NFL: Can Aaron Rodgers win MVP award for third time on the bounce?

Aaron Rodgers was crowned reigning back-to-back MVP after having the ‘best season’ of his NFL career thanks to the help of psychedelic drug ayahuasca and now he could be targeting a third on the bounce.

The feat has only been achieved by his Green Bay predecessor, Brett Favre, and should he achieve a fifth MVP Rodgers would match the all-time high for the Associated Press award currently owned by Peyton Manning.

The potential history and records are of course sentimental and important to bear in mind ahead of the new season but it is the Super Bowl that Rodgers will be targeting more than anything. 

However, with a coveted second Super Bowl win in his sights he will need to deliver a signature stellar performance in the run through late January and February to secure that long-awaited shot which could go hand-in-hand with his MVP chances. 

It is no secret the clock is ticking on Rodgers’s career. He is approaching 39 and with talk of retirement being mooted by the man himself, this season could present a last-ditch attempt at matching Manning and Favre’s records before the sand in his football hourglass runs out.

Rodgers has not shied away from retirement talk and it appears his career is running on a season-to-season basis but he remains committed to this term. 

Reigning back-to-back MVP Aaron Rodgers is targeting a third on the bounce this season

Rodgers, 38, revealed on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast that his past use of psychedelic drugs improved his mental health, and ultimately led him to the ‘best season’ of his NFL career

With any season potentially his last, he will surely be focused on giving his everything to the campaign and admitted that a championship would be the perfect way to sign off on a stellar career.

The Packers quarterback won his second straight AP MVP award after a standout 2021 season

‘I’ve never been one to want some sort of going-away season or anything like that,’ Rodgers said during minicamp. 

‘I don’t think it’s fair to the mental state at the end of the season and thinking how you feel. 

‘If you say I’m for sure playing two more, three years and then you have a magical season that ends with a championship and think that that might be the best way to ride off, I don’t want to commit to something. 

‘You say I’m only playing one more year and you have a bitter taste in your mouth and still got the drive and the passion to play one or two more years, I just don’t want to get pigeonholed into it. So, I’m focused on this season.’ 

Despite all this talk of retirement, you have to look pretty hard to find any signs of aging in Rodgers’ game. 

He is coming off the back of a stand-out season with 13 games of multiple touchdown passes and zero interceptions, breaking his own NFL record of 11 games, which he tied in 2020. 

He also posted a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 9.25 – the seventh-best in NFL history – and pipped by his own sixth-place 9.60 from the previous year. The ratio means he now owns six of the top 12 seasons of all-time. 

Despite nearing the  age of 39, there a barely any signs of aging in the Green Bay star’s game 

Remarkably, the 2021 season was the weakest MVP-winning season by Rodgers’ standards. 

He recorded 343/502 passes, 68.3 per cent completion, 4,643 passing yards, 45 passing TDs, six INTs, 122.5 passer rating – the current NFL record – in 2011 when he first won the award. 

Followed by 341/520 passes, 65.6 per cent completion, 4,381 passing yards, 38 passing TDs, five INTs, 112.2 passer rating in 2014 and 372/526 passes, 70.7 per cent completion, 4,299 passing yards, 48 passing TDs, five INTs, 121.5 passer rating in 2020. 

Rodgers will have to adjust to the loss of Davante Adams (right) this season

However, Rodgers finds himself at a slight disadvantage heading into the season as he must spend training camp adjusting to the loss of Davante Adams and account for the departure of free agent Marquez Valdes-Scantling. 

Rodgers himself admitted that he was disappointed at Adams’s departure and it will be interesting to see the affect it could have on the quarterback’s numbers in the coming season. 

‘I love Davante, so I would say I was obviously disappointed,’ Rodgers confessed.

‘I wish him, like, truly wish him well. You know, sometimes you wish people well and you’re like, “Ehhhhh.” But I truly wish Davante well. 

‘I love him like a brother and I appreciate everything we accomplished together. (Just) disappointed we couldn’t finish together.’

The star wideout set franchise records for receptions with 123 and receiving yards 1553 in a single season in 2021. 

The loss of Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders has led to a lot of reshuffling in the wide receiver room.

The Green Bay Packers traded wide receiver Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders back in March

Although Rodgers will have to break in a new host of receivers, he is not without options. 

Fourth-year veteran Allen Lazard seems like a safe bet and is projected to take over the WR1 role, while Pro-Bowler Randall Cobb could also provide a reliable option for Rodgers, possibly grabbing the WR2 position.

But rookies Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs’s development could change up the Packers’ passing game, while Green Bay remain very bullish on the improvement of Amari Rodgers, despite a disappointing rookie season. 

Fourth-year veteran Allen Lazard seems like a safe bet and is projected to take over the role

Fourth-round Doubs in particular has impressed during training camp, earning rare praise from the man himself. 

‘Every single day… there’s been at least one kind of “wow” play for him,’ Rodgers told reporters. 

‘And that’s kind of rare for a young guy like that.’

Second-round receiver Watson has been sidelined for he entirety of training camp after offseason knee injury but cornerback Jaire Alexander also believed he will get up to scratch once healthy.   

Romeo Doubs has impressed coaches and Rodgers himself in his rookie training camp

Rodgers’s offseason of discontent and tumultuous relationship with general manager Brian Gutekunst must feel like ancient history now and his frustration with the franchise appears to be behind him. 

Although he has insisted he will not play a single preseason game, it is not out of the ordinary for Rodgers as he hasn’t taken a preseason snap since 2018.

Rodgers also skipped all of Matt LaFleur’s organized team activity practices this spring but did insist that he was committed to making the head coach’s offense successful. 

Rodgers insisted he was committed to making head coach Matt LaFleur’s offense successful

‘You’ve just got to have some faith in the organization,’ Rodgers said during minicamp. 

‘I’m going to put in the time to make it work with those guys and we’re going to find a way in Matt’s offense to be successful — like we always have.

‘It’s not going to be any different this year. We’re going to be in the mix.’

Furthermore, his new contract, worth $150million over three years, provides a renewed sense of commitment to the Packers from Rodgers which could bring out the best in him. 

The trouble in Packers paradise seems to have blown over and if Green Bay can provide the receivers to step into Adams’s shoes, Rodgers could be set to produce another MVP-worthy season.