New Packers TE Rodgers not worried about walking in #12's shoes

To Packers fans, seeing the team draft another Rodgers out of Cal this year was exciting.

The last time they did so, as you should already know, resulted in them acquiring one of the best QBs in the league, so assuming the best in this year's situation was obviously justified.

To some though, it may downplay how talented new Tight End Richard actually is, something that the youngster apparently doesn't believe. 

"I don't think I need to walk in his shoes," Rodgers, who will wear #89 in the upcoming season, recently told Fox Sports Wisconsin's Paul Imig. "Because he plays quarterback."

While what the 98th overall pick in this year's draft says there should be true, as he did have a nice 59 receptions during his three years as a Golden Bear, it isn't.

When a team has a star player with a similar history like Aaron Rodgers, this sort of treatment is to be expected, no matter what Richard ends up doing in the pros. If he's good, he'll only be known as that guy with the same name, and if he's bad, well, you get the point. The prospect's unlucky. It's just something he'll have to deal with.

Thompson: Drafting Rodgers not connected to Finley

While Jermichael Finley's NFL future is currently unclear, there is one aspect of his drama that I consider to be a safe bet: that the Packers don't want to let him go. 

Finley, who suffered a severe, possibly career-ending spine/neck injury in last season's Week 7 win over the Browns, caught 223 passes for 2,785 yards during his six seasons with the team, making him a fan favorite and one of the most feared Tight Ends in the league. 

2013's event, unfortunately, brought that all to a grinding halt, forcing Green Bay to look elsewhere for #88's successor. 

During last weekend's draft, they appear to have finally found him in Cal's Richard Rodgers, although General Manager Ted Thompson insists the two are unrelated. 

“I don’t necessarily think the two are tied at all,” Thompson told the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel's Tom Silverstein earlier this week. “We were just trying to pick a good player.”

While what Thompson says could be true, I'm not necessarily going to buy it. Had Finley stayed healthy throughout last season, it seems unlikely that the team would look for another TE the way they did, especially since they seem to have such bigger needs elsewhere.