In signing Jordan Love to a massive extension this offseason, the Green Bay Packers front office showed they have the utmost confidence in their starting quarterback. The backup job is far less certain, although rookie seventh-rounder Michael Pratt has been a bright spot in training camp and would likely be the QB2 if the 53-man rosters were due today. Whether Pratt ends up as the primary backup or on the practice squad, he’s already looking like the late-round steal many proclaimed him to be on draft night.
At the 2024 NFL Combine, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst expressed an interest in bringing in continual competition across the entire roster, including at quarterback. After not drafting a quarterback in the two drafts after selecting Love in the first round in 2020, Gutekunst used a fifth-round pick on Sean Clifford in 2023 before snatching Pratt with the 245th-overall selection this year.
“Getting back to drafting multiple quarterbacks is something that I’ve wanted to do,” Gutekunst said in February. “We kind of went away from that for a few years, and I’d like to get back to that because I just think having young, talented quarterbacks on your roster that the coaches can develop, I just think is really healthy and important for a franchise.”
Of all the position battles along the roster, the one for backup quarterback is perhaps the least important — that is, until the day comes that it’s suddenly the most important. When you’re locked in on your starter, which the Packers obviously are, determining the backup can come down to organizational philosophy. One approach is to lean on a veteran game manager who keeps things afloat in case the starter goes down. The other is to try to develop a promising young player who could become a starter someday or, at the very least, a valuable piece of roster-building capital for a general manager.
It’s hard to see where Clifford fits in either scenario. By all accounts, Clifford has been a great locker room guy and has embraced his opportunity to learn from an organization that has produced a line of Hall of Fame quarterbacks and has also sprinkled in the likes of Matt Hasselbeck, Matt Flynn, and others who have at least received a shot at a starting job somewhere. In only his second year, Clifford doesn’t have the veteran experience where a team (or fanbase) would feel great about him taking over for an injured starter, and his tools don’t wow you to a point where he’s lighting up social media.
On the other hand, Pratt has several factors working in his favor. He’s only 22 and will turn 23 in September. Conversely, Clifford is already 26 despite being drafted just a year earlier. Clifford got more run in the preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns. Still, Pratt was more efficient in his short stint on the field, even showing off some wheels as a blocker (which is not something you love a quarterback to do necessarily, but hey, I’m sure the coaches took notice). While Clifford has struggled with turnovers in camp, people have praised Pratt for his consistency in his first taste of the NFL.
In the first practices leading up to Green Bay’s second preseason game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Pratt has seen the repetitions at QB2. As a backup, those reps are all you really have between games, and each one becomes increasingly valuable as the preseason progresses. Whether it’s a true elevation up the depth chart or just the coaching staff wanting to get more looks at Pratt, it’s certainly a better sign for the rookie than for Clifford.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur has said that the starters won’t play against the Broncos this weekend, providing perhaps the best showcase for Pratt or Clifford to truly stake a claim to the No. 2 job. Whichever player ends up third on the depth chart will likely find themselves on the practice squad. Although quarterbacks rarely get claimed in the waiver process, it might not be worth taking the risk if there’s someone the team is especially high on. For Pratt, that’s what his goal needs to be for the remainder of the preseason. If he can show enough that the front office doesn’t want to risk losing him, there’s little chance that Pratt doesn’t end up as QB2.
