Tom Krasovic: Aaron Rodgers, like him or not, will have a very nice season with Jets

One more season worth watching.

That’s what football lovers will get from Aaron Rodgers.

Talking about Rodgers next December, folks will say the old man showed he can still play. That, for all the odd things he says off the field, he’s a cerebral machine on it.

It’ll go down as a minor miracle: a Jets quarterback having success, much less one who’s 40 and coming off Achilles tendon surgery.

I did not breathe in too much newspaper ink before envisioning this Rodgers renaissance, nor did I imbibe the psychedelic Rodgers touted last year at a conference in Denver. I’m lucid enough to know there won’t be a green-and-white confetti shower at the end of this Rodgers-Jets journey. The 17-game season, winter weather and Jetsdom will wear on him.

But, for long enough to make the Jets watchable, Rodgers won’t be the guy who stuck around too long. He’s not done yet. Fans’ chants of J-E-T-S, J-E-T-S, J-E-T-S! won’t be the distress signal they usually are.

It’s lunacy to forecast success for either the Jets or anyone who quarterbacks them.

Greatness warrants an exception.

Rodgers played so well for so long, there’s enough football wisdom and feel left over for him to succeed.

He’s not immobile like a hobbled Johnny Unitas was in his final days with the San Diego Chargers.

Though he’s lost some downfield zip, Rodgers has more arm strength than Peyton Manning and Drew Brees when they mustered fine seasons with noodle arms.

There’s an assumption that Rodgers and his team will reap windfalls from the Achilles injury that ended the QB’s 2023 season after just four snaps.

I’m buying Rodgers’ claim that not playing recharged his batteries and renewed his body.

For sure, the Jets are now better equipped than last year to assist the old guy as he tries to weather another season of punishment.

Life serving up the best jokes, look who’s Rodgers’ inspiration now.

It’s Brett Favre, who was lighting up opponents for the Vikings at age 40.

Finding the bandwith between his Gunslinger tendencies and proper discretion, Favre threw for 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions in 2009 in posting a career-best passer rate of 107.2.

Rodgers won’t be that good because of the circumstances. Domes benefit all quarterbacks, and Favre looked years younger once he left the cold of Green Bay and New Jersey to play half his seasons indoors in Minnesota.

All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson cushioned Favre by going for 1,380 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground.

Favre could still launch rockets. He feasted on play-action throws downfield. He wasn’t stopped until the NFC title game in which the “BountyGate” Saints beat him mercilessly en route to their only Super Bowl trophy.

Though the NFL no longer allows its QBs to take the hits Favre did that day, Rodgers will be throwing in a windy atmosphere in New Jersey and must play at Buffalo in December.

He’ll do well to not be carted out of his first game, which pits him against a 49ers defense that has overwhelmed him in recent years.

Crucially, he has a formidable running back in Breece Hall, who went for 995 rushing yards and five touchdowns last year in his comeback from reconstructive knee surgery.

He ought to click with smooth receiver Garrett Wilson, 23, much as Favre unlocked 23-year-old Sydney Rice, who never again would come close to matching his big numbers in 2009.

Now that Tom Brady has moved into the broadcasting booth, no QB’s better than Rodgers at managing the line of scrimmage.

He’ll play up a line that will need guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, 24, to finally stay healthy and veteran left tackle Tyron Smith, 33, to buy developmental time for Olu Fashanu, 21.

Rodgers will speed up the needed acclimation of rookie Malachi Corley, a catch-and-run dynamo who gathered 101 passes two seasons ago for Western Kentucky.

If Mike Williams shows he’s recovered from reconstructive knee surgery, Rodgers will put the ball on his hands or to where only the 6-foot-4 Williams can get it.

Let’s not overthink this.

The Jets are going from Zach Wilson to Aaron Rodgers.

That’s worth a handful of wins. The good times won’t last for long, but they’re coming to a miserable franchise and a quarterback who can still call attention himself for spinning footballs, not just polarizing narratives.