Scout's view: Why Packers should stick with Jordan Love

Daniel Kelly spent four years in pro scouting with the New York Jets. He is the published author of the book "Whatever It Takes," the story of a fan making it into the NFL.

Following in the footsteps of Hall of Famer Brett Favre and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, as Jordan Love has for the Green Bay Packers, would be daunting for almost any quarterback. Clearly, Love has struggled at times, but the third-year quarterback's play overall isn't as bad as some might believe.

Some of Love's raw numbers — a 59.7% completion percentage (30th in NFL) and 10 interceptions (tied for second in NFL) in 2023 — are concerning. His completion percentage is well below the league average (64.9, per StatMuse). However, I'm optimistic the play of the 25-year-old former first-round pick will improve if the Packers stick with him. (In May, Green Bay signed Love to a one-year extension through 2024 instead of picking up his fifth-year option.)

Over the past several days, I studied film of Love from games this season against the Bears (Sept. 10), Falcons (Sept. 17), Saints (Sept. 24), Lions (Sept. 28), Raiders (Oct. 9), Broncos (Oct. 22), Vikings (Oct. 29), Rams (Nov. 5), Steelers (Nov. 12) and Chargers (Nov. 19). 

First, let's review the negatives.

One of the reasons for Love's low completion percentage is the struggles of a relatively inexperienced receiving corps. Green Bay is tied for the eighth-most drops (15) in the league. Love, however, often doesn't help himself. When passing, he sometimes awkwardly torques his upper body, even falling backward when throwing.

I'm also concerned about the placement of Love's feet as he throws. At times, his feet are too close together and even parallel when throwing. A QB ideally wants a wide lower-body base while pushing off his back foot. This provides velocity and aids in accurately delivering a ball downfield. 

Love's funky footwork leads to inconsistent ball placement, passes defended (he has 29, per my film review) and interceptions. Balls too high or low can also result in incompletions or prevent a receiver from picking up all-important yardage after a catch.

These faults can be corrected with hard coaching, playing experience and a willingness by the QB to take direction.

Early in the season, Love seemed to press as the replacement for Rodgers, who's now with the Jets. Of course, Love doesn't have the game experience (only 11 NFL starts), accuracy (59.8% career completion percentage) or touch to pull that off. Only a handful of QBs on the planet, however, can play at Rodgers' level.

At the same time, I see evidence of Love recently playing at a higher level. In a Week 11 win over the Chargers and their terrible secondary, he threw for a career-high 322 yards. In a Week 9 win over the Rams, he went 20-of-26 (a career-high 76.9% completion percentage) for 228 yards.

With this in mind, here's my take on Love's three best attributes:

1. He's highly instinctual 

When relaxed, Love makes sweet-looking short-to-intermediate (1-19 yards) throws not necessarily dependent on footwork. Love can improvise — he has even thrown passes under duress left-handed — and is adept at making side-armed, off-platform throws or flipping the ball to a running back at the last second. 

Although he is not nearly as good as Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes, Love occasionally shows flashes of Mahomes-like ability. He will even throw it back across his body, as he did against the Chargers.