QBs of our 2012 Packers

By Caleb Wahlgren

We are going to take a look at each of the Quarterback's on the Green Bay Packers individually.  Give them each a grade and then an overall grade for the QB group that the Packers have.

QB
B.J. Coleman-#9, Rookie-Chattanooga
(6'3" 231 lb)

BJ Coleman had his best season at Chattanooga during the 2010 season where he was able to throw for 26 touchdowns and ran for 4 touchdowns. He injured his throwing shoulder during his Senior season and this is the only injury he has had during his career. He had 6 300+ passing games in his career. B.J. Coleman was playing in mostly a pro-style offense at Chattanooga so it will be interesting whether or not the 7th round pick will be able to make the roster.  It seems like there should be not too much to expect from Coleman other than they wanted to ensure that Harrell would be prepared to step it up a notch in training camp.  Grade: D-

Graham Harrell-#6, 1 year in the NFL-Texas Tech
(6'2" 215 lb)

Harrell might be the most interesting backup in the NFL this season. He is more of an enigma then most backup quarterbacks in the NFL. During his only preseason appearances Harrell threw for 287 yards with 2 TD’s and 1 INT, and his QB rating was 75.7. He played almost exclusively out of the shotgun at Texas Tech. During his Senior season he finished fourth in the Heisman running.   He was an All-Academic Big 12 first team selection for 3 seasons and had a 4.0 GPA during his Senior season.  Despite his success in college, he went undrafted and spent his first professional season in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  As far as backup quarterbacks go, it is very tough to figure out why the Packers simply went with Harrell as their number two when their top quarterback has had injury problems in the past.  They apparently decided not to trade a draft pick for Colt McCoy after the Browns drafted Brandon Weeden.  Clearly they trust Harrell more then it seems like they should given that there are so many backup quarterbacks out there with actual NFL game experience.  They did decide to let Matt Flynn go and sign with the Seahawks as well.  But the Packers have always let the backups go elsewhere and develop the talent that remained.  Our last backup to go to Seattle is Matt Hasselbeck, and the Packers were fine then.  Grade: D+

Aaron Rodgers-#12, 8 years in the NFL-California
(6'2" 225 lb)

In his 4 seasons as the starter of the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers has thrown for 17,037 yards and has 131 TD's to 37 INT's in the regular season.  He is extremely accurate and then is a dual threat with 16 rushing TD's.  None of this includes his postseason play, where he has gone to the postseason 3 times and has a 4-2 W-L record in the postseason.  Everyone knows that Aaron Rodgers was highly sought after in the 2005 NFL draft where it could be either himself or Alex Smith taken at the #1 overall position.  The Packers were fortunate to draft him at #24 overall to be the then backup to Brett Favre.  We all know exactly what happened to him before his first starting season with the Favre drama of 2008.  Rodgers is a 2x Pro-Bowler, 2011 NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP, and last year he was ridiculously efficient with 45 TD's and only 6 INT's while the Packers went 15-1.  What is there to say other then we all know and love Aaron Rodgers and he is widely considered one of the top three quarterbacks in the league by everyone who evaluates that position.  The only worry I have about Rodgers is his health.  He had 2 concussions two years ago, 1 against the Lions and Redskins.  But he has been staying healthy and our O-Line is protecting him well now.  Is there any doubt about this one?  Grade: A+

It is tough to give an overall grade to a position where only one person is sure to play at a time.  But I think that it is clear that the Packers trust Aaron Rodgers and that trust has yet to be misplaced in his 4 years as starter of the team we love.  I am going to give our quarterback class an A+ grade, because even with our backup situation and no experience behind Rodgers, virtually every team in the NFL would love to trade their quarterbacks for ours.  Rodgers is 5 years younger then both Brees and Brady.  We could easily be watching Rodgers play as our quarterback into the 2022 NFL season, something that you cannot say about the other great quarterbacks playing in the NFL today.

Go Packers!