Is Will Levis a better QB prospect than Jordan Love? 3 reasons why Packers will be just fine with Aaron Rodgers’ backup
Jordan Love is poised to take over for Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay after the Packers finally traded him to the New York Jets. This was their plan all along, but with rumors of Will Levis sliding on draft boards, will Green Bay look at the top prospect?
Love has been in the NFL for three seasons, which means his rookie deal is nearing an end. Might it be wise for them to consider starting afresh with a new rookie contract? Here are three reasons why they shouldn't
Why Jordan Love makes more sense than Will Levis
3) High bust chance
Will Levis is not one of the top prospects. By the count of most NFL analysts, he is the fourth-best prospect. The number of teams that need a quarterback has driven his rise. However, there's a high chance he will end up being a bust. He doesn't have a strong college game tape and he doesn't have the elite athleticism of Anthony Richardson to mask that issue. The Packers should just pass on Levis.
2) System knowledge
Jordan Love has spent the last three years learning Matt LaFleur's offensive system and generating chemistry with his teammates. Will Levis has not. It would take time and adjustments from everyone to switch to Levis, so there's no reason the Packers should truly consider taking the prospect and ditching Rodgers' backup.
Teams do this often, but it's usually for a much stronger prospect than Levis. Abandoning the system and the plan for someone that several teams don't feel is worth their pick is probably not wise.
1) Age and experience
And just to recount ... Jordan Love and Will Levis will be the same age from July of this year through half of November.
Jordan Love was drafted in 2020. He's spent the last three seasons in the NFL and is about the same age as Will Levis, who is just now coming out of college. If Levis was an elite player, it wouldn't matter as much, but he has some development to do. That development time will be wasted when they can just roll with Love, who's had NFL experience and is a lot closer to his full potential than Levis is to his.
Levis might not even be available at 13 and would require a trade-up. But given his age, the question marks, and the status of incumbent Love, there's no reason the Kentucky product should be considered an option over Rodgers' former backup.
Age matters a lot more for quarterbacks since teams ideally want to have them for as long as possible. As quarterbacks get older, their jobs get a lot harder. If choosing between an NFL player and a college prospect of the same age and roughly the same talent, teams should go with the player and not the prospect.
Jordan Love vs Will Levis college stats: Which QB comes out on top?
Both quarterbacks were top prospects coming out of college, with Jordan Love coming from Utah State and Will Levis from Kentucky. At Utah State, Love was prolific. He threw for 8,600 yards and 60 touchdowns in three years. He averaged about 2,900 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions per season.
Levis had two years as a main starter in his four collegiate seasons. During those seasons, he tossed a little over 5,200 yards and 43 touchdowns. He averaged 2,600 yards with 22 touchdowns and 12 interceptions a season.
The stats are similar, but Love has an extra year of being a starter and slightly better numbers overall. Love was a better college quarterback when he came out.