Jordan Love is set to make his first start for the Green Bay Packers -- a year sooner than expected. With Aaron Rodgers out for Sunday's showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs due to testing positive for COVID-19, Love will take the reins as the starting quarterback -- his first audition to be the team's franchise quarterback going forward.
The Packers are going to look a bit different with Love this week, as he only has seven career pass attempts to his name. Love didn't play his entire rookie season thanks to Rodgers and only played this year in mop-up duty when the Packers were getting blown out by the New Orleans Saints in Week 1.
What Love brings to the table is a relative unknown, even with a Packers offense that is just 16th in the NFL in points per game (24.0) and 22nd in yards per game (337.5). Can Love actually improve Green Bay's offense this week and going forward? The Packers are going to find out.
Why did the Packers draft Love?The Packers had Aaron Rodgers as their franchise quarterback, a player who threw 51 touchdowns to just six interceptions over the prior two seasons. There was no reason for Green Bay to draft a quarterback in the first round, yet they decided to use one on Love -- who clearly was someone first-year head coach Matt LaFleur could develop for a few seasons (similar to what the Packers did with Rodgers for three years).
LaFleur comes from the Shanahan school of offense, learning under Mike Shanahan as a quarterbacks coach with the Washington Football Team and Kyle Shanahan with the Atlanta Falcons. He also spent a year with Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams, who also worked under Mike and Kyle Shanahan in Washington.
Love has a unique skill-set where he can use his legs to create outside leverage, along with a strong arm to create big plays downfield. Combine that with the pre-snap motion and the play action LaFleur generates in his offense that schemes receivers to get open, Love's potential in this offense is endless. There was a reason why Green Bay used a first-round pick on Love, even though the wiser move may have been to get Rodgers another option in the passing game.
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Based on how LaFleur's offense operates, not much. The simple reads where LaFleur's scheme can get a receiver open on a short route will be there for an easy completion, which will be a huge part of the Packers offense this week. It also helps that the Packers have arguably the best receiver in football in Davante Adams to get that easy completion for Love and keep the chains moving.
This offense does rely on run-pass options and play action, so there will be a dosage of Aaron Jones to keep the defenses honest. Love doesn't command the same respect as Rodgers with his ability to improvise during the play, so he will be tested immediately. LaFleur's offense is set up to take some shots downfield, which is what Love will have to do at some point against a Kansas City Chiefs defense that ranks 29th in yards per attempt (8.1).
The Packers do have one of the top pass-blocking offensive lines in the league (eighth by Pro Football Focus), so Love shouldn't have to worry about getting the ball out quick -- even though the passes will be there. Green Bay would still be wise to establish the run early (even with an offensive line that ranks 30th in run blocking), but LaFleur won't be afraid to sling the football with Love under center.
There will be play action and run-pass options in the
