Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love was impressive in his first start since taking over for Aaron Rodgers. Of course, it was not his first NFL start as he started one game (on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs) in 2021 when Rodgers had COVID. However, this start against the Chicago Bears put the NFL on notice in many ways.
Many Bears players and fans talked trash towards the Packers all offseason following the Rodgers trade. Love’s 245 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions, though, went a long way to break their spirits.
Indeed, Love proved a lot of doubter wrong on Sunday. While it is still early in the season, that has not stopped bold proclamations about his greatness.
Green Bay Packers Legend LeRoy Butler Says Jordan Love Will Be the Greatest Quarterback from the 2020 NFL Draft
In an interview with TMZ, Pro Football Hall of Famer and Packers legend LeRoy Butler had some incredible praise for Love:
“I think he may be better than those guys [the other quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft] because he’s going to have that opportunity because he had to sit and wait.
“There’s a lot of guys who went before me. But I’m in the Hall of Fame — and they’re not.”
It is interesting to note that Butler credits the Packers’ decision to develop Love as he learned from Rodgers for three years. This has, indeed, done wonders to prepare Love for this opportunity.
When the Packers drafted him, Love was not NFL ready. Among other reasons, that is why the pick was criticized so heavily, especially by their own fanbase. After all, they had Rodgers, who went onto win two NFL MVP Awards after the pick was made.
The best time to draft a quarterback, though, is when your team doesn’t need one. While the pick may have ended up being the beginning of the end for Rodgers in Green Bay, it helped the Packers prepare for life without him.
What Does Jordan Love Need to Do to Be Better than the Other 2020 NFL Draft Quarterbacks?
There were three quarterbacks taken before Love in the 2020 NFL Draft: Joe Burrow (number one overall pick), Tua Tagovailoa (fifth overall), and Justin Herbert (sixth overall pick). Burrow has already taken the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl and has been given one of the richest contracts in NFL history.
Between the three of them, they have one Super Bowl appearance, three Pro Bowls, a NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award (Burrow), and an Offensive Rookie of the Year Award (Herbert). So what does Love need to do to be greater than them?
The obvious answer is to win the Super Bowl. While this probably will not happen in 2023, the Packers have built a great young foundation around Love. It is not out of the question that, when it is all said and done, Love has more accolades than all three of them.
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