Jordan Love, Great, Good, or average??

[bobblehead]

I came across this in an article I read this morning. I didn't want to start a new thread, but it doesn't belong anywhere really. So here goes.

Over the last two seasons, 32 quarterbacks have thrown at least 500 passes. Love ranks:

- 13th with a 96.3 passer rating.

- 24th with a 64.7 percent completion rate.

- Sixth with a 5.7 touchdown percentage but 19th with a 2.2 interception percentage.

- 11th with 7.5 yards per attempt.

- Sixth with 10 games with a 100-plus passer rating.

I would basically say Passer rating is close, especially given his lack of mobility last season and benefitting from a great run game. He is probably somewhere around the 13th best QB in the league (not top 3 like his paycheck).

This is a make or break year for him. I think he has a lot of help around him and if he can't put up really good consistent numbers we can stop talking about him being a top 10 QB (which is what I think you need to win an Owl).

I do think he was banged up last year and I still have reasonable hopes for him, but honestly, this season is going to tell the story.

[MadScientist]

This year is important for Love, but I am more concerned about the receivers. Not only were they terrible at beating man coverage, but all of them regressed last year. Golden isn't likely to be a savior as rookie receivers rarely shine.

The biggest change between last year and the year before was the receivers coach, and seeing receivers using poor techniques and running wrong routes late in the season gives me little confidence that he is capable of being a good coach. Even with the injuries, there should be enough talent in that room, but if the coach isn't preparing them right, the results will be poor.

[texaspackerbacker]

bobblehead, you need to stick to football hahahaha (although I hope you don't). You make some sense here.

I'll put Love at Good with a strong potential for being Great.

I also agree with MS that the receivers, WRs at least, regressed last year. Hopefully the new WR coach will make a difference, but I hate to say it, I think the regression or a lot of it was on Love last year, that and maybe injuries. So the improvement to greatness is mostly also up to Love. I'm optimistic that will happen ..... but then I'm always optimistic.

[call_me_ishmael]

2nd year slump is very common. This year will be telling. We shall see!

[run pMc]

I think he's Good with a chance to be Great. I also think his contract will look just fine in a year. Compared to a lot of playoff QBs he doesn't have a lot of guaranteed money (it's still a lot).
Between the leg injuries and that none of the WR took a step forward I think there's a chance we see improvement. Reed dropped more passes than Wicks and did a disappearing act the 2nd half of the season, if those two alone improve their hands and they get production from the TEs Love will be ok.

MLF also needs to do a better job of combining the pass and run - he leaned heavily into the running game and things felt disjointed in the passing game at times. There's plenty of room for improvement from everyone. Love needs to fix his footwork, still falls away too much on throws IMO. His arm is plenty strong, if he steps into it and rips it, Golden will be open downfield (assuming the speed is real).

[MadScientist]

bobblehead, you need to stick to football hahahaha (although I hope you don't). You make some sense here.

I'll put Love at Good with a strong potential for being Great.

I also agree with MS that the receivers, WRs at least, regressed last year. Hopefully the new WR coach will make a difference, but I hate to say it, I think the regression or a lot of it was on Love last year, that and maybe injuries. So the improvement to greatness is mostly also up to Love. I'm optimistic that will happen ..... but then I'm always optimistic.

There isn't a new WR coach this year. Ryan Mahaffey started last year after being an assistant OL coach, and all of the receivers promptly regressed. Unless he spent the offseason learning how to coach receivers, I am worried that this year will be a repeat of last year. He did alright with the OL, but his playing background is FB/TE, so I think he is just missing the right knowledge to coach receivers.

Here's an example that I noticed that shows the problem: Late in the season, Love threw a pick on an out route to Doubs. When Doubs made is cut, he ran parallel to the line of scrimmage, which allowed the DB to undercut the route. If he had been trained to make his cut slightly deeper and angle back towards the line of scrimmage, he would have boxed out the DB and made the catch. If I can spot this, it should be blindingly obvious to any coach worth his salt.

[sharpe1027]

The problem with blaming the WRs is that QB play is the most important aspect of how well WRs do. That they all regressed is most likely more about Love than each of them. I'm not saying the WRs get a pass, but Love wasn't good enough full stop.

[bobblehead]

bobblehead, you need to stick to football hahahaha (although I hope you don't). You make some sense here.
.

I believe OL is the key to a QBs greatness.

[bobblehead]

2nd year slump is very common. This year will be telling. We shall see!

I'd agree if he spent 1 year on the bench. He had 3.

[bobblehead]

The problem with blaming the WRs is that QB play is the most important aspect of how well WRs do. That they all regressed is most likely more about Love than each of them. I'm not saying the WRs get a pass, but Love wasn't good enough full stop.

Correct. Love isn't alone in the blame, but he deserves a share.

[run pMc]

If Reed, Wicks, and Doubs cut their drops in half last year then Love's stats look much better. IIRC Wicks dropped 2 TDs vs. MIN alone, and Reed killed at least two important drives with drops last year.

Agree part of it is Love's fault, but I wouldn't say he was the biggest problem with the passing game. Drops and inability to consistently beat man coverage were bigger problems IMO. First half of season Love he was putting up some YOLO balls, second half not so much. I still think Love's fundamentals (footwork mostly) can get a lot better and that will help his accuracy.

[sharpe1027]

That true. If they cut the drops in half, Love is around 9th for completion percentage.