Packer Central

Under Pressure, Love Was Good; He Could Be Great

Jordan Love is looking to pass when he flees the pocket. He was good in that phase of the game during Year 1 as the Packers’ starting quarterback. Here’s where he needs to improve.

Bill Huber

When under pressure, Jordan Love is looking to make plays through the air.
When under pressure, Jordan Love is looking to make plays through the air. / Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – With a 4.74 in the 40-yard dash at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love has a good set of wheels. However, he’s got a great throwing arm. Thus, when it’s time to get out of the pocket, Love is looking to throw rather than run.

“That’s always the test,” Love said of his flight-or-fight response at Packers OTAs on Tuesday. “Because I feel like I’m a playmaker where, when a play does break down, I always want to try and make that play and feel like I can and I have that ability. Just finding that thin line of when to take off and run and when to keep your eyes down.”

Last season, Love ranked 12th among quarterbacks with 247 rushing yards. Almost half of those yards came on runs of 37 yards at Detroit, 26 yards at Las Vegas and 24 yards in early-season games against Atlanta and New Orleans.

As the season went on, Love grew more content extending the play in order to make a play through the air. After matching his season high with 39 rushing yards against the Lions on Thanksgiving, Love rushed for 26 yards the final six regular-season games.

Most quarterbacks can throw the ball with consistent accuracy and timing from a clean pocket. The great quarterbacks can make it happen when under pressure. That’s why quarterbacks and pass rushers get paid so much money.

For a first-year starting quarterback, Love was solid while under pressure – with considerable upside entering the 2024 season.

According to Pro Football Focus, 33 quarterbacks were pressured on at least 100 dropbacks last season. From that group, Love ranked a mediocre 18th with a 49.0 percent completion rate. However, while ranking 15th with 191 under-pressure dropbacks, Love finished ninth with 1,016 passing yards, fifth with 6.8 yards per attempt and tied for fourth with nine touchdown passes. With four interceptions, Love was tied for fifth with five more touchdowns than interceptions.

“Definitely, my play style, I definitely like to keep my eyes down (field) and get the ball out of my hands and get it to those guys,” Love said. “I think there’s some bigger plays downfield. You know, I’m not the fastest guy, so I’m not about to run for an 80-yard touchdown or anything, but I think there’s a lot bigger plays out there when that happens.”

The next step for Love will be completing a higher percentage of his passes and taking better care of the football. Overall, his 10 fumbles were eighth-most in the NFL.

For sake of comparison, Part 1: During his back-to-back MVP seasons in 2020 and 2021, Aaron Rodgers had a total of eight. For sake of comparison, Part 2: During his first seasons as the starter, Rodgers had 10 fumbles in 2008 and 11 in 2009 but six in 2010 and four in 2011, when he won his first MVP.

Having 19 starts of high-level experience with his fleet of young pass-catchers should help Love with his accuracy and pocket presence. Perhaps the playoffs provided a hint of what’s to come. While the season ended with a killer interception against the 49ers, Love during the two playoff games was 12-of-20 passing (60.0 percent) with two touchdowns and averaged 10.7 yards per attempt.

“I think that’s just playing the position, getting more reps, getting a better feel for it,” Love continued. “There’s so many different things I learned throughout last season, like instances where a play might get off(-schedule) and instead of hanging and waiting, trying to find that checkdown, get those positive plays and keep moving and not taking steps backwards.

“I always try to make those plays and get it out of my hands and to a playmaker.”

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Bill Huber

BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packer Central, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.