"The Vikings will face the hottest quarterback in the NFL Monday night in the Packers' Aaron Rodgers. Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell, who played for Green Bay when Rodgers was drafted 24th overall in the first round in 2005, was asked to compare Rodgers in his first year with Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder.

"We had picked late in the first round, 24, 25 or something, and picked [Rodgers]. But you could tell right away, much like when we drafted [Matt] Hasselbeck in the sixth round [in 1998] and some of the other quarterbacks that were there, that he had that X-factor that you need as a great quarterback.

"It's that swagger that good quarterbacks have. It's not like ego, it's not one of those things. It's more of a quiet confidence. Hasselbeck had it, Aaron Rodgers had it, and Ponder has it. So if he can develop it, the sky is the limit for him."

One big difference: Ponder is playing right away. Rodgers spent three years behind Brett Favre reworking his throwing motion and tweaking his skills.

"Obviously those three years that he spent not playing and with Brett there, he was able to really develop his physical skills on throwing the ball," Longwell said. "He throws as good a ball as anybody I've ever seen now.

"I think even if you ask Aaron, I think the ability to come in and learn for a few years was instrumental in how much success he's having now. Because of the tweaks that he had to make to his throwing motion and some of the physical things he had to tweak, he couldn't have done that coming in and playing right away. I think those were definitely years gained for him, and I don't think he feels like they're years lost.""