The Parallels Between 2008 Aaron Rodgers And 2023 Jordan Love Are Wild

The parallels are eerie, uncanny, almost spooky.

Aaron Rodgers sat for three years behind Brett Favre before taking over as the Green Bay Packers’ starting quarterback on Sept. 8, 2008. Rodgers, who had been the 24^th pick in the NFL Draft, was 24 years old, nine months and six days.

During his first three years behind Favre, Rodgers played in seven games. He completed 35 of 59 passes for 329 yards with one touchdown and one interception. His passer rating was a 73.34, but the Packers believed he was ready to be a starter — and even a star.

They were right.

Fast forward 15 years to the story of Jordan Love, who was taken with the 26^th overall pick in 2020 draft.

Love has sat the last three seasons behind Rodgers, and played in 10 games, starting one. Love has completed 50 of his 83 passes for 606 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. His passer rating is 79.7.

The NFL will kick off its 2023 season on Sept. 7. At that time, Love would be 24 years, 10 months and 5 days.

The Packers and Rodgers will decide shortly whether their four-time MVP quarterback will return to Green Bay in 2023. If Rodgers either retires or is traded, Love will take the reigns — and he’ll be at exactly the same point in his career that Rodgers was back in 2008.

Green Bay hit a grand slam when it passed the torch from Favre to Rodgers in 2008. Today, the Packers are cautiously optimistic the same thing can happen if they transition from Rodgers to Love.

“We really like the development of where Jordan is,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst. “I think he’s ready to play. I think that’s the next step in his development. I think if anything this year would have happened to Aaron and Jordan would have had to play a significant amount of time (in 2022), we felt really good about that.

“But it’s like any quarterback in the National Football League when they haven’t done it, you go into that and there’s some unknowns. They’ve got to handle a lot of different things, see a lot of different things before they can get to a point where they can win games in this league.”

Memories are short, so many people forget it wasn’t smooth sailing when Rodgers first took over in 2008.

Green Bay was coming off a 13-3 season and a trip to the NFC Championship Game in 2007. The only changes in the starting lineup were Rodgers for Favre at quarterback and Mike Montgomery for Corey Williams at defensive end.

Green Bay took a major step backwards, though, and finished 6-10. Rodgers was solid that year, throwing 28 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and finishing with a 93.8 passer rating. But Rodgers struggled mightily at crunch time, and the result was Green Bay went 0-7 in games decided by four points, or less.

When the Packers started the 2009 season 4-4 — and were routed by Favre’s Minnesota team at Lambeau Field — Rodgers fell to 10-14 as a starter. And as Green Bay readied to play Dallas on Nov. 15, 2009, fans paraded around Lambeau Field passing out buttons that read, “Fire Ted” and “Fire Mike.”

Ted and Mike, of course, were then general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy.

“I can tell you that ‘09 was a tense season for everybody, especially coming off of ’08 the way we played,” Rodgers said in the book, ‘Leaders of the Pack.’ “That was a pretty tense year. We all kind of felt like we were playing for our jobs.”

Rodgers and the Packers beat Dallas that night and finished the year winning seven of eight overall. The following season, the Packers won the 45^th Super Bowl.

The point is it took Rodgers about 25 starts to figure things out. When he did, though, Rodgers took the league by storm setting countless records and winning four MVPs.

The Packers know it would be crazy to expect that level of productivity from Love. But there’s belief within the organization that Love can eventually grow into a top-10 quarterback — and now is the time to rip off the Rodgers Band-Aid and find out.

“Jordan Love is ready. He will be that guy,” Packers running back Aaron Jones told FOX Sports earlier this month. “I got a lot of trust in Jordan.”

Packers rookie wide receiver Christian Watson agreed with Jones.

“I think he’s definitely ready,” Watson said of Love. “I’ve gotten a lot of reps with him through OTAs, through camp and even during practice through the season. It’s just going to come down to whenever his opportunity is … but I think he’s ready for it.”

Love was outstanding during a loss at Philadelphia in November after subbing for an injured Rodgers (ribs). Love was thrust into action in the fourth quarter and went 6-of-9 for 113 yards and had a quarterback rating of 146.8. He led the Packers to 10 points on his two drives.

That performance was remarkably similar to a 2007 game in Dallas when Rodgers replaced an injured Favre. That night, Rodgers completed 18-of-26 passes for 201 yards and nearly led Green Bay to a come-from-behind win in a matchup of 10-1 teams.

“I’m not trying to be glib, but I’ve liked him all along,” Ted Thompson, the man who drafted Rodgers, said that night. “I think he’s a young man that’s confident, that’s smart, that is physically talented, that believes he can play, and has understood and accepted the role that he’s in, even though he still wants to play.”

All of those same things hold true with Love today.

Love showed tremendous growth a year ago when he played in four games. Love finished the year 14-of-21 for 195 yards, one TD, no interceptions and a quarterback rating of 112.2.

“I think he’s a guy that has continued to get better and better each and every day in practice,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of Love. “And he just does a great job against our defense, giving them fits and giving them really tough looks.”

Love’s development has been similar to the growth Rodgers made during his three seasons as a reserve. After posting a combined passer rating of 43.88 in 2005-06, Rodgers had a 106.0 passer rating in 2007.

Love also has the physical characteristics that have the Packers salivating.

Love has unique arm talent, an ability to throw from several angles, a nifty touch on deep balls and extremely large hands (10 ½”). Love has prototypical size (6-foot-4, 219), a world of confidence and terrific scrambling ability.

Love had to improve his accuracy and decision making, though.

During Love’s final year at Utah State, he threw 17 interceptions and had three picks returned for touchdowns. Love seemed to lack anticipation during his final college season and was slow in his reads.

Rodgers, of course, had to alter his throwing motion — one in which he initially brought the ball near his earhole, then had a short, compact delivery that affected his strength on deeper passes.

When Mike McCarthy was hired in 2006, he gradually lowered Rodgers’ delivery. Suddenly, Rodgers’ throwing motion was far more natural and effortless.

It’s just one more likeness between Rodgers and Love. The Packers would love it if the similarities extended onto the field — perhaps as early as 2023.

“From the time (Love) has come in until now, he’s just continued to work, work, work,” Jones said on the ‘Jim Rome Show.’ “You could see the confidence starting to come out even more and more.

“He got some time to play in games this past season, and you can tell he made that jump and he’s confident out there and he’s capable and he can do it at a high level. So I feel like he’ll definitely be that guy when A-Rod’s gone.”

That time could finally be at hand.

And the Packers are hoping the parallels between Rodgers and Love will continue.