2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Jordan Love

In an ever-evolving wide-open passing league that is more and more valuing the ability to make plays outside of structure, Love is a welcome addition to the chaos of the NFL. The highs of his game are amongst the highest of anyone in the class. With added attention to unstructured play, eye manipulation and timing, we are cooking with grease, my friends! As we run to the film, the traits are mesmerizing and will be sure to be in high demand. Now sit back, relax and enjoy the best and the worst of QB3! 

Pros

From a physical perspective, Jordan Love meets all the physical thresholds you would want in a potential first-round signal-caller. With a solid build at 6’4” and 225 pounds, Love is able to easily generate velocity with a superb ability to keep his upper and lower body constantly in rhythm. With the ability to make plays out of structure, Love is a plus athlete who can create with his feet as a runner and extender. To the intermediate-deep sections of the field, Love does some of his best work. He has some of the best touches in the class, flashing the ability to drop the ball perfectly to different levels of the field. Along with this changing of arm speed, Love is well versed in changing arm angles and platforms at an elite level.

With no problem making awkward body throws, the addition of RPO concepts has become an easy part of his game. Fundamentally, he creates a fantastic base to work within the pocket. As the pressure comes down on him, Love does an astounding job of sitting in there amongst the chaos. With pristine accuracy, Love’s ball placement is consistently able to carry his wide receivers momentum upfield. When diagnosing his problematic increase in interceptions from 2018 until now, Love’s interceptions were more a result of pressing compared to mismanaging the defensive looks that he is getting. The tools are all there, and it’s tantalizing. It is all about harnessing the tools with a deeper understanding to take what the defense is giving him (for all of you who love overused cliches). 

Cons

Love’s film can be a roller coaster of sorts. For every tremendous throw or highlight-worthy play, there is a mind-boggling decision that leaves you scratching your head. Tasked with leading a depleted offense that lost a ton of talent following the 2018 season, Love had a lot of pressure to elevate the rest of the team around him. He wasn’t able to consistently answer the call consistently in a tough situation. Most of his shortcomings come from post-snap examples, failing to consistently go through proper progressions. He seems to have a difficult time recognizing coverages, determining the necessary window one-on-one opportunity.

In this particular Utah State offensive structure, it is possible it was just not something he was asked to do. Either way, there will be a huge learning curve early in Love’s career, leading to the opinion that a redshirt season early on would be especially beneficial for him. An opinion that I am fully on board with. Bring him along slowly could prove most appropriate to grow his confidence-understanding early on. Love has a bad habit of locking onto his read pre-snap, failing to come off of it during the rep. This eliminates opportunities for eye manipulation opportunities, seeing almost no example of it on tape outside of locating one on one opportunity on the outside. There is some extreme growth that will be needed early. His success will largely rely on his perspective coaching staff, becoming a product of the situation. 

Overall

Jordan Love possesses some of the more interesting skill-set in what appears to be a very strong 2020 quarterback class. The decrease in production from 2018 until now is worrisome. Diagnosing his confidence will be key to figure out how he responds to adversity. I am all on board with Love. Speaking with him in the past, he is a person who is unfazed by tough situations. If put into the right situation, he has every opportunity to develop into a special signal-caller. The intermediate-deep touch is bonkers. Talent-wise, he has it all. Size, arm talent, athleticism… It is all there. Outside of Burrow and Tua, Love is the best bet in my book. I refuse to fall into the Justin Herbert and Jacob Eason trap. Members of the Jordan Love fan train, stand up! I present you Quarterback Three. 

Pro Comparison: Steve McNair

Check out our scouting report on Isaiah Simmons.