With Aaron Rodgers, the Pittsburgh Steelers are getting a quarterback with a wealth of experience. His legacy speaks for itself, and he’s a player not many defenders want to play against. Former NFL cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie appeared on NFL Network’s The Insiders on Friday, and he spoke about the things that make Rodgers as good as he is.
“Guys always ask me who is the hardest quarterback, and I always say Aaron Rodgers because he throws his receivers open,” Rodgers-Cromartie said. “When the receiver have a step on you, with the speed I have, you gotta call it make-up speed. He’s not giving you a chance to make up. So I always tell people, there’s certain quarterbacks I just can’t play with, and he’s one of them.”
This is one thing the Steelers can count on going into the 2025 season. Looking at his game wholly, Rodgers definitely isn’t the same MVP-caliber quarterback of old. However, the part that’s deteriorated the most regarding his game is his agility, especially after his Achilles injury at the start of the 2023 season (although he does seem to be in good shape this year).
The good news is his arm still works just as well and he processes the game an elite level. Both of those things are needed to do what Rodgers-Cromartie is describing here. He mentions make-up speed. When some corners are a step behind their receiver, they rely on their speed to catch up. That can work when quarterbacks aren’t as accurate. Other corners intentionally stay adrift from their assignment, baiting quarterbacks while knowing they can get back to the ball quick enough.
With Aaron Rodgers, neither of those things will work. He’s still able to punish corners who lost a step on their man, and as Rodgers-Cromartie mentions, corners won’t even try to bait Rodgers.
Rodgers’ arm should open up a lot of things we haven’t seen from the Steelers’ offense in recent years. For example, throwing over the middle of the field. The Steelers always want to win the turnover battle, so it’s an area they typically avoid. When Justin Fields played at the start of last season, they didn’t target that area at all. Even with Russell Wilson back there, his height made it harder to read that aspect of the field.
With Aaron Rodgers and his accuracy, that could be something the Steelers look at more often. He likely won’t be leading the Steelers to the Super Bowl anytime soon, but it’s hard not to think the Steelers’ offense will open up more in general with Rodgers running the show.
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