Two years after the Brett Favre debacle, Green Bay has successfully transitioned from one All-Pro quarterback to another. Rodgers, 26, enters his third season as Green Bay's starting quarterback. He guided them back to the playoffs last year. He made his first Pro Bowl. This year, the Packers' signal caller should be the top quarterback drafted in all leagues.
Rodgers has spent five years learning head coach Mike McCarthy's quarterback-friendly offense. He has shown improvement in each of the last two years. His 2010 final stats: 4,434 passing yards (fourth in the NFL), 30 passing touchdowns (fourth) and seven interceptions (tied for second fewest).
A-Rod consensus No. 1 QB
Between Rodgers and Brees, passing yardage is probably a push. Passing TDs could slightly favor the vet, but Rodgers makes up for it with his legs. The Cal product ran for 316 yards and five touchdowns last year. He scored four times on the ground in '08. Brees has just three rushing touchdowns since joining the Saints in 2006.
Few teams can match New Orleans' offense. Green Bay is one of them. Ryan Grant is a good lead back, and they have five solid options in the receiving game: Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, James Jones, Jordy Nelson, Jermichael Finley. Their offensive line showed marked improvement in the second half last year, and they spent a first-round draft pick on tackle Bryan Bulaga.
A minor quibble: Rodgers is younger, bigger and could be hungrier after coming up short in the playoffs last year. He has shown the ability to make adjustments on the fly (example, holding on to the ball too long last year). Brees turned 31 earlier this year, is smaller and is coming off a Super Bowl season. Will he have the same fire?
Closing argument: It's tough to go wrong with either of these quarterbacks. While we don't recommend burning a pick early in a draft on either, if they do slide, Rodgers has to be the choice. Full disclosure: I'm a Green Bay fan. Both likely will finish 1-2 in the year-end fantasy points standings, but with his rushing stats, Rodgers has a better shot at ending the year on top.
While most fantasy owners are drooling over Rodgers, some are opting for Brees as the top fantasy passer in 2010 drafts. While I understand the selection of Rodgers, I'll make a case for Brees.
He completed a career-best 70.6 percent of his passes in 2009, which is insane by the way. Brees is the general of a high-powered offense, much like Rodgers is, but the Purdue product tossed four more touchdown passes than Rodgers did in 27 fewer attempts in only 15 games last year. Some point to Rodgers' five rushing scores in '09, which combined with his 30 TD passes was still one less than Brees' total number of touchdowns.
Brees threw for 4,388 yards and 34 touchdowns a year ago, one in which he attempted (514) his lowest number of attempts as the Saints' starter in four years. His efficiency went through the roof last year. Rodgers' career best accuracy rate was 64.7 percent, last season, which would be the second worst of Brees' career as a Saint.
High upside and steady play
No quarterback has topped Brees when it comes to pushing the ball downfield - he has eclipsed 8.0 average yards per attempt in three of his four seasons with New Orleans, including a career-best 8.5 yards per throw last season.
While Green Bay's line improved dramatically last year, their offensive tackles are ancient, and their top backup is a rookie. Rodgers has been sacked 84 times in his last 32 regular-season starts. Brees: 36 times. Rodgers has shown to be durable the past two years and play through pain, but it's hard to forget the memories of him being constantly hurt in his early years.
Brees has a longer history of performing at an elite level. No matter how well Rodgers does in the cold and snow of Lambeau Field, Brees has the luxury of playing at least half of his games indoors.
Closing argument: I can't fault anyone for drafting Rodgers ahead of Brees. That's obvious to most, but if you're looking for the comfort of having history on your side, Brees should be your man.
Not a fair comparison, when these two guys actually throw the ball they do it in very similar not too hard but just fast enough and very accurate way, they both like the spread the ball around. However they make other decisions differently. Brees is a smaller man with less physical force, and does not run in TDS, for every 400 yards Brees gets on Rodgers, Rodgers gets multiple rushing yards half the time in the red zone. Its true Rodgers has a slight edge on receivers THIS year but with these guys thats not totally relevant, they could get the ball to a crippled person if they were in line of sight. But even if Rodgers has a better receiver core, Brees works his offensive line much much harder because they have to open lanes for him because he has far less vision than Rodgers, thats a fact. So Rodgers is easier on an O line than Brees is, you really have to cater to Brees far more than you would for Rodgers due to physical realities, its not a knock on the guy just his personal reality. You will see the O line of the Saints running split traps up front far more than you will with GB. Two similar QBs who are not totally alike though. Honestly in my mind Brees, Brady and Rodgers are the best QBs in football right now. Thats including the Manning interception throwing machine.
Bryce McRae
Bryce McRae is a Managing Editor with KFFL and has been involved in fantasy sports since 1999. He joined KFFL as a volunteer writer in March 2005 before becoming a Hot off the Wire Analyst in March 2006. He began working in his current capacity in September 2008. His work has appeared on fantasy sports sites such as Yahoo! and CBS Sportsline as well as in print. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2008 with a B.A. in History and U.S. Studies.
Author Bio
Cory J. Bonini
Cory J. Bonini is a senior editor at KFFL. In late 2002, Bonini joined the KFFL staff as a research analyst. He vaulted himself into one of the industry's leading fantasy analysts.
Bonini has been involved in fantasy sports since 1996. A member of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association as well as Fantasy Sports Writers Association, he has been featured in print, on the radio and is also a published writer on scores of sites. Bonini co-hosted Big Lead Sports on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio from 2011 to 2012.
Bonini was recognized with the 2010 Best Article in Print Award from the FSWA and was a finalist for the same award in 2011. In '11, he finished first overall in the FSWA NFL experts challenge that featured 60 of the industry's best competitors.
