After three seasons at Utah State, Jordan Love’s ascent on the NFL Draft boards began.
After finishing his junior year at Utah State in 2019 with 3,402 yards, 20 TDs and 17 INTs, the interest was there but it wasn’t as intense for big names from bigger programs including Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts overshadowed him.
At the 2020 NFL Draft, the Bengals made Burrow the first overall pick. Miami selected Tua fifth and the Chargers immediately followed with Herbert. From there, 19 other names were called before the Green Bay Packers selected Love.
Some questioned the pick as Aaron Rodgers was still in his prime. They also pointed out that Rodgers needed more help offensively instead of an understudy.
But the Packers obviously had a plan.
Over the next three seasons, Love sat on the bench as the future Hall of Famer’s understudy.
Then this past season, the Packers fleeced the Jets…er, shipped Rodgers to Met Life Stadium and handed the keys to Love.
After 18 weeks of the 2023 NFL season, it’s clear Green Bay made the right move.
In his first full season as the starter, Love threw for 4,192 yards, 32 TDs and 11 INTs while leading the Packers to a 9-8 record. This past weekend, he helped Green Bay upset the Cowboys 48-32 in Dallas with a historic performance in his playoff debut, going 16-21 for 272 yards and 3 TDs, earning him an almost perfect passing rating of 157.2.
Love’s 35 TDs this season set the record for the most by a Packers quarterback in their first year. It also places him fourth all-time for TDs thrown by first-year QBs behind Patrick Mahomes (53), Kurt Warner (49) and Daunte Culpepper (36).
That’s elite company to be included with.
Love’s confidence increased with each game this season and he proved he could handle the spotlight in his first playoff experience.
“We came in here with a mindset of we’re going to dominate,” said Love after the game. “A lot of people were counting us out and we didn’t care about that.”
That’s the mindset of a veteran, not a first-year starter.
But Love is not a first-year player. He’s had what many quarterbacks, especially Black quarterbacks, are seldom given- the time and support to develop.
Not only was he given those crucial things, but he had a great QB to learn from, another opportunity many young Black NFL quarterbacks lack.
Love’s path to early playoff success is reminiscent of the path taken by Alcorn St and Titans’ legend, Steve McNair.
McNair, one of the greatest players in HBCU and all college football history, still holds multiple records at Alcorn St., including career passing yards (14,496), career completions (958) and passing touchdowns (119). In his senior year in 1994, he set the school record books on fire by setting the single-season record for passing yards (5,377), completions (356) and passing TDs (47).
That year the All-American finished third for the Heisman Trophy behind Colorado’s Rashaan Salaam and Penn State’s Ki-Jana Carter.
The Houston Oilers selected the FCS superstar with the third overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft and sat him behind Chris Chandler for two years. McNair, like Love, was given some game experience, and in year three, when the team relocated to Tennesee, he was handed the starting job and went on to become a 3x All-Pro, co-MVP in 2003 and almost led the team to a victory in Super Bowl XXXIV.
The similarities Love shares with McNair forecast a bright future for his NFL career.
Love played at Utah State, a small school that has competed in the PCAA (Pacific Coast Athletic Conference), the Big West, Sun Belt, WAC and Mountain West Conference. Like McNair, that led many to question his talents due to the competition he faced.
But after learning behind an incumbent starter and receiving in-game experience before becoming the starter, Love proved the doubters wrong and showed he, like McNair, could play.
And like McNair, Love has a great running back, talented receivers and a hard-hitting defense that provides cover for the young, developing quarterback.
In McNair’s first season as a starter, he threw for 2,665 yards, 14 TDs and 13 INTs. In his second, he went for 3,228, 15 and 10, respectively, and in his MVP season, he went for 3,215, 24 and 7.
Love has passed those totals in his first season as a starter, and while it’s a different era, the performance speaks volumes about his talents.
And if Jordan Love continues following the path paved by Steve McNair, we just might see him in a Super Bowl, too.
