Aaron Rodgers’ reputation as a high-maintenance quarterback is carved into the back of the Ten Commandments. He views himself as a foremost thought leader in offensive football strategy and nobody can tell him otherwise. At every stop, he’s seen himself as the team COO, someone who doesn’t just run plays, but rewrites them mid-huddle while solving some of life’s greatest mysteries. In New York, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was hired to appease Rodgers.
In Green Bay, his passive-aggressive chess matches with Matt LaFleur were the NFL’s highest-rated workplace drama. His battles with LaFleur were contentious but ultimately generated successful outcomes. With the Pittsburgh Steelers, Lafleur’s less accomplished successor as the Titans offensive coordinator has been tasked with co-managing Rodgers’ personality and the offense. Reportedly, Smith and Rodgers dove into the playbook almost immediately after an agreement was finalized. All is well on the surface in June, but so the same was true on the Titanic when it left the dock. here’s where they may butt heads during the tense grind of a regular season.
Pre-snap motion is an Aaron Rodgers pet peeve
Rodgers has been adamant for years about his disdain for pre-snap motion and his admiration for the static offenses Peyton Manning ran during his heyday.
Whereas most successful slash play teams use motion prior to the snap as a means of exposing coverages and stressing defenses out laterally, Rodgers views it as a hindrance that limits his doctorate in diagnosing defenses at the line of scrimmage.
The Jets acquiesced to Rodgers’ demands to their own detriment. Last season, New York executed pre-snap motion 46.5 percent of the time, the second-lowest rate in the league. Rodgers had the second-most dropbacks (370) without pre-snap motion, behind only rookie Bo Nix. Yet, the numbers indicate that Rodgers was significantly more effective on plays where there was pre-snap motion. He’s just stubborn and resistant to change. Meanwhile, the Steelers put at least one player in motion 56 percent of the time, eighth-most in the NFL. Rodgers likes his tapes on DVD and his sepia-toned offenses, but his diminishing skills mean he has to accept the help, just like your aging grandparents who won’t give up their cable subscription.
Aaron Rodgers likes specific personnel groupings
If there's one clash that could come to a head, it’s the preferred personnel groupings of Smith and Rodgers. Rodgers is a card-carrying member of the 11 Personnel Fan Club featuring one back, one tight end, and three receivers. Rodgers has been one of the busiest quarterbacks out of 11 personnel in the NFL, dating back to his Mike McCarthy years.
In Smith’s inaugural season as the Steelers offensive play-caller, their offense spent a little over half of their snaps in 11 personnel. Only six teams spent less time in 11 personnel than Smith’s Pittsburgh offense. The year prior, with Kenny Pickett under center, the Steelers were in 11 personnel 71 percent of the time, the eighth-most in the NFL.
Rewind a little further to 2023 in Atlanta where Smith's offenses utilized 11 personnel, only 17 percent of the time, the lowest in the NFL that season. In four of his five seasons, Smith’s offenses ranked last or second to last in 11 personnel usage. The only exception was his inaugural 2019 season as the OC in Tennessee where they ranked 26th.
Rodgers is drawn to 11 personnel sets like a bee to honey. Last season, the Jets took the field with one back and one tight end nearly 70 percent of the time, one of the highest rates in the NFL.
Art Smith hates pre-snap modifications
The alleged tensions between Smith and Russell Wilson flared over Wilson’s adjustments at the line of scrimmage. Meanwhile, Rodgers is used to having total control over audibles and executing pre-snap audibles once he gets under center. All it takes is a few audibles out of a run for this whole relationship to implode. Smith is going to want to run the ball a lot. Rodgers may see things differently. Dissension is in his DNA.
In Tennessee, Smith benefitted from Derrick Henry’s ball-carrying prowess. As the Falcons head coach, he drafted and some say he produced the league’s top rushing offense in 2021 and then drafted Bijan Robinson. Rookie Kaleb Johnson is an unproven back.
Smith’s two-tight end usage is even more problematic because Pittsburgh’s Pat Freiermuth-Darnell Washington tandem is pretty vanilla. Unless the sugar highs of a rumored deal for former Arthur Smith tight ends Kyle Pitts or Jonnu Smith come to fruition, this may be a theme, but the personnel groupings and pass-run ratio are going to be revisited repeatedly throughout the season.
For now, everything’s cordial. Rodgers is playing nice. Smith is smiling through the tension. But come October, when Rodgers audibles into a five-wide spread on 3rd-and-inches while Smith calls for a condensed jumbo set, the tension could boil over.