Before the season, nobody was sure about what to expect from Jordan Love. After three years backing up Aaron Rodgers, the new Green Bay Packers starting quarterback was finally going to have his chance, but the evidence of his play for the outside public was one regular season start two years prior, a couple of in-game appearances, and preseason action.

It was unfair to say he couldn't play, but it was also impossible to affirm he could. But even under these circumstances, Jordan Love never wavered from the belief in himself.

When asked by Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer in August what people could expect from him, Love showed confidence, and after five months it looks absolutely justified.

"A great player, I don't know how else to put it," Love said. "I'm just excited to be out there. [You can] turn my college film on and kind of see the things I did in college. I think a lot of people just haven't seen me play enough and are not really familiar with my game. But I'm a baller. So that's what they'll see."

Development plan

Head coach Matt LaFleur was more measured to evaluate the situation, saying that they would know what Love is only when he played actual games with regularity — which was a fair assessment to make at that time. But there is another important point: how the Packers plan was executed.

"I think—this is my opinion—the league would benefit if more guys took that approach," LaFleur said about sitting a quarterback for a couple of years. "What happens is, these guys, a lot of them, get thrust into situations where there's not a lot of talent around them, and they lose confidence. I've seen it happen too many times, and it's hard to recover from that. I do think that we would be able to develop more quarterbacks if guys were given a couple of years to sit and learn the game."

General manager Brian Gutekunst also mentioned that Jordan Love, in particular, needed the time to get ready.

"All these guys coming out of college for the most part are pretty raw, but he was a really young guy coming out," Gutekunst highlighted. "He definitely needed the time. He needed to develop. Most of them do, which is what we believe in."

The situation goes both ways. It was good for Love to sit and learn for three years, but the Packers missed the rookie contract window to spend more and build around him. However, a series of good draft classes in 2022 and 2023 can compensate for that — and it has.

Love finished his first season as a full-time starter with 4,159 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 96.1 passer rating, plus an 83.0 PFF grade. He was fifth in EPA/play, leading the youngest and least expensive offense in football to the sixth place in DVOA.

It’s still early to have a complete picture of what Love will be, but it’s safe to say that he will be at least an above average quarterback — and his ceiling is much higher than that.

The most important factor for the Packers was to get the right quarterback. After one season of Jordan Love as the starter, it sure seems like they have done it again — and Love himself knew he could be that guy.

Jordan Love is the big reason why the Packers are here

Green Bay beat Chicago 17-9