Aaron Rodgers is all but traded to the New York Jets, now what for Jordan Love and the Packers– nothing to look back at. Only forward.
If at the end of the day, one thing has been settled, it’s Jordan Love time in Green Bay. The inevitable has finally come for the Green Bay Packers, an entire offensive roster overhaul with a bittersweet connotation.
18-year quarterback Aaron Rodgers announced his intention to play for the New York Jets next season in a climatic saga from the very second the clock hit zero against the Packers’ Week 18 loss to Detroit. Behind Rodgers’ sideshow and all the media attention, Jordan Love has been standing quietly in the shadows, getting ready to live up to two generations of hall-of-fame quarterback talents in Rodgers and Favre.
Love, a 2020 first-round pick was GM Brian Gutekunst’s selection to be Rodgers’ heir apparent, a move that set off a domino effect to get us to where we are now. Rodgers departing for greener pastures and Love’s kingdom to take.
Earlier this year things got dicey when Rodgers was indecisive about whether he wanted to remain in Green Bay or move on– prompting rumors of a Love sentiment to request a trade. Love’s patience was burning up after sitting for three years behind a bona fide hall-of-famer in Rodgers, but the threat of trade was a true shot across the bow for a team that has invested so much in Love’s development.
Jordan Love is now left with a revamped offense, one that looks like a palimpsest from just two years ago during Green Bay’s 2021 13-4 year. A trio of young receivers, no guarantee of the return of their number one blocking tight end, and a brand new quarterback at the helm of the league’s most decorated team. It’s a lot to take in.
“He definitely needs to play,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said at the Scouting Combine. “I think that’s the next step in his progression. I think he’s ready for that. Not every quarterback comes into this league ready to go out there and play. I think he needed a little time but, over the last year-and-a-half or so, we’ve seen that’s the next step in his progression. He needs to go out and play.”
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The blast of uncertainty that hit the atmosphere in Green Bay late Wednesday morning that the team’s arguably best quarterback in franchise history would depart was unsurmountable for most fans. For others, it reminds them of their own experience in the same exact position.
“You don’t know you’re ready until you’re in that position,” Rodgers said after the season-ending 20-16 loss to the Lions. “I remember the day I was sleeping in San Diego and woke up to 50 text messages that Brett (Favre) had retired. Then the emotions hit you. ‘Oh, man, now I’m the guy.’”
Uncanny parallels or not, this offense is the youngest, rawest, and most unforeseeable it’s been in years. With Jordan Love at the helm, anything can happen– but if anything is a good omen, it’s been the flashes of playing time he has shown throughout the past couple of years. Love’s limited playing time has been usually relegated to blowouts or game-ending kneeldowns. However, his most extensive gameplay came in 2021 against the Chiefs where he threw for 190 yards on 19 completions with his first career touchdown pass and an interception. It might not have been the Canton-esque performance some Packers fans were looking for, but it was a start.
His next meaningful game time came in Week 14 this past season against the number one Eagles where he showed spurts of brilliance and tremendous accuracy. Despite only playing a mere 12 minutes, he threw for 112 yards on six completions and a drop by his running back. He proved to the world that he had improved since his Kansas City game and was ready to take over the reins.
If there was ever any doubt on if Love was ready to take the team under his wing, Aaron Rodgers disputes it, “I feel like an older brother watching him do well,” Rodgers said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I care about the kid a lot. Fun to see his growth, fun to just see him relax out there. I think as any young player, once you can make a few plays, it kind of takes the anxiety out of the body and the tension out of the body. To see him make accurate throws and do what he’s been doing has been fun to watch.”
Love enters the 2023 season with a team that no one really believes in, from the fledgling receivers who started to gain their footing late last season to a defense that looks much different than who was rostered a mere three months ago– the Packers are a different team. That may work to Love’s advantage however, building a relationship with the receivers he’ll be throwing to every day could prove useful early on in his starting career.
With Allen Lazard– the team’s number one receiver from 2022 gone to the Jets and the future of Randall Cobb in serious question, the Packers are left with three players in the receiver room. Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Samori Toure– all 2022 draft picks.
From 2008-2021, Packers’ rookie receivers averaged a passing target on 13.4% of their routes. At the end of the season, Doubs and Watson averaged a target on 21.2% of them.
“That’s one thing that Green Bay has always prided themselves on, drafting guys and being able to develop them and not having to thrust guys into situations immediately in their careers,” Packers free agent WR Randall Cobb said about the change in receivers. “[But now,] you’re expecting someone to fill that void [that Davante Adams left].”
Watson came on strong late during Green Bay’s last minute dash to make the playoffs. Finishing the year with 41 receptions for 611 yards, he’ll attempt to take Lazard’s WR1 role as the true outside receiver. With a 6’5″ frame, and blazing 4.3 speed, he could be Love’s new favorite target as Green Bay tries to find their identity with a revamped offense.
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Looking at it from a true outside perch, the offense only needs a couple more pieces to be efficient, something that doesn’t seem too out of reach. The Packers are reforming, not starting over. As Aaron Rodgers said only a couple seasons ago, the Pack needs to “reload, not rebuild”.
As ambitious as it sounds losing over two big mainstays on their offensive unit, the Packers had been ready to move on for a while– thus the drafting of Jordan Love. Green Bay’s backfield duo in Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon make a return, being one of the league’s most productive two weapon arsenals. Ranking in the top half of the NFL in rushing attacks, the Packers’ backfield has been a bright spot for over five years now.
Jones will be Love’s best friend early on, being the team’s de facto renaissance man. His unique toolkit enables him to be a true receiver on passing concepts and screens as well as being a true shifty back. Dillon’s presence has proven to be an exceptional ground and pound campaign, bruising defenders with his thick build. The two-punch attack will be a practical tool for Matt LaFleur’s novitiate offense.
Both Doubs and Toure were drafted later on in the draft, but both have made impacts immediately on the Packers squad. While Watson was dealing with an injury-riddled first half to the season, Doubs had to take over at WR1 and proved to be a formidable receiver to Rodgers’ liking. His availability and ability to make big time plays including his game-tying touchdown versus New England in Week 4 will be a huge help to Love, especially as injuries are inevitable.
Doubs has also made his fair share of acrobatic catches, including a double-ballerina twist on a touchdown versus the Buffalo Bills that gave the Packers life against a overwhelming defense. The Packers’ 2022 WR selections are looking like the right choice so far.
As for Toure, his role was relegated to the fifth receiver on the roster, but still drew exclamation marks wherever he could. He also scored a touchdown against the Bills on an ad-lib play that paralleled the true 2021 Packers offense with Davante Adams at receiver. The following week, he gave the Packers life support on a 4th and 2 that he got over 30 yards on.
Expect the Packers to make even more moves to help out Love. Another receiver or two in the draft would give Love the tools he needs to be a proper quarterback in a system that demands so much out of him. A new tight end also wouldn’t go unappreciated– whether in the draft with Dalton Kincaid or Michael Mayer or for the Pack to seek a new addition via the veteran market like Dalton Schultz from Dallas.
The Packers offense is under new management with Jordan Love. A player who’s been itching to start since his entrance into the league. Toiling under Rodgers for years, history was bound to repeat itself. The quarterback has drawn high praise from his former mentor in Rodgers, “he’s going to be a great player,” Rodgers told Pat McAfee on his podcast.
Even more, he’s impressed the likes of Super Bowl coaches such as Mike Martz— the offensive coordinator of the Greatest Show on Turf, winning Super Bowl XXXIV with the Rams, “From what I’ve seen of this kid, I’d hang onto him. I’d bet the ranch on this guy. I was dumbfounded when I saw him. I think just watching him, I’ve never been so shocked or taken by a guy at first glance, as I was with this Jordan Love.”
Love’s own coach out of Utah State, had plenty of love to throw around, “I think he’ll embrace it,” David Yost, who was Utah State’s offensive coordinator in 2017, when Love eventually moved into the starting lineup, and 2018, when Love became a star with 32 touchdowns vs. six interceptions, told FanSided’s Packer Central recently.
“I don’t think he’ll put any extra pressure on himself. I think he’ll go out and be the best he can be and understand that he has all the ability and talent to be a really good NFL quarterback. Then, it’s just the more you play and learn, the better you get. I think he’ll progress in that way. He’s not going to step on the field and try to be Aaron Rodgers. Knowing him, he’s going to be the best version of Jordan Love he can be.”
Like it or not, the Jordan Love era in Green Bay has begun. And his new posse on offense will serve as ground zero for what Packers’ brass hopes is the third sequel to what has been an impressive quarterback lineage in Titletown.
