Three Pivotal Questions Facing Jordan Love, QBs at Packers Training Camp

Last year was supposed to be the year for Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love.

In his sixth season in the NFL, Bart Starr led the Packers to the NFL championship. In his sixth season in the NFL, Brett Favre led the Packers to a Super Bowl championship. In his sixth season in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers led the Packers to a Super Bowl championship.

In his sixth season in the NFL, Love led the Packers to … another one-and-done playoff.

On the bright side, Love led the Packers to a third consecutive playoff berth. More importantly, he took a significant step forward in terms of being an efficient, championship-caliber quarterback.

After a promising debut season as the starter in 2023 and a spinning-of-the-wheels second season in 2024, Love played significantly better in 2025. He ranked fifth in passer rating in 2025, up sharply from 11th in 2024.

Three hallmarks of winning quarterback play are completion percentage, yards per attempt and interception percentage. After all, the name of the game for a quarterback is complete passes, gain yards and avoid turnovers.

In 2024, Love ranked 23rd in completion percentage, fifth in yards per attempt and 21st in interception percentage. In 2025, Love was 11th in completion percentage, seventh in yards per attempt and fifth in interception percentage. If you add the rankings together, you get 49 in 2024 and 23 in 2025.

So, what’s the next step for Love? Never mind being deemed a top-10 quarterback, a top-five quarterback or an MVP quarterback. What’s important is being a championship quarterback.

For the Packers to win the Super Bowl, their quarterbacks must answer these three questions.

Can Jordan Love Handle Pressure?

It’s hard to play quarterback when under pressure. That’s why every defensive coordinator’s game plan starts with stopping the run and creating third-and-long situations so he can dial up pressure.

The proof is in the pudding. Last season, 40 quarterbacks faced at least 71 under-pressure dropbacks (Tyrod Taylor’s number), according to Pro Football Focus. From that group, 34 had a clean-pocket passer rating of at least 90.0; only three hit that mark when under pressure.

Still, Love’s struggles when under pressure were noteworthy. Love ranked 38th in passer rating, ahead of only Shedeur Sanders and Joe Flacco. He was 35th in completion percentage. He threw zero touchdown passes and four interceptions. He was the only one of those 40 quarterbacks without an under-pressure touchdown pass, even while ranking 11th in under-pressure passes. With zero touchdowns and four interceptions, he was minus-4 interceptions vs. touchdowns. Only Flacco was worse.

Contrast that to when Love was given a clean pocket. He was first in passer rating and completion percentage. So, his play fell off a cliff when the pass rush was closing in.

The pressure is going to come, whether it’s third down in the first half of Week 1 at Minnesota or when in comeback mode in a late-season showdown. Love needs to be better.

Improved footwork will help and, as usual for any quarterback, was a focus this offseason.

“Jordan’s been awesome, man,” coach Matt LaFleur said of Love going into Year 4 as the starter. “Like every year, he just continues to grow as a leader. His consistency is remarkable. Who he is on a daily basis, showing up, how he works, how he leads others, he’s pulling guys with them. So, I’m really excited about what is in store for him.”

Can Jordan Love Improve in Clutch Moments?

Pro Football Focus, for what it’s worth, ranked Love at No. 6 out of 32 starting quarterbacks. Two veteran scouts didn’t think he was quite that good, putting him around No. 10.

As one of the scouts said: “If it’s (Patrick) Mahomes, Josh Allen, Dak (Prescott) or Caleb (Williams) and they’ve got the ball and we’re up by four with 2 minutes to go, we’re f***ed. I don’t know that I’d feel the same if it was Jordan.”

Last season, 34 quarterbacks threw at least 65 passes in the fourth quarter. Love:

Completed 58.3 percent of his passes, which tied for 27th and was down 8.0 percent from his overall mark.

Averaged 6.6 yards per attempt, which tied for 19th and was down 1.1 yards from his overall mark.

Had an 89.0 passer rating, which ranked 16th and was down 12.2 points from his overall mark.

Love did finish among the NFL leaders in fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives. So, it’s not as if he’s a choke artist. But there are enough concerning situations for a player who’s not exactly a young quarterback.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) passes the ball during the tie at Dallas. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

He nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of a tie at Dallas with a lackadaisical approach with the final seconds ticking away. On the final play of the overtime loss at Chicago, he dropped the shotgun snap. Obviously, a million things happened in those games. Love led the Packers to 40 points against the Cowboys. That game never should have gone to overtime. Jayden Reed’s drop on the final drive against the Bears was a far bigger problem than Love’s drop.

The Packers were outscored 13-0 in the fourth quarter in a loss at Cleveland, with Love going 2-of-6 with one interception. He failed to make magic in a 10-7 home loss to Philadelphia. He was 5-of-13 with one interception in the fourth quarter of the loss at Denver.

Great quarterbacks play beyond great in key moments. Love did, at times. He will have to take that next step to win a Super Bowl.

Is Tyrod Taylor a Winning Quarterback?

Love isn’t exactly an injury-prone quarterback, but he has missed some time the past two seasons. Fortunately for the Packers, general manager Brian Gutekunst made one of the best trades in franchise history by acquiring former third-round pick Malik Willis from the Titans.

In two seasons with Tennessee, Willis played in 11 games with three starts. His passer rating was 49.4 with zero touchdowns and three interceptions. In two seasons with Green Bay, Willis also played in 11 games with three starts. His passer rating was a ridiculous 134.6 with six touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Among the 61 quarterbacks with at least three starts the last two seasons, Willis’ passer rating was No. 1 by an incredible 21.1 points over Lamar Jackson’s second-ranked 113.5.

With Willis signing with the Dolphins in free agency, Gutekunst did well to sign veteran Tyrod Taylor. He’ll bring a ton of experience to the team, which should help the offense stay afloat if forced into action.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Tyrod Taylor (6) passes the ball during practice at OTAs. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Taylor, though, is not Willis. Nobody is Willis. That is no knock on Taylor. It is simply the Packers going back to backup reality.

Of those aforementioned 61 quarterbacks, Taylor was 43rd with an 81.6 passer rating. Broken down, he was 46th in completion percentage (62.2), 56th in yards per completion (9.3) and 57th in yards per attempt (5.8). His passing success rate ranked 28th, just ahead of the likes of Bo Nix, Jalen Hurts, C.J. Stroud and Aaron Rodgers.

With his experience, he should be able to run the offense efficiently. Even though his 37th birthday is approaching, he remains an above-average athlete for the position. And when he’s not on the field, he should be a huge asset for Love, who’s only had young backups.

“We’re each other’s eyes when we’re not on the field, whether it’s looking for certain things while he’s on the field that he may not be able to see before he gets the tablet in his hands,” Taylor said. “Just keeping the communication as open as possible. Some people love more talkers on the sideline. Some people want things to be quiet. It’s about learning one another. It’s our first opportunity working alongside, so we’ll get comfortable within that space.”

The behind-the-scenes stuff will be important and, largely, go unnoticed. What happens when he’s on the field might be the difference between making or missing the playoffs.

In 20 days, rookies will report to Packers training camp.

So, how about some rookie power rankings? ⬇️https://t.co/ZN7u3lM4eb
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 7, 2026

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