GREEN BAY — Even after serving a beneficial three-year apprenticeship with the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers was going have a hard time filling the cleats of quarterback Brett Favre, who is only the greatest player in franchise history.

Thanks to Packers general manager Ted Thompson, the always-difficult task of replacing a legend got significantly tougher during Saturday's NFL draft.

When Thompson used one of his three second-round picks on Louisville's Brian Brohm, a quarterback who was supposed to be long gone by then, it had the potential to rock Rodgers' world.

Favre has already made Rodgers' task more difficult by dropping hints almost weekly that he is waffling on retirement, and now Thompson has brought in a polished rookie who will be peeking over Rodgers' shoulder right from the start.

In picking Brohm, did Thompson undermine his hand-picked quarterback of the future even before Rodgers started his first game or did he merely fortify the Packers at a position where they were one deep?

At best, it is a ticklish situation. ESPN analyst Steve Young, a Hall of Fame quarterback, said the Packers greatly increased Rodgers' degree of difficulty with the selection of Brohm.

However, it's hard to blame Thompson for covering his bases and giving the team a quarterback of the future if Rodgers proves not to be the quarterback of the present.

Many thought he would bring in a non-threatening veteran as Rodgers' backup this season and add a developmental quarterback in the middle rounds of the draft, but Brohm unexpectedly slipped into the second half of the second round and Thompson jumped on him.

"He'll be a good, solid guy to have behind Aaron," Thompson said. "We'll train him up. We'll get him ready to play. But Aaron's the guy."

The way Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy bent over backward to point out that the job belongs to Rodgers, it was obvious that they, too, were wondering if Rodgers would take the selection as a sign that he has little margin for error and heap even more pressure on himself.

"He'll be fine," Thompson said. "Aaron's a pro. He knows this is his gig now. ... This is professional football and Aaron's a pro. I know he hasn't played a lot, but you guys have been around him. He carries himself very well. He'll be fine. He knows this is his job."

McCarthy didn't feel the need to call Rodgers after the selection and explain it to him. However, the two did talk Friday and McCarthy clearly prepared Rodgers for the possibility that the Packers would draft a quarterback and assured him that he wouldn't have to worry about a rookie breathing down his neck.

"I'm not concerned, I don't feel Aaron is concerned," McCarthy said. "The focus for Aaron Rodgers needs to be on what's in front of him and that's the task at hand, the task of leading our offense. He is our quarterback and that is his focus. He's done an excellent job so far this off-season. He's done everything that's been asked of him and more. We're very pleased with the progress he's made in our time here together and he is our quarterback."

That's easy to say now, but quarterback is a fluid position in the NFL.

Not in Green Bay, mind you, because Favre has started every game for 16 years.

But fans have notoriously little patience these days and they have a way of creating controversies when a quarterback doesn't live up to expectations immediately.

That problem will be particularly acute in Green Bay, where Favre has set the quarterbacking bar fairly high.

At least Rodgers will start with the fans on his side after his excellent performance in relief of Favre at Dallas late last season.

However, the former first-round draft pick has a long way to go to win people over because he's never had the chance to prove himself on the field and has been injury-prone on the few occasions when he has played.

One thing Rodgers has going for him is he appears to have the proper degree of confidence in himself.

He survived that free-fall down the draft board in 2005 and overcame the legions of doubters he had in Green Bay after some so-so performances in his first two seasons.

Thompson is fond of calling the NFL a big-boy league and giving Rodgers some competition is just another way of testing his mettle.

In the end, we'll find out how tough Rodgers is because he alone will determine if he's capable of replacing Favre.

Contact Tom Oates at toates@madison.com or 608-252-6172.