Packers Have One Question at Quarterback Before OTAs, and It’s Three

The Green Bay Packers have a quality starting quarterback in Jordan Love and a strong replacement for backup Malik Willis with the recent addition of Tyrod Taylor.

Who will be the No. 3 quarterback? That will be one of the big battles that will begin at the start of OTAs next week.

Packers QB Depth Chart: Starters

Jordan Love: Love is the no-doubt-about-it starter. He’s coming off his best season. Last season, 32 quarterbacks threw at least 250 passes. Love finished sixth with a career-high 101.2 passer rating, ranking just behind Buffalo’s Josh Allen and just ahead of Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow.

Packers QB Depth Chart: Backups

Tyrod Taylor: For the first time in Love’s career as a starter, he’ll have a veteran backup. Having gone from rookie Sean Clifford in 2023 to just-signed Malik Willis in 2024 to Willis again in 2025, the new backup with by Tyrod Taylor. Taylor, who will turn 37 about a week into training camp, was a full-time starter from 2015 through 2017 and has thrown 1,886 passes during his career.

“I think once Tyrod’s able to get a grasp of what’s going on here, I think he’s going to be a great value for him,” quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy said.

Kyle McCord: McCord was a sixth-round pick last year by the Eagles and spent last season on Philadelphia’s practice squad. After three years at Ohio State, McCord wrapped up his career at Syracuse and threw for 4,779 yards – a whopping 367.6 yards per game.

Kyron Drones: The Packers signed Drones as an undrafted free agent out of Virginia Tech. He had a combined 7,364 passing and rushing yards and 64 touchdowns during three seasons with the Hokies.

Big Change: New Quarterbacks Coach

The Packers not only will have a new backup quarterback, with Malik Willis signing with the Dolphins in free agency and no doubt looking forward to playing the Packers at Lambeau Field in December, but there’s a new quarterbacks coach.

With Sean Mannion hired as the offensive coordinator of the Eagles, Packers coach Matt LaFleur moved Luke Getsy into that post. Getsy was quarterbacks coach from 2019 through 2021 – those were Jordan Love’s first three seasons in the NFL – before becoming offensive coordinator of the Bears in 2022.

“I think [what I learned] about myself is whenever you’re in that role of being the guy that’s in charge of everything, how much you have to touch everything,” Getsy said. “I think that when I first got into that role, you get so focused on the quarterback position and making sure the quarterback’s ready to roll, and then just kind of seeing the bigger perspective of things.

“Not just the players. I’m talking about the coaching staff and all that and how you tie all that together. It was really fun, because going from Year 1 to Year 2, I just thought I grew tremendously in that aspect of it. So, you encounter things you’re not ready for, and then I think, hopefully, I’ll be able to bring a little bit of that to the world that I’m in now.”

What We Know: Start of Depth Chart

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) is shown during organized team activities in 2024. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

There is no doubt that Jordan Love, assuming he’s healthy, will be the Week 1 starter in a season-opening showdown against the Vikings.

Love was only 15th in completion percentage last season but was eighth in yards per attempt. He threw 23 touchdowns and a career-low six interceptions. Importantly, he was tied for third with four fourth-quarter comebacks.

“I think there was just a really cool, natural progression for him,” Getsy said.

“The tough part, him getting drafted when he did, when there was no offseason or anything like that, he got thrown into the fire that very first season, and then just the natural progression that happened every year. His mentality, his perspective, his work ethic, I think it just speaks volumes to where he’s gone to now.”

There is almost no doubt that Tyrod Taylor will be the backup. He played in six games with four starts for the woeful Jets last season, completing 59.7 percent of his passes with five touchdowns, five interceptions and a 72.9 passer rating. He is not Malik Willis as a runner but 5.3 yards per carry is nothing to sneeze at.

“He’s a good player, man,” defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said. “Played against him a long time, but he’s accurate and he’s mobile. So, those are the two things that pop. And he’s a playmaker. He can deliver the ball accurately and it’s hard to get him down in the pocket.”

What We Don’t Know: Who’s No. 3?

The start of OTAs will be the start of the battle to find a No. 3 quarterback. Presumably, that player will get a season-long spot on the practice squad in hopes he’s ready to be the No. 2 quarterback for next season.

McCord was deemed a potential NFL starter by NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein, who compared him to Mitchell Trubisky.

“He has enough arm to make window throws and push the ball around the field,” Zierlein wrote as part of a much more extensive scouting report. “McCord seeks to attack coverages vertically instead of operating as a ‘Checkdown Charlie.’ While he can hit chunk throws, his decision-making and ball placement aren’t always good fits for his gunslinger mentality.”

The Packers signed McCord after last season, so he’s got a jump on Drones from an NFL development and playbook standpoint.

“I think Malik definitely set the blueprint of what to do and how to make the most out of that opportunity, so it’s a great opportunity,” McCord said during rookie camp. “I’m super-happy to be here, so when I had the chance to sign here it was really a no-brainer in my mind.”

Drones has the build of a running back and the speed of one, too. Statistically, he did not have a great year with a woeful 56.5 completion percentage, but he was plagued by dropped passes and porous pass protection.

He’s going to have to rally to catch up to McCord, but the fact that Green Bay loved what Willis brought to the table and sees some of that skill-set in Drones could be the deciding factor in what will be a battle that could take until the end of the preseason to decide.

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