Packers Have Same Problem With Jordan Love as They Did Aaron Rodgers

Green Bay Packers fans don't need (or want) me to spend much time on this point, but winning one Super Bowl ring in the entire career of four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers was a total joke. And we all remember what the biggest issue was, year-in and year-out.

The organization consistently refused to invest anything in the wide receiver position. There was no interest in giving him any help outside of Davante Adams. Over the last five years of Rodgers' Packers career, Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling ranked No. 2 and No. 3 on the team for receiving yards. Refusing to invest in the position meant that even with an all-time great quarterback, the Packers' offense was only strong enough to carry the team on consistent deep playoff runs.

Smart franchises learn from their mistakes. We all like to consider the Packers a smart franchise. But it doesn't seem like they've learned from this one, however, and Jordan Love is suffering for it.

Packers Giving Fans Deja Vu With Lack of Help for Jordan Love

Fans loved the confidence of Matt LaFleur saying things like "we have four number-one wide receivers" entering the season. Optimism was high that Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks and Jayden Reed were going to give Jordan Love all the tools he needed. But it became clear pretty early on that he was just blowing smoke.

They have a young star budding star quarterback on a $220 million deal, and rather than invest in a top-end receiver for him, the Packers rolled out an array of mid-tier receivers and invested in an elite running back instead.

So while Love did show some real improvements as a passer, raising his numbers in just about every metric this season, it never felt like he was ever able to really unlock his potential.

Injuries to the receiving corps didn't help, of course, but even with the unit healthy it's clear they lacked a true WR1 presence. None of the receivers averaged more than 50.4 receiving yards per game. As an entire team, only five players had 100-yard games this season. Tight end Tucker Kraft had three of the nine highest single-game receiving totals for the Packers this season.

Take PFF grades with a grain of salt if you wish, but no Packers receiver even cracked the top-50 at the position in their offensive grades this season. Having WRs ranked No. 56 (Reed), 57 (Doubs), 60 (Watson) and 70 (Wicks) among 132 qualifying wideouts may show some depth (if you frame it as "four top-70" maybe it doesn't sound so bad?) but it shows the same old problems.

The receiving corps is not good enough to make this an elite offense. It's not even good enough to bring out the best in Jordan Love. The team was also No. 28 in spending at the position in 2024.

This offseason should be a turning point. The pool of upcoming free agents has a ton of high-profile names. Davante Adams is available on the trade market and shouldn't even take too much to pry away from the New York Jets. There are no excuses not to bring in some help for Love.

But we've been here before. It's felt like this before. The idea that "surely the team has no more excuses" isn't new. And if the franchise continues to operate as they always have, refusing the bring in help for Love, we can expect a similarly disappointing end to the 2025-26 season as well.

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