Packers Mailbag: How the Packers will approach the Jordan Love conundrum
The Green Bay Packers beat the Indianapolis Colts in week 2 without Jordan Love, and now his presence is again the big question ahead of week 3, when they face the Tennessee Titans. Let's open our weekly mailbag, talking about Love and much more. I don't think that's how it works for the Packers. If […]
The Green Bay Packers beat the Indianapolis Colts in week 2 without Jordan Love, and now his presence is again the big question ahead of week 3, when they face the Tennessee Titans.
Let's open our weekly mailbag, talking about Love and much more.
I don't think that's how it works for the Packers. If Jordan Love is healthy enough to play, he will. If he isn't, he won't. The season is too difficult for teams to give players extra rest, and a single win can be extremely costly down the road, for playoff or even seeding purposes.
There's a decent chance Love won't be good to go on Sunday, because MCL strain limits lateral movements. And if he does play, he will certainly have limitations. I would expect a shotgun-heavy approach, maybe putting Malik Willis in for obvious run situations, creating an element of uncertainty for the defense.
What cannot and will probably not happen is to sit Love even if he's good to play.
This is an intriguing question, because Rasheed Walker had an up and down start to the season. First, Jordan Morgan has to stay healthy and take over the starting job at right guard. If he does that and plays well down the stretch, I would expect the Packers to give a chance to compete at left tackle. It's simply the most valuable position, and Green Bay should have taken Graham Barton if they didn't see tackle potential in Morgan.
If Morgan beats Walker at LT, the question becomes how the interior will be built. Josh Myers is a free agent, so they will have to see how Jacob Monk develops. And at RG, Sean Rhyan is a decent option, but probably a worse one than Walker at LT. There's a balance between finding the best five and putting the best players at the most valuable positions, but ultimately it all depends on how well Jordan Morgan plays, and where he plays better.
At tight end, it's clear to me that Tucker Kraft is the starter now. He might not be as explosive as a pass-catcher, but he is a much better blocker and can create yards after the catch, being a better fit for Matt LaFleur's offense and simply helping Jordan Love more.
At wide receiver, the situation isn't so obvious. I do think that Jayden Reed is the most talented and productive of the group and will finish the year as the so-called WR1, but there will be matchups where Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson will become more prominent.
There were real people (I guess) asking for the Packers to play Sean Clifford over Jordan Love a year ago. So never doubt the power of QB winz in the public perception of quarterbacks.
Josh Jacobs was a first-round pick and has always been an elite player at his position. He was always a much better prospect than AJ Dillon, so I don't think this is a reasonable comparison. And in terms of style, the Packers dream was that Dillon would become something similar to Derrick Henry, not necessarily Jacobs.
But everyone knows the Packers reached for him. Dillon was the 115th player on the consensus big board, and Green Bay took him at 62. It never made sense, even though people who like to criticize any type of draft analysis tried to say that the Packers knew better. Sometimes they do, but usually the consensus is there for a reason.
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