This 1 schematic change will help Packers offense succeed with Jordan Love

It has been established the Green Bay Packers were not necessarily the most explosive team last season, and that was with Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback.

But there is one early-down tendency that must change in 2023 if they are going to be successful on offense in year one of the Jordan Love era: Play-action usage.

According to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis, the Packers used play-action on early downs just 35% of the time last season, but that was likely by design.

Rodgers was not someone who needed to lean on play-action on early downs in the passing game and the fact they were tied for 17th with two other teams is a good example of just that.

Also worth noting is that Green Bay is one of just a handful of teams who saw their efficiency drop when using play-action. An efficiency drop in addition to a quarterback who does not need it to be effective makes none of this a surprise really.

How Packers can adjust offense to help Jordan Love

Now that there have been wholesale changes on offense this is an area that Matt LaFleur should look to change. LaFleur and Rodgers never really seemed to be a good combination to begin with as his hire always seemed to be made with the post-Rodgers era in mind. Since that time has now arrived, schematic changes to help out an unproven quarterback could and should be made.

Green Bay has two more-than-capable backs in Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. While Dillon's long-term presence with the Packers is in question, they are both here now and should be used to make their offensive attack more consistent.

The obvious way to involve Jones and Dillon that is not simply handing the ball off, is to utilize early-down play-action. That is the way to attack defenses who may be selling out early in the season to force Love to beat them with his arm.

A well executed early play-action concept can catch even the best defenses off guard, resulting in much needed big gains for the offense. This ideology is something to be embraced in order to maximize their offensive output.

LaFleur has been down this specific road before, working on a coaching staff that managed to get the most out of Jared Goff in 2018. The same principles can be applied in Green Bay while they figure out exactly what they have in Love.

In time, less play-action can be used if Love's play is at a level high enough where it is not needed. But for now, using it early and often would be a good way to ease into this new era of Packers football.

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