Green Bay's Jordan Love had a tremendous first season as the Packers' starter in 2023.
This is the fifth in a nine-part series previewing the NFL Draft and the Green Bay Packers’ needs at each position.
“Stay classy San Diego,” was Ron Burgandy’s trademark phrase in the comedy film ‘Anchorman.’
Famed wrestling announcer Michael Buffer coined the slogan, “Let’s get ready to rumble!”
And in tiny Green Bay, Wisconsin, former general manager Ron Wolf often stated, “If you don’t have a quarterback, you don't have a chance.”
So during his remarkable tenure, Wolf made sure his team never went hungry at the most important position in sports.
Just 10 weeks after the Packers hired Wolf, he traded a first round draft pick to Atlanta for Hall of Fame quarterback Brett
Just 10 weeks after the Packers hired Wolf, he traded a first round draft pick to Atlanta for Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre. Then in seven of Wolf’s nine drafts, he selected a quarterback.
In that time, Wolf drafted Mark Brunell, Matt Hasselbeck, Aaron Brooks and Ty Detmer, who all went on to start in other NFL cities.
Current Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst hasn’t been as passionate about selecting quarterbacks, taking just two in his first six drafts. Gutekunst has admitted, though, he’s come around to Wolf’s way of thinking.
“I know for me, getting back to drafting multiple quarterbacks is something that I've wanted to do,” Gutekunst said earlier this offseason. “We kind of went away from that for a few years and I'd like to get back to that.”
The Packers are in excellent shape at the quarterback position, following Jordan Love’s breakout 2023 campaign and an impressive first year from backup Sean Clifford. But Gutekunst is currently armed with 11 draft picks and seems likely to add another quarterback to the mix.
Green Bay has five picks in the first 91 of the draft, but also has pressing needs on the offensive line, at linebacker and in the defensive backfield. So it would be a surprise for Gutekunst to take a quarterback in the first three rounds.
But Wolf once found Brooks in the fourth round, Brunell in the fifth, Hasselbeck in the sixth and Detmer in Round 9. And Gutekunst will likely go that route in this draft.
The top four quarterbacks — Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels J.J. McCarthy — will be long gone by the time Green Bay picks at No. 25. Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix could fall to No. 25 — or even into Round 2 — but it would be shocking for Green Bay to take a quarterback that high.
Instead, Gutekunst will likely wait until the third day of the draft (Rounds 4-7) where players such as Tulane’s Michael Pratt, South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, Florida State’s Jordan Travis, Kentucky’s Devin Leary or Tennessee’s Joe Milton could be targets.
“I just think having young talented quarterbacks on your roster that the coaches can develop, I just think is really healthy and important for a franchise,” Gutekunst said.
Green Bay’s ability to develop quarterbacks the past three-plus decades is why it’s been arguably the most stable franchise in football.
Favre was a wild stallion who Mike Holmgren, Andy Reid and Steve Mariucci tamed and turned into a three-time MVP and a Super Bowl champion. Aaron Rodgers struggled mightily his first two seasons in Green Bay, but he improved by leaps and bounds under Mike McCarthy and Tom Clements, won four MVPs and a Super Bowl himself.
Now Love has grabbed the torch after sitting and learning for three seasons behind Rodgers.
Year 1 of the Love-era could not have gone any better, as he shined on and off the field.
Love made all 19 starts, threw 37 touchdown passes and just 13 interceptions. During a two-month window between Week 11 and Green Bay’s NFC divisional playoff game at San Francisco, Love had a stretch where he threw a remarkable 23 touchdowns and just one interception.
Love completed 409 of 634 passes (64.5%) for 4,625 yards and finished with a 98.5 passer rating. For comparison sake, Rodgers threw 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions during his first year as a starter in 2008 and finished with a 93.8 passer rating.
“He had a hell of a year,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said of Love. “Just to see the growth … obviously, the results speak for themselves, but the growth of him as just the commander out there, he’s an extension of us, and I thought the ownership that he showed, the leadership that he showed, was a great sign for us.”
Love’s growth from the start of the season to the end was remarkable.
After nine games, Love had thrown 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Then, as Green Bay’s young wide receivers grew up and Love developed better chemistry with that group, his play took off.
Love’s passer rating eclipsed 108.0 in eight of his final 10 games, and in four of those his rating was at least 125.0. He also had four games with three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
The crown jewel came in Love’s first playoff game when he led the Packers to a 48-32 rout of host Dallas. Once again, Love had three touchdowns, no interceptions and his passer rating of 157.2 was just 1.1 away from the highest mark a quarterback can attain.
“It was so fun playing with that guy all year,” Packers center Josh Myers said of Love. “I can’t say enough about the job he did. How much easier he made my life. Coming in and being his first year starting, he just did an incredible job. Felt like we picked up great and just continued to grow as the season went, so I’m excited for that moving forward.”
The only blemish on Love’s season was he threw two interceptions in the Packers’ final four possessions of their playoff loss at San Francisco. His final pass of the season was arguably his worst, as he threw late and across the middle and was intercepted by 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
“We all know how resilient he is and one of the things I think he’s done such an unbelievable job with is every situation he’s been in he’s learned from it,” LaFleur said of Love. “So I would fully expect that to be the case.”
Clifford, a fifth round draft pick in April, was one of Green Bay’s surprises last summer and is the frontrunner today to be the Packers’ backup in 2024.
During three preseason games, Clifford completed 41-of-57 passes with one touchdown and two interceptions. Clifford threw just one pass during the regular season, a 37-yard completion to Bo Melton against Minnesota.
“The game’s not too big for him,” LaFleur said of Clifford.
Still, Gutekunst seems likely to follow Wolf’s approach, and add another player to the mix — even if he doesn’t need one.
“The amount that is on that guys’ plate from pre-snap to post-snap and everything that goes into it, the amount of information he has to process in such a limited amount of time, all the leadership stuff, the intangible stuff makes it an exceptionally hard position to play,” Gutekunst said of the quarterback position. “There’s a certain amount of athletic gifts and talent that you have to have, and then there’s so much more beyond that.
“And I think the thing that … is lost at times is how much of it has to be developed over time. And so, you never really know until you have that time to try to develop a guy, whether he’s going to be able to do it at a high level or not.”
QUARTERBACK RANKINGS
1. Caleb Williams, USC, 6-1, 215; 2. Drake Maye, North Carolina, 6-4, 230; 3. Jayden Daniels, LSU, 6-4, 210; 4. J.J. McCarthy, Michigan, 6-3, 202; 5. Michael Penix Jr., Washington, 6-3, 213; 6. Bo Nix, Oregon, 6-2, 217; 7. Spencer Rattler, South Carolina, 6-1, 217; 8. Michael Pratt, Tulane, 6-3, 220; 9. Jordan Travis, Florida State, 6-1, 212; 10. Devin Leary, Kentucky, 6-1, 217.
Part 1: Offensive Line
Part 2: Running Backs
Part 3: Wide receivers
Part 4: Tight ends
