After three years of watching and learning behind Aaron Rodgers, it’s Jordan Love’s time to sink or swim.
The Green Bay Packers in 2023 will sink or swim alongside him.
The Packers will be entering the great unknown at quarterback. A first-round pick in 2020, Love has had plenty of time to hone his considerable skill-set. He struggled in place of Rodgers at Kansas City and Detroit in 2021, he impressed off the bench at Philadelphia in 2022. His work behind the scenes is a big reason why general manager Brian Gutekunst decided to wash his hands of Rodgers rather than giving the legend one more shot to get back to the Super Bowl.
Mystery fills the entire depth chart. Backup candidates Danny Etling and Sean Clifford haven’t thrown a pass in the NFL. The Packers are the only team in the NFL without either an established starter or seasoned backup.
With the first practice of Packers training camp set for July 26, here is a look at the quarterbacks.
Projected Opening Depth Chart
Starter: Jordan Love.
Backups: Danny Etling, Sean Clifford.
Position Group Ranking (out of 11)
10th.
Strength
Nothing concrete. From the outside, all the optimism surrounding Love revolves around 10 snaps at the end of a rather lopsided loss at Philadelphia in November. There’s no knocking Love’s performance that night. He played on time, was sharp and put points on the scoreboard. But, from the Eagles’ perspective, that game was over, and they played accordingly.
The strength, really, is either glass-half-full projection or glass-half-empty wishing. The Packers selected him in the first round in 2020 for a reason. With above-average physical tools, he checks every box you’d ever want in a quarterback. He doesn’t have the strongest arm but it’s strong enough. He’s not the most athletic but he’s athletic enough. With three years on the bench, he’s not experienced but he is seasoned.
When Jaire Alexander jumped into Love’s minicamp interview and proclaimed him to be the “Best QB in the league,” it was nonsense, of course. However, Alexander didn’t have to bomb Love’s interview at all. He didn’t have to say a word. That he did shows the belief in the locker room that Love, at least, can be pretty good.
Weakness
Inexperience, inexperience and inexperience. Love’s NFL resume includes one start, a dismal performance at the Chiefs in 2021. His 83 regular-season passing attempts are 83 more than his backups. Etling was a seventh-round pick in 2018 who has endured more position changes (quarterback to receiver and back to quarterback) than regular-season snaps (zero). Clifford was a fifth-round pick in 2022.
Working with Rodgers is why venerable quarterbacks coach Tom Clements came out of retirement in 2022. Working with Love is why Clements decided to return in 2023.
“Well, that was the initial reason I came back, a chance to win another Super Bowl, coach Aaron,” Clements said before OTAs. “But I came back and enjoyed it, enjoyed working with Jordan and … Danny Etling. And any time you can coach a guy and you think you can help him and it looks like you’ve helped him a little bit, that’s gratifying.”
2. Will the Packers sign Carson Wentz to be Love’s backup? In 2008, the Packers went with rookies Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn behind first-time starter Rodgers. So, it’s certainly possible that the Packers will go with Etling and/or Clifford behind the first-time starter Love.
If, in mid-August, Etling and Clifford are struggling on the practice field and the preseason games, could general manager Brian Gutekunst take a look at the picked-over veteran market?
One option would be Wentz, an MVP candidate in 2017 who helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl. His career has fallen off a cliff, though. He couldn’t get the Colts into the playoffs in 2021 and couldn’t hold onto the starting job with the Commanders in 2022.
At this point, the 30-year-old is open to being a backup. He not only would give the Packers an experienced No. 2 should Love go down, but he’d provide a valuable extra set of eyes and an experienced sounding board.
Biggest Battle
Etling vs. Clifford. At age 28, Etling is one of the 10 oldest players on the roster. He hasn’t played in a game in five years in the NFL, though he did have an excellent preseason for the Packers last year with a 123.3 passer rating.
Clifford was a fifth-round pick following a record-setting career at Penn State. He’s not oozing talent but you can tell he’s played a lot of football. Even with limited experience in the offense, he led the backups to a touchdown in a 2-minute drill during minicamp by making all the right decisions and throwing the ball with accuracy.
It has to be Love. If Love isn’t the next foundational starting quarterback, the Packers will have to turn to the draft to find one. As evidenced by the Chicago Bears, among other teams, if you don’t have a quality starting quarterback, you have no chance of winning big in today’s NFL.
“He can throw the ball, No. 1, which you need to do in the NFL,” Clements said. “He’s athletic, he can move around, buy time, and he’s intelligent and he generally makes good decisions. He at this point just needs to play and work on processing information, making quick decisions, then getting it to the right guy. But he has all the qualities that you’re looking for in a guy to be successful.”
Don’t Forget About
Etling. Everyone always loves the shiny new draft pick. That’s Clifford. Sort of lost in the shuffle is Etling, even though he had an impressive preseason that included a 51-yard touchdown run.
It will be a wide-open battle between the two. Etling joined the Packers in December 2021. His experience in the system will give him a big edge over Clifford when camp begins.
