He shares things in common with Pat Mahomes but he's not Pat Mahomes. I won't be giving Jordan Love that kind of grade. It's not because I feel like he can't get there. It's just playing the odds. He's not got the odds to be what Pat Mahomes has become, that Pat Mahomes had when he was coming out.
Love's development arc at Utah State was such that he's really only just scratching the surface on the abilities that Pat Mahomes had more or less perfected by the time he came out of Texas Tech. It's enough to have you intrigued and to say that the two rhyme a bit, but they're not the same. Patrick Mahomes was a #1 overall type of player. Jordan Love is not.
I want to get that straight because I sense that people are more or less pinning me as the "Jordan Love is the most awesome ever" guy and I'm not that. He's not Kyler Murray to me. He's not Tua Tagovailoa. He's not Patrick Mahomes. He's not Baker Mayfield for me.
I'd love to take a shot on him, particularly because my team has an ancient QB who's shown a career tendency to let you down just when you thought he started to be good at this. And the guy behind him is dead weight, never should've been traded for.
I think a lot of the criticisms of Love are overdone. He threw interceptions this year. OK. He didn't last year. And he didn't throw a bunch of earned interceptions even in his first games as a starter back when he was 19 years old (I know, because I've watched those 2017 games, which I'm sure 99% of the critics out there have not).
So I ask the simple question, why? He lost head coach Matt Wells, who was on the sideline chatting him up in between every series in 2017 and 2018, acting as a de facto QB Coach, and he lost David Yost who has a reputation for an up-and-coming play caller and game scripter. Oh not to mention the security blankets Dax Raymond and Darwin Thompson, the top three wide receivers including his deep field man beater Ron'quavion Tarver, and all five offensive linemen. Yeah I'd say that's the elephant in the room as to why he did things in 2019 that he hadn't done in 2017 or 2018.
I have criticisms about how he came by some of those individual interceptions. But context is important. It's not as complicated as people make it out to be.
This is a player that you're going to ask to grow. He's not a finished product. He's not coming from a Lincoln Riley system where he could throw for a billion yards and touchdowns on high efficiency. He's not had Jerry Jeudy, Devonta Smith, Henry Ruggs, Jaylen Waddle, J'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Thaddeus Moss, Tee Higgins, Justyn Ross, Travis Etienne, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, or Najee Harris around making things easier for him. He's not had an offensive line that pumps out NFL prospect after NFL prospect.
You're looking at the traits. Does he process the field and progress accordingly. Actually, yeah he does. It's pre-snap expectations where he runs into trouble and that's stuff you can teach him. Does he have the ability to play faster than the defense? Yeah, he does. Does he have full command of the football, every kind of throw? He does, with those big 10.5+ inch hands of his and that textbook delivery. Can he threaten a defense in ways that force them to adjust? Absolutely. Is he a good kid? Yes. Is he smart? Definitely. What's his injury history like? Practically spotless.
Dan Marino threw 46 interceptions in 24 games his last two years at Pitt. But who cares? As The Poster Formerly Known as Slimm says, you don't take the interceptions with you.