The Green Bay Packers want to develop young quarterbacks, and they drafted Sean Clifford in the fifth round of the 2023 draft and Michael Pratt in the seventh round of the 2024 draft to provide Matt LaFleur with a pair of prospects to groom as backup plans behind Jordan Love, the league’s highest-paid player.
However, this summer in Green Bay showed the potential danger looming within the plan, and the Packers’ need to change course to start the 2024 season.
UPDATE: The Packers traded a seventh-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for quarterback Malik Willis.
When asked about his backups following Saturday’s preseason finale, LaFleur admitted inconsistency plagued the position and searching the waiver wire after final cuts for a better option was a real possibility. A chance for the playcaller to express confidence in Clifford and Pratt ended in a shower of doubt.
While unfortunate, Clifford didn’t take a step forward in his second training camp, and Pratt isn’t nearly ready to be the backup quarterback for a Super Bowl contender.
Even after an encouraging preseason opener, the numbers show why the Packers probably need to release both quarterbacks, identify a veteran to add following final cuts and then bring back Clifford or Pratt on the practice squad.
Clifford completed 22 of 43 passes (51.2 percent) for 207 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He averaged 4.8 yards per attempt and had a passer rating of 62.8. According to Pro Football Focus, Clifford had zero “big-time throws” and two “turnover-worthy plays.” He completed only 1-of-6 attempts on passes thrown over 20 yards in the air and was 3-for-12 for 34 yards and an interception on 17 pressured dropbacks. During training camp practices, Clifford threw interception after interception. His comfort level in the pocket vanished and he became a turnover machine.
Pratt completed 23 of 35 passes (65.7 percent) for 178 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He averaged 5.1 yards per attempt and had a passer rating of 75.7. Unlike Clifford, he had two “big-time throws” — a 23-yard completion to Julian Hicks in the opener and an 18-yard touchdown pass to Bo Melton in the finale. Like Clifford, he had two “turnover-worthy plays,” including a terrible interception on Saturday. Pratt passed for only seven yards on seven pressured dropbacks, and over a third of his completions — nine of 23 — were thrown behind the line of scrimmage, inflating his completion percentage. Pratt completed only two passes on throws over 10 yards in the air and had an average depth of target of only 5.2 yards. Even while Clifford struggled, Pratt never really threatened to overtake him as the No. 2 and only briefly played with the second-team offense in practices.
Releasing Clifford and Pratt would be a risk, but the likelihood that both would be claimed on waivers is probably something approaching zero. In fact, there’s a good chance both would go unclaimed and be eligible to return on the practice squad, where one (or both?) could continue developing without being the only option should a minor injury — such as a concussion or sprained ankle or any other possible ailment for a quarterback — hits Love this season.
Now looks like the right time to change course.
Last year, the Packers were a young, rebuilding team in transition under Love, making Clifford a fine option to develop behind a first-year starter, especially after an encouraging first summer of work. This year, the Packers are a legitimate contender and Love signed a $220 million deal, heightening the importance of a solid backup plan at quarterback and eliminating any worry over a veteran backup threatening for playing time.
At quarterback, the main worry is often a season-ending or significant injury. In that scenario, the Packers’ season would be over anyway. But even though Love played in all 17 regular season games last season, minor injuries happen all the time at quarterback. Only nine NFL quarterbacks started all 17 games last season. Love missing a couple of games is not only possible but probably likely. And the Packers can’t have a short-term injury tank an otherwise promising season because the backup quarterback isn’t competent or ready to play in a regular season game.
On Tuesday, teams across the NFL will cut quarterbacks. Options will be available. While it would be a risk to add a new quarterback less than two weeks before the start of the regular season, bringing back Clifford or Pratt on the practice squad would provide insurance early in the season while the new quarterback got up to speed. And the Packers wouldn’t be abandoning the idea of developing quarterbacks, just delaying the scenario in which the still-developing quarterback had to play meaningful snaps.
While the Packers could release both Clifford and Pratt on Tuesday, the more likely scenario is keeping one of the two for at least a day until they can sift through final cuts and see if a better option is available. If no better option is found, it’s likely Clifford or Pratt will be the sole backup with the other on the practice squad.
But finding a better option is certainly possible. The 2024 Packers are too good to risk the integrity of the season on a pair of backups who showed they aren’t ready to hold down the fort at the game’s most important position.