Rival Scout Says There’s a Reason Packers QB Jordan Love Wasn’t 100% Last Season

While the Green Bay Packers improved from a 9-8 regular-season record in 2023 to 11-6 last season, the 2024 campaign was still a step back in one regard. In 2023, Jordan Love’s first season as the starting quarterback, the Packers destroyed the Dallas Cowboys in a wild-card game before taking the eventual NFC-champ San Francisco 49ers down to the wire in the divisional playoffs. Last season, however, Green Bay managed just 10 points in a wild-card loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

So what’s next for a team that has made the playoffs in five of six seasons under head coach Matt LaFleur? Nothing will be easy in a very competitive NFC North division. The Detroit Lions went 15-2 last season while the Minnesota Vikings were 14-3. The Chicago Bears, despite a 5-12 record in 2024, are by all accounts a team on the rise with new head coach Ben Johnson and second-year quarterback Caleb Williams.

Love, in his second season as the starter in 2024, completed 268 of 425 pass attempts (63.1%) for 3,389 yards, 25 touchdowns passes and 11 interceptions. The yardage and touchdown totals were down from 2023, partially because Love missed two games early in the season after injuring his knee in the Week 1 loss to Philly in Brazil.

Even though Love was back in Week 4 and started the rest of the season, one rival scout told Athlon Sports that the Packers QB might have come back too soon.

“That knee injury held back Jordan Love,” said the anonymous scout. “He was on course for a really big year if not for the time he missed. It looked like he rushed himself back a little bit too soon.”

Those comments were made as part of the exclusive Packers scouting report in the Athlon Sports 2025 NFL Preview magazine, available online and at newsstands now.

Whether or not Love was limited by his knee, most analysts agreed that his receiving corps needed an upgrade. No pass-catcher on the Packers had more than 55 receptions last season; only Jayden Reed (55) and tight end Tucker Kraft (50) had 50 or more receptions.

The Packers addressed this clear need when they grabbed Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden in the NFL Draft — the first time the team used its first-round pick on a receiver since 2002.

“The Packers really didn’t have a true No. 1 receiver,” said the rival scout. “They have that now in Matthew Golden. He’s a legit 4.29 speed guy who can run every route. Having him to work alongside Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson is going to create instant matchup problems.”