The Green Bay Packers have finally added another veteran quarterback to the 90-man roster. Alex McGough isn’t exactly a brand name, but he makes a lot of sense for what the Packers are trying to build. The 27-year-old player comes back to the NFL after being the USFL MVP and champion for the Birmingham Stallions, and he’s everything general manager Brian Gutekunst usually looks for in a quarterback.
McGough has some NFL experience. He’s had two stints with the Seattle Seahawks, and he’s played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans. Seattle took him in the seventh round of the 2018 draft. McGough’s development is a classic example of why minor leagues matter. He didn’t have any significant opportunity outside of limited playing time in preseason games, so he decided to take a step back and signed with the Birmingham Stallions last season.
In 2022, McGough barely played in the USFL because he backed up J’Mar Smith. Birmingham’s starter was playing at a good level, and they won the inaugural championship. However, Smith got injured right away this year, so McGough has the chance to step up and play a lot. He did, and it caught the eye of several NFL scouts.
This past season, McGough completed 67.4% of his passes, averaging 7.9 yards per attempt. He had a 20:5 TD/INT ratio, with a 108.3 passer rating, plus 403 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. It was a complete and impressive season for the former FIU quarterback. He led his team to the second USFL championship and got a series of individual awards and achievements: MVP, All-USFL Team, passing touchdowns leader, passer rating leader, and completion percentage leader.
“He’s one of the best I’ve been around,” Stallions head coach Skip Holtz said after their second USFL title three weeks ago.
None of this necessarily means that Alex McGough will be a great NFL quarterback. The levels of competitions are completely different, especially after the USFL was basically relegated to a third level of football after the XFL re-launched with more money behind it. But McGough is a solid option for a team that needs depth in the quarterback room. He won’t compete with Jordan Love for the starting spot, but he has a real shot at entering Lambeau Field as the team’s second-best quarterback.
There hasn’t been any confirmation at this point, but there’s a good chance the Packers will end up releasing Danny Etling, who’s one year older than McGough. Fifth-round pick Sean Clifford is a project quarterback who may become a long-term backup, but it makes sense for the Packers to look for a more experienced option. Considering that McGough has played a lot of football in the last couple of months, he should be ready to play NFL preseason football and immediately be an effective camp arm.
McGough had a 90.3 PFF grade in 2017, his last college season. He played 13 games, completing 65.4% of his passes, with 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His USFL tape shows what the Packers, and particularly Brian Gutekunst prefers, want in a quarterback. He’s 6’3”, pretty athletic, and has a strong arm. McGough read the field well and was efficient. However, reads are much easier in the USFL.
The 2023 season is an evaluation year for the Packers. It wouldn’t make much sense to add a veteran to risk Jordan Love‘s confidence. A player like Carson Wentz or even Teddy Bridgewater may feel like a threat to his job security. But McGough might be a happy medium. He’s probably better than Etling, especially as a passer. He is probably more ready than Clifford. McGough, 27, is relatively young, so he could become a long-term backup.
The most important thing is not to find an established answer. It’s to look for untapped potential, and McGough has exactly that. His USFL showing was so impressive that according to NFL insider Aaron Wilson, he has drawn interest from roughly a third of the league.
The fact that the Packers have a rebuilding quarterback room has to be a great selling point. McGough and his agents know that he has a real shot at making the 53-man roster, and probably more in Green Bay than anywhere else.
Signing McGough is not a season-altering move by any means. But it’s another step in the right direction to show that Brian Gutekunst is aware of the Packers offensive timeline, and this is one of the most important qualities for an NFL general manager.
