Well, 16 months after being drafted, we finally got to see Jordan Love take a snap.
There’s not a whole lot we can learn from limited preseason action – we definitely can’t make definitive career assessments off of one half of preseason football (unless you’re a Bears fan), but we can make some early observations.
The first one?
He throws with zip.
All his balls were moving nicely.
Early play calling was focused on short, rhythm-building passes and Love got them out quick. Later in the half, when route combos went deeper, Love’s passes were still coming out with good velocity.
This doesn’t put him in the Hall of Fame, but it’s a nice start. At this point, we just want to avoid seeing cringe-worthy plays or habits that make us feel like he’s hopeless.
He didn’t really do anything wrong. There were no errant passes, no big overthrows or one-hoppers. His throws and motion looked good.
Let’s check out his most memorable plays:
- The big gain to Sternberger. Jace was wide open. Love hit him mostly in stride, maybe a half-step late, but an easy adjustment for a receiver. Solid throw.
- The exciting catch by Funchess where he reached out to get a hand on it then dove and flipped to secure it. On this play, it actually looked like Funchess was a little slow out of his break and Love had the ball right where it should be… and fast.
- The touchdown to Kylin Hill. Love dumped it off and let the back to all the work. A Tom Brady Special.
Overall, a pretty decent half.
His passes all had nice zip, but they didn’t all have perfect placement. They weren’t all over the place, though – were good, just not that perfect, in-stride, in-rhythm placement.
But that placement only comes when players practice together a lot. Love simply hasn’t had those reps yet.
What does it mean? It means he’s young and we can’t make final judgement yet.
However, there’s nothing we saw yet to suggest that Love can’t become a solid starter.
The Packers are being patient and Love is growing.
This is how you develop a quarterback and build an NFL roster.
.
Want to learn more about building an NFL roster!?
Want more insight into how winning teams build their rosters (and how losing teams fail)? We’ve got you covered!
Start shallow, then get deep into understanding draft strategy with our draft book (rated a #1 New Release): A Fan’s Guide To Understanding The NFL Draft: Strategies, Tactics, And Case Studies For Building A Professional Football Team
Then jump into free agency with another #1 New Release: A Fan’s Guide To NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses to better understand this critical part of the NFL offseason and see where teams have found (or missed) success in this critical component of team-building.
Finally, get to the game behind the game with our new must-have book for 2021: A Fan’s Guide To Understanding The NFL Salary Cap – which lays out detailed, easy-to-follow scenarios to explain exactly how contract structures and salary cap rules impact teams.
All these great books are available in ebook and paperback – and free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers!
If you don’t have Kindle Unlimited, you can get a free trial of Kindle Unlimited here!
Don’t just watch the draft – understand it and learn why GMs make the moves they do.
With a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, there’s no reason to wait!
.
Check out Packers Draft Central 2021 for all our 2021 NFL Draft coverage!
.