Colin Cowherd RANKS AFC QBs after Aaron Rodgers-Steelers signing | THE HERD NFL

Colin Cowherd reacts to Aaron Rodgers signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers and ranks him against other aging quarterbacks that switched teams like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson, and Cam Newton. Then he compares Rodgers to other AFC QBs like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and more.

#aaronrodgers #pittsburghsteelers #nfl

i want to start though Um I think people sometimes think I have something against Aaron Rogers and I I just don’t care Yet do I think I was the first media person like 9 10 years ago to talk about his body language and how he was increasingly playing safe and was too caught up in his passer rating and uh and and passive aggressive Yeah I did and I was right but that’s not going to affect my opinion about Pittsburgh I think he’ll be fine And I think he’ll miss a couple games I think he’ll go you know eight and nine and eight That’s fine But instead of that let’s just look at history of top older star quarterbacks past their prime when they have gone to a new environment There’s nine that come to mind I’m not talking Andy Dalton or Joe Flacco or Nick Fos I’m talking stars like Cam Newton Aaron Rogers So there’s nine that I would in recent history Tom Brady Payton Manning Matthew Stafford Philip Rivers went to Indie had a great year Aaron Rogers with the Jets Russell Wilson Kirk Cousins Matt Ryan and Cam Newton again So how did it work out for those nine well let’s put them in two camps One being successful Uh Brady won a Super Bowl Uh Stafford won a Super Bowl Pton Manning won a Super Bowl And Philip Rivers I’ll argue this all day had a great year in Indie He was 11 and5 97 passer rating that road playoff game against Buffalo where he threw for over 300 yards two touchdowns no picks He was great I mean Philip Rivers had a shockingly good year as last year in the NFL in Indianapolis Um and if you and you have the other camp the less successful camp and and that would include obviously uh Aaron Rogers with the Jets and Russell in Denver and Kirk Cousins in Atlanta and Matt Ryan with the Colts and Cam Newton with Bellich in New England What’s the common thread what’s the truth the truth is if you have a defensive coach as an old quarterback past your prime or an inexperienced coach it’s going to be turbulent It’s not going to be pretty And the reason being older quarterbacks they they need fit They can’t just bulldoze or or overwhelm you with talent Aaron Rogers in his prime or Cam Newton in their prime they could be off on their mechanics They could miss a read It just it just they’re like human erasers Once you get older fit matters Stafford needed he needed McVey Brady sought out Bruce Arens Uh Pton Manning had some success early with John Fox won a Super Bowl with Gary Kubak And again Philip Rivers had Frank Reich Now Matt Ryan’s tough because Matt Matt also had Frank but Matt was really done as a as a quarterback But if you start looking at it it’s pretty clear that the Steelers lost their left tackle their star back their best receiver and are completely tonedeaf on offense This is going to be hard This is a defensive coacher and a defensive head coach That’s what it is And by the way Arthur Smith the the coordinator six years in the NFL three as a head coach three as a coordinator one top 10 offense and the other five bad ugly ineffective So if you want to teach an old dog uh new tricks you need Cesar Milan You you need a you need an emotional behavior expert And that is not what Pittsburgh is That’s why I think older quarterbacks Pton Manning when he got Kubiaak or Stafford got McVey and even though Arens and Brady had their fights they came out after the by-week and Tampa didn’t lose again for the rest of the year Offensive coaches have a feel for offensive lines the playbook I mean Brady has has largely admitted they kind of laughed at Bellichc’s lack of knowledge about offense That’s not a shot at Mike Tomlin It’s a reality with defensive coaches So I I think it’s pretty clear it’s going to be pretty bumpy I think I’m doing Aaron a solid saying nine and eight My guess is it could be seven and 10 I think he will miss a couple of starts They have a great center but I don’t trust their O line Arthur Smith Mike Tomlin They’ve got a rookie running back they’re crossing their fingers on And here’s why Aaron chose the Steelers For my ego I don’t need it to keep playing Um a lot of decisions that I’ve made over my career and life from strictly the ego even if they turn out well are always unfulfilling but the decisions made from the soul are usually pretty fulfilling So this was a decision that was best for my soul And I felt like being here with Coach T and the guys they got here and the opportunity here was the best for me and and I’m excited to be here So um I I you know you know this that last year was a great not this past draft the one before was a great draft Most of those quarterbacks went to the NFC Jaden Daniels Michael Penn JJ McCarthy Caleb Williams Bo Knicks went to the AFC But the reason the AFC has been better than the NFC not necessarily just the Super Bowl but but overall is because the AFC for about a seven-year stretch kept hitting on quarterbacks and you know CJ Strad and Herbert and Burrow and Mahomes and Allen they just kept hitting and hitting and hitting on him So if the young NFC quarterbacks like Jaden Daniels and Caleb and Penn if they can hit in that draft a couple years ago it’ll even things out But right now the best quarterbacks in football are overwhelmingly in the AFC So now as Aaron Rogers goes from the Jets to the Steelers he stays in the AFC again with a defensive culture and a defensive head coach Um I I let’s just How good do we think he is compared to the other Now he’s past his prime he’s 41year-old Aaron with the other AFC quarterbacks Well I’ll just start it with this since 2022 and that includes the last year in Green Bay Aaron is not Gino Smith And I know you don’t want to hear that but if you told me I had a game to win I’d take Gino Gino right now moves He’s more mobile He’s pretty close to his prime though probably a bit out of the prime He has a better passer rating completion percentage much larger yards per game and he’s winning more games So and Gino is not in the upper tier of the AFC quarterbacks in my opinion though I think he’s a little undervalued But if if I went today and you told me best quarterbacks in the AFC and I mean maybe my order is not perfect or to your liking because I think Burrow last year honestly was the best quarterback I’d go Allen Mahomes Burrow Lamar that’s the big four nobody disputes I’d go Herbert CJ Strad and I put Gino seven And again when Gino has a run game in his career uh in Seattle he was good His passer rating is over 100 So we can make we can say now Gino’s Sam Darnold when he’s rattled or there’s pressure he can be reckless But if you give him time and you give him a decent run game Gino Smith’s pretty good quarterback He’s a B++ And I would put the eighth best quarterback Bo Nicks who’s going into year two with Shawn Peyton And I think Bo Nicks is so much more athletic than anybody wants to give him credit for His running is a huge element of that offense And then number nine I think you get Aaron Trevor Lawrence and Tua where it kind of just depends on the game I I don’t trust Tua in bad weather up north Trevor Lawrence makes too many mistakes Uh and and Aaron’s he is a pocket quarterback So that’s kind of what you’re looking at Can you make the playoffs with the ninth best quarterback in the AFC absolutely Especially if your defense is great But that’s kind of where he’s at right now He’s sort of in that Tua Trevor Lawrence Aaron Rogers I think that’s fair He’s 41 He’s a strictly a pocket quarterback and Arthur Smith six years coach and coordinators had one top 10 offense Remember the Steelers lost their best running back their left tackle and their best receiver No other team in the NFL had that kind of losses in offensive production