NFL Draft 2020: How high will Utah State’s Jordan Love be selected?

There’s no position more intriguing than quarterback, and Utah State’s Jordan Love is the perfect example of that. How high will the Aggie QB be selected?

There are quarterbacks that are seen as better, and quarterbacks that will go higher, but there isn’t a passer in the 2020 NFL Draft that is more interesting than Utah State’s Jordan Love.

The upside that he possesses is salivating for scouts, but like any player, he’s far from a guarantee. Some say he’ll be a productive NFL quarterback with dual-threat capabilities, while others see Love as the next Mitchell Trubisky.

That is, of course, the battle that teams fight when evaluating any player. However, with Love, the risk factor is a little bit higher. One of those questions was the competition he faced in the Mountain West Conference. While it’s certainly a solid collegiate athletic conference that has seen member teams rise up to the level of BCS and New Year’s Six Bowls in the last decade, it doesn’t provide the same tests on a weekly basis that other prospects, such as Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa, see in Power Five leagues.

CBS has Love as the third-ranked quarterback, while other sites such as WalterFootball list Love as the draft’s fourth-best passer. That is indicative of the debate that has raged on regarding Love.

He put together a great college career, but was the tape strong enough to crack the group that has been the consensus top three all year?

Strengths

The aforementioned phrase, “dual-threat capabilities” is the best way to describe Love’s game. He’s not the typical “dual-threat” quarterback that relies on the run equally to the pass, but a passer who understands that if things break down, he can salvage plays with his nifty movement. That’s evidenced in a stat-line of 81 carries for 175 yards in 2019.

It’s a misconception that sacks fall solely on the back of the offensive line, but that mentality has begun to change in recent years. This shift in thinking makes Love an even more valuable prospect. In 2019, Utah State was 44th (out of 130) nationally in sacks allowed, with just 23 on the season. His pocket presence is one of the trademark’s of his game.

Love also has the kind of dynamic, adjustable arm that many passers lack coming out of college. He has the laser when he needs to make a tight throw between defenders, he has the bomb to hit a speedy wideout on a go-route, and he can take the velocity off and make touch throws when they are needed.

Weaknesses

The stark difference between Love’s 2018 and 2019 seasons is the first concern that truly jumps off the page. In the 2018 campaign that put him on the map, the Aggie passer completed 64 percent of his throws for 3,567 yards, along with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 32-6. Last season, he saw dips in every category, except for interceptions. His completion percentage fell to 62, yardage dropped to 3,402, and perhaps the ugliest number was a 20-17 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Love is a tremendous athlete, but from the mechanical side of the position, he still has significant room to grow. It’s his ability to work through progressions that is especially lacking. It’s not-at-all uncommon to put on the tape and see Love staring down his primary target. Even when the primary target is the right move, Love has made things tougher for himself by displaying an inability to look off defenders.

Draft Expectations

Love is exciting, but in a draft where teams know even less about prospects due to the evaluation process being affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, he’s not the sure thing that Tagovailoa, Burrow and Hebert appear to be.

The next pod of quarterbacks, however, is led by Love. His upside is far higher than two former Georgia passers Jake Fromm and Jacob Eason and while Jalen Hurts had a headline-grabbing career, he’s seen as a later-round pick by many.

Love’s game will certainly need to be polished, so it would be advantageous for him to sit for a year and grow with NFL coaching before he’s thrown to the wolves.

The dream destination for Love would likely be New Orleans, where Drew Brees will definitively be the man for another season or two, but likely not longer (Taysom Hill will be 30 when this season begins and he’s yet to show any evidence that he’s an NFL quarterback, so let’s stop acting like he’s the future star in the Big Easy).

Projection: Second round