The Green Bay Packers have seen a fairly decent start to the Jordan Love era. Despite their young team, they remain in the playoff contention, and Love has shown flashes of brilliance. However, comparing him to Aaron Rodgers may require a selective view of certain statistics.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter highlighted an intriguing similarity between Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers through their first 11 games as the Packers’ starting quarterback. They both amassed 2,599 passing yards, 21 total touchdowns, and maintained a 5-6 record.
While it’s an interesting coincidence, Schefter’s stats might be somewhat misleading. He specifically notes their stats through their first 11 games as the Packers’ starting quarterback, excluding Love’s single start as a rookie. Essentially, he refers to their initial 11 games as the QB1. Moreover, Schefter’s claim that Love has matched Rodgers’ success overlooks the context of the eras in which each quarterback played. Offensive styles and performances differ significantly between 2008 and the present.
Further analysis of Rodgers’ and Love’s stats reveals Rodgers’ advantage. Rodgers maintains a lead in completion percentage (63.51% to Love’s 60.48%), quarterback rating (90.5 to 87.4), and adjusted yards per pass attempt (7.06 to 6.8). Additionally, Rodgers was sacked one less time and threw one less interception, although he did have two more fumbles.
However, Love holds certain advantages in passing touchdowns (19 to 17), rushing yards (221 to 162), and fumbles lost (zero to three). Notably, Rodgers had star wideouts Greg Jennings and Donald Driver supporting him, unlike Love’s young receiving corps, each under 25 years old.
Schefter rightly notes that Love has a long way to go before reaching Rodgers’ superstar status. Expectations remain high as Love follows in Rodgers’ footsteps. While he might not achieve Rodgers’ heights, he could solidify the position for years to come, aiding Green Bay’s competitiveness.