The Green Bay Packers took a tremendous risk after the 2022 NFL season by trading future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets. The move, of course, was made so that Jordan Love, whom the Packers traded up to take in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, could take over as the starting quarterback. At the time of the decision, many people (including a large number of Packers fans) doubted the risk would pan out.
Fortunately for Green Bay, Love turned out to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL last season, thanks in large part to a strong second half. Rodgers, of course, missed all but four snaps of the 2023 NFL regular season due to a torn Achilles.
Now that NFL training camp is just a week away, more and more outlets are releasing their player rankings for the upcoming season. One on of these lists, Love ranked far ahead of Rodgers.
Love is ranked 58th on Pro Football Network’s Top-100 NFL players list
Pro Football Network recently published their top-100 NFL player list. It included three Packers players: Love, Jaire Alexander and Xavier McKinney. Love was the highest-ranked Packers player at number 58.
“Coming into the season with just one pro start in relief of former Green Bay Packers starter Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love finished second in the NFL in touchdown passes (32), fifth in passing efficiency, and ninth in QBR while leading Green Bay to nine regular-season wins and a Wild Card rout of the Cowboys.
In 2024, Love could become an MVP candidate while leading the NFL’s youngest offense.”
It is worth noting that Love’s 2023 Packers won one more game than Rodgers’ 2022 Packers. Love also accomplished all of these stats with just first and second-year pass catchers to throw to.
In other words, he did more with less (on paper) than Rodgers did in 2022. It is also noteworthy that Love’s 2023 season was better than Rodgers’ 2022 season.
Rodgers ranked 80th on Pro Football Network’s Top-100 NFL player list
After missing just about all of 2023, Rodgers came in ranked 80th on Pro Football Network’s list.
“Trying to predict how Aaron Rodgers will perform in 2024 is almost impossible. While he won back-to-back MVPs as recently as 2020 and 2021, Rodgers is now 40 years old, coming off a torn Achilles, and still trying to get his New York Jets stint off the ground.
“The talent is probably still there, but Rodgers’s myriad question marks – punctuated by his mercurial personality and odd offseason – make the legendary QB a total mystery.”
Rodgers, of course, has high expectations for himself going into the 2024 season. As PFN notes, though, how a 40 year-old quarterback will come back from a torn Achilles is difficult to predict.
Remember, Rodgers had the worst year of his career in 2022. Was that a sign of a swift decline or just an outlier to an otherwise Hall of Fame career?
2024 will answer that question.
