4. Jordan Love, QB, Utah State
Height: 6’4″ Weight: 224
40-Yard Dash: 4.74 seconds
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 35.5 inches
Broad Jump: 9 feet, 10 inches
3-Cone Drill: 7.21 seconds
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.52 seconds
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Bio: A three-star recruit coming out of Liberty High School in Bakersfield, California, Jordan Love did not have many options when it came time to choose a college destination. He selected Utah State over Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Eastern Washington and Sacramento State. But he was pressed into action relatively early for the Aggies, starting six games as a redshirt freshman in 2017. He completed 54.9% of his passes for 1,631 yards and eight touchdowns, with six interceptions.
His 2018 campaign was a true breakout season, and it led to many this past summer looking at him as a quarterback who could crash the first round in this draft. As a sophomore, Love completed 64% of his throws for 3,567 yards and 32 touchdowns, with just six interceptions, and he posted 8.5 yards per attempt. But coaching changes and losses on the offensive side of the ball led him to regress last season. He threw 17 interceptions, and while he said all the right things about those plays at the combine and at the Senior Bowl — calling them “teaching moments” — the decision-making he put on film this past year does generate more questions than answers.
Stat to Know: Speaking of those teaching moments, under charting from Pro Football Focus, Love ranked 101st last season in turnover-worthy play rate.
Strengths: Love, even in some of the games Utah State lost last season, puts some of the best throws on film of any quarterback in this class. A prime example is Utah State’s loss at LSU last season, which saw the Aggie QB complete just 15 of 30 passes for 130 yards and three interceptions. But early in that game, Love threw an absolute dime to a receiver in the red zone, which was dropped:
Looking forward to seeing some throws like this next week from Jordan Love: pic.twitter.com/VBOhYINfIL
— Mark Schofield (@MarkSchofield) January 14, 2020
Love actually displayed decent processing speed last season, most notably on quicker route concepts that you would expect to see in a West Coast playbook. On route designs such as Tosser (double slant), Ohio (go/flat) or Omaha (double outs) he showed quick reads and got the ball out on time and in rhythm to his targets. The Utah State playbook also incorporated some Air Raid staples such as Mesh into the design, and he showed good awareness and the ability to work through progression reads on those plays.
Love also has an NFL-ready arm, with the ability to generate velocity to all levels of the field. His arm strength makes him a fit in any offense, and there will be no limitations on him challenging any window in the NFL. He also shows better touch than most collegiate passers who have dominant arm strength, which puts him in a position to attack the middle of the field and between levels of the field when he reaches the NFL.
Weaknesses: The drop in production from 2018 to 2019 is a concern. Yes, there was a coaching change and he lost some of his offensive weapons, but it is something to watch. It also seemed like Love attempted to take on too much last year, trying to throw the Aggies back into games rather than just taking what the defense was giving him. The LSU game was one such example, when he was forcing throws in hopes of generating a comeback with one big play rather than just taking what was available.
Mechanically, there are some inconsistencies that will need to be cleaned up. Generally, mechanics are not an issue when evaluating passers unless they lead to misses on throws, and that is what we see with Love. There are times when the arm is what he relies on, and he fails to properly involve the lower body in the throwing motion, and passes dip and trail off as a result. There are other moments when his mechanics are sloppy, and he will miss on throws that he should hit easily. That is often compounded when he hesitates in the pocket. As a result, he tries to artificially speed things up by accelerating his throwing motion, and that results in sloppy mechanics and misfires.
Conclusion: A bet on Love is a bet on two things: One, that his 2018 season is more in line with his potential as a QB, and two, that your organization has an ability to develop a young quarterback. He will need some work, and is probably not someone that you could point to and state with confidence he can be your Week 1 starter as a rookie. He does project well to an offense rooted in West Coast concepts that still gives him opportunities to hit on deep balls downfield, as his processing speed on those concepts appears ready for the league. But the team that drafts him is going to need some patience. Ideally, he enjoys a Drew Lock type of draft where he falls a bit and as a result is not faced with immediate expectations. Conversely, a team that just acquired a veteran passer but might be looking a year or two down the road would be a good landing spot. Especially if its head coach has a track record of QB development.
Looking at you, Indianapolis.
Comparison: Josh Allen might be too on the nose, but it makes sense for a variety of reasons. I think there is similar play-style between the two, but I also think the team that selects Love is going to have a similar mind to the Buffalo Bills when they selected Allen, also out of the Mountain West Conference. His arm and athleticism are going to help him at the start, and we can fill in the rest around him early in his career.