Why Richard Rodgers Is Green Bay Packers' Best Bet at Tight End

The Green Bay Packers' starting tight end battle is underway this offseason and will come to a head during training camp as second-year player Richard Rodgers and veteran Andrew Quarless compete for snaps in 2015.

Rodgers, however, is the player they should start in Week 1.

Quarless played 715 total snaps in 2014, starting 11 games. He had 29 receptions for 323 yards, three touchdowns and 20 first downs. Quarless had three catches of 20-plus yards and zero of 40-plus.

He ranked 41st out of 67 tight ends in pass-blocking and 39th in run-blocking.

	Richard Rodgers	Andrew Quarless
Games	16	16
Snaps	543	715
Starts	5	11
Receptions	20	29
Yards	225	323
Touchdowns	2	3

Rodgers, by comparison, played 543 snaps last season and had five starts, including four consecutive ones through the first four games of the season. He only had nine fewer receptions than Quarless, hauling in 20 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. He added another in the playoffs against the Dallas Cowboys.

Rodgers had three catches of 20-plus yards and one of 40-plus yards, a 43-yard reception against the Chicago Bears in September.

"I just knew that I saw that side of the field open, so when I saw Aaron [Rodgers] scramble I just turned up that way," Rodgers said in an interview after that game, via Packers.com.

The improvements Rodgers made in blocking throughout his rookie season were notable.

In Weeks 1 to 8, Rodgers was the sixth-worst tight end in the league in run blocking and the 19th-worst in pass blocking among tight ends.

Memorably, a missed block by Rodgers in Week 3 against the Detroit Lions led to a Lions safety that gave Detroit a 9-7 lead in the second quarter, and the Packers never regained the lead.

Between Weeks 10 to 17, however, Rodgers had improved to 48th among tight ends in run blocking and 20th in pass blocking. By the end of the season, Rodgers finished as the No. 5-ranked tight end in the league in pass blocking.

That improvement in blocking and his elite hands are what give Rodgers an edge over Quarless. He has the nascent skills to develop into a complete tight end if he keeps improving.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Considering the Packers' receiving corps features Jordy Nelson, the following quote from Aaron Rodgers was high praise for Richard Rodgers last season.

"He's got incredible hands; I dare say the best hands on the team," Aaron Rodgers said, via Robert Zizzo of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "He went through a stretch in training camp where he didn't drop a pass. Yeah, he's an exceptional player with great potential for us."

Rodgers also proved late in the season that he can be a trusted weapon, which is essential when the stakes are that high.

The Packers were battling the Detroit Lions for the division title, and quarterback Rodgers targeted the tight end Rodgers five times. The rookie connected on all five receptions. He may have only totaled 40 yards, but he was enough of a presence in the passing game to take some heat off Nelson and Randall Cobb.

Plus, he continued to build that rapport and trust with Aaron Rodgers, which carried over into the postseason.

Rodgers only had one drop through the 2014 season.

In his two playoff games, Rodgers had five receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown.

Perhaps Rodgers' most memorable touchdown catch of the season came against the Minnesota Vikings in November, when he was left on an island alone in the upper-left corner of the end zone. Aaron Rodgers found him easily, and Richard Rodgers' feet never left the ground as he waited for the ball to come to him:

He may never be that open again in 2015.

Rodgers also tied for first among tight ends in deep passing. Aaron Rodgers targeted the tight end on three deep passes (defined as 20-plus-yard attempts), all of which were catchable. In the end, 10.3 percent of the passes on which Aaron Rodgers targeted Richard Rodgers were deep balls.

Rodgers caught all three for a total of 97 yards and a touchdown.

After five seasons with the Packers, Quarless' ceiling has been established. He's a capable tight end who hasn't been a huge scoring threat—his career high for touchdowns in a season is three—and has had to live in the shadow of Jermichael Finley due to his average receiving skills.

Quarless has been reliable for Green Bay, which is why they offered him a two-year, $3 million deal last offseason. However, Rodgers' ceiling is unestablished and could be extremely high.

With the confidence boost that a starting nod would bring and a year working in Green Bay's offense under his belt, Rodgers could have a stellar year and make the tight end position dynamic again for the Packers in 2015.

Advanced statistics courtesy of Pro Football Focus. Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.