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Here at Rotoballer, we are dedicated to giving you the best of the best in fantasy football coverage. Part of this commitment is our series of Rookie spotlights. Rolling out a few at a time, this series of articles gives you the profile of a player who came out in the 2020 NFL draft. It also gives you our thoughts on where to take the players in your fantasy drafts.
With this in mind, take a look at this profile on the future replacement for Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. Of course, this is Jordan Love, who was the biggest surprise of the first round in the NFL Draft.
When you're done, you can also take a look at some of the other top QB prospects including Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Tua Tagovailoa.
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Profile
Team: Green Bay Packers
College: Utah State
Height/Weight: 6’4" 224lb
Draft: Round One, Pick 26
Scouting Report
After a great 2018 in which he threw for 32 TD compared to only six INT, Jordan Love was considered a potential top-five draft pick. Then, his head coach Matt Wells left after the season to take the head job at Texas Tech. Not only did he leave, he took his entire coaching staff with him. He also tried to take Jordan Love whom, to his credit, politely declined as Utah State was the college who took a chance on him.
After the loss of his coaching staff as well as most of his offense, Love struggled in 2019. Working with a new group of wide receivers and a new running back, Love was unable to make things happen behind an offensive line with four new starters in front of him. These challenges led to a subpar junior season in which his TD numbers regressed to 20 and his INT went to a nation-leading 17. After this type of season, it would have behooved him to return to the Aggies for another season. Instead, Love decided to forgo his senior season to enter the NFL draft. While this season’s class at the position was not as top-heavy as what is expected in 2021, we will have to see if his gamble pays off as he went to a not-so-great situation in the Packers.
2020 Outlook
Short and sweet - 2020 is not the season to count on Jordan Love. Aaron Rodgers is already going to have a tough time with the weapons he has. If he were to get injured and miss time, it would not be pretty for Jordan Love. He would feel as if he's right back into his last season in college, being a good QB with a great arm but lacking surrounding talent.
Of course, Aaron Jones and Davante Adams are extremely good, even elite. But the rest of the team is not. Even if Love were to get in the game, he would not be a top-25 value at the position. Not to mention, if Rodgers does not get hurt, there is no chance Love sees the field in either of the next two seasons. So do not draft him for any reason in redraft leagues, no matter how deep.
Dynasty Outlook
No one is worthless in dynasty. Imagine someone drafting Aaron Rodgers in dynasty as a rookie, only to give up on him when it looked like he would never beat out Brett Favre. This said, do not draft Jordan Love too high.
Dynasty is a game for the future. It is good to evaluate players in three-year windows. With Love likely only playing in one of those years, he is not worthy of a first-round pick in rookie drafts. In single-QB dynasty leagues, he is not worth a second-round pick either.
As Rodgers gets older and likely finishes his career in a different uniform, things will get better for Jordan Love. As long as he sits back and learns from the future Hall of Famer, much the way Rodgers did from Favre before taking over. Of course, it has been said that Favre wasn't the best mentor and Rodgers may not be either.
With similar arm strength and mobility, Love has a real opportunity to learn the skills he does not have to this point. He can learn the mental aspect of the game as well as the accuracy Rodgers has in spades. This will be needed as Jordan Love only had a 64% and 61.8% completion rate in his two starting years in college. Windows will be tighter in the NFL and he will need to learn a new meaning for the term open receiver. If Love can do this, we will be a solid starter in the NFL. If he cannot, he may end up as another in a long string of college stars who burned out in the league.
He is obviously still worth a draft and stash in all dynasty leagues. He would make a good pick in the late-second or early-third round of drafts. Any higher and you are giving up on a player to help you this season. Any later and you may not get him. So, draft carefully but also do consider him if you need a young QB. No risk it, no biscuit.
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