NFL.com’s Week 1 quarterback rankings put Jordan Love inside the top 15, but just barely.
Nick Shook slotted the Green Bay Packers quarterback at No. 13, one spot ahead of Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and one spot behind Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s a respectable spot for a player who has settled in as a solid starter under Matt LaFleur, though the Packers are clearly expecting more than solid from the man they committed to with a four-year, $220 million contract in 2024.
Love’s production last season backed up his place in the conversation. He threw for 3,381 yards and 23 touchdowns while completing 66.3% of his passes. Green Bay finished 9-7-1 and then fell to the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round of the 2025 NFL playoffs.
The bigger picture is where the pressure really starts to build. Love has 11,535 passing yards and 83 passing touchdowns in his career, and he is 27-20-1 as a starter.
Since taking over for future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, he’s gone 1-3 in the playoffs. That matters in Green Bay, where both Rodgers and Brett Favre brought home a Super Bowl.
Love is still chasing that kind of legacy.
The Packers open the 2026 season against the Minnesota Vikings, and the timing adds even more weight to the moment. Micah Parsons will miss the start of the campaign while recovering from his ACL tear, and Josh Jacobs is on the commissioner-exempt list. Green Bay is also 79-46-1 under LaFleur in regular season and playoff games, so the foundation is there.
Love spent the offseason focusing on one specific area of his game: his footwork. And he explained exactly what he wanted to sharpen.
"My biggest thing that I've noticed since I got back is just my feet in the pocket, trying to be as smooth and consistent as possible," Love said. "When I go through my reads, get into my hitches and not getting antsy, not getting to that point where you're trying to move through the pocket too fast.
Just staying calm, staying relaxed, move through my reads. If I've gotta move around in the pocket, keeping those movements pretty tight and not kind of running into where guys might be peeling off and able to hit you."
Now the question hangs over Green Bay: is this the season Love and the Packers finally break through and make a Super Bowl run? Only time will tell.
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Tucker Kraft Made One Costly Choice That Packers Fans Will Love
Tucker Krafts rise with the Packers has already made him one of the more dependable young pieces in Green Bays passing game, even with his third NFL season interrupted by an ACL injury after eight games. Through three seasons, the tight end has piled up 113 receptions for 1,551 yards, numbers that have helped establish him as a growing part of the offense while he works his way back from knee surgery.
One reason Packers fans have warmed to him goes back to college, where Kraft turned down a transfer opportunity to Alabama and stayed at South Dakota State instead. That decision fits the broader arc of his career, which has been built on patience and commitment, and it comes at an important moment now that he is entering the final year of his rookie contract in Green Bay with an extension expected at some point. [Read more 🡒]