Green Bay Packers starting quarterback Jordan Love’s rise to the top of the depth chart has been a unique story. Drafted 26th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, Love started his early career as a backup. He spent three years learning from Aaron Rodgers, the league’s all-time greats. During his lengthy stint on the sidelines, he learned tremendous lessons about the game. Yet as he approaches day one, Jackson is being handed some unprecedented challenges and the biggest one may be him taking over a role that barely suits his strengths.
Love’s tenure as a backup allowed him to observe first-hand how Rodgers operated within head coach Matt LaFleur’s offensive system. He’s assuming the role as the starter. Now, he has to adjust to a deadly offense that was mainly tailored for Rodgers’ one-of-a-kind skill set. Such a fate is in drastic contrast to the experience of other first-round QB selections. Consider the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels. He was immediately named the starter and excelled, taking his team from a terrible 4-13 record to a stunning 12-5 record and a berth in the NFC Championship Game.
General Manager Brian Gutekunst had been a prime mover behind drafting Love. He knows that having a Hall of Fame QB in Rodgers gave Green Bay the freedom to let Love develop without any pressure. He continued, “The number one thing is that none of them have one of those Hall of Fame quarterbacks. That quarterback has to be playing at an MVP-type level.” Once you have that, it’s extremely simple to bench a player of that ilk.
Love, though, is coming into his first full season as the man. Wrinkles like that have led LaFleur to encourage Tannehill to step into a more traditional QB1 leadership role. If that sounds familiar, it’s because in previous seasons LaFleur often would call on a player to take the charge. This time around, he wanted to get a sense of who on the team would instinctively rise to the occasion.
This go-around, though, I was really interested in knowing who answered it,” LaFleur said. And the first time the whole team was here, he accepted [it]. So I was like, ‘There we go.’
Steve Calhoun, who has been Love’s personal quarterback coach since high school, had flown in for the Pro Day. Love to continue to craft his skills and further his knowledge of the game. Calhoun has high hopes that Love’s analytical approach will serve him well as he steps into his new position.
Calhoun told me that his forte is taking stock of the lay of the land. He understands when to be aggressive and play that leader’s role.
As Love starts this next chapter, there are expectations placed on him that align with a league-wide pattern. Over the past five years, nearly all first-round quarterbacks have started at least some games as rookies. Last season was the rarest of outliers in this regard. This leads to a broader debate about whether teams are often too impatient with young players.
LaFleur acknowledged this challenge, remarking, “Gutey and I have talked about it many times: You’ve got to play these guys, especially at that position, when they’re ready. I don’t think people have the patience to do it.”
Love’s situation is very different from that of other recent high draft picks. Still, he’s lucky to have gotten the chance to learn at the side of a franchise quarterback. This unique path means that Love must adapt quickly to playing in an offense that may not fully leverage his abilities.
Daniels’ success has sparked conversations about how teams should develop young quarterbacks. “A guy like Jayden Daniels came in and they’re going to shape the offense exactly to his strengths and skill set,” Calhoun noted.
As Love continues to develop, Gutekunst has emphasized that the Packers’ ownership structure allows them the flexibility to make long-term decisions without external pressures. “Our ownership structure allows us to do what we think is best for the long term, which maybe not every organization has that ability to do,” Gutekunst explained.
If you look back at Rodgers’ early career, he won a Super Bowl in his third season as the Packers’ starter. This fact hangs heavily over Love’s path as he looks to carve out his own niche in a similar way.
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