Jordan Love thriving as Green Bay Packers QB: What to know about 2020 first-round pick
Love is in the air for the Green Bay Packers.
Well, Jordan Love that is.
His first season as the franchise's starter can be considered nothing but a success, as he helped the Packers bypass a rebuild and become an immediate contender in the NFC.
The Packers had turned to Love to be their next starting quarterback this season after Aaron Rodgers left Green Bay in an April 2023 trade with the New York Jets. Rodgers, who played 18 seasons in Titletown, remains the franchise's longest-tenured player.
It was a bit of déjà vu for the Packers, who again traded away a longtime star quarterback to pave the way for a younger player with potential. First, it was Brett Favre for Rodgers. Then, it was Rodgers for Love. Ironically, both veterans went to the Jets.
But, now, Love has taken over and Green Bay may have very well landed yet another generational talent.
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Here's everything you need to know about Jordan Love:
How has Jordan Love played in his first season as a starter?
At the start, it was a bit of a struggle. The Packers began the season 2-5 and Love was mostly inconsistent, throwing at least one interception over a span of five consecutive games from Weeks 3-8. In fact, over that stretch, he threw eight picks total, including a three-interception game in a Week 5 loss against the Raiders. There were plenty of moments, though, when Love — who turned 25 in November — flashed his potential.
Eventually, he settled. And so did the Packers.
Green Bay finished the regular season 7-3 to end up with a 9-8 record, a second-place finish in the NFC North and the No. 7 seed in the conference, the last NFC wild-card berth. Over his last eight games of the regular season, Love threw for 2,150 yards and posted an immaculate 18:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He finished the regular season starting all 17 games for Green Bay and completed 64.2% of his throws for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. His quarterback rating was 96.1.
The crowning achievement of his first season as a starter, however, came in his playoff debut. The No. 7 seed Packers traveled to Dallas to face the NFC East champions and No. 2 seeded Cowboys, where Green Bay was an underdog of more than a touchdown.
All Love did was complete 16-of-21 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in a 48-32 dismantling of the Cowboys.
When was Jordan Love drafted?
Love was considered a bit of a raw, but talented, prospect coming out of Utah State during the 2020 draft that also saw quarterbacks Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert taken early in the first round.
Still, Love was the No. 26 pick in the draft, and the Packers even made a trade to move up in the draft to get him, sending the No. 30 pick and a fourth-round pick to the Miami Dolphins.
The Packers were ready to hand him the keys to the offense going into his fourth NFL season.
“Yeah, we have a lot of confidence in him,” Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said of Love in an interview with WBAY in Green Bay on March 10.
“We drafted him and developed him. A lot of credit goes to our coaches, and to Jordan. But we do think he’s ready.”
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Why did the Packers draft Jordan Love?
After the Packers lost the NFC championship game to the San Francisco 49ers in 2019, they drafted a quarterback who would be Rodgers’ backup for the next three seasons.
"He's obviously been through this and he's a pro and I think it's something that's a long-term decision," Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said of Rodgers and the decision to draft Love in April 2020.
"I think that when you go through kind of the way things went tonight, you weigh the short-term and the long-term and the way the board went, this was just the best decision for the Packers. Obviously Aaron has been around a long time, and he knows what we're playing for right now, so that's what's most important right now."
Rodgers and the Packers were eliminated from the playoffs in the NFC title game in 2020 and the divisional round in 2021. They did not reach the playoffs in 2022.
Jordan Love's NFL stats
Love has now appeared in 27 career regular season games for the Packers. He has thrown for 4,765 yards while completing 63.7% of his pass attempts — with 35 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Love has 18 career regular-season starts. His first came on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021. The Packers were held scoreless until Love threw a touchdown pass in the final five minutes of the game. He completed 19 of 34 passes for 190 yards with an interception in the 13-7 loss.
Love has had several impressive outings as an NFL quarterback, though many of them have come recently. In fact, his best career start might be his playoff debut, when the Packers went on the road Jan. 14 and stunned the heavily-favored Cowboys in the wild card round.
Love had only two more incompletions (five) than he had passing touchdowns against Dallas and posted a near-perfect quarterback rating of 157.2.
Most importantly, Love has continued to show improvement and command of coach Matt LaFleur’s offense — seemingly with each passing game.
How high are the expectations for Jordan Love?
Just look at the quarterbacks before him.
Favre is a Hall of Famer who won a Super Bowl to complete the 1996 season, and he was the league MVP from 1995-97.
Rodgers followed Favre by winning Super Bowl MVP after leading the Packers to a championship following the 2010 regular season. He also won the MVP award four times (2011, 2014, 2020 and 2021).
Now that Love has led this young Green Bay roster to the playoffs, and now that his play has been so efficient, expectations are only likely to increase — perhaps significantly so.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jordan Love follows in footsteps of Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre
