The Green Bay Packers won’t face many of the NFL’s top quarterbacks during the 2019 season.
Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire ranked the NFL’s top 11 quarterbacks on Monday, completing his summer-long position ranking series. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers ranked fifth. Of the other 10 quarterbacks, only three will play the Packers in 2019.
The one caveat: They’ll have to play the No. 1 quarterback, reigning NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes.
The only other top-11 quarterbacks on the schedule are Philip Rivers (No. 4) and Carson Wentz (No. 11).
The Packers will avoid top NFC starters such as Drew Brees (No. 2), Russell Wilson (No. 3) and Matt Ryan (No. 8) and accomplished AFC veterans such as Tom Brady (No. 6), Andrew Luck (No. 7) and Ben Roethlisberger (No. 8).
Outside of Rodgers, no other quarterback from the NFC North made Touchdown Wire’s top 11. The Packers’ schedule appears to be heavy in the middle tier of quarterbacks, including Kirk Cousins, Matthew Stafford, Dak Prescott, Jimmy Garoppolo and Derek Carr, plus a former NFL MVP (Cam Newton), a two-time Super Bowl winner (Eli Manning) and a first-round rookie (Dwayne Haskins).
The Packers have never faced Mahomes, and they’ve never lost to either Wentz (1-0) or Rivers (3-0).
Here’s a full look at the Packers schedule, with expected starting quarterbacks included:
| Week | Opponent | Expected Starting QB | Top 11? |
| 1 | Chicago Bears | Mitchell Trubisky | No |
| 2 | Minnesota Vikings | Kirk Cousins | No |
| 3 | Denver Broncos | Joe Flacco | No |
| 4 | Philadelphia Eagles | Carson Wentz | Yes |
| 5 | Dallas Cowboys | Dak Prescott | No |
| 6 | Detroit Lions | Matthew Stafford | No |
| 7 | Oakland Raiders | Derek Carr | No |
| 8 | Kansas City Chiefs | Patrick Mahomes | Yes |
| 9 | Los Angeles Chargers | Philip Rivers | Yes |
| 10 | Carolina Panthers | Cam Newton | No |
| 11 | Bye Week | ||
| 12 | San Francisco 49ers | Jimmy Garoppolo | No |
| 13 | New York Giants | Eli Manning | No |
| 14 | Washington Redskins | Dwayne Haskins | No |
| 15 | Chicago Bears | Mitchell Trubisky | No |
| 16 | Minnesota Vikings | Kirk Cousins | No |
| 17 | Detroit Lions | Matthew Stafford | No |
While not an easy schedule, the Packers’ slate could be much worse in terms of opposing quarterbacks. The final six games look especially appealing for a team that believes they’ll be in the hunt for a playoff spot late in the season. However, Mike Pettine’s defense will need to perform better against the NFL’s middle tier of quarterbacks – especially the three from the NFC North – for the Packers to take a big step in 2019.
