Ranking Love Among Inexperienced Starting Quarterbacks
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers aren’t the only team hitching a wagon filled with nothing but hopes and dreams to a young quarterback.
When the Packers visit the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Jordan Love will be making his second career start. According to the NFL, Love is one of eight quarterbacks with less than 10 career starts who will get the call in Week 1. Actually, he’s one of eight with five or fewer starts.
Love is better than most of them. Maybe all of them.
The Packers are bubbling with enthusiasm about Love. He’s always had the arm talent and athleticism to be a successful quarterback. Now, he knows what he’s doing from a fundamentals and playbook perspective. His calmness should suit him well.
“He just has a very good demeanor about him,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said on Thursday. “Very confident, very relaxed. I can feel his excitement this week. You can just see he’s champing at the bit to get out there and go for it. Yeah, he’s done a great job handling himself really well around the guys. I’m really excited about Jordan and watching him grow.”
That Love has big shoes to fill in replacing Aaron Rodgers is more cliché than reality, Rodgers told Packer Central last week. Love watched and learned from Rodgers for the past three seasons, and his step forward last year coincided with the arrival of veteran quarterbacks coach Tom Clements.
“He’s a great kid,” Rodgers said. “He’s got all the talent in the world. They’ve got a really young team, so he’s got an opportunity to be exactly who he wants to be and be the leader that he wants to be. I’m excited for him.”
With the help of one NFL executive, here is our ranking of the eight No. 1 quarterbacks with less than 10 starts under their belt. The ranking is based on which quarterback is ready to have success in 2023.
8. Arizona: Josh Dobbs
A fourth-round pick in 2017, Dobbs already is on his third team. In two starts last year for the Titans, he completed 58.8 percent of his passes with two touchdowns, two interceptions and a 73.8 rating. With Kyler Murray out with a torn ACL, the Cardinals have shown no desire to win this season.
7. Washington: Sam Howell
A fifth-round pick last year, Howell made his NFL debut against Dallas in Week 18. With the Cowboys resting most of their key players, he completed 11-of-19 passes in a 26-6 win. Washington didn’t draft a quarterback, so the job is Howell’s to lose.
6. Indianapolis: Anthony Richardson
The fourth pick of this year’s draft, Richardson completed just 44.8 percent of his passes in the preseason – veteran Gardner Minshew completed 87.5 percent, for sake of comparison – with a 45.9 rating. He’s got rare tools and an offensive-minded head coach in Shane Steichen.
5. Houston: C.J. Stroud
The second pick of this year’s draft, Stroud completed 11-of-20 passes during the preseason with a 62.3 passer rating. The executive pointed to the number of quarterbacks from Ohio State who have struggled in the NFL.
4. Carolina: Bryce Young
The Panthers sold the farm to the Bears to acquire the No. 1 overall pick. In the preseason, Young completed 58.3 percent of his passes with an 87.0 rating. The undersized Young has a much better supporting cast than Richardson and Stroud.
3. Atlanta: Desmond Ridder
A third-round pick last year, Ridder started the final four games and performed fairly well (63.5 percent, two touchdowns vs. zero interceptions, and an 86.4 rating). Tight end Kyle Pitts (first round, 2021), receiver Drake London (first round, 2022) and running back Bijan Robinson (first round, 2023) provide what could be an excellent supporting cast. The Falcons will host Green Bay next week.
2. Green Bay: Jordan Love
Love could quickly ascend to No. 1 on this list, said the executive, who admittedly was not a fan of Love entering the 2020 NFL Draft. “We’ll see what happens when it’s real, but you’ve got to hand it to Gutey (general manager Brian Gutekunst) and the coaches for turning an erratic passer into what he seems to be today.” Love was horrible in his one and only start at Kansas City in 2021 but sharp in relief of Rodgers at Philadelphia last year.
1. San Francisco: Brock Purdy
The final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, Purdy came off the bench and won all five regular-season starts to send the 49ers all the way to the NFC Championship Game. He completed 67.1 percent of his passes with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions, good for a 107.3 rating.
Noting the similarity in offensive schemes, Purdy’s rookie-year performance puts the pressure on Packers coach Matt LaFleur to get at least a similar caliber of play from his fourth-year passer, the executive said.
With 14 teams breaking in a new starting quarterback – including the Rodgers-led Jets – almost half the NFL is betting on a new signal-caller to lift the team to greater heights. Of note, all four NFC South teams have a new starter; the Packers will visit the Falcons (Ridder) in Week 2, host the Saints (Derek Carr) in Week 3, host the Buccaneers (Baker Mayfield) in Week 15 and visit the Panthers (Young) in Week 16.
