No one individual should feel better about the Green Bay Packers’ draft than coach Matt LaFleur.

The second-year coach not only got specific players fitting his vision of the offense, but he should have rare job security and an opportunity to build his Packers legacy along the same path as Mike Holmgren and Mike McCarthy.

First, it’s clear LaFleur’s fingerprints are all over this draft class. Running back A.J. Dillon looks and moves just like Derrick Henry, the Titans star who nearly powered LaFleur’s offense to the playoffs in 2018. Tight end Josiah Deguara is headed for a role resembling what Kyle Juszczyk does for Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco. GM Brian Gutekunst was clear that Dillon and Deguara were picks made from the top of the draft board, but it’d be foolish to think their individual fits in LaFleur’s offense – a run-centered scheme based in deception and playaction – didn’t influence their selections in some material way. LaFleur clearly has full control over the vision of the offense. It has shifted his way in a major way this offseason.

The first round brought LaFleur an incredible piece of job security. Jordan Love is a long-term developmental quarterback. In the current setup in Green Bay, he’ll get at least one or two years to sit behind Aaron Rodgers and learn, providing LaFleur with a talented but raw player to groom at the game’s most important position.

LaFleur gets the best of both worlds. Rodgers gives him a chance to win now. Love provides a long-term future. Even if the Packers have to transition to Love sooner rather than later, LaFleur is going to get a real chance to work with his hand-picked quarterback. The Packers are as patient a franchise as there is in football. Love’s arrival has probably bought LaFleur – now fresh off a 13-win season – at least four more years in Green Bay, assuming Rodgers plays at least another two years and LaFleur gets at least two years to work with Love as the starter. Four years is an eternity for a head coach in the NFL.

A young quarterback to groom and strong job security provides LaFleur with an awesome opportunity to join a rare group of coaches in Green Bay. In the early 1990s, Holmgren developed Brett Favre into a multi-year MVP and a Super Bowl winner. After Favre left, McCarthy turned Rodgers into a multi-year MVP and a Super Bowl winner.

LaFleur could win a Super Bowl with Rodgers and forever cement his legacy in Titletown. He could also help pull the winning lottery ticket for the third time in 30 years and turn Love into the next great Packers quarterback. LaFleur’s history developing the quarterback is strong. Stops in Washington, Atlanta and Los Angeles all show clear development of a young, talented quarterback. The former college quarterback will be under great pressure to develop Love, but if he does, and Love keeps the Packers competitive for another 10-15 years, LaFleur will be revered. All coaches crave that opportunity. LaFleur has it. Now, he must make the most of it.

The flipside to all of this: LaFleur’s offense could bomb, driving Rodgers out of town, and Love could flop, sealing LaFleur’s fate. That’s the worst case scenario.

The guess here is that’s not how LaFleur is seeing it. He’s likely viewing the 2020 draft as a major win for his short-term and long-term viability as the head coach of the Packers. His offense is gaining vital pieces. He’s about to enter Year 2 with a future Hall of Fame quarterback. And now he has a talented player to groom at his favorite position and a major piece of the future.

LaFleur is in an incredible spot, with a chance both move his offense forward and win now, while developing Love over several years – not just months – in the relative comfort of rare NFL job security. He remains under pressure, but he’s the big winner of the Packers draft.