About a month ago, second-year quarterback Jordan Love‘s expectations were simple: Have a positive year of development, become a solid backup quarterback, and be ready if Aaron Rodgers gets injured.
Now it seems to be a completely different situation. Before the draft, there was no talk of Love of possibly being the starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers just won MVP and was still under contract. Why would anyone think otherwise?
Now that some time has passed and the headlines have died down, Love still has a season to prepare for. The 2020 first-round pick will probably have no real expectations for his second season. But there’s also a chance that it will be significant.
“A Long Way To Go”
As the Aaron Rodgers story unfolded, one quote Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst should still burn in people’s memories.
That basically means Love is probably not ready to start NFL games. This shouldn’t be the case for him. He was drafted as first-round talent. And although it’s usually smarter to have young quarterbacks sit back and develop, he needs to be ready to play if anything were to happen to Rodgers in 2021.
The Packers and Love are one nasty sack away from being in the spotlight. Jordan Love hasn’t done anything wrong since arriving in Green Bay, but fans will expect him to perform. It’s not his fault, but it’s a fact.
It’s totally fine that he has to develop more, but to indicate that there is lots of development left casts some doubt on the situation.
It’s also hard to compare his first season to this year. He didn’t take a single regular season snap and there was no preseason football due to COVID-19.
Keep It Up
Love’s best bet is to just keep doing what he’s doing. Since arriving in Green Bay, he’s said the right things and just played football.
That is all you can ask of him. It’s not his fault where he was drafted. When he misses a throw at practice, it’s not his fault someone records it and posts it online so people can write dramatic headlines questioning his talent.
Love just needs to keep developing and be who he wants to be. There is a good chance Aaron Rodgers stays in Green Bay and everything is resolved, at least as much as it can be. But there is also a small chance that No. 12 isn’t with the team when training camp starts.
Love has to prepare for the chance he isn’t. It will be tons of pressure, but can’t do anything about it until it happens. In the meantime, he’s been working out in the off-season and training with players like Equanimeous St. Brown.
Fan Expectations
This is where we flip the script. The fans need to remember their expectations too. Hate for Jordan Love does nothing but hurt the team and cause more hate.
Do you think Aaron Rodgers forgot when fans booed him at Family Night after Brett Favre was traded? Of course not. He may have forgiven and moved on, but he hasn’t forgotten. Doing the same thing to Love would be insulting. Why let embarrassing moments in Packers history repeat themselves?
Fans need to just wait and see what happens, and then cheer on Jordan Love all camp and preseason. They need to be patient with his development, while also sending out positive energy.
Love is a clean slate. He didn’t see a snap last year because he was third on the depth chart behind Tim Boyle. Now, there is Blake Bortles and Kurt Benkert for him to beat out in camp.
Will he answer the call? Let’s hope so. Playing behind Aaron Rodgers and being drafted by a legendary team like the Packers should be a dream scenario. Maybe not the Wisconsin winters, but the rest is pretty darn great. So far, it’s almost been a nightmare for him given the situation he has been put in.
Are expectations too high? Maybe. But that comes with the territory when you are a first-round draft pick and a team trades up to pick you. All eyes are on you, and you will eventually have to deliver.
