Anonymous NFL Coach Calls Jordan Love a 'Poor Man's Mahomes' Ahead of 2020 Draft

Jordan Love left teams enamored at the NFL combine in Indianapolis.

NFL.com's Kimberly Jones had an anonymous NFL head coach describe the Utah State quarterback as a "poor man's (Patrick) Mahomes," who led the Kansas City Chiefs to Super Bowl LIV glory while earning Super Bowl LIV honors last month one year removed from winning the 2018 league MVP. 

Jones described the anonymous coach as "a pretty tough grader," and noted that he did reiterate he was calling love a "poor man's" version of Mahomes and not likening him to Mahomes directly.

"Another evaluator predicted that Love will be beloved in his NFL locker room and will quickly exhibit leadership, much like Josh Allen has done in Buffalo," Jones wrote. "Having observed Josh Allen in that setting, that serves as very high praise for Love, whose stock rose in Indy."

This comes after NFL Network's Ian Rapoport relayed last Thursday that Love was generating more buzz than any other quarterback prospect at the combine among league general managers, assistant GMs and coaches:

Love ran the 40-yard dash in 4.74 seconds—seventh among quarterbacks—while recording 35.5 inches in the vertical jump and 4.52 seconds in the 20-yard shuttle, according to his official combine profile. He also threw for scouts.

The 21-year-old is projected as a 6.33 prospect, which categorizes him as an expected starter within his first two seasons per NFL.com's grading system.

Love had a relatively down year for Utah State in 2019 with 3,402 yards, 20 touchdowns and 17 interceptions across 13 starts as a junior. He became the Aggies all-time leader for total career offense:

However, his best collegiate campaign came in 2018 with 3,567 yards, 32 touchdowns and six picks.

Love has been linked to the Indianapolis Colts since at least early December, and he confirmed to reporters last week at the combine that he has been in contact with the organization. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller projected Indy to draft Love at No. 13 overall in his latest mock draft published earlier Monday:

"General manager Chris Ballard has been a master at accumulating draft picks and has done well selecting impact players in his short tenure running the Colts, but after Andrew Luck's retirement and the up-and-down play of Jacoby Brissett last year, Ballard has to make a move at quarterback. 

"Jordan Love is a smart, athletic, strong-armed quarterback who struggled with turnovers on a bad Utah State team in 2019. ... Teams are falling for his arm strength and ability to make off-schedule throws and win while on the move. As the NFL continues to evolve at quarterback, Love's positives fit the mold teams want."

While Love is not the headliner in this quarterback class—that distinction belongs to Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow and, slightly behind him, 2018 Heisman finalist Tua Tagovailoa—neither was Mahomes in 2017.

Mahomes was selected 10th overall by Kansas City after the Chicago Bears had taken Mitchell Trubisky at second overall. 

The 2020 NFL draft will begin on April 23 in Las Vegas.