Packers rookie review: QB Jordan Love

The Green Bay Packers made nine picks during the 2020 NFL draft and signed several others during college free agency, adding an influx of first-year talent to the roster. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be going through and reviewing the 2020 season for all of the Packers’ rookies.

First up: quarterback Jordan Love, the 26th overall pick and the Packers’ first-round draft pick in 2020:

Season stats

Love was inactive as the team’s third quarterback in all 18 games, including playoffs. Due to the canceled preseason, he did not appear in a single game as a rookie.

Snap counts

Love played zero snaps. He was the only first-round pick in the 2020 draft that didn’t play at least one snap as a rookie.

PFF grade

N/A.

Best game

Love did not appear in a game.

Season recap, future outlook

Love was dealt a difficult hand as a rookie. Not only did the young quarterback lose the entire in-person offseason workout program, but training camp was truncated and the preseason was eliminated thanks to the pandemic. These mitigating factors combined to ensure Love’s 2020 season was a redshirt year, a likely scenario with or without a regular offseason for a talented but raw quarterback learning a brand new offense. He failed to beat out Tim Boyle for the backup job during the summer, and when Boyle and Aaron Rodgers stayed healthy all season, Love remained the No. 3 quarterback – a thankless job providing a safe space for development that also robbed him of any opportunity to get meaningful reps on the field. The Packers got nothing from their first-round pick during a season in which they once again lost one game short of the Super Bowl, but they are confident Love is still a talented player with a bright future at the game’s most important position. It’s impossible to know how much he’s really improved over the course of the year, creating some uncertainty going into 2021. His preseason reps next summer will be vital. The Packers have the NFL’s MVP at quarterback, but at some point in the near future, the franchise must decide whether sticking with Rodgers or transitioning to Love is the best course. All options are still open. Love could be the future, even as soon as 2022, or Rodgers could force him down the Jimmy Garoppolo path. Either way, the Packers believe they have a valuable asset at quarterback.

Season grade

Grading Love’s rookie season can’t be done from the outside. He didn’t appear in games, and only the team has access to his work in the classroom and on the practice field. It can be safely assumed Love improved in meaningful ways as a rookie even if he didn’t see the field, but no one can really know where he’s at until he’s on the field in a live game setting. The only disappointing factor we can judge from Love’s rookie season was his inability to beat out Boyle for the No. 2 job, but as mentioned above, the 26th overall pick had many factors working against him during his first professional offseason. Grade: Incomplete.

List

Evaluating Green Bay Packers' roster entering 2021 offseason