It’s impossible to look at his stats and not wonder what exactly happened to Richard Rodgers.
In 2015, he ranked 12th among all NFL tight ends with 58 catches for 510 yards and fifth with eight touchdowns.
His 58 catches were the fourth most in NFL history by a tight end 23 years old or younger, behind only Rob Gronkowski, Tony Gonzalez and Kellen Winslow Sr. Pretty good company.
He was just 23 years old, he had a future Hall of Famer in Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, and he looked for all the world like one of the league’s brightest tight end prospects.
Since then?
His catches dropped nearly in half to 30 in 2016 and then down to 12 last year. Yards dropped to 271 and then 160 last year. And TDs to two and then just one.
Rodgers’ decline has been steep.
NFL
When his contract expired in March, the Packers moved on from Rodgers, who on Wednesday agreed to a one-year deal with the Eagles.
Rodgers met with reporters Friday afternoon and was asked about his dramatic decline in production.
“Yeah, I just did what I was told, did what the coaches asked me to do, and that’s all you can do as a player,” Rodgers said. “Just do what the coaches ask you to do. My numbers just dropped for whatever reason.”
Rodgers said he’s healthy and remains physically the same player he was when he caught 58 passes two years ago, which made him Aaron Rodgers’ second-favorite target, behind only Randall Cobb.
“I was playing a lot of snaps,” Rodgers said. “That was my highest snap-count year. And we had a lot of injuries. A number of things contributed to that [season].
“I was just trying to be consistent and trying to help the team win and if that’s having 100 catches or having 10, it doesn’t matter.”
Rodgers is right.
From 2015 through 2017, his targets dropped from 85 to 47 to 19, and his snaps on offense dropped from 70 percent to 56 percent to 29 percent.
With a one-year contract, Rodgers could find himself in line for a huge deal next offseason if he approaches those 2015 numbers. Heck, Trey Burton got a four-year, $32 million deal, and he had about half as many catches and yards in his four years as Rodgers.
"Obviously, it’s a good opportunity for me to reset my value,” he said.
Playing behind Pro Bowler Zach Ertz will be a different experience for Rodgers, who was always the Packers’ No. 1 tight end.
“I don’t know him very well,” Rodgers, a Cal grad, said. “He played against me, went to Stanford — unfortunately — but I’m looking forward to getting to know him and see how he is in practice and see how he works, because I haven’t really had many veteran tight ends to look up to, so I’ll be looking to learn a lot from him and my coach.”
From the outside, it seems like this is a great chance for Rodgers to prove himself after two disappointing seasons.
He said he’s not looking at it that way.
“That’s not really my mindset,” he said. “I just want to come out and help the team win, and if I can do that, I can be satisfied.”