Where will Aaron Rodgers rank on the NFL's Top 100 Players of 2021 list?
The NFL's Top 100 players have already been named, with the exception of the best of the bunch: the top 10. Aaron Rodgers is among the various people yet to be named. He will undoubtedly feature in the top bracket and fans will be free to get acquainted with the cream of the crop in a two-hour special on Saturday, August 28, 2021, from 4 to 6 pm ET.
Ranking Aaron Rodgers in the top 10
The NFL's Top 100 Players are based on their performances over the 2020 season.
Looking at that and the players yet to feature in the Top 100, we can make a fair guess as to the rest of the bunch. The list will be dominated by the four quarterbacks who played in the championship games: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.
Thereafter, with six more places remaining, expect the likes of T.J. Watt, Derrick Henry and Davante Adams to feature.
However good a running back, wide receiver or linebacker is, the real superstars of the game are quarterbacks. Having a good quarterback can make a team and the lack of an elite signal-caller can ruin a franchise's chances. So it is a fair premise to say that Aaron Rodgers' competition will be with the three other quarterbacks.
Aaron Rodgers and the top of the quarterback ladder
Comparing Aaron Rodgers to the other QBs, the most obvious player he beats out is Josh Allen. Josh Allen finished behind him in the MVP rankings and went out at the same stage of the postseason as he did. Hence, it does not make sense if Allen is above Rodgers and we can say that the latter will be in the top three.
The calculation becomes slightly trickier after that. Both Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes reached the Super Bowl ahead of Aaron Rodgers. That, though, could be more a reflection of the team than it is of an individual, considering that, in terms of personal statistics, Aaron Rodgers was way ahead of the Super Bowl-featuring pair.
But when it mattered, Tom Brady outgunned him. Hence, Tom Brady should arguably be above Aaron Rodgers. While Patrick Mahomes also went to the Super Bowl, he never faced Aaron Rodgers on the way, and it's a coin toss over whether he would have beaten the NFL MVP. A more apt comparison would be the individual stats, which is where Aaron Rodgers wins out.
Overall, expect Tom Brady to head the list with Aaron Rodgers coming a close second and Patrick Mahomes rounding out the top three.