Keyshawn Johnson knows the game of football. If you are not familiar, the former superstar receiver is known amongst his colleagues for his keen ability to assess talent and potential. As the nonstop Aaron Rodgers drama continues, ESPN’s morning show Keyshawn JWill and Max turned their conversation towards Jordan Love. What followed between Max Kellerman and Keyshawn was perhaps the most confident declaration of Love’s potential we’ve heard in the media.
Kellerman:
You’re[Keyshawn] a lot like Parcells that way. You can put your eyes on a guy. It’s not 100% of the time, but usually you’re gonna be right. When you put your eyes on Jordan Love, can you make an evaluation so far? Can you tell me if he’s going to be good or not?
Keyshawn:
Yeah I think he’s gonna be alright. Yeah I think he’s going to be good. I think he will be an NFL starting quarterback. Not an NFL starting quarterback by default, but an NFL starting quarterback that’s going to win games. I’m not saying he’s gonna win Super Bowls and MVPs, but I’m saying I think he’s going to be an NFL starting quarterback that they are going to be happy with over the next eight years or so.
Kellerman:
Why? What have you seen that you can make that assessment?
Keyshawn:
Well, the little bit that I’ve seen is his ball placement and accuracy is there. In rhythm, he’s not hesitant. he’s calm in the pocket you know. You can tell when quarterbacks need to get rid of the ball. He’s not. Everything is smooth, everything is aligned perfectly. When I watch him against, for instance, the Kansas City Chiefs I watched him throw a corner out. He hit his back foot in rhythm. His receiver gets open, he places it to the sideline right where it should be. It wasn’t behind the receiver. The receiver wasn’t twisting and turning. He was able to catch it and turn and score a touchdown, that to me is a plus. I watched him also on a little stick route. I watched him hit him boom right there in the bread basket. You can just tell that he knows how to do everything from a perfect standpoint.
Now what he has to do, he has to start to manipulate the secondary with his eyes… he still got a little bit of I’m in high school, I’m in college where he’s dropping back and the first thing he’s doing is telegraphing his throw because his eyes are going in that direction…That will come with time and you can tell he’s able to do that.
Again ball placement is important. I have a huge catch radius but I don’t want to be twisting and turning. I need catch freely footballs. I need balls that I can catch with my hands. I can tuck and get YAC yardage. So far he’s been able to show that.
Kellerman:
When I look at Jordan love, it looks right to me. Is that because of what you’re describing?
Keyshawn:
If anybody tells you that it does not look right they just hating. Because it looks right. Now will it be right? I don’t know. It all depends on what Matt LaFleur and company do. How they bring him along.
If Keyshawn’s eyes are correct it would confirm what another former pro, Chris Simms, thought about Love when he had him as his 3rd ranked QB before the 2020 NFL draft.
“He has good size, he’s a good athlete. He does a great job of staying in throwing position in the pocket – he’s fearless that way…He can throw it effortlessly…I think he’s a guy that has room to grow.” Said Simms “Is he a little raw? Certainly, but I think between his size, athleticism, composure – that I think showed off on film – and then his ability to throw the football. Yeah, I think his game translates better to the NFL than someone like Tua…Listen, if Jordan Love was on Alabama, his stats would look a whole lot different.”
Keyshawn’s words are music to cheeseheads ears. If Love can perform at that level and Brian Gutekunst can build a roster around his more reasonable salary, Green Bay may just exit the Rogers drama with a very bright future.
