I agree that we do have good to above average receivers and a lot of them. I disagree with the last sentence. First what do you mean by survive? Second if you want to go deep in the playoffs and challenge for the SB you will always need your QB play to be well above average not just average.

I will start out by saying that from what I read Love was not 100% all season last year and yes I do believe that affected his playing. I saw a QB that let it rip at times but it tended to be the wrong times. He needs to go out there and play aggressive but still be smart. He needs to play loose. He is not AR where he can be very precise and put the ball where he wants. He needs to get a little more Favre in him. He needs to go out there and have fun.

With all the WRs we have and the possibility of having to let go WRs that you would like to keep I wonder if Gute and MLF will talk to Love to get his view on the receivers and which ones he feels comfortable with and then take that into consideration?

I'm excited about all of the potential that this offense has, especially if Jordan Love remains healthy. Really, as always, the health of everyone is the X-factor.

The forgotten man at this point, in my opinion, is Savion Williams. He's been unmentioned during the OTAs, but I still expect him to make some "Wow" plays in the preseason and season.

The development of our OL is going to be key, as our division opponents have all, arguably, improved their defenses.

Whether it was the injury or not, Jordan felt a bit slow in his decision making last year. Especially, when it came to him running the ball. It often appeared he was hesitant to run and I recall on a few occasions yelling at my tv when he passed the ball for an incompletion when it was apparent he could have easily picked up the first down with his legs.

He doesn't have to be perfect, but he does have to be decisive as the speed of the game doesn't allow much room for hesitation.

“I think he is an ascending player that is going to get better and better and better,” said Matt LaFleur this past January." Now will the coaching staff rise to the occasion.

Jacobs having to most yardage isn't the necessity. Just the most long runs and include him more in the passing game. Maybe the most first downs when we need it. Be great to save his legs for cold weather and the playoffs.

Wonder if Cory meant Wilson ran 4.9 yards per carry. I think that sounds more like it.

Jordan Love has been a productive QB in his first two seasons as a starter, but he needs to be more efficient. The decision-making and the accuracy need to be a little better. We saw him play like that in the second half of 2023 and at times in 2024, and there's no reason he can't play like that most of the time, as long as the receivers play well. This should still be an offense that throws the ball downfield and goes for chunk plays, rather than just dink and dunk. They just need to do it a little better.

Also, I don't think the offense should be more run-oriented. Last year it was about as run-oriented as it could be. They've beefed up the O-line a little, but the important thing is that the quality is better, not the quantity. As much as we all love Josh Jacobs, his 4.4 yards per carry was the same as the league average. That's not good enough. If the passing game is improved, Jacobs will have more spaces to run through. I actually wouldn't mind seeing him carry the ball a little less than he did last year. It's important to remember that the projected improvement in run blocking, with Josh Myers being replaced by Aaron Banks, has not come at the expense of the pass blocking. That should be better too.

With all the competition among the receivers, I’d be shocked if any of them need motivating. Skipping ahead, I look forward to 22 and 9 being on the field at the same time. Yowza!
I tend to hate it when playcalling is questioned (it’s extremely low hanging fruit combined with Monday morning “wisdom”) BUT could someone explain to me how last year’s great running game didn’t result in a lethally effective play action pass game?

Love's battle is going to be the 6 inches between his ears.

He showed he can process at game speed in the second half of 23, but a lot of 24 looked panicky and unsettled.

My expectation is that his investment in developing his mental acuity is commensurate with the Packers financial investment in him.

I hope he's gotten into that VR program, Cognilize, that Jordan Daniels has been using.

Jordan may have been told to reduce the 'gun-slinging' because opposing DB's were reading him too often. He looks like he is second-guessing @ times now. Rodgers, as a younger player was obsessive about off-season work-outs and perfecting his mechanics. He was not the natural athlete Favre and Love are. Much of his 'arm talent' was the result of understanding how to leverage his entire body and pay attention to perfecting details.
He has admitted his arm was' just along for the ride'.He had to out-think Defenses as well. I don't get the sense Love is as focused off-season as Rodgers was. Rodgers was a task-master as well-he wouldn't throw to players who didn't put in the cerebral work of understanding upcoming game-plan. Love is more easy-going and I think MLF wants to see more leadership and holding players accountable.

Cory, i like your articles. This was a good article, and I think I agree with you here. I think JLove is about as good as he will be. He's been around beyond the 2 full seasons....so of course Gute's comment about "ascending" can mean little, or a lot, so it doesn't say much. I still see JLove as a very average QB, and your article more or less suggests we should get used to that and drop our expectations....and have more faith in the rest of the team to make JLove better. Ok. But, only a few teams can really get the encore game and trophy without above average QB play. I think JLove held the offense back last year. But hey, with offseason and some tweeking...I guess we will see if he starts putting some game-ball type performances....which makes other players around him better. From what I see, Gute is trying to get better players around JLove so JLove can be a better QB. I get the rationale. I think we know JLove's range of performance by now. Other players need to make him better, rather than our 2 previous QBs who made average players better.

As far as the play action game goes, the Packers had a pretty decent running game, but didn't really have good run blocking. Don't remember the stats and too lazy to look them up, but there was like a full 2 yards distance between Jacobs and Barkley as far as initial contact with the defender. When the DL are making early contact, the LB's and DB's are going to stay in their zones so to speak. Play action is successful when you can gash the DL and get to the second level without much contact. That's when the 2nd and 3rd levels of the defense start pursuing more aggressively which creates opportunities in the secondary.

Hopefully the reworked OL can make good on the assumption of a more physical run game. I would have to believe Jacobs would be as successful or very close to Barkley in explosive plays, and that should help Love tremendously.

