Packers quarterback blueprint about so much more than sitting young players

Green Bay gets credit for sitting Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love, but the Packers have more lessons to offer as teams around the NFL give up on young quarterbacks.

When Kevin O’Connell said “Organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail organizations,” it sounded like one of the brightest coaches in the NFL offering unique insight into the murkiest thing in the sport: quarterback development. Sam Darnold’s renaissance served as an exemplar of this mantra. Except Darnold’s situation would be tough to replicate elsewhere. He has the best receiver in the NFL, one of the best playcallers, a terrific set of tackles to protect him, and one of the stalwart veteran running backs around. If that’s what it takes for a quarterback to succeed, then it’s not the organizations before Minnesota who failed. It was Darnold.

But there are crucial things franchises can do for their quarterbacks. The suis generis run the Packers have been on at the position will cause fans and media to point at Green Bay as an example of what sitting a young quarterback can do.

In August, I spoke to analytics guru Aaron Schatz, creator of Football Outsiders and our beloved DVOA stats, about the history of sitting quarterbacks. He said his research found no meaningful difference between quarterbacks who sit and those who don’t, but that the most important factor in a signal caller’s success is simply the quality of that player.

We also have strong statistical evidence the top driver of offensive efficiency is quarterback play; not playcalling or supporting cast, not the offensive line or running game or the defense. It’s the play of the quarterback.

Jordan Love, for example, sat behind Aaron Rodgers. Oh, how valuable right? Except, again, there’s no evidence throughout history that this matters. Otherwise, where are the Hall of Fame careers of Graham Harrell, Brian Hoyer, and Curtis Painter? More likely Love’s came to the NFL with a supreme set of physical gifts and got better!

Love works arduously with his long-time quarterback coach Steve Calhoun on footwork, throwing off-platform, and with play-action. Love’s offense at Utah State never asked him to play under center or take seven-step drops. He wasn’t used to getting in a traditional formation, giving a hard play-action fake with his back to the defense and getting his head back around to make a snap throw.

Now, it’s one of the best parts of the Packers offense. Surely, there’s something special about play-action. It makes nearly every quarterback more efficient, but it doesn’t take a “meh” quarterback and make him great all on its own. Quarterbacks still have to operate in the traditional dropback game on third down. They still have to work in shotgun and make stick throws against blitzing linebackers and defensive coordinators who are acutely aware that disrupting the quarterback is the quickest way to a stop.

Love got better on his own, in addition to the coaching he received from Tom Clements and LaFleur. But remember, he took no NFL snaps during his rookie season and barely got any practice reps as COVID-19 ravaged the country, along with the NFL’s practice schedules. Aaron Rodgers threw a public shitfit about the Packers drafting Love before the 2021 season when he and Davante Adams hatched plans to make their exits from Green Bay.