
Love was known in college for his big arm and ability to make sensational plays while simultaneously being turnover prone. They’re both gunslingers - Mullens perhaps a bit more so, as he went to the same college as Brett Favre, the original Green Bay gunslinger. Mullens and Love are stylistically similar players. Beathard (a real game manager) and lit the league on fire for a few weeks. That was the case for Mullens he took over for C.J. High-risk, high-reward players like Mullens and Love are often only kept around as third-stringers who only see the field in dire emergencies. The continued employment of guys like Nathan Peterman, Sam Darnold, and Andy Dalton only adds to the evidence. The fact that Mannion still had a job as a primary backup after all these years tells that tale well enough. The tradition in the NFL is not to take risks, and the backup quarterback is a perfect embodiment of that mentality. They both have individual standards of excellence that seldom deviate from the norm.Īs for their backups, both teams now stray from the leaguewide norm of game-managing backup quarterbacks. Each starter is as consistent as they come the teams know exactly what to expect from Kirk Cousins and Rodgers on any given Sunday. The dynamic between starter and backup is now fairly similar in Minnesota and Green Bay.

Adding him to the Vikings will give the fanbase peace as they also deal with a starting quarterback who’s had a good string of health recently and refuses to get a scientifically proven vaccine. He looked fantastic for the San Francisco 49ers when he had to fill in, and his unabashed gunslinging style endeared him to the entire league during that brief time. Mullens is also a great backup quarterback. Not long after Love’s standout performance, Minnesota’s new general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, wasted no time flipping a conditional seventh-round pick for Nick Mullens. Croix, the Minnesota Vikings have been writhing in pain watching Kellen Mond and Sean Mannion flounder despite countless opportunities to prove they deserve to stay in the NFL. You never know when the hand of god/the devil/ Anthony Barr will impose its will on an unsuspecting QB.Īs Love cements his status as a quality backup, other NFC North teams have surely noticed. Love had to fill in for that one game against the Kansas City Chiefs last year, but otherwise he’s only seen garbage-time action. If you’re a believer in the law of averages, it could mean Rodgers is due to miss some time. For the last two years, Rodgers has gone relatively unscathed. Love’s recent emergence comes at a perfect time. General manager Brian Gutekunst knows that. Football is inherently violent, so there is no telling what could happen to any player in any given year. This, coupled with his lack of credible vaccination, put him at risk of missing games. Despite his prowess, Rodgers, 38, isn’t getting any younger. The security of a quality backup QB has immense value for Green Bay. But Love is still, at worst, slotting in as a high-upside backup.

The initial projections of Love being the heir apparent to the throne are murky these days. However, Love is still on the team, and it looks like he is finally ready to step up and be a confident backup quarterback if they call upon him to play in 2022. All of the Aaron Rodgers retirement drama only fanned the fire. By taking Love in the first round, the Packers caused the entire fanbase to go up in a ball of flames. Love has been significantly better than anyone outside the state of Wisconsin would give him credit for, considering the unique circumstances of his draft selection. Actually watching Love play reinforces the notion that he has been absolutely on the money. The drops mentioned above are emblematic of a young and inexperienced receiving corps, which has been well-documented this offseason. He’s second in drop% among QBs with at least 15 attempts. No other QB has more than 5.Īnd it’s not just a volume thing. has 8 drops on Jordan Love targets this preseason.