GPG!

Of course Love doesn't have to be perfect but if you pay a QB top market value he needs to be able to dominate games. He needs to elevate the offense and everyone around him because of his play. If he can't do that than you over paid at the position and the roster will suffer because of it. There is a reason only two QBs have won the Super Bowl while taking over 13.5% of the cap and those guys are Brady and Mahomes.

It is hard to surround your franchise QB with talent when he is taking up a large portion of the cap. We have seen this story before with the previous two QBs and they where goth HOF talent. The window to win while paying out top dollar at QB isn't very long unless you have generational talent.

"Jordan Love doesn’t have to be perfect in order for the Packers to have a successful season".

This is a statement that should lead to many questions being pondered, and the first one that came to mind is, Why is Love being given a built-in, premeditated excuse for being average. It implies all the work for success is laid elsewhere, when the success of the others is as paramount on Love as it is on MLF. The success of 'the others' is very much the result of the HC/QB, and average isn't and shouldn't be the expectant. This begs the question, What is the definition of success, and what will be enough to claim ascendance in play and goal.

This is the sixth season for Love, with three on the bench of learning, and his third as the starting QB, a franchise guy who got an elite contract a tad early, and now it's being suggested he can be 'average'. Sorry, and I realize this team has a couple of fantastic assets, but it most of the others remain the same, at least until camp cuts, and they haven't shown the ability to allow half of the main duo to be average, especially when one half cannot maintain his expected level of ability since the departure of a previous QB, whom many blame for all the failures of the still employed HC.

Let's all be OK with MLF just being average for the same reasons given for Love to do the same. I look forward to seeing where that gets them, and I'd suspect not further than where they have gotten to, which is a very shortsighted vision of success.

I'm sorry, but I'm not OK with paying any QB top money and then be happy, or satisfied with average. You can get that for a lot less money, and having no need to find reasons to justify it.

Other teams with top money QBs say their QB has to play better, and some here believe our QB should be allowed to be average. Incredible.

I know the word average wasn't used by the author, and neither should the word 'perfect' be used as that's impossible, but paying 'elite' money and suggesting doing less than the money demands, as Love demanded to get, simply churns my stomach. Love hasn't earned the money he gets yearly, and now he's being let off the hook to actually have to.

It all depends on what the standards are. Sure, we can survive average QB play if we want to sneak into the playoffs with another seventh seed. But if we're interested in possibly winning the division and going deep into the playoffs, then we're going to need Love to take it to a higher level--and that's assuming our defense continues to get better and finds a way to generate more pass rush.

Part of what needs to happen here is for Cory to define what a successful season is. Some will only accept a SB win as the measure of success while others just look for progress toward that goal. He starts by talking about the Packers in general, then moves to Love. He says at one point what success for Love isn't, but never establishes his goalposts. Tell us what you think a successful season is if you're going to make it the crux of your article. "Love just needs to lead the offense" doesn't mean much.

The Packers are in the process of adjusting to a QB who is not a generational talent--Love isn't one. He could be a very good NFL QB, but he's not on the level of ARod or Brady or Mahomes. Maybe I'm wrong, and he just hasn't had the right supporting cast. The Packers have invested in the run game and have made changes in their paradigms for OL, they've added WRs and TEs. They're doing what they think they need to do to support a QB who needs more help from his supporting cast than ARod or Favre did.

None of the supporting cast around Love competes with the cast Rodgers enjoyed.
The current WR's are fairly inconsistent #3's with the exception of Reed who may be a #2 and two are rookies. Rodgers never had to rely on rookies till his last year. Rashid Walker is nowhere near as talented and reliable as Bakhtiari was. Bakhtiari gave Rodgers the gift of time; he could go through his reads, make decisions and wait for a play to open up, and his receivers were elite.
I put the onus on a current average roster- there are no super-stars on the Offense with the exception of Jacobs and perhaps the emerging Kraft.

I predict he will take the blame for the failure of his average head coach. Just think for a moment if Love had an elite Offensive Play-caller as well as an elite LT and receivers? The most successful QBs have much more talented supporting casts around them.

A fully-loaded team (great play-caller, O-Line, receivers, Defense) would jump at the chance to recruit Jordan Love.

Jordan Love had one of my feet up on his bandwagon at the end of the 23 season. That play got him a hefty contract well above average. Since then we have not won a division title and LOST TO THE BEARS.... Let that sink in. Well should we say his luck throwing into double and triple coverages along with decisions to attempt to thread the needle largely ran out in 24? This is his 6th year, count em. My foot has been slipping off his bandwagon but it's still there at least for now. If he cannot get his play and numbers above average in his 6th season as his contract warrants I will be forced to hang my hat on my very early assessment of Mr. Love, "He ain't the guy "
Reality in the NFL can be a crewl bitch...
This is the year to shine Jordan.... I'm still with ya

Go Pack

He has to protect the ball. Job #1. We had four games last year without a turnover, and we won all four handily. We had four games last year with more than one turnover. losing 3 and barely winning one. In the remaining 10 games, we had one turnover and went 6-4.

We're a bad team when we turn it over more than once, we're an average team with one turnover, and we're a pretty good team when we don't turn it over.

I'm seeing lots of Jacobs/Wilson (just like last year), a little more Kraft/Musgrave, and some long handoffs to Savion Williams.

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Did you guys know we had four turnovers in the playoffs? Plus an unsuccessful 4th down try. How often do you go on the road in the playoffs, turn it over 4 or 5 times, and win?

IMO, the Packers would be well advised to Keep It Simple. We're good enough to beat teams if we just don't beat ourselves.