Aaron Rodgers may not have signed in time for the start of voluntary OTAs or the initial install of Arthur Smith’s offense, but that doesn’t mean he’s behind. In fact, Rodgers may be more familiar with Smith’s system than most people realize.
During one of his MVP campaigns with the Packers, Rodgers studied and borrowed concepts from the Arthur Smith-led Titans offense featuring Ryan Tannehill.
“A couple years ago, I talked to Rodgers about how he basically invented that new offense with Matt LaFleur that won him an MVP and a lot of it was blind throws. And who did he study when he was looking at blind throws? Ryan Tannehill and Arthur Smith,” Kevin Clark said Friday via ESPN’s NFL Live. “That was how he understood how to hang in the pocket and trust that offense. And so I wonder if he goes back to that a little bit.”
Clark jokes that Arthur Smith should clip out the article he wrote about Rodgers studying his offense with Tannehill and pin it inside his locker this season. It might not be the best idea to take big shots in the pocket the way he once could at a younger age, but the Steelers can still borrow some of the same ideas that made him successful that season.
Rodgers told Clark that Tannehill was the best to ever do it when it comes to standing in the pocket and delivering blind throws.
Tannehill was not even a top-20 quarterback prior to working with Smith. All of a sudden he had his first Pro Bowl season with an impressive adjusted net yards per passing attempt figure of 8.52 and a passer rating of 117.5. He did it with a healthy dose of play-action and a deep level of buy in to the offense, trusting where receivers were going to be and delivering the ball on time and on target.
“I need to see a merging between Arthur Smith’s idea of offense and Aaron Rodgers’,” Clark said. “With Matt LaFleur in the MVP era, which I would call maybe 2019 t0 2021, it was Rodgers getting his back to the defense, play-action, understanding there were other ideas on offense that were not just Aaron Rodgers and Nate Hackett and Mike McCarthy. So I wanna see him buy into Arthur Smith.”
Prior to LaFleur becoming the Packers’ head coach, he was the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans for one year in 2018. That was immediately before Smith held that same job, but he was still on the coaching staff at that time as a TE coach. There are undoubtedly some things from LaFleur’s terminology and philosophy that Smith has borrowed or built on top of.
Steelers insider Mark Kaboly reported that he’s heard “rumblings” of Rodgers wanting to call his own plays. But reports also indicate that Rodgers and Smith have been in contact in recent weeks with talks including an exchange of ideas.
What balance they end up striking there remains to be seen, but Rodgers already has a level of familiarity–and respect–for Smith’s offense.
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