showings versus the Vikings and Cowboys early in the year, Rodgers made a strong case for picking up yet a third MVP trophy by overcoming the well-noted deficiencies of a defense that routinely made the Matt Barkleys of the world look like the second-coming of Kurt Warner circa 1999.

Adding insult to injury was Eddie Lacy’s season-ending injury that had the coaching staff scrambling for answers before coming to their senses and settling on Ty Montgomery as their feature ball carrier.

But it was during those weeks of uncertainty that Rodgers actually went on a four-week stretch which saw him lead the team in rushing by producing 163 yards and a touchdown from weeks 8 through 11.

Nothing speaks to the California native’s resilience better than his league-leading 98.3 passer rating against pressure.

Yeah, he might only have one Super-Bowl ring to date, but no one will ever doubt that Rodgers has the heart of a champion and is miles above anything else the NFC North can offer at the quarterback position.

Grade: A+

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