The biggest storyline involving the Green Bay Packers in training camp is how the offense will look with Jordan Love at the controls. After spending three years as the backup to Aaron Rodgers, the 2020 first-round pick out of Utah State is finally getting his chance to showcase his talents as the team’s starting quarterback.
There is immense pressure on Love to perform in 2023. He is not only looking to live up to expectations of being a first-round pick but has to replace a legend in Rodgers, who is one of the best to ever do it.
Given the contract extension that Love signed with the Packers, he is locked in as the starter for the 2023 season. But, if things don’t go well, he will assuredly have some competition brought in next year to battle things out with him.
So, what exactly would constitute a good year for Love in the eyes of the Packers? In a recent sit down with Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, head coach Matt LaFleur covered a number of topics. One of them was Love and LaFleur revealed what first-year expectations the team has for him.
“It’s more than just Jordan Love. It’s the receivers, the tight ends, it’s how do we block for him, it’s how are we running the football? We’ve got two great backs, we’ve got most of our experience in the backfield and up front, how do we lean into that? How do we get these other guys to come along? There’s a lot of youth there. There’s a lot of excitement with that. We can see the talent, how do we harness that talent? How do we put these guys in great situations so they can go out there and show what they can do?” (H/T Packers Wire)
The Packers are certainly taking an unorthodox approach to how they built the offense around Love. He is lacking in experience with only 10 appearances and one start under his belt; compared to some of the skill position players around him, that is a ton of experience.
Green Bay has one of the youngest skill position groups the NFL has ever seen. There isn’t a wide receiver on the roster with more than one season of NFL experience and two rookies could sit atop the tight end depth chart once Week 1 rolls around.
Adding some experience would likely help Love in his journey as a quarterback for the first time. But, it sounds like the Packers know the situation that he is stepping into and will consider that during their evaluations. For 2023, this is Love’s team and they are hoping he can grow and develop along with the young teammates surrounding him.
