For a guy who only took 21 sacks during the 2025 regular season, Jordan Love sure is taking some hits this offseason.
Venerable beat writer Tom Silverstein was among the first to offer pointed criticism of Love, saying in a podcast that he’d prefer Caleb Williams to Love. Then, more recently, Mike Tanier of the outfit formerly known as Football Outsiders wrote on his personal Substack that Williams had “zoomed past” Love developmentally, though he offered no evidence to support that claim.
Then just
this week, Nick Shook of NFL.com put Love in the third tier of his 63-quarterback ranking project, behind Williams, Daniel Jones, and others whom Love outperformed statistically.
It all has me asking what Love has to do to get some respect?
Love was statistically one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the league last season. He ranked second in the NFL in the rbsdm.com EPA+CPOE index, about as comprehensive a metric of efficient passing as there is. But beyond that Love was sixth in the NFL in adjusted yards per attempt, sixth in passer rating, and fifth in adjusted net yards per attempt. He bests the supposedly developmentally superior Williams in all of those metrics.
Love ranked third in fourth quarter comebacks this season with four, behind Williams and Denver’s Bo Nix, but it’s noteworthy that one of Williams’ comebacks was precipitated at least in part by Love not being on the field for most of the Packers’ second regular-season matchup. Two of Williams’ other comebacks involved significant help from the opposing team (in addition to the help he got from the Packers; catch the ball, Romeo!). Against the Commanders, Jayden Daniels had Washington in Bears territory with just over three minutes to go, only to fumble the snap on 3rd and 1, setting the stage for a Bears drive in which Williams completed one pass for six yards and D’Andre Swift did almost literally all of the rest of the work. And against the Raiders, Williams did help the Bears to a lead, but they needed a blocked field goal on the game’s second-to-last play to secure the win.
In real stats, Love was hands down better than Williams and many other quarterbacks. So what gives?
Love does have a reputation for someone who produces costly turnovers and folds under pressure, and addressing that reputation would probably go a long way toward generating some positive press. But even those marks against Love aren’t necessarily well-earned.
It’s true that his passer rating plummeted under pressure in 2025. According to Pro Football Focus, Love had the 31st-best (out of 33) passer rating in the NFL last year among quarterbacks who had at least 100 dropbacks under pressure, throwing just one touchdown against four interceptions. Only Shadeur Sanders and Joe Flacco were worse. But it’s also true that no quarterback in that category dealt with more drops under pressure than Love. Packers receivers dropped 14 on-target passes when Love was pressured last year. Nobody else had more than 12.
And as far as turnovers go, Love’s numbers are still excellent despite having a few spectacular turnovers last year. Again, according to PFF, Love was responsible for just 15 turnover-worthy plays, the 21st most among 38 quarterbacks with at least 200 dropbacks last year. His turnover-worthy play rate was just 2.6%; league MVP Matthew Stafford posted a rate of 3.4%. Love, generally speaking, is careful with the football.
Postseason success would help, to be sure, but surely we all know at this point that QB Wins aren’t a thing, right? There’s little more Love could have done in the Packers’ playoff loss to the Bears. Even on the last drive of the game, Love delivered catchable balls that his receivers just missed; Jayden Reed said he thought about his drop for days afterward. And in past seasons, too, there’s only so much Love could have done. Against the Eagles in the 2024 postseason Love did throw three interceptions; that’s not ideal, but the Eagles were also the class of the NFL that season, and Love ended that game more or less throwing to practice squad players due to injuries at wide receiver, to say nothing of how decimated his offensive line was. Anyone remember Travis Glover getting reps at guard? I hope not. It wasn’t pretty.
And even against the 49ers in 2023 (the week after Love pantsed Dan Quinn’s Dallas Cowboys defense on national television, mind you), Love had put the Packers in position to go up seven points with just over six minutes to go, only for Anders Carlson to shank a 41-yard field goal attempt. Joe Barry and the Packers defense took care of the rest; the 49ers marched 69 yards in 12 plays to take the lead, and Love and the Packers couldn’t respond. A bad ending, to be sure, but two big fourth-quarter drives against the NFC’s Super Bowl representative is a lot to ask of any quarterback, much less one making his second postseason start.
I know it’s a futile ask, but we’ve got to do better as a culture of football take-havers than this. A little nuance, a little research, a little investigation beyond “whoa, look at the highlight reel!” would go a long way. Love deserves to be considered among the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He’s there, if you’re willing to see it.
