Jordan Love taken No. 26 by Green Bay Packers
With the 26th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers selected former Utah State quarterback, Jordan Love.
It was a very bold move considering the circumstances. Love was falling fast, seemingly destined to fail in his goal of being the first Aggie taken in the first round since Phil Olsen in 1970. Green Bay held the 29th pick, but traded it and pick 136 to move up the three spots to grab Love.
For months, NFL teams tried to wrap their heads around the former Utah State quarterback, who very much earned the title of “most polarizing quarterback in the draft.” The contrast between Love’s 2018 and 2019 seasons, the rise in interceptions and drops in touchdowns and completion percentage, all of which muddied his draft stock to the point of it being a distinct possibility for him to be both a top-10 pick and a mid-second round selection.
On Thursday, that decision was clearly made. Green Bay decided to make Love its quarterback of the future.
“I’m super excited,” Love said on the live broadcast. “I had some good talks with the coaches out there in Green Bay so I’m excited.”
50 years between them, but Jordan Love is the first Aggie taken in the first round since Phil Olsen. pic.twitter.com/LwmInfb8lU
— Utah Statesman 📰 (@UtahStatesman) April 24, 2020
Trading a fourth round pick to move up three spots to select Love was a bold idea in and of itself. Such a trade was even more bold with future Hall of Famer, Aaron Rodgers, still on the team and under contract through 2023.
ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit noted his surprise with the pick minutes after it happened as he would have expected the Packers to continue to build around Rodgers as the Packers try to win another Super Bowl while the 36-year old Rodgers is still able to play at an elite level.
Rodgers himself seemed hopeful his team would pick an offensive skill player, something they’ve rarely done over the past two decades.
“We haven’t picked a skill player in the first round in 15 years,” Rodgers said on a recent episode of the Pat McAfee show, “so that would be kind of cool.”
It’s highly unlikely that Love will earn as starting spot over Rodgers, who ranks 13th all-time in NFL passing yards. But the Packers seem to believe stronly in Love as their quarterback of the future and are hoping to repeat the QB transition they managed when moving from Hall of Famer, Brett Favre to Rodgers. Green Bay took Rodgers with the No. 24 pick of the 2005 draft when Favre was 35 years old and the former replaced the latter in 2008, ending Favre’s 16-year run in Wisconsin.
@thejwalk67
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