Who will back up Aaron Rodgers this fall? We break down the potential candidates.

" />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesAcme Packing Company homepageHorizontal - WhiteAcme Packing Companya Green Bay Packers communityFollow Acme Packing Company online:Follow Acme Packing Company on TwitterFollow Acme Packing Company on FacebookFollow Acme Packing Company on InstagramLog in or sign upLog InSign UpSite searchSearchSearchAcme Packing Company main menuFanpostsFanshotsSectionsPackersOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 321 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections The APC PodcastPackers Film RoomFantasy Football AdviceCDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Packers 2019 Training Camp Roster: QBs Kizer https://www.thepackersfanshop.com/Corey-Linsley-Jersey , Boyle, Wilkins will fight to back up RodgersTwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailPhoto by Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesIn 2019, the Green Bay Packers’ roster looks very different from how it appeared at the end of the 2018 season. A large group of free agents, draft picks, and undrafted rookies will come to training camp to challenge for roster spots and a role on the team’s regular season 53-man roster. Over the next two weeks, Acme Packing Company will break down the roster position-by-position and reveal our compiled predictions for the 53-man roster.It all begins at the quarterback position. That statement is true for every football team, but particularly for the Green Bay Packers, who have relied on Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback play for nearly three decades. The 2019 season will be no different, with Aaron Rodgers entering his 12th year as the team’s starter.However, an interesting battle may be brewing behind him as three young challengers look to establish themselves as Rodgers’ backup. Will a Matt LaFleur-led team prioritize keeping three quarterbacks on the roster, as Mike McCarthy did a year ago? Or will the team keep just one backup and use another roster spot to maintain more depth at another position?Here’s a look at the QBs on the team and stay tuned for our prediction later on this afternoon.Aaron RodgersExperience: entering 15th NFL season2018 Stats: 16 games played, all starts; 372-597 (62.3% completions), 4,442 yards (7.4 yards/attempt), 25 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 97.6 passer rating; 43 rushing attempts, 269 yards (6.3 yards/carry), 2 touchdownsHow Acquired: First-round pick in 2005 NFL DraftRodgers enters the season as the starter for the 12th straight season, having signed an NFL-record contract near the end of last year’s training camp. He will turn 36 years old in December, but is now signed through 2023, when he will turn 40.There are two major questions facing Rodgers in 2019. First, can he stay healthy? He did not miss a start last year, but fought through a painful tibial plateau fracture suffered in week one. He also left the Packers’ week 17 game against the Lions with a concussion. Secondly, will he connect with a new head coach in LaFleur? The offense will need to start clicking quickly for this team to get off to a good start.DeShone KizerExperience: Entering 3rd NFL season2018 Stats: 3 games played; 20-42 (47.6%), 187 yards (4.5 Y/A), 0 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 40.5 passer rating; 5 rushing attempts, 39 yards (7.8 YPC)How Acquired: Trade with Cleveland Browns in 2018Kizer split time with Brett Hundley and Tim Boyle in the preseason last year, but he became the first backup option behind Rodgers when the team traded Hundley to Seattle for a sixth-round draft pick. When Rodgers left the field twice last season, Kizer came in and was, in a word Jaire Alexander Jersey , bad. He nearly got the Packers into an insurmountable hole in week one against the Bears before Rodgers’ miracle comeback; then he was ineffective against the Lions in the final game of the year.Now facing the challenge of learning a third offense in three years under a fourth head coach (including interim coach Joe Philbin), Kizer will be under the gun to show significant signs of improvement. Thankfully, he already knows LaFleur, who served as his quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame during Kizer’s freshman year in 2014.Tim BoyleExperience: Entering 2nd NFL season2018 Stats: NoneHow Acquired: Signed as undrafted rookie free agent in 2018A strong-armed young quarterback, the Packers liked what they saw from Boyle enough to ship Hundley out late in the preseason a year ago and make him their number three. Boyle never saw game action, remaining inactive for most of the team’s games once Rodgers demonstrated that he was healthy enough to play reliably following his leg injury.In the preseason, Boyle was impressive, however, showing off that arm strength with some big downfield throws. However, he also made some questionable decisions, and he will need to clean that area up if he is to challenge Kizer for the number two spot.Manny WilkinsExperience: Rookie2018 Stats (at Arizona State): 13 games played, all starts; 247-393 (62.8% completions), 3,025 yards (7.7 yards/attempt), 20 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 141.2 college passer rating; 112 carries, 452 yards (4.0 YPC), 8 touchdownsHow Acquired: Signed as undrafted free agent in 2019A smaller, more mobile quarterback at 6-foot-2 and just 193 pounds, Wilkins was a productive passer for the Sun Devils as well as a capable running threat. He completed at least 62 percent of his passes in all three yeas as a starter, posting very consistent numbers in his time in Tempe.It appears unlikely that Wilkins will seriously challenge for the backup job, but keep an eye on him as a potential practice squad