Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently talked about how tough it has been to play against Minnesota Vikings All-Pro safety Harrison Smith.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is likely one of the people who were happy to hear about the Minnesota Vikings parting ways with Mike Zimmer earlier this year. When Zimmer had the Vikings’ defense playing at an elite level, Rodgers struggled to put together even a decent performance against them.
The Packers’ quarterback enjoys going up against the best of the best, so he’s never been afraid to send praise toward Zimmer, Harrison Smith, and other members of Minnesota’s top defense from years past. Recently, Rodgers appeared on the “Pardon My Take” podcast, and he talked about the Vikings’ defense under Zimmer being one of the toughest he’s ever faced in his career.
“Mike Zimmer, for a long time, was as hard as it came playing against because they had A’d-up looks, you know, double A-gap and then double edges, and they had every variation. Both edge guys, four to a side, four to the other side, both inside guys, drop those guys out, and the best disguisers in the game including Harrison Smith, who’s been there forever, but the [linebackers] when [Anthony] Barr et al [Eric] Kendricks were in there, and they had that front that played together for a long time. It was one of the toughest defenses to go against.”
Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers regards Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith as one of the best in the NFL
Smith isn’t known for being someone who goes around talking about how good of a player he’s been during his NFL career. Instead, he lets his performance on the field and his peers do the talking for him.
In this case, Rodgers has labeled the Minnesota safety as “one of the best disguisers in the game.” Meaning when the Green Bay quarterback comes out of the huddle, he hardly ever has any idea about what Smith is about to do.
Rodgers won’t have to wait very long to see if anything has changed about the All-Pro safety now that the Vikings are using a completely different defensive scheme since the two NFC North rivals will face off in Week 1 of the 2022 regular season.
Judging by the quarterback’s praise, he’s likely going to expect that Smith is going to be just as difficult to deal with as it has been in the past.