Aaron Rodgers seems to be a completely different person and teammate with the New York Jets than he was in the last few seasons with the Green Bay Packers. Instead of being publicly critical of young players, Rodgers is patient and complimentary to his new teammates in New York.
In recent weeks, Rodgers has made headlines more than once because he’s compared Jets wide receiver and 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson to his former number one target in Green Bay, current Las Vegas Raiders All-Pro Davante Adams.
The comparisons to his former Packers teammates have not stopped there.
New York Jets running back Breece Hall is on course to be ready for Week One after suffering a torn ACL midway through his rookie season last year. When reporters asked Rodgers about Hall, he said:
“[Hall’s] just a different speed … he hit 21 miles per hour and it just looked like he was cruising. We had a guy in Green Bay who had a similar running style .. he was super efficient, Ahman Green. When he was running, nobody ever really caught him and it didn’t look like he was going that fast. When you’re watching Breece, it might not look like he’s going that fast but nobody catches him.
“I love having him out there, he’s a smart guy. I’ve been testing him because he’s been out most of training camp. The first time he was in there I was messing with him because he’s always giving me, you know, guff, and ripping me about everything from my looks to my age to whatever. So I said, ‘alright, I’m going to test this young cat’. He was real sharp on all the adjustments and checkdowns and everything. I give him credit for that, he seems to be a pro.”
Ahman Green, of course, is the Packers’ all-time leading rusher. The four-time Pro Bowler played a total of three seasons with Rodgers. The first two were 2005 and 2006 when Rodgers was the backup to Hall of Famer Brett Favre. Green played for the Houston Texans in 2007 and 2008, but returned to Green Bay in 2009 for the final year of his NFL career.
Of course, by 2009 Rodgers was the starter. It was also during that season that Green passed Jim Taylor to become the Packers’ all-time leading rusher.
As far as the comparisons go, the Jets must hope that Hall will be as good as a prime Ahman Green, who rushed for 1,883 yards and 15 touchdowns in a season (2003). Combined with free agent signee Dalvin Cook, the Jets could have a pretty explosive backfield.
Unfortunately (at least for them) their offensive line is not that good. It will be interesting to see how effective Hall can be with one of the worst lines in the NFL.
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