The Green Bay Packers are embarking on a new era with Jordan Love taking over the starting quarterback job from Aaron Rodgers. It is anyone’s guess how he will react to the new role, as he doesn’t have very much experience from his first three seasons in the NFL.
After being a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Utah State, Love has made only one start, 10 appearances altogether, and attempted only 83 passes. With such a small sample size, it is virtually impossible to predict what kind of production Love will provide in 2023.
While he may not have many regular season snaps, Love has plenty of reps under his belt. He has played a ton of preseason games and has received plenty of work during practices. From what he has shown this offseason, the improvement is night and day.
According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Love “looked leaps and bounds better than he did a year or two years ago” during a workout that was open to the media.
“Looks more refined, the way he holds the ball, his command overall,” Fowler reported Sunday on SportsCenter. “And that person said, ‘There’s a reason why the Packers players are stomping for Love publicly.’ So, he’s made a lot of growth. They’re going to see where that goes.” (H/T Joseph Zucker of Bleacher Report)
By all accounts, things have been going very well for Love this offseason. Stepping into the starting lineup in place of a legend such as Rodgers is no small task, but he has been making a good impression in the early going.
The coaching staff has liked what they have seen and his teammates are also getting behind him. One player who spoke highly of Love was offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins. While Jenkins said that the Packers will miss Rodgers, Love has impressed with his level of confidence this offseason.
“So we know that he’s a good player and just ready to go on Sunday or whenever we play,” Jenkins said. “In OTAs, I’ve seen a lot of good things from Jordan, a lot of leadership—he stepped up as a leader a lot—so I’m very excited for his future and ready to play with him.”
While the sample size is very small, Love has seemingly made improvements on the field as his career has gone along. He even drew some praise from Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay after relieving Rodgers in the Packers’ Week 12 matchup against them.
While the jury is still out on Love, the first impression that he is making is making the Packers feel better about their decision to move on from Rodgers and transition to the Jordan Love era in 2023.