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How Much Is Jordan Love Worth Against Spread? Plus, QB Power Rankings

Here’s where you’ll find Jordan Love in a look at the national quarterback power rankings.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) drops back to pass at Minnesota.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) drops back to pass at Minnesota. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – A good quarterback is worth his weight in gold. That’s as true on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, when Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers will face Geno Smith and the New York Jets, as it is in Las Vegas.

Yahoo senior sports betting analyst Ben Fawkes published his annual list of what the NFL’s starting quarterbacks are worth on the point spread vs. their backup. Fawkes polled 11 oddsmakers for the impact on the spread if the starting quarterback was out and the backup started.

Love is worth 5.07 points compared to his backup, Tyrod Taylor. Last year, it was 4.73 points with Malik Willis.

The biggest difference is Buffalo’s Josh Allen meaning a 7.23-point swing on the spread vs. his backup, Kyle Allen. Among the NFC North teams, only Detroit’s Jared Goff, who is tied for eighth at plus-5.25, has a bigger impact from a better perspective than Love.

OK, onto where Love is in various quarterback power rankings.

Pro Football Focus: 6th

PFF dinged Love for his inaccuracy against Minnesota.

“The heavy blitzing from Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores didn’t make life easy for Love in the Packers’ season-opening loss, but he didn’t play particularly well either. His (minus)-9.9% completion percentage over expectation was the second-lowest mark among quarterbacks in the NFL this week.”

Buffalo’s Josh Allen is first, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow is second and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson is third.

The Packers will play at the Jets on Sunday. Geno Smith was PFF’s highest-graded passer in Week 1 but he’s only 26th in the rankings.

CBS Sports: 7th

Garrett Podell inched Love up one spot in his rankings. And for good reason. You can look at the analytical numbers until the cows come home, but it all boils down to this:

“Their line allowed a league-high 25 pressures as well as a league-high 54.3% quarterback pressure rate. Yet Jordan Love had Green Bay in the lead over halfway into the fourth quarter, completing miracle throw after miracle throw as the pocket collapsed against Brian Flores and the Vikings' psychotic blitz. Minnesota blitzed on 78.3% of Love's dropbacks, and he hung in there until his defense and offensive line collapsed.”

Allen is first, Jackson is second and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes is third.

The Jets’ Smith is 25th after he did not throw an interception and was not sacked against Tennessee. Both were big differences compared to last season with the Raiders.

Fox Sports: 7th

Love fell from seventh to fourth in Henry McKenna’s QB Stock Market at Fox Sports. McKenna’s top three are Buffalo’s Josh Allen at No. 1, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson at No. 2 and Chicago’s Caleb Williams at No. 3.

“Williams was sensational (and so was the Bears' run game),” McKenna wrote. “He didn’t even have to get Colston Loveland involved. Loveland, Rome Odunze and Luther Burden didn’t have to score a touchdown for Williams and Co. to put up almost 60 points.”

Smith went from 29th to 21st.

NFL.com: 16th

Love fell three spots in Nick Shook’s rankings after merely throwing for 387 yards and two touchdowns while being pummeled.

While noting Love was “singlehandedly carrying the Packers offense through three quarters,” he began “crumbling beneath the pressure applied by Brian Flores' defense. It wasn't his fault alone; Green Bay's offensive line struggled significantly with picking up blitzes and stunts. But as the director of the offense, Love needed to be better to stop the meltdown.”

Allen is first, Williams is second and Jackson is third. Smith is 20th.

Jordan Love’s Average Ranking

Jordan Love’s average ranking is 9.0 with three top-seven finishes.

Against the Vikings, Love had the Packers in front 22-10 and – fleetingly – 25-17 before the roof collapsed. Down 25-22, he fumbled to hand the Vikings an easy touchdown and threw an interception to set up an easy touchdown.

“You’ve just got to be better right there,” Love said of the fumbles. “There’s a couple that got out when I took a couple hits at the end, and that’s on me. I’ve got to do my best to protect it and, obviously, going down to the ground, guys ripping it out, doing different things. I just got to be better at trying to hold onto it and make sure I go down to the ground with it.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.