NFL: Green Bay Packers starting quarterback Jordan Love has taken over the offense after three seasons spent sitting behind four-time MVP and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. When Love was first drafted in 2020, he was regarded as a project quarterback, meaning he should not start right away, but had a high ceiling once the kinks in his game were worked out.
In that sense, Green Bay was the perfect fit. Love did not have to start right away and got to learn from Rodgers, one of the most talented quarterbacks of all time. Since coming to Green Bay, the improvements that Love has made to his mechanics and footwork have been astronomical. Had he not improved this much, perhaps the Packers would have done more to keep Rodgers around longer.
That being said, Love is still a 24-year old first-year starter who will make mistakes. In the final preseason game, a 19-15 win over the Seattle Seahawks, head coach Matt LaFleur identified one part of Love’s game he would like to see improved upon.
Green Bay Packers Quarterback Jordan Love Held onto the Ball Too Long (NFL)
One thing that was noticeable in all three Packers preseason games was that the offense struggled to find a rhythm early. While Love led touchdown-scoring drives in each game, they did not come until after the first one or two series. Green Bay has to find a way to score early (and often) from the onset of the game.
While Love plays a big part in that, he relies on the rest of the offense to do its job as well. However, LaFleur did note one thing Love did that he would like to see changed going forward (via NFL.com):
“First of all, just watching him, the poise that he had, he held the ball a little bit longer than we’d normally like to, but it was great protection around him and that was really encouraging to see because that’s a total feel thing from the quarterback.
“And then he used his legs and got out and scrambled and picked up positive yards. So I thought, all in all, he did a pretty good job.”
One can hardly fault Love for feeling comfortable holding onto the ball for as long as he did. Nearly every member of the offensive line who play did a stellar job of keep the pocket clean. When the pocket did collapse, Love was able to extend plays with this legs or run the ball for positive yards himself.
Of course, Love felt the need to hold onto the ball while his pass catchers worked to get open. The hope is that they can create separation from the opposing defense earlier in plays so that Love can get the ball out quicker.
This all being said, it is refreshing to have an athletic quarterback that has the ability to extend plays. Rodgers used to be able to do that as well, but age is cruel. As the years have gone by, Rodgers became less and less of a mobile quarterback. He made up for his decreasing mobility by being able to identify weaknesses in the defense early and getting the ball out at an incredibly fast rate.
Hopefully Love can start seeing those weaknesses early, too, and put the defenses on their heels early.
For More Great Wisconsin Sports Content
Follow me on Twitter at @theotherRobin19 and follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here!
