San Fransisco 49ers first year defensive coordinator offers his thoughts on challenges and his approach facing Aaron Rodgers.
The San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator, Nick Sorensen, was recently asked about his approach to the team’s week one matchup against the New York Jets. Speaking with SI’s Grant Cohn, the first-year DC said the following regarding his approach to defending all-time great Aaron Rodgers.
“With him, he’s just, he’s really accurate and he gets rid of the ball quick. He’s had a lot of success. He’s seen everything. You have to be able to be tight on the guys and he’s good when he has a good run game, so you always want to stop the run. And then he’s got different elements off of that. When he trusts receivers and has had time with them, he can be really pinpoint accurate when he knows where they’re going to be. I think that’s the one thing, that he’s always been really connected with someone on his team that’s really good. He can put it in a spot, much like [Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick] Mahomes and [Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis] Kelce have. He’s had that throughout his whole career. And he’s confident, he’s got a confident arm. It’s strong. He can make every throw, he can see the field. So that part of it, you could say that about anyone who’s played that long, because you probably have to be really good to play that long. But he’s also been really good that whole time. He just keeps seeing more and it adds more to his experience. That’s what makes it tough. And they also, like you said, he’s got a good running back too and they’ve revamped the O-Line, added another receiver in [WR] Mike Williams. And even that new running back looks pretty tough too. I think all those things combined.”
While the back-to-back MVP seasons with a dominant Davante Adams quickly come to mind, these outliers do not accurately reflect Rodgers tendencies throughout his career.
The recent trend of reliance on a WR1 in 2019-2021 with the Green Bay Packers has less to do with Rodgers and more with the degradation of the Packer’s receiver talent. The Packer’s reception spread throughout the 2010s and up to Rodger’s exit indicates a decaying receiver room with target share spikes to star receivers only happening in the wake of other’s exit.
It is easy to argue Rodger’s consistency amid a constantly shifting receiver room is a significant factor in why he has been great for so long.
While the Jets playmakers should not be a worry, expect Sorensen to put the Jets newly upgraded line to the test early and often.
With the 49ers intent on shutting down Breece Hall, anticipate a loaded box putting intense stress on the Jets O-line. The Jets have question marks on the line initially, the answers will be revealed quickly to find out what works and what doesn’t against Nick Bosa and Co.