Packers Need 'At Least Half a Season' to Evaluate Jordan Love, Mark Murphy Says

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love has significant shoes to fill in 2023 as he takes over the starting job following Aaron Rodgers' departure to the New York Jets.

The pressure is on, but Packers president Mark Murphy knows the franchise will need to be patient with the young signal-caller.

"I'm comparing it a little bit to Aaron's first year as a starter, yeah, I'd say at least half a season to know," Murphy told reporters Monday when asked how long the evaluation period will be for Love. "And I think even though we ended up with a losing record that year, but we saw enough of Aaron to know that we had something special."

Murphy also acknowledged that there will be "some ups and downs with" Love throughout the 2023 campaign.

"We have young receivers. But we have a lot of talent there," Murphy told reporters while speaking about the team's offense. "Our hope is that they'll all get better and grow together. It is a young man's game."

Love, a 2020 first-round pick, spent the last three seasons backing up Rodgers. He appeared in 10 games across the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, completing 50 of 83 passes for 606 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Despite the inexperience, Packers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements said in May that Green Bay has the utmost confidence in Love entering the 2023 season, via Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

"He can throw the ball, number one. Which he needs to do in the NFL. He's good athletic. He can move around, buy time. And he's intelligent. He generally makes good decisions, and at this point just needs to play, work on processing information, making good decisions and getting it to the right guy. He has all the qualities you're looking for in a guy to be successful."

Following more than a decade of success with Rodgers, the Packers are officially entering a new era.

Joining Love on offense will be young wide receivers in Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed and tight ends Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft, signaling that it's going to be a big learning year for the unit in 2023.