candidate if the Packers decide to just keep two QBs on the 53. When Mark Murphy took the extraordinary step of seizing power in the vacuum of the 2017 offseason, some worried about a Machiavellian storyline playing out. Murphy gives himself power then becomes the de facto owner, meddling and convoluting a system that worked. Except the system didn’t work, at least not for the Packers in recent years. Mike McCarthy constantly bumped heads with Ted Thompson, disagreeing about free agent signings and the way to construct a team. With that relationship growing increasingly icy and Thompson isolating himself, Murphy moved last offseason to quell tensions and hope to increase communication. Taken in its most generous reading, Murphy hoped that putting McCarthy and new GM Brian Gutekunst on co-equal terms would increase collaboration and communication. Gutekunst offered McCarthy and his coaches input into free agent decisions and appeared to hit a home run in the draft. But would this siloed approach lead to infighting? The coach asks for something the GM doesn’t want to give and is forced to tattle to Murphy. It could be easily argued that’s a better system than the coach asking the GM for someone, getting stonewalled, and harboring bitterness in a chilly working relationship. At least with Murphy calling the shots, if he believes the coach is right or wrong, he gets the final say. The concern over this structure stems from the notion Murphy could become a meddler Lane Taylor Color Rush Jersey , believing too much in his own knowledge, much like ownership around the NFL. Here’s the problem: right now there’s no evidence that’s a thing happening. The indications from the offseason were that Gutekunst and McCarthy developed a good relationship, as did Gutekunst and Murphy. That second part can’t be understated. Gutekunst had options when he took over for the Packers. He had been on interviews for GM jobs and was up for jobs last year as well. He wouldn’t have taken a job where he believed his ability to make personnel calls would be undermined. To the question of whether or not he should be making the final decision on the next coach, my question is who cares? What has been so consistently great about the GM model for other teams? They screw up coaching hires all the time, even solid GMs. Right now, it looks like this relationship between Murphy and Gutekunst is collaborative. On Monday, the two front office men talked about making a decision together, on working together to find the best coach for the Packers. True, it’s Murphy’s call, but he’s not the only one offering input. It’s not materially different than most other situations where the owner has final sign off on most moves. Even when that’s not explicitly stated, teams rarely make a move like firing a Super Bowl winning head coach, or replacing him, without at least a consultation with the owner, even if it’s just informal. Why are we simply to assume Gutekunst is more qualified to hire a head coach than a president who, as an athletic director, has already hired coaches before? Gutekunst hasn’t. For all his estimable gifts as a talent evaluator, we have no idea if he can identify a quality coach. The only argument for him over Murphy is “that’s how most other teams do it.” OK, except the Packers aren’t most other teams. Their owner isn’t a former player under Joe Gibbs who has also been a Big Ten AD and an administrator with the team.Reports earlier this week suggest friends of Josh McDaniels have already cautioned him about the front office structure for the Packers, reporting directly to Murphy, although the specific caution remains unclear. As Murphy points out, wouldn’t most coaches rather report to a president or owner in terms of hiring and firing, rather than a GM who may be looking to skirt blame for possible failings, or take credit for successes? Siloing coach and GM would mean the next coach will at least have his voice heard by someone. A coach — let’s say McDaniels for argument’s sake — wants something, or has an idea about roster building. He can take it right to Gutekunst, it’s not as if they can’t speak. If the two disagree, that’s where Murphy comes in to adjudicate the best course of action. So long as the relationship between coach and GM remains communicative and congenial, there’s no reason to believe they’re going to compete with one another over credit or undermine the other to Murphy. There’s no real incentive to do that because the coach isn’t going to get personnel duties and the GM isn’t going to get more say over the coach. Everyone’s role is clearly defined. My sense of Murphy isn’t of a power hungry bureaucrat seeking to inject himself into the big chair of the organization. The consolidation of power likely has more to do with attempting to assuage some hurt feelings in the wake of the problematic relationship McCarthy had with Thompson and the lack of collaboration that engendered. Murphy is trying to help. So long as that doesn’t reach into meddling with who Gutekunst likes and doesn’t like, or what plays the coach is or isn’t calling, there’s nothing inherently wrong with having a system set up the way the Packers have it currently. Murphy hinted last offseason he may eventually give the power to hire and fire coaches back to his GM. It’s possible, and potentially likely, he will do that when he feels like the organization is back on the right track. After having to fire a coach following one of the most embarrassing losses in franchise history, it’s clear that time has not yet come. It’s hard to blame Murphy for believing a steady hand at the wheel is better than blindly adhering to “the way we’ve always done it.” That way hasn’t worked of late for the Packers. Perhaps shaking things up is exactly what this team needs to get back on track.