Grading the 2023 Packers: Jordan Love and Quarterbacks
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers enjoyed the benefits of an inexpensive quarterback in 2023.
Hope they enjoyed it.
The Packers signed Jordan Love to a one-year contract extension on May 2, 2023, which became official a day later. Rules forbid teams from signing players to more than one extension in a calendar year. So, at some point on or after May 3, 2024, Love will become the next quarterback to sign a mega-contract.
After an inconsistent start to his debut season as the team’s starter, Love was nothing short of sensational to earn a predictably high grade in Part 1 of our annual season-ending grades.
Player grades are an offseason staple. Ours are different in that they’re based on the salary cap. After all, teams that win need their high-priced players to provide bang for their buck and some of their budget-friendly players to play key roles.
With the No. 33 salary-cap charge among quarterbacks, second-half-of-the-season Love might have been the biggest bargain in sports.
Jordan Love
2023 cap: $4,409,271. Position rank: 33rd, according to OverTheCap.com.
No way the Packers could have a third consecutive elite quarterback. Impossible. Most teams can’t find one great quarterback, let alone go from to another to another.
Unless you’re the Packers.
General manager Brian Gutekunst gambled everything when he moved up to select Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft rather than adding an instant-impact player to a Super Bowl contender. Gutekunst was right. His critics were wrong.
This isn’t about the GM, though. This is about a young quarterback taking his lumps and falling on his face in key moments a few times before unleashing a torrent of touchdown passes.
From Game 3 against New Orleans through Game 9 against Pittsburgh, Love threw eight touchdown passes vs. 10 interceptions. In those seven games, he had one with a 100-plus rating, two with 7-plus yards per pass attempt and four with a completion rate of less than 60 percent.
From Game 10 against the Chargers through the wild-card win at Dallas, he threw 21 touchdown passes vs. one interception. Over those nine games, Love had eight games with a 100-plus rating, eight with 7.3-plus yards per attempt and zero with a completion rate of less than 60 percent. His ridiculous level of play would have made him a bargain at twice the price, as the saying goes. To dominate with the 33rd-highest cap figure made him an incredible bargain.
Love finished the season ranked second in touchdown passes (32), 11th in rating (96.0), 13th in yards per attempt (7.18) and 21st in completion percentage (64.2). Considering he was last in completion percentage at the midpoint of the season is remarkable.
The final grade, of course, has to reflect the total body of work. His inconsistent play was the big reason why Green Bay started 3-6, after all. If you want to grade his future, it’s an obvious A-plus.
Grade: B-plus.
Sean Clifford
2023 cap: $831,045. Position rank: 72nd, according to OverTheCap.com.
A fifth-round pick after a record-setting career at Penn State, Clifford was the No. 2 quarterback from Day 1. Because of a strong training camp – including a series of two-minute drills – and preseason, the Packers never felt inclined to bring in a veteran.
The backup quarterback is a universally beloved figure. It’s the greatest job on earth from that perspective. But there’s a real feeling that the Packers have a legitimate quarterback. While he doesn’t have an elite trait, the arm talent and athleticism are there, and he’s a natural leader with some charisma.
Because Love got through the season unscathed, Clifford didn’t get to play a meaningful snap. His only pass was a 37-yard completion to Bo Melton during the waning moments of a blowout win at Minnesota on Dec. 31. Including three handoffs in the fourth quarter of the blowout playoff win at Dallas, he got into three games.
Grade: Incomplete.
