Tom Brady is arguably the greatest NFL quarterback of all time, and Aaron Rodgers is one of the all-time greats. But which player on his own presents the biggest matchup problem for a defensive player?
Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins joined GameDay First on Saturday ahead of the divisional playoff games to answer that question.
"I'd rather play against Tom Brady, because at the end of the day I know he's going to be three yards from that center and he's not moving from that spot," Jenkins said. "You can get after him and try and get pressure on him. He's obviously going to still make plays but the one thing about playing Aaron Rodgers is, if you want to get after him, he's good at beating you no matter how he does it.
"Whether he's mobile, you get him out of the pocket and he's just as accurate. He can buy time. He's smart enough to change the plays at the line of scrimmage and get 'em in advantageous plays, get the ball out quick. He does it all. He's Russell Wilson and Tom Brady combined. And he's the hardest player, for me in terms of a quarterback, to play against."
Jenkins' perspective is interesting because, as a safety, he is often the player a quarterback keys on to unlock the defense. As we saw on earlier in the same GameDay First segment, Brady can capitalize on the slightest misstep from a deep safety and turn it into a 79-yard bomb to wide receiver Chris Hogan.
On the other hand, who needs to manipulate a deep safety after just a traditional three-step drop when you can dance around the pocket for an additional five seconds and create the mismatch yourself?