Jordan Love could be the Green Bay Packers' starter when the 2021 season begins.
If you're like many inside Packer Nation, perhaps the Aaron Rodgers drama has exhausted you.
Will he show up in Green Bay again?
Will he be traded?
Will he get his general manager fired?
And what song will he karaoke next?
So many questions. So few answers. And after six weeks of this mini-series, most are ready for closure.
While the Rodgers’ circus hung over Green Bay’s mandatory mini-camp this week, there were exciting developments that didn't involve the perturbed quarterback. And as the Packers’ Sept. 12 season opener in New Orleans creeps closer, here are five things Green Bay should feel good about.
1. Let there be Love
There’s a lot to like about second-year quarterback Jordan Love.
He’s got a huge arm. He moves extremely well. He’s bright and extremely coachable.
On Wednesday, Love had arguably his best day as a Packer, throwing darts all around Clarke Hinkle Field while leading the offense up and down the field.
“Yeah, I definitely feel it was a good day for me and for everybody else as well,” Love said after practice. “It was a good day and the goal for now is to keep stacking good days and be better tomorrow.
If the Packers eventually trade Rodgers for a bevy of picks and players, they’ll almost certainly take a step — or three — back in 2021. But the Packers could be back near the top of the NFC if — and this is a big if — Love can play.
A Rodgers trade would set the Packers up with multiple first- and second-round picks for the next two to three years.
Love counts just $2.8 million against the salary cap this year and $3.4 million in 2022, while Rodgers counts $37.2 million this year and $39.85 million in 2022. Imagine the free agents Green Bay could sign with that extra money.
Trading Rodgers wouldn’t mean gloom and doom. With the extra picks and cap room, Green Bay’s already stacked roster would become even stronger.
The key, of course, is can Love play? And this week, he started to show why the Packers traded up in the first round to draft him in the first round in 2020.
“You’ve got to treat every day as its own entity and you can’t rest on what you did the day before whether it’s good or bad,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “And that’s what we’re looking for from him. I think he’s done a nice job responding on a daily basis.”
2. Double trouble
Green Bay ranked eighth in the NFL in rushing yards per game last season (132.4) and seventh in yards per carry (4.8). No matter who’s under center, the Packers could be better in 2021.
Aaron Jones, who signed a four-year $48 million contract in March, is among the top-five running backs in football. And second-year back A.J. Dillon — a second round pick in 2020 — could be an upgrade from Jamaal Williams, who departed in free agency.
Jones and the great Jim Brown are the only two players in NFL history to post 3,000-plus rushing yards, 35-plus rushing touchdowns and average more than 5.0 yards per carry in their first four seasons.
Dillon had just 46 carries a year ago. But he erupted for 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns during a win over Tennessee in December that has many believing he can be a future star.
LaFleur would love to have a run-first offense and he’ll have the chance for just that with this dynamic duo.
“I think we can be the best running back tandem in the NFL,” Dillon said. “You look at us and you see thunder and lightning, which absolutely we are. But you know, the lightning guy, Aaron, he can also grind out some yards. And the thunder guy, myself, I’d like to say I can still beat some guys running away from them.”
3. Fast track?
Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari — who suffered an ACL tear on New Year’s Eve — made a proclamation this week.
“I’ve got no problem saying I will 100% be ready for the start of training camp – in 2022,” Bakhtiari joked.
Don’t be shocked to see Bakhtiari on the field early in the 2021 season, as well.
Bakhtiari is recovering extremely well from surgery in mid-January. Now, he’s a long ways from contact or blocking 310-pound men with blazing speed, but he’s attacked his recovery with gusto.
“I’m not going to put any timetable,” Bakhtiari said. “For me, like I said, I’m going to have my days, stack my days, have that turn to weeks, weeks to months, months to years. I have no idea. This is my first time going through this, so I’m just going to attack every day, try to hit every benchmark I can and once Doc can check me off, I can check myself and I can go out there and not only perform and protect myself but perform at the level that the Packers need me to, I think that’s where you’ll see me return, on that date.”
4. Dominant defense?
Green Bay ranked ninth in total defense last season, the first time it cracked the top-10 since 2010. And with 10 of 11 starters back (only mediocre inside linebacker Christian Kirksey is gone), the Packers could become a force on that side of the ball.
Joe Barry replaced Mike Pettine as defensive coordinator. While Barry has flopped in that role in both Detroit and Washington, he’s never had this level of talent to work with.
Barry rebuilt his reputation the last four years with the Los Angeles Rams where he coached linebackers and was given as assistant head coach title. And he’s won early points in Green Bay for his passion and gusto.
“I feel like both coaches are great coaches,” Packers outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith said when asked to compare Barry and Pettine. “Joe is more of a younger (guy) with excitement. He’s jumping around in drills. He’s basically going through the drills with us. Pettine was a great coach too, but it is what it is.”
5. Play calling wizard
Pro Football Focus recently ranked LaFleur as the No. 1 play caller in football, ahead of a dynamic group that had Buffalo’s Brian Dabol second, followed by Andy Reid (Kansas City), Jon Gruden (Las Vegas) and Joe Brady (Carolina).
LaFleur will have to live with the extremely questionable decision of kicking a field goal late in last year’s NFC Championship Game with his team trailing, 31-23. But his creativity and ingenuity are two major reasons the Packers led the NFL in scoring last year and are 26-6 since he was hired in Jan., 2019.
LaFleur & Co. will be put to the test the longer the Rodgers drama lingers. No matter who’s under center, though, the Packers figure to be in good shape at head coach.
“Since coach LaFleur has been here, he’s just done a great job of just helping us just come together as a team and really playing for each other,” nose tackle Kenny Clark said. “I think that’s probably the best thing that he’s really done is help us play for each other, play for our coaches, play for our teammates and all that kind of stuff.”
