Misfits
Jordan Love, QB, Green Bay Packers
Two things can be entirely true: Green Bay is a great landing spot for Jordan Love, and Jordan Love is not the best fit for the Packers in 2020.
Let us begin with the first part of that statement. Love needs an environment where he can develop, and in a setting with some modicum of a record with quarterback development. Obviously, with Aaron Rodgers on the roster Love is not seeing the field absent injury. In addition, Matt LaFleur was part of the staff that helped develop Jared Goff from a quarterback who looked like a bust after 2016, to a guy guiding a team to a Super Bowl appearance. So this is ideal for the quarterback himself. He can sit, watch, learn and develop.
But from Green Bay’s side of the coin, the fit is a difficult one to see.
First off, this is a team that was a game away from taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV. How does adding a backup quarterback who, in a best-case scenario, does not see the field in 2020 get you closer to the promised land? The Packers need to add a receiver across from Davante Adams and perhaps a linebacker in the heart of their defense. Love certainly does not play either position. He also does nothing to extend what is remaining of the “Rodgers Window.”
Additionally, the scheme fit is a question mark. One of the biggest knocks on Love is his decision-making. Now he is being dropped into a system that places an emphasis on making the right read and getting the ball out on time and in rhythm. LaFleur’s offense is rooted heavily in West Coast concepts, and as such the projection of Love into a system comes with concerns.
It is hard to see how Love makes the Packers a better team in 2020.
Now, in 2022 and beyond, however, this could pay dividends. Provided that Love develops in a favorable manner, learns to take care of the football – and avoid the “17 teachable moments” he had in 2019 – and grows into the passer that LaFleur must have fallen for during the draft process. But 2022 is a long way off, and betting on development at the quarterback position is often a fool’s errand.