OPINION: Anxious for Love
Whether it comes in the next few months or years, the Green Bay Packers are poised to move on from their second-consecutive sure-fire Hall of Fame quarterback.
This is news to no one at this point. In this season of gift-giving and receiving however, I find myself despite the Packers’ recent success anxious about what Green Bay got in last April’s draft.
The first round pick relegated to street clothes for most of the season so far carries with him a wave of intrigue. Jordan Love sits as the heir apparent to Aaron Rodgers after being drafted 26th overall, but we have little more than third party testimony of his aptitude at this point. Even if we had practice footage of him dropping 80-yard bombs into the waiting hands of receivers, we wouldn’t really know what to expect once he hits the field for a regular season game.
A recent story from long-time NFL reporter Tyler Dunne’s new blog, Go Long with Tyler Dunne, attempted to shed light on some of the mystery surrounding Love. In the piece, he talks to Love’s leading receiver at Utah State in 2019, Siaosi Mariner. The receiver did not mince words.
“You’re going to get the Patrick Mahomes,” Mariner told Dunne.
He continued: “The things Patrick Mahomes is doing, (Love) can do as well. I don’t even want to put a cap on him. Patrick Mahomes is a great player but this is Jordan Love. He plays like Jordan Love and he does a lot of Patrick Mahomes-like things. The off-schedule throws are becoming more and more of a trend. It’s something he’s been doing. While Patrick Mahomes was doing it, he was doing it.”
The full story is definitely worth the read, but those quotes raised my eyebrows. By no means do I want to rush Rodgers out the door, especially the way he has played of late, but if one less year in his late thirties means one more year of another potential world-class talent under center?
Based on a few minutes of YouTube highlights, you can see shades of what made the two quarterbacks before Love in green and gold so dominant. The decisive throws, the touch on the deep ball; even shades of Brett Favre’s gunslinger style with a touch of Rodgers’ discipline. I understand highlights are highlights and film study is film study, but the tools are either there or they aren’t. Love has them.
Sometimes the worst parts of anticipating something are not knowing when the payoff is coming, or if it will live up to that anticipation. In Love’s case, expectations will be high due to the timing of the pick as Rodgers still looked and continues to look like he has good football left. He will also be entering rare territory, following in two Hall of Fame signal-callers footsteps. For Love and Packers fans however, the concern should not be around if he will be Brett, Aaron or Patrick, but how he will fit in this organization as the best Jordan Love he can be.
Green Bay could have hit the trifecta with the Love pick, but in the meantime let’s enjoy our remaining days in Mr. Rodgers’ neighborhood.
