Packers QB Jordan Love Ranks Last in NFL in One Key Stat

Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love has struggled in one key statistic. Here's why position coach Tom Clements isn't worried.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – A couple weeks ago, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love was No. 1 in the NFL in passer rating. Now, he’s last in the NFL in completion percentage.

Through four games, Love has completed 56.1 percent of his passes. For sake of comparison, the league median is 66.7 percent.

“We’d like to have a higher completion percentage, but there’s a lot of things that factor into that,” quarterbacks coach Tom Clements said on Monday. “Sometimes you’re throwing the ball away. Sometimes there are drops along the way.

“Sometimes it’s long-yardage situations and it’s difficult to get completions in that situation. That’s one area where in real long-yardage situations, younger guys or even older guys try to make the play downfield. At times, it’s best just to check it down and play the field-position game.”

The first couple reasons don’t hold a lot of water.

According to Pro Football Focus, of the 32 quarterbacks with at least 80 dropbacks, Love’s throwaway rate of 2.5 percent is the 10th-lowest.

Love does have the 11th-highest drop rate at 6.3 percent. However, if you add those five drops into his completion count, his completion rate would improve to a 29th-ranked 59.8 percent.

The excuse that does have some merit is the number of long down-and-distance situations. Against Detroit on Thursday night, for instance, five of Green Bay’s 11 third-down snaps required at least 15 yards. Through four games, its average third down has required 8.2 yards. Only the Commanders (8.5) have had a longer distance. 

Green Bay has faced third-and-10-plus 22 times, tied for most in the NFL and twice this week’s opponent, the Las Vegas Raiders.

Jordan Love :: Photo by Tork Mason/USA Today Sports Images

However, on those third-and-a-mile situations on Thursday, Love was 4-of-5 passing but zero first downs.

There are two other factors working against Love. One is the abundance of youth in the passing game. Not that rookies Jayden Reed and Luke Musgrave don’t know what they’re doing, but any passing game is predicated on the receivers being at the right place at the time, not just the general vicinity at the right time or the right place but a split-second off on the timing.

“We’re playing fast, but then there’s the ability to play fast and also be exactly clean,” receivers coach and passing-game coordinator Jason Vrable said.

Finally, there’s the push-the-ball-downfield approach to the passing game. Love’s average pass travels 10.31 yards downfield. That’s the longest in the NFL. Needless to say, it’s easier to complete a checkdown or a screen than it is a pass 20 yards downfield.

By percentage of his passes, Love is in the top six in passes 10 to 19 yards downfield and 20-plus yards downfield and in the bottom five in passes 0 to 9 yards downfield and behind the line of scrimmage, according to PFF.

“A lot of things factor into that,” Clements said of Love’s completion percentage, “but I think you can see that he’s an accurate passer.”

With eight touchdowns vs. three interceptions, Love is 19th in passer rating at 88.0. That’s not good enough, but a beat-up offensive line, the absences of Christian Watson and Aaron Jones and the abundance of youth on the perimeter are all factors that impact a quarterback’s production.

Clements, who might have retired if he thought Love wasn’t going to be good enough, likes what he’s seen.

“You always anticipate,” Clements said, “based on how he’s practiced and done in the preseason, and years past you have an idea of how he might do when he becomes the full-time starter, and he’s confirmed our thoughts. He’s a good player.”

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