Ian Allan

If Aaron Rodgers is going to successfully replace Brett Favre – if he’s even going to last through a 16-game season – he needs to do a better job of getting rid of the football.

While he is a tough guy, the primary reason Favre was able to start a record 275 games in a row was his ability to get rid of the football. By not hanging onto the ball too long, he reduced the number of hits he took – giving him a better chance to stay healthy.

Favre last year, for example, was sacked (on average) once per every 37 pass plays. That came in just behind Drew Brees, who was the league leader (1 per 41). No surprise that both of those guys stayed healthy. The worst quarterback each year tends to finish down around a sack per every 7 pass plays; and those guys don’t stay healthy for long.

Now Rodgers hasn’t played much, but look at his numbers from his limited playing time in three preseasons and three regular seasons:

2005 PRESEASON
(sack per 7 plays) — 20-37-2-172, 6 sacks
2006 PRESEASON
(sack per 5 plays) —22-38-1-323, 9 sacks
2007 PRESEASON
(sack per 11 plays) — 37-59-0-382, 6 sacks

2005 REGULAR SEASON
(sack per 6 plays) — 9-16-1-65, 3 sacks
2006 REGULAR SEASON
(sack per 6 plays) — 6-15-0-46, 3 sacks
2007 REGULAR SEASON
(sack per 10 plays) — 20-28-0-218, 3 sacks

Also factor in that Rodgers is going to run a lot more often than Favre did. They’re not listed above, but he’s taken off on scrambles 28 times as a pro (that’s both in the exhibition games and in the regular season). That opens him up to even more potentially injuring hits. Unless he tailors his playing style to better protect his health, it will be hard for Rodgers to make it through a 16-game season.

—Ian Allan

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