There are some parts of Steeler Nation that think the team needs to target a QB in 2020. I don’t think they should and if I did I would most definitely NOT pick Jordan Love
The Blaine Gabbert of 2020
It’s seems almost every Draft there is one player who is a total media creation. These guys are on nobody’s radar or high on anybody’s position rankings. Then magically, in the weeks before the Draft some sports yackety-yack yacks them into the discussions about the top ranked players at their position. That position is usually quarterback and some of the quarterbacks that have been yacked up are names like Blake Bortles, Blaine Gabbert and this year, Jordan Love.
The problem with this is I think a majority of the Draft sites don’t look at game film. What I think they do is watch media trends and if a player starts getting talked down, that player drops. If a player gets talked up, they rise. If a player is talked up non-stop, during the Combine this talking up gets to become ‘common knowledge’ that everybody thinks they just didn’t know about. Then other sports yackety-yacks don’t want to be left out, so they start yacking up this player, too and all of them go off the yackety-yack cliff like the yackety-yack lemmings they are.
Jordan Love isn’t without talent but in no way is he in the top five quarterbacks of this year’s Draft. Those names would be Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts and Jake Fromm. After those five the talent level drops off drastically.
This year the NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, now free of Mike Mayock holding him in check, fell head over heels in love with some athletic traits of Jordan Love. He then proceeded to spend that entire Combine yacking up Love (and Jacob Eason) showing swell highlight films of all the nifty passes he can make without sharing any of Love’s shortcomings. For some reason he went back to look at Eason’s game film and dropped him off his list. He should’ve done the same with the 4th Round, developmental prospect, Jordan Love.
The Video Doesn’t Lie
I don’t want to make a meal of this but here’s some relatively short game film so you can see what I’m seeing.
Now, I ask you in any way does that look like a 1st Round NFL Quarterback you could build a team around? If you answered ‘yes’, the ghost of Art Modell has a place for you in his organization.
Breaking Down the Game Film
First Love throws some nice short passes and gets lucky with a short throw that turned into a long gain on a broken tackle. Then at 2:18 he makes a ill-advised pass attempt to the end zone, under throwing the ball while throwing into coverage and is intercepted. At 2:42 with just a little pocket pressure Love under throws a dump off to flat. There was no reason he couldn’t have stepped into this throw and completed it. 2:52 Love has a totally clean pocket and throws nice 28 yard TD pass. At 3:13 facing an unblocked player coming at him Love steps backward and over throws a short pass in the flat. 3:38 being chased out of the pocket he throws ‘side arm slinger’ to flat. This type of pass is important because it shows Love’s ability to make off platform throws. This is a very overrated talent and one Daniel Jeremiah has based most of his ‘love’ for Jordan Love on. 4:11 Love overthrows his guy in the end zone but with a spectacular effort the WR brings down one toe in bounds for a TD. This a Saturday afternoon completion, not one for Sunday. 5:14 Love throws right into the hands of a Wake Forest DB who drops it. Should’ve been his 2nd interception. At 5:40 a short pass to the flat becomes a long gainer. 5:54 Love throws an interception right into the hands of the DB. This is a pass that should never been thrown. 6:32 facing a little pressure Love over throws an open receiver. 7:17 again, under a little bit of pressure Love over throws his target. 8:06 Love makes a horrible decision under pressure going right and throwing a long pass across the field to the left. This should’ve been an interception. 8:23 under pressure love escapes the pocket and over throws his target. Another pass that could’ve been intercepted. 9:16 with the clock winding down and Wake Forest up by 3 Love escapes the pocket and throws a perfect interception right into a Wake Forest DB’s hands to end the game.
Love’s stat line for the game was 33 completions in 48 throws for a 68.8% completion rate for 416 yards, 3 TDs, 3 int. Not horrible numbers but below average in a losing effort to a weak team.
I chose this game because Wake Forest can hardly be called a football powerhouse, so, The Excuse Brigade that now defends Love non-stop would have nothing to complain about. If I really wanted to make Love look bad I would’ve picked his zero TD, three interception game against LSU. I also picked it because it’s a fair sampling of what Jordan Love can and cannot do.
What Jordan Love Is and Isn’t
Jordan Love does have a good arm and can make some off platform throws. As you can tell by the film he has real problems with any kind of pressure. He feels pressure when it’s not there and he makes terrible decisions. The rest of his game is made up of dumps to the flat and short yardage passes. There is nothing in his game that projects him as a starter at the next level. NFL caliber QBs also have a spark. They have something in them that they can bring out when things get tough. In all the game film of Love I’ve watched I see no such spark. There is really nothing in any of the game film that I’ve watched that shows he could be anything better in the NFL than a QB3. Maybe, with some develop, he might become a decent journeyman backup. That’s what Jordan Love is.
The Emperor’s New Clothes
Do not be fooled by the hype. Jordan Love is NOT is a top prospect. He is a less talented less mobile version of Josh Dobbs who put up better numbers against much better competition. If I had a to make comp for Love it would be DeShone Kizer. They both have a good arm and were above average college QBs. What they are not are ‘elite’ players worthy of a 1st Round Draft pick. In no way is Jordan Love a franchise player.
Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments!
I promise next article will be about the Steelers. I just had to get this off my chest.
Go Stillers!!!
