Green Bay Packers OC Open To Using QB Jordan Love In Rookie Season
May 25, 2020, 10:25 AM
(Photo by George Walker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett told reporters that he is looking at ways to use first round draft pick and former Utah State quarterback Jordan Love.
Many expected Love to be the backup behind Aaron Rodgers for the next couple of seasons like Rodgers did when he first entered the league and sat behind Brett Favre for three years.
Ways that the Packers could use Love in his rookie season is in plays for a more mobile quarterback like the way the New Orleans Saints use former BYU quarterback Taysom Hill.
“I think everything’s still so early to tell,”Hackett said. “Haven’t even really gotten to sit in a meeting room at Lambeau. I haven’t gotten to talk with him much or work face to face. I think there’s so much yet to be seen. You never know. Anything can happen.”
.@jordan3love will wear No. 🔟 for the green & gold! #PackersDraft | #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/4ZWtMKfRFF
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) April 24, 2020
Not Ruling Out Playing Love Right Away
Hackett didn’t rule it out but is taking it game by game right now.
“The coaches’ world is always game by game,” Hackett said. “Every single thing that we look at, we are always looking to try to accomplish that win each week. That’s the only thing that matters to us.”
If the Packers want to use Love in potential running situations at quarterback, the former Aggie ran the ball 170 times in his three-year career in Logan while racking up 403 yards and 9 touchdowns. In his record-breaking sophomore campaign, Love ran for 7 touchdowns on the ground.
Aaron Rodgers led the Packers to an NFC North division title, a 13-3 record and a trip to the NFC Championship last season.
The gang heads to Green Bay.
1️⃣0️⃣🤝1️⃣0️⃣#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/fAgCBZTobC
— USU Football (@USUFootball) April 26, 2020
Love Needs To Be A ‘Good Sponge’
When Love was taken by the Packers with the 26th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, it was widely known that the former Aggie is a raw talent and would need to develop his game by observing Rodgers closely.
Hackett isn’t looking too far into the future but knows that Love needs to be a “good sponge” behind Rodgers.
“The future is something that might be in the back of our mind, but we always live in the moment,” Hackett said. “That’s usually how we’re all judged. But at the same time, anything can happen at any moment within a game, that’s what makes the same so much fun. So you’ve got to prepare everybody like they’re a starter and they’ve got to go in there and play. So it’s about winning. It’s about Aaron Rodgers going out there and winning a football game and then Jordan’s going to just have to continually learn and continue to be a good sponge.”
Greatness is a choice 💙💙
Good luck @jordan3love 1️⃣0️⃣!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/UsLmmjDecn
— USU Football (@USUFootball) April 23, 2020
The Packers will open the 2020 season on the road against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, September 13.