Jordan Love heads into his third season as the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. His performance over the previous two years has had both ups and downs. He’s also dealt with some injuries, but Love managed to play through them. One of Love’s biggest bugaboos has been turning over the football (22 interceptions over two years). However, despite some errors, Love has also shown flashes of being an elite quarterback. If he can improve his ability to take care of the football, he will be a top-five quarterback in the NFL next season.
Love elevating himself to being a top-five quarterback might not seem like a realistic jump. To be top tier, he would have to outperform guys like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, and Jayden Daniels. That said, all of the signs of Love making that jump are there. Love has shown stretches of being the best of the best. He has put the team on his back in times of need and has shown up when the game is on the line. Love becoming one of the league’s best is not as far-fetched as it may seem.
The Second Half of 2023
Love’s first season as a starter started a bit shaky, but after a Week 10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, he caught fire. Over the next eight games, he led the Packers to a 6-2 record and a playoff berth. Warren Sharp shared some mind-boggling numbers showing how incredible Love performed.
These numbers are jaw-dropping. Love was the hottest quarterback in the league for a prolonged stretch. Throughout this time, he was blitzed at the highest rate in the league and faced several high-quality defenses. He also carried this play over into the playoffs, where he was nearly perfect in an upset win over the Dallas Cowboys. This stretch of play from the first-year quarterback was top-notch. If he can string together this type of play throughout the 2025 season, he will win himself an MVP award.
Getting a Little Help From His Friends
There’s a lot of unknown in football, but one certainty is that no player can do everything themselves. For Jordan Love to become one of the league’s best, he will need his surrounding cast to perform much better than they did a year ago. The Packers’ roster has been the youngest in the NFL for two consecutive seasons, and their lack of experience has shown. If each offensive position group takes a step forward, Jordan Love could shine.
Every quarterback can benefit from a strong running game. Good rushing attacks will slow down pass rushers, open up more opportunities in the passing game, and lead to explosive plays in the play-action game. The Packers’ running game, led by Josh Jacobs, was one of the best in the league. Their performance ranked…
#1 in broken tackles (58)
#2 in yards after contact (1,248)
#5 in rushing yards (2,496)
#5 in rushing touchdowns (23)
#5 in 1st downs (142)
As good as those numbers are, the rushing attack could be more consistent. For example, Jacobs was elite on natural grass last season. On artificial surfaces, not so much. If Jacobs can become just a little more consistent, the Packers’ offense as a whole will improve. Adding a healthy Marshawn Lloyd won’t hurt either. If the run game can take a step forward, Love’s job will be much easier.
Love also needs significant improvement from his pass catchers, starting with catching the football. The Packers’ pass catchers recorded the third-most drops (33) and had the second-highest drop percentage. Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks dropped 9 passes, followed by Romeo Doubs dropping 7 and Tucker Kraft dropping 5. Their lack of ability to catch the football or make plays led them to having the most errors that caused incompletions (34) in the entire league. On third- and fourth-down, the pass catchers performed even worse.
32.7% of Love’s incompletions on third down were due to receiver error, which was the highest in the league by far. That number was only 13.8% for MVP Josh Allen. In addition to that, Love lost 28.2 Expected Points Added (EPA) on third- and fourth-downs due to receiver error, which is the most of any quarterback since 2020. The same faces (Reed, Doubs, Wicks, and Kraft) will all be expected to play large roles again. The Packers also added Matthew Golden, Savion Williams, and Mecole Hardman to potentially help. Love will need several of these guys to elevate their play, and there’s no reason why they won’t.
Love also needs to remain upright. Last season, the Packers’ offensive line produced the seventh-highest pass block win rate and gave up the second-fewest sacks. This offseason, the Packers added Aaron Banks and Anthony Belton to an offensive line room that already contained five competent starters. It remains to be seen who will line up where, but the Packers should have at least seven quality options to play along their offensive line. What other quarterback has that luxury?
The Highs of 2024, Not the Lows
In Love’s first eight games, he threw 11 interceptions and had a passer rating of 90.6. He also fumbled four times, but luckily didn’t lose any. Up until that point, there wasn’t much to show why the Packers signed him to a $220 million contract. But while there were points where Love was not perfect, he was better than many people think.
Love faced the sixth-toughest schedule of pass defenses. Despite that and all of the pass-catching issues, Love still managed to produce the fifth-highest QBR in the league (69.3). In the red zone, he performed really well. Even though he attempted fewer passes than the guys above him, Love still finished eighth in red-zone touchdown passes (20). He also produced the second-best completion rate on goal-to-go passes (68%).
Another important metric used to measure quarterback performance is Passing Expected Points Added (EPA). According to this metric, Love was a top-ten performer in a number of areas…
#8 when trailing
#6 in the red zone
#7 on early downs
#7 on play action
#8 against man coverage
There’s no denying Love could’ve played better throughout the 2024 season. He still finished the season ranked bottom ten in the NFL in completion percentage. But many encouraging factors give plenty of reason to think Love is going to continue progressing into being one of the best signal callers in the NFL.
It’s Time For Love to Prove It
Jordan Love is the guy. The Packers committed their future to him by moving on from 4-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers and rewarding him with a big payday, one that made him one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the entire league. He has the talent and intangibles of becoming one of the faces of the NFL. It’s time for him to elevate himself from being good to great.
There are factors out of Love’s control. He can’t control how his teammates perform or freak injuries that occur. But all the signs point to 2025 being the year that Love becomes a top-five quarterback in the NFL. He’s already shown high-level play over the last two years, so the foundation is there. If Love makes a few small improvements, he will force himself into the top tier of quarterbacks.
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