Right now, everything seems peachy for the Green Bay Packers, and everyone seems to be high on their prospects for this upcoming NFL season. In particular, people have high expectations for quarterback Jordan Love, who is going into his second season as a starter.
He had his struggles early last year after taking the baton for Aaron Rodgers, who had been traded to the New York Jets last offseason. But Love had a tour de force performance in November, December and January, and his outstanding play got the Packers into the playoffs and to the brink of an appearance in the NFC Championship Game.
The bar has been pushed sky-high for him as a result, and many now expect him to enter the elite pantheon of NFL QBs, if he isn’t already there. In fact, DraftKings has him tied with the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts for the fifth-highest odds to win this season’s MVP award.
Jordan Love could be special for the Packers
At this time last year, there was lots of pressure on Love to fill the big shoes of Rodgers. He had been Green Bay’s first-round draft pick in 2020, and although he barely played in his first three seasons, the organization was clearly grooming him to be Rodgers’ successor.
It was something that reportedly miffed Rodgers and may have played an exit in his departure.
Green Bay lost six of its first nine games, and it seemed the critics who had been doubting Love were right. But over the final eight games of the regular season, he threw for 2,150 yards and 18 touchdowns while throwing just one interception, and his team won six of those contests to sneak into the playoffs.
He thoroughly outplayed Dak Prescott, who was a leading MVP candidate, in the wild-card round of the playoffs as the Packers destroyed the Dallas Cowboys. He didn’t play quite as well in the next round against the San Francisco 49ers, but he had the Packers in position to win until Brock Purdy led a 24-21 comeback victory.
The Packers have been extremely lucky to have the smooth line of succession at quarterback they have enjoyed for decades. When Hall of Famer Brett Favre came out of retirement in 2008 and felt insulted that the QB1 spot would be an open competition between him and Rodgers, he was traded to the Jets, and Rodgers quickly became an elite signal-caller.
Now, some 15 years later, history has repeated itself. Will it fully repeat itself with love leading the storied franchise to a Super Bowl championship within the next couple of seasons, as Rodgers did after taking over for Favre?
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