Jordan Love - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

I know there has been a long hiatus since my last scouting breakdown, but there is potential for a lot more of these since Coronavirus locks me into my home where I will only subsist by eating tape of the top prospects. That could mean like ten more scouting reports before the draft, but things change rapidly, so it could mean like two scouting reports before the draft, but hey, at least I’m getting one done today. And to show how rusty I am, when I was looking for game film, I searched for Bryce Love, and then realized that the former Stanford running back who is already in the NFL is probably not the best player to break down at this time. Sorry, Jordan Love, but playing for Utah State means you’re not on my mind a ton during my day-to-day life. But I did find the time to break down his games against Wake Forest, LSU, and Fresno State. 

When you first look at Love, it’s easy to notice a very good arm along with easy athleticism. That athleticism showed up at the combine where he had impressive explosion numbers with his jump while doing well with a 4.74 40-yard dash. 

I was expecting those traits coming into this analysis, but what surprised me was his ability to scan the field and especially the touch he was able to put on his passes down the field.

That sort of touch really reminds me of Russell Wilson when he was in college in the way that he could seemingly drop the ball in from great distance. He also had some really nice touch and accuracy on flares and screens which are easy passes to complete but not always easy to complete and give your receiver the best possible chance of creating maximum yards after the catch.

This play probably won't be worthy of his highlight reels, but I love what Love (damnit, I'll try to stop doing that) does here.

He looks to the center of the field to keep anybody from jumping things, then works to the sideline and fires the ball right as the receiver is making his break. He puts great pace on the ball and hits his receiver right in the hands. It's not a huge play, but it is flawless.

But if you want highlights, Jordan Love has highlights.

He does a really nice job of feeling pressure and instead of retreating into trouble, he calmly steps up into the pocket, and throws the ball 30 yards down the field to hit his receiver for a big-time touchdown.

This pass is hilarious.

I’m not sure if it’s a bad thing that he threw into triple coverage or a great thing, because he literally dropped the ball in his receiver’s arms as if he was God dropping it down from Heaven. Seriously, look how stupid this is.

Even on the move, he showed an ability to drop the ball in from long distance.

Here's another example of him showing pocket presence.

He stays calm, steps up in the pocket and hits his receiver in stride across the middle of the field.

Here, Love does a nice job of not taking the bait.

You can only catch a glimpse of it at the bottom of the screen, but the defender is looking to undercut that out route, so Love pulls the ball down and hits his receiver on the opposite side of the field.

I know this evaluation has been very rosy, but it isn't all sunshine and butterflies.

He does a good job of scanning the field and finding an open receiver, but he doesn’t quite open up that front hit enough and throws it behind his receiver where it is picked off by the Tigers defender.

Here, under what is not overwhelming distress, Love's mechanics fall apart, and it leads to a bad result.

He's falling backwards as he tries to sling the ball towards the end zone, and the defender has no trouble undercutting the route and making the pick. This is a bad mistake anywhere, it's terrible from the five-yard-line, especially when you consider that he probably had to throw the ball about 35 yards to get it all the way out there.

Jordan Love went from a 32:6 touchdown to interception ratio to 20:17 this past year. I expected to see a guy with some raw talent, but one that got away with bad throws two years ago that he no longer got a way with during this past season. Instead, I didn't really see anything that overly worried me. Sure, he sometimes makes poor decisions, especially under pressure, but that's true with a lot of quarterbacks. Ultimately, I saw him make some jaw-dropping throws, and I saw a ton of positive traits. I know Justin Herbert is getting a lot of love, being mentioned as a top-six pick, but I feel like Love is the clear-cut third best quarterback in this draft and shows enough on tape that I wouldn't be surprised if he moves his way into becoming a top-ten pick. He has enough skills to even make that look like a steal.

2020 Quarterback Rankings:
1. Tua Tagavailoa - Alabama
2. Joe Burrow - LSU
3. Jordan Love - Utah State
4. Justin Herbert - Oregon