Packers QB comparison: Comparing stats of first-year starters

With each passing day, it is becoming clearer that Jordan Love will need to update his LinkedIn profile with the words: "Starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers."

Love was the 26th pick in the first round of the 2020 draft by the Packers. Serving as Aaron Rodgers' apprentice since that '20 season, Love has seen limited action in games over the past three seasons (10 games to be exact) and has one start (that in 2021).

As the Packers get ready to hand the keys to Love to see what he can do as the starting QB, fans and pundits alike are asking the same question: "Is Love ready to replace a Hall of Fame QB in Rodgers?" In addition, a follow-up question may be asked wondering if Love is that next great Packers QB who will take them to playoff wins and a title or two in the next several years.

The same questions were probably asked when Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers took the reins as the team's starting QB. As everyone knows, Starr and Favre carved out Hall of Fame careers, and Rodgers will join them when he is eligible.

But success did not come easily for Starr, Favre and Rodgers, especially in the early years. So, what can the Packers faithful expect of Love? Will he have a better first year as Packers starting QB than some of the greats who have walked before him?

To answer the many questions out there about Jordan Love's first season as Green Bay's starting QB, let's look at the numbers of the four Packers QBs who not only have thrown 100 or more career TD passes as Green Bay QB, but are the only four Green Bay QBs to start 100 or more games for the Packers: Starr, Lynn Dickey, Favre and Rodgers.

Here are some stats from the first year that Starr, Dickey, Favre and Rodgers became the Packers' starter at QB:

Bart Starr, 1961, 11-3 record: 58.3% pass completions, 2,418 passing yards, 16 TD passes, 16 interceptions, 80.3 passer rating, sacked 15 times.

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Lynn Dickey, 1980, 5-10-1 record: 58.2% pass completions, 3,529 passing yards, 15 TD passes, 25 interceptions, 70.0 passer rating, sacked 37 times.

Brett Favre, 1992, 8-5 record: 64.1% pass completions, 3,227 passing yards, 18 TD passes, 13 interceptions, 85.3 passer rating, sacked 34 times.

Aaron Rodgers, 2008, 6-10 record: 63.6% pass completions, 4,038 passing yards, 28 TD passes, 13 interceptions, 93.8 passer rating, sacked 34 times.

If we average out these stats from Starr, Dickey, Favre and Rodgers' first year as Packers QB and magically apply them to Jordan Love for his first year, Love will have a 9-8 record, complete 61% of his passes for 3,303 yards, have 19 TD passes, 17 interceptions, and a passer rating of 82.4.

Would the Green Bay Packers and Packer Nation accept that for the first-year stats of Jordan Love as the team's QB?