After a blockbuster second half of the season and playoff debut in 2023, big things were expected from Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love in 2024.
Instead, Love was a big disappointment.
Due in no small part to a Week 1 knee injury and subsequent groin injury, Love statistically was no better in Year 2 as the team’s starting quarterback than he was in Year 1. His passer rating was almost identical, and while his yards per attempt was up, so was his interception percentage.
In a series of “bold predictions,” Pro Football Network believes Love in 2025 will play at the MVP level that so many expected in 2024.
“We graded the Packers as a top-10 offensive line and with a plus running game, that positions Love for a monster fifth season,” PFN’s Kyle Soppe wrote.
“Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff and Josh Allen were the QBs with consistently strong running back play behind a top-10 offensive line ranking per our metrics – they were all invited to the MVP honors ceremony, a fate that could well await Love in 12 short months.”
While the Love-led offense stumbled down the stretch, he didn’t throw an interception in the final seven games of the regular season before throwing three in the playoff loss to the Eagles. He played much more carefully when blitzed, Soppe noted.
“We are talking about a quarterback who showed us the ability to play within himself down the stretch of the 2024 regular season,” he wrote, “and he gets the benefit of playing a third-place schedule in 2025.”
Love will be entering his sixth year in the NFL and third year as a starter in 2025. At the same point in his career, Aaron Rodgers won the Super Bowl and finished fifth in voting for NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2010.
Year 3 as the starting quarterback meant breakthrough seasons for two of the NFL’s elites at the position. In 2020, Buffalo’s Josh Allen finished second in NFL MVP voting. In 2022, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow finished fourth in the MVP race.
A key for Love, obviously, will be staying healthy. In an interview with Kay Adams of Up & Adams at the Super Bowl, Love said the Week 1 knee injury played a role in the Week 8 groin injury.
“A lot of fighting through, trying to get my mind right for the game, and trying to fight through some pain, things like that. It was an inconsistent year,” Love said.
He added, “That whole thing just put a damper on things. It’s something that, every week, every day in the facility, you’re doing the rehab trying to fight through and just get ready for the game. A lot of your mindset goes into trying to get your body right for it. It’s tough. You’re not 100 percent. But we know that no one is ever 100 percent in the NFL.”
Through the injuries and inconsistencies, the Packers improved from 9-8 to 11-6. While it’s true you never get a second chance to make a first impression, the last impression tends to be the lasting impression.
The Packers lost their final three games of the season – Week 17 at Minnesota, Week 18 against Chicago and the wild-card game at Philadelphia. While Love dominated down the stretch in 2023, the offense ended the season with a whimper.
Still, coach Matt LaFleur called Love “an ascending player that is going to get better and better and better.”
“I love Jordan Love and how he competes and the work he puts in, and I think he’s going to get better and better and better,” LaFleur said immediately after the playoff loss. “And, certainly, there’s some lessons along the way – some tough lessons – anytime you end up in defeat. That’s hard to deal with.
“But he is very critical of himself, and he does such a great job of learning from every experience, so I think through this we’ll all be better for it. Although it’s tough to go through, I think there’s going to be a lot of learning over the next however many months before next year arrives.”
While there are considerable questions at receiver, Love has the eighth-shortest odds to win NFL MVP at the major sportsbooks, including BetMGM.
“He’s just a killer,” tight end Tucker Kraft said. “Jordan has that mentality. He has that mindset. I’m not sure I’ve seen someone more confident in the people around him because of the leadership that he provides for the team. He’s going to lead from the front. He’s going to bring everybody up around him.”
Other noteworthy bold predictions include one NFC North team that could potentially “fall off a cliff” and another NFC North team that could put up historic levels of scoring dominance.
