We've Actually Seen Quite a Bit of Jordan Love

Jordan Love is going to draw plenty of comparisons to Aaron Rodgers, both this year and throughout his NFL career.

But there’s one area in which he’s already Rodgers’ equal, and it might surprise you.

Anecdotally, I think there’s a general feeling that when Rodgers took over for Brett Favre in 2008, he was more experienced and battle-tested than Love, who, comparatively, has played very little. In fact, they’re coming in having played nearly the exact same amount.

In 2008, Rodgers entered his first season as the Packers starter having appeared in 12 preseason games and seven regular season games. That sounds like a lot, but in actuality, he barely played. Over those 12 preseason games, Rodgers only threw 134 passes; in seven of those 12 games, he threw nine or fewer passes.

His seven regular season appearances, meanwhile, were almost entirely mop-up duty. Prior to his 2007 appearance in relief of an injured Favre, Rodgers’ only extended playing time came in a 2005 blowout win against the Ravens and a 2006 blowout loss to the Patriots. All told, Rodgers entered 2008 with 193 career throws (counting both preseason and regular season) under his belt.

Love, meanwhile, has only played in five preseason games, but he’s logged snaps in 10 regular season games. Most of the time, he’s been quite active when he’s been on the field. He logged 109 passes in his five preseason appearances, including three games where he threw at least 24 passes. Rodgers only had one such game during his dozen preseason games.

Love, too, generally outpaced Rodgers in his regular-season appearances, at least in terms of the raw number of throws. The 10 regular-season games in which he has played include four where he threw at least nine passes, including his 34-pass start against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021.

Does this mean Love will be good? Not at all. But he’s also not any less of a known commodity than Rodgers was. We’ve seen plenty from Love in short spurts; now it’s time to see if stringing a lot of playing time together helps him grow into the player the Packers clearly believe he can be.