Packers offense in line for underrated change with Jordan Love in 2023
The 2022 season was a weird one for the Green Bay Packers. The entire year was full of ups and downs and nothing seemed to go right until December, when the Packers finally started to win games on a consistent basis. One of the biggest question mark throughout the bulk of the season was Aaron […]
The 2022 season was a weird one for the Green Bay Packers.
The entire year was full of ups and downs and nothing seemed to go right until December, when the Packers finally started to win games on a consistent basis.
One of the biggest question mark throughout the bulk of the season was Aaron Rodgers' play and his health. His play had as many ebbs-and-flows as the season and a Week 5 thumb injury kept him from reaching his previous MVP-level of play.
The injury also prevented the Packers offense from doing basic things such as operating out of center. Sure, they still went under center – not all snaps were out of shotgun. But, per Sports Info Solutions, the Packers had the fewest under-center dropbacks and handoffs since Matt LaFleur became head coach in 2019. Prior to last season, the Packers averaged 141 dropbacks and 273 handoffs from under center – they had 116 and 214, respectively, in 2022.
Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich acknowledged the fact that Rodgers' thumb limited the offense, in a sense, and that Jordan Love's health will help the Packers get back to operating from under center like they did from 2019-2021.
"Yea. That certainly is an aspect that will help us for sure," Stenavich told reporters Tuesday.
This may not seem like a big deal on the surface, but it is pretty important. The Packers offense relies on a lot of play action and play designs that give defenses false signs and signals, for lack of better phrasing. The more a quarterback operates under center means the more he turns his back to the defense and that's always tough for defenses because they never truly know if it's a handoff or a play-action pass, especially if a team uses a lot of play-action like the Packers.
Just think of the Peyton Manning-Edgerrin James days in Indianapolis. Their stretch handoffs were so beautifully executed to the point where defenses dreaded any time the Colts went under center. A lot of Manning's success came from his ability to turn his back to the defense, among other things, of course.
"Both of them [Brady and Manning] are pretty good at getting that ball in and letting people believe that the running back's got the ball," Hall of Fame QB Steve Young said back in 2008. "It's kind of lost its art form. There are very few, in my mind, that are really good at it."
No one is saying Love will reach Manning levels of play, but helping the Packers offense return to basics, so to speak, will certainly help Love find his footing in 2023.
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