After eight games as the starting quarterback for the Packers, how does Jordan Love compare to Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers?
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin: Jordan Love’s first season as the team’s full-time starting quarterback will end the same way that it did right after Hall of Famer Brett Favre took over in 1992 and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers took over in 2008, barring a stunning turnaround by the Green Bay Packers over the final two months of the season:
not a postseason trip.
The Packers can only hope that 2023 provides them with the same information about Favre and Rodgers that the 1992 and 2008 campaigns did:
that their quarterback is on board.
There’s not enough information to say that they know at this time with Love. Nearing the halfway point of his debut season as “the man,” maybe that’s not as concerning as it sounds.
Even though Rodgers was in his first season as a starter and his fourth overall in the NFL when the Packers granted him a contract deal prior to this, they were still unsure of his ability to win and win big. And with Favre, who spent his rookie season as a backup with the Atlanta Falcons, the raw talent was seen halfway through his first season in Green Bay, but nobody was sure if it could be developed.
After backing up Rodgers for the first two seasons of his NFL career, Love might not be all that far behind in that regard.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst expressed last week that he wants to find out early in the 2019–20 season whether Love will be the team’s long-term quarterback.
“To the extent that it makes sense, we are assessing a rookie player. Since this is essentially his first opportunity to go out there and develop a weekly game plan, Gutekunst stated. “So, for me, it’s just a matter of making sure we’re going forward and really focusing on the little wins and improvements right now. There are issues if that doesn’t happen or if it ceases.”
For his first three NFL seasons, 12-year-old Aaron Rodgers was the backup quarterback for the Packers. For his first two seasons in the NFL, Rodgers’ backup was Jordan Love (ten).
Based on statistical analysis, the primary distinction between Love and his predecessors is their completion percentage—which should not be confused with accuracy. Love has completed just 59.6% of his throws through eight starts this season, which is the lowest percentage of any qualified quarterback. After eight starts, Favre’s percentage was 64.8% and Rodgers’ was 63.7%.
Up to this moment, Rodgers had passed for 1,982 yards, which was a little more than Favre (1,892) and Love (1,720). In comparison to Love’s 12 touchdowns and 8 interceptions and Favre’s 9 touchdowns and 7 picks, he also had the most touchdowns (13) and the fewest interceptions (five). Love was fired eighteen times, Rodgers seventeen (his main shortcoming at the time was holding the ball too long), and Favre sixteen.
After eight starts, none of them had a winning streak. The Packers’ 3-5 record may not appear good, especially in light of the offense’s recent struggles in the first few minutes of games, but things weren’t any better with Rodgers and Favre. Under both, the Packers were 4-4 at this point. The 1992 Packers finished 9-7, but Rodgers’ team would only win two more games to finish at 6-10, despite the defence blowing multiple games in which Rodgers had handed them a late lead.
It’s possible that the pass-catchers, not the quarterbacks, are the most different.
Favre had tight end Jackie Harris in his third season and receiver Sterling Sharpe, who had previously had two seasons of 1,000 yards before they teamed up. Along with experienced tight end Donald Lee, Rodgers possessed receiver Donald Driver, who had already recorded five seasons of 1,000 yards. Additionally, he had Greg Jennings, a third-year receiver, and James Jones, a second-year receiver.
With three rookie tight ends and six receivers in their first or second NFL season, Love has the youngest group of pass-catchers in the league.
The only person to teach Favre (2006, 2007), Rodgers (2008-2016, 2022), and Love (2022, 2023) is the Packers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements. “We haven’t played together a lot,” he remarked. “With Aaron, he played with the same guys when he first started and remained with them even when he wasn’t starting, but that hasn’t happened with Love.
“In offensive football, 11 players must do their assigned duties; if even one of them is slightly off, the entire play may suffer. Therefore, I just believe that the more we interact, practise, and pick up one other’s habits, the sooner things will start to work in our favour. You just need to keep working towards it.”
It might last well into the upcoming season.
In Rodgers’ second season as the starting quarterback, the Packers started 4-4, which meant that after a half of the season, they were 10-14. They made the playoffs in 2009, winning seven of their final eight games. They were the Super Bowl winners a year later.
It’s also simple to overlook Favre’s difficult moments. Favre did not have a full offseason to prepare as the starter, unlike Rodgers and Love. Don Majkowski was in charge of initiating 1992. Majkowski tore up his ankle in the third game. With 13 seconds remaining, Favre entered the game in relief and hit Kitrick Taylor for the game-winning touchdown to defeat the Bengals.
Even though his starting position was in jeopardy at least once, Favre never gave it up. The 1993 campaign got off to a rough start. Favre had thrown five interceptions in the four games the Packers had played, and they were 1-3. Former head coach Mike Holmgren debated benching quarterback Brett Favre in favour of rookie fifth-round choice Mark Brunell, but he was talked out of it by a number of assistant coaches, chief among them being Steve Mariucci, the quarterbacks coach.
Mariucci said, “We went all the way around the table about who we’re going to start this week, and everybody had an opinion,” before to Favre’s induction into the Hall of Fame. It was a lengthy conversation, but as you are aware, Brett got things started. The conversation was intensely emotional. It’s clear today that Mike made the correct decision in keeping him as the starter. Although things weren’t always easy, they worked out.
Nobody on the football staff has been here since Favre took over; the longest-serving scout, Sam Seale, has been with the Packers since 1995. Gutekunst joined the team in 1998. And while no two quarterback situations are the same, or three in this case, those in control are familiar enough with the past to know what to watch for in Love.
Before last week’s match, Gutekunst stated that Love’s growth depended on the last ten games. Of those ten, the first one showed some progress from him and his inexperienced pass-catchers. In the 20-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Love had one of his most precise performances, connecting on 20 of 26 throws.
“I thought it was a pretty positive performance, especially when we needed some of those throws late in the game to kind of ice the game and the guys made some plays for him,” Matt LaFleur, the Packers coach, said. On that third down, receiver Romeo Doubs made a really impressive strong-hands catch. Christian Watson also made a great play by going up for the ball. We haven’t had much luck with those 50-50 balls, so it was encouraging to see that improvement. He went up there and made an excellent catch.”
