Aaron Rodgers at Age 40

Edition #639

Good morning! ☕

Yesterday marked 100 days until the return of the NFL season, and considering this off-season has already gone on for so long, that’s a long time to wait to see what kind of team the Jets will have.

During training camp we’ll get into all the position battles, the depth chart, the ups and downs. Today I want to take a look at QB’s who played into their 40’s and how they performed.

🟢 I got sent a study by BetMassachusetts on which NFL stadiums were deemed the safest for fans and the Jets came in tied with the Green Bay Packers as the safest stadium in the NFL. Only Gillette Field in New England was deemed safer. At the other end of the spectrum Ford Field in Detroit is seen as the most dangerous and the NRG in Houston came in 31st.

⚪ It really is a beautiful thing when you have an offensive tackle listed inside the top 10 - Which is what the Jets have with Tyron Smith and PFF’s best OT’s heading into the season. Coming in at number 7 “Although he had to miss games due to injury, the 942 snaps he played in 2023 were the most he has played in a season since 2018. He was at his best in pass protection, earning a PFF pass-blocking grade of 89.3 that led all offensive tackles.”

🟢 Do you know what’s better than having one tackle on the list? Having two tackles on the list and inside the top 20. They had Morgan Moses listed at #18 - “The veteran played the best football of his career in his second season with the Ravens. His 80.4 PFF grade marked a career-high and led to the highest career ranking, as he finished 10th at the position. In addition, Moses also earned a career-high pass-blocking grade of 77.0, 21st among all offensive tackles.”

⚪ Where was Breece Hall on their list of top running backs? Sitting pretty at #7 and I fully expect him to be even higher once this season has concluded. “After suffering a torn ACL in his rookie season, Breece Hall responded with an excellent 2023 campaign. Hall rushed for 994 yards and five touchdowns on a decent 4.5-yard clip and showed little sign of any post-injury effects. His 82.4 grade was the ninth highest among all running backs, and he proved how good he was after contact. Hall averaged 3.43 yards after contact per rushing attempt, the sixth-highest figure at the position.”

When you think of QBs playing into their 40’s you probably think of Tom Brady and let’s be honest, as Jets fans we don’t really like thinking about Tom Brady too much.

But he is the poster boy for playing into your 40’s and if Aaron Rodgers can replicate or come close to replicating what Brady did, then the Jets are going places.

Brady won two Super Bowl rings, one MVP and took his team to the post-season in all 6 years, oh and that was split between two completely different teams as well.

He joined the Bucs ahead of the 2020 season and went on to have three seasons where he passed for over 4.5k yards and two seasons where he passed for over 40 touchdowns. He also had a 32-18 record while with Tampa, but it’s likely that he is the exception rather than the rule.

We know he had incredible success and begrudgingly I give him all the credit in the world. But who are some other QBs who played into their 40s and did they experience success or did father time catch up with them in a big way?

Drew Brees is probably the next name you think of and he played two seasons after his 40th birthday. He played 23 games over that period, so injuries certainly started to limit his ability but he had a 17-6 record in that timeframe.

He basically threw for 3,000 yards both years with 51 touchdowns to 10 interceptions, not a bad record by any means. New Orleans won two NFC South titles in the two years he played past 40, but they were quickly found out in the playoffs.