Sounds Like The Jordan Love Era Is Off To A Rough Start

Green Bay Packers fans seemed pretty confident when their team agreed to finally trade Aaron Rodgers. While moving on from a future Hall of Famer is never easy, they've been in this spot before. They netted a strong return of draft picks from the New York Jets, and even better, they had Rodgers' replacement ready and waiting. Jordan Love had spent three years developing since going in the 1st round in 2020. He was following the same path as Rodgers did behind Brett Favre. History will repeat itself. Green Bay's quarterback golden age will continue.

At least, that is how the script is supposed to go. Based on early reports from Organized Team Activities, the Love era hasn't exactly started with a bang. Rob Demovsky of ESPN was there for the first practice where the media was allowed to observe. What he saw wasn't anything close to what the Packers have been accustomed to at the quarterback position.

"Late into Tuesday’s OTA session, Love had completed just 3 of 12 passes during 11-on-11 periods. He finished 6 of 16 with three touchdowns -- all of them in the final red zone period. It didn’t help that the starting left side of the offensive line (David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins) was absent, but Love had three passes tipped or batted down, one dropped, and one nearly picked off by linebacker De’Vondre Campbell over the middle."

Keep in mind OTAs are non-contact drills. So offensive line play means little. It's also worth noting five starters on the Green Bay defense weren't practicing, including three cornerbacks. If he is struggling that badly against backups? Oh boy.

Jordan Love may pan out, but the warning signs say otherwise.

If this guy weren't as good as some people continue to say, it's hard to imagine the Packers would've waited this long to go with him. They had the perfect opportunity last year. Instead, they handed Rodgers a massive four-year extension worth $200 million. That was the biggest indication that Love wasn't turning into the player they'd hoped for. Perhaps that will change with proper playing experience. He looked fine whenever he got snaps last season. Then again, that came in garbage time when defenses weren't playing seriously anymore.

The fact is Jordan Love is under a ton of pressure. He hasn't shown anything close to top-tier quarterback capability in practice or games. If he's struggling in OTAs when everything is designed to make life easy for the QB, it must be frightening to wonder what awaits him when real bullets start flying. Green Bay has known only Hall of Fame play at that position for 30 years. Older fans are terrified of returning to the days when the team fielded nobodies like most other teams. If these struggles continue with Love, it could get ugly.