Jordan Love keeps getting treated like a quarterback on the edge of something bigger, and CBS Sports is sticking him in that lane again.
Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports placed the Green Bay Packers starter in tier two, calling him a borderline star. DeArdo wrote, "Love has been a 'rising star' for some time," and added, "He has yet to reach the upper echelon at his position largely because he and the Packers haven't matched the success they experienced in 2023, Love's first season as Green Bay's starter."
That’s the bar now for Love: not just competence, but the kind of production that matches the price tag. Green Bay signed him to a four-year, $220 million deal in 2024, and the organization clearly isn’t paying for merely solid quarterback play.
Love, 27, gave the Packers plenty to like last season. He threw for 3,381 yards and 23 touchdowns while completing 66.3% of his passes. Green Bay finished 9-7-1 before falling to the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round of the 2026 NFL playoffs.
The bigger picture around Love is still promising. He enters the next season with 11,535 passing yards and 83 touchdown passes, and his record as a starter sits at 27-20-1.
He’ll also be working with a different-looking receiving group. The Packers lost Romeo Doubs to the New England Patriots in free agency and traded Dontayvion Wicks to the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason. That leaves Tucker Kraft, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Savion Williams, Skyy Moore, Jakobie Keeney-James, Isaiah Neyor and Will Sheppard as the pass-catching options on the roster for Love.
And Love has already identified the area he wants sharpened most. He said the focus is on his footwork, especially in the pocket.
"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.
"So just really trying to focus on my feet, my pocket movements. Obviously I think all those things are tied to accuracy and just the timing of routes and things like that, so just trying to be as dialed in as possible. That's the biggest thing I've been trying to work on so far."
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Packers May Have A Quiet Tight End Safety Net Waiting
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Jacksonville looks like one of those places to watch, with competition at tight end creating a possible squeeze behind the top names. The player in question has a modest recent production line and a contract that does not make him impossible to move, which gives Green Bay some options if it wants to add insurance without making a big investment. If the Packers decide to act, the route could come through trade talks or by waiting to see how the final roster cuts shake out. [Read more 🡒]