Jordan Love is not the next Aaron Rodgers
The Green Bay Packers drafted Jordan Love to be the next Aaron Rodgers. The same way the latter was drafted to be the next Brett Favre. Sure, the process was going to be messy and the reaction was negative, but the plan had worked before.
The only problem was the way Rodgers blew up the succession plan by winning back-to-back NFL MVP awards. He has played so well that the front office has been put on notice. They can either do what it takes to keep him, or face backlash from the fans.
To make things worse, it's clear that Love is not the next version of Rodgers in more ways than one.
Jordan Love was tasked with unfair expectations
The Packers franchise has enjoyed very little quarterback turnover over the past few decades. Favre was the starter from 1992 until 2007, and Rodgers has held the job ever since. They each won a Super Bowl and the two are NFL legends both inside and outside of Green Bay.
Love was drafted to continue the cycle. Yet that was unfair from the start.
Fans should remember the 2005 draft, when the San Francisco 49ers held the top overall pick. They needed a quarterback, and it was between Alex Smith and Rodgers. The former was taken, which led the latter to slide all the way down to No. 24 overall. This was still back in an era where it was common to not see three or four signal-callers go off the board right away.
Rodgers was the second quarterback off the board, and his slide was shocking. Meanwhile, Love's selection was a bit of a surprise for different reasons. He was the fourth quarterback off the board in his class at pick No. 26 overall. This was not Green Bay drafting Joe Burrow or Justin Herbert. No, they took a prospect who could easily have slid into the second round and immediately placed monumental expectations upon his shoulders.
It would be unfair to judge Love on the basis of his only start in 2021. He went 19/34 for 190 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The final was a 13-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The offense was clearly limited, and Love was going up against one of the best teams in football.
But it is fair to judge him based on how the Packers are acting at the moment. They are clearing cap space in what appears to be an attempt to offer Rodgers a massive extension. If Love were to be seen as the next star, the team could move on without much of a worry.
The fact that the Packers have shifted their view of Rodgers may tell us all we need to know about the internal views surrounding Love and his potential.