National Football League

Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes: Who has more to prove?

Updated Jul. 12, 2022 8:19 p.m. ET

Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes are arguably the two best quarterbacks in the NFL.

Both also recently lost wide receivers widely considered among the top five at their position.

So which QB will bear more responsibility during the 2022 season? Greg Jennings believes it's Mahomes, not his former teammate, who has more to prove.

"When you look at Aaron Rodgers, I don't think people give his head coach Matt LaFleur enough credit," Jennings said Tuesday on "Speak For Yourself." "He has leveled out the playing field when it comes to what Aaron Rodgers needs around him. He didn't have a running game before, and now they're one of the most balanced teams in all of football. When you have that, you can now insert guys and play with your system."

Does Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes have more to prove?

Greg Jennings explains why Patrick Mahomes, who lost Tyreek Hill, has more to prove this season than Aaron Rodgers, who lost Davante Adams and will be playing with a younger receiver core.

Jennings stressed that Mahomes' loss of Tyreek Hill would be a greater blow than Rodgers' break-up with Davante Adams.

"Without Tyreek Hill bailing Patrick Mahomes out — and I say bailing him out because, Patrick Mahomes, phenomenal talent, obviously, skill set — when he needs a play, and his back is up against the wall, what does he do?" Jennings said. "He scrambles, he does what he does best, he gets out of the pocket, he looks down the field, and he finds this ‘Cheetah’ running somehow wide open. That may no longer be the case."

Rodgers, conversely, has spent considerably more time throughout his long career without Adams, including six games over the 2019-20 campaigns.

"Davante Adams is the best receiver in the game, he's going to drastically miss Davante Adams," Jennings asserted. "We, however, have seen what Matt LaFleur and Aaron Rodgers coupled can do when they don't have Davante Adams and what they can lean on."

In addition to the Packers' and Chiefs' respective offensive systems, Jennings pointed to the quality of competition Mahomes will face. The NFC is regarded as the weaker conference, and the NFC North one of the league's weaker divisions. That could mean less stress for the reigning MVP Rodgers.

"We've never seen what it looks like for [Mahomes] to go without Tyreek Hill for an extensive period of time," Jennings added. "Let's look at what he has to go up against in his own division. Seven of the 10 [best] quarterbacks, including Mahomes, are in the AFC. Three of those seven are in his division, and we could argue that Derek Carr could be on the list.

"The road to the Super Bowl is much more challenging and difficult when we look at the landscape Mahomes has to [face]."