Gutekunst: Love Doesn’t Have to Play, But …

Here's why it would be important to insert Jordan Love into the starting lineup if/when the Green Bay Packers are eliminated from the playoff race.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Dec 7, 2022 8:39 AM EST

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On the Monday after the 2023 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers have a $19.8 million decision to make on Jordan Love.

That’s the fully guaranteed price tag on Love’s fifth-year option. The Packers have to flip the switch on that by May 1 to ensure he’ll remain with the Packers in 2024. If not, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent following the end of next season.

With a 5-8 record at the bye following Sunday’s win at Chicago, the Packers’ playoff hopes are on life support. Assuming they’re eliminated at some point, wouldn’t it make sense to have Aaron Rodgers step aside and elevate Love into the starting lineup to help inform that major financial decision?

“No,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Monday. “We’re really pleased with his progression and what he’s been able to do. I think that it would be really good for him, the growth that you need to go through, seeing things for the first time, making those mistakes that you need to make. But I think from our end of it, we’ve seen what we need to see.”

If it’s surprising that Gutekunst believes he has seen what he needs to see from a quarterback who has been given significant playing time in three games with just one start in three seasons, it shouldn’t be. That’s what scouts and executives told Packer Central last month.

“I’d say that, yes, you’d have some sense of whether a guy has ‘it’ by then or not,” one of them said. “Three years is a good length of time to have a body of work to observe/make a judgement on that. Especially at that position, seeing how he operates daily, how he interacts with guys on and off the field, how locked in he is during practice and also how successful he is against the starters while running the scout team.”

The other part of what Gutekunst said is important. Does Love need to play to prove anything? No. Would it be good for Love to play? Yes.

There’s no substitute for experience.

When Rodgers took over as Green Bay’s starter in 2008, he fashioned a 6-10 record with 28 touchdowns vs. 13 interceptions (2.15 touchdowns per interception) and a 93.8 passer rating. There were glimpses of Rodgers being a great quarterback but he was not close to being a great quarterback.

With a full season of starting experience under his belt, Rodgers’ career took flight in 2009 with his 30 touchdowns vs. seven interceptions (4.29 touchdowns per interception) and 103.2 rating to help the Packers go 11-5. Rodgers won the Super Bowl in 2010 and his first MVP in 2011.

That would be the upside of inserting Love into the lineup if/when the Packers are eliminated from playoff consideration. The more he experiences now, the better off he’ll be – and the Packers will be – whenever he replaces Rodgers as the full-time starter.

So far, Love’s in-game experience is scant. He played poorly in his one NFL start at Kansas City last year when Rodgers was out with COVID. He played poorly while surrounded mainly by backups during the second half of the finale at Detroit last year. But he looked sharp in leading the Packers to 10 points in two possessions at Philadelphia this year.

“I’m always that other voice in the room helping them with certain things, footwork and reads and memory devices I’ve learned over the years,” Rodgers said on Wednesday. “I always tell them, too, every mistake you’ve made or are going to make, I’ve made and then some.

“The most important thing is to keep that confidence, be that energy spark, be that guy that brings enthusiasm to work every single day and then make that scout team your own. The jump has not just been Tom (Clements) coming in (as quarterbacks coach) and Jordan third year in the system feeling more comfortable. It’s been the way he’s practiced. He practiced a lot better on that (scout) team and worked on throws and worked on movement throws and arm angles and different things he’s going to need to rely on when he’s the guy.”

With three years running coach Matt LaFleur’s offense and two years running the scout team against the No. 1 defense on the practice field, the Packers have a feel for whether Love can “the guy.” They also have a firm grasp on the intangibles, such as study habits, leadership and how he interacts with teammates – all important parts of quarterback play that will never show up on game film.

“I do” believe Love is a starting quarterback, Gutekunst said. “Now, you’ve got to go out and do it in real games and all that, and I think that’s important, but all young quarterbacks go through a period of time where, no matter what individual success, I think it takes them a little bit of time to learn how to win in this league and that’s going to be important for Jordan whenever he gets his opportunity. But that’s a big part of it. Learning within the game is very important for that development.